ESSENTIAL 40#37 – GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY/MAN'S CHOICE
VERSES
What we know about God's sovereignty:
1. All that takes place is God's choice:
(a) Nothing happens by chance
Proverbs 16:33 – "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord."
(b) God is in charge even when we make decisions
Proverbs 16:9 – "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."
Proverbs 21:1, 31– "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." "The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord."
(c) God is in charge even of the evil that takes place
Proverbs 16:4– "The Lord works out everything for his own ends---even the wicked for a day of disaster."
Isaiah 45:7 – ""I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things."
Amos 3:6 – "When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?"
Lamentations 3:38 – "Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?"
Ecclesiastes 7:14 – "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other…."
Luke 22:2, 22 - "and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people…The Son of man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him."
Acts 2:23 – "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross."
(d) What God purposes, will happen
Isaiah 14:24-27 – The Lord Almighty has sworn, 'Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand. I will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountains I will trample him down. His yoke will be taken from my people, and his burden removed from their shoulders. This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the Lord Almighty has purposed and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?"
Isaiah 46:11 – "From the east I summon a bird of prey [Cyrus]; from a far-off land; a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I do."
Isaiah 48:3 –"I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted and they came to pass."
Jeremiah 49:20 – "Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Edom, what he has purposed against those who live in Teman: The young of the flock will be dragged away; he will completely destroy their pasture because of them."
Romans 8:28-30 - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."
Ephesians 1:11 – "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plans of him who works out everything in conformity with the purposes of his will,"
(e) God determined that Jesus would die for us before the world began
Luke 22:22 - "The Son of man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him."
Acts 2:23 – "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross."
I Peter 1:20 – "He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake."
Revelation 13:8 – "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast---all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world."
(f) God purposed to choose a people for Himself from this sinful world
Ephesians 1:11 – "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plans of him who works out everything in conformity with the purposes of his will,"
Romans 8:28-30 -"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."
II Timothy 1:9 – "who has saved us and called us to a holy life---not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,"
2. God draw men and women to Himself
John 6:44 – "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day."
3. God uses everything to draw men and women to Himself
Romans 8:28 - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Genesis 50:20 – "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
Jeremiah 29:11-14 – "For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the Lord, 'and bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all nations and places where I have banished you,' declares the Lord, 'and will bring you back to the place which I carried you into exile."
4. God desires all men to be saved
I Timothy 2:3,4 – "This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."
II Peter 3:9 – "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
5. God gives grace to the humble
Luke 18:9-14 – "To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 'Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like the other men---robbers, evil doers, adulterers---or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 'But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'Go, have mercy on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
James 4:6 – "But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."
Proverbs 3:34 – "He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble."
Psalm 18:27–"You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty."
II Chronicles 33:23–"But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself before the Lord; Amon increased his guilt."
Matthew 5:3-6–"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
Matthew 23:12 – "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
What we know about man's choices:
1. Men will be judged by God based on what they do in response to God's word and their consciences
Romans 2:6,14,15 – "God will give to each person according to what has done….(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)"
2. Men are limited in their choices
(a) men know God, but choose to reject until they are unable to believe
Romans 1:18-23, 28 – "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be know about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities---his eternal power and divine nature---have been clearly seen, being understood by what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles….Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."
John 12:37,38 - Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: 'Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the armof the Lord been revealed?'"
John 12:39,40 – "For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 'He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn---and I would heal them.'"
(b) men are dead in sin
Ephesians 2:1-3 – "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of their air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath."
Isaiah 64:6 – "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
Jeremiah 17:9–"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"
(c) no one seeks God
Genesis 3:8-13 – "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called the man, 'Where are you?' He answered, 'I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.' And he said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The man said, 'The woman you put here with me---she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.' Then the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
Romans 3:10-12–"As it is written: 'there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
(d) men are unable to understand spiritual things
I Corinthians 2:14 – "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
John 1:5 – "The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it."
(e) men are slaves to sin and unable to free themselves from it
Romans 5:12–"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death come to all men, because all sinned---"
Romans 6:17 – "But thanks be to God that, though you used be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted."
Romans 7:23,34 – "but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
John 8:34 – "Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth everyone who sins is a slave of sin."
(f) our flesh is hostile to God
Romans 8:7 – "the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so."
(g) man's mind is blinded by Satan
II Corinthians 4:4 – "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
(h) Children are limited in their ability to know right from wrong
Isaiah 7:15,16 – "He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste."
Jonah 4:11 – "But Ninevah has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?
3. Men are able to make many choices
(a) Men choose to reject God
Romans 1:18-23, 28 – "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities---his eternal power and divine nature---have been clearly seen, being understood by what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles….Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."
(b) men are urged to choose to be wise and not foolish
Proverbs 8:1 – "Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?"
Proverbs 9:10-12 –"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For through me your days will be many and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, you wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer."
(c) men can choose to resist God's Spirit
Acts 7:51 – "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!"
Matthew 12:31,32 – "And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age of in the age to come."
Hebrews 6:4-8 – "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned."