It never pays to speculate upon the future.”
–Ernest Haycox (Bugles in the Afternoon)
“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever His wishes.”
–Proverbs 21:1 (NKJV)
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“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”
–Ephesians 1:11(NKJT)
Probably some of the most misunderstood and complex attributes of God is that of His decrees and His sovereignty. Part of our problem is our finiteness; we think only with the natural mind and cannot know completely the workings of God. Another reason is that we do not like to think of these things. They go against our nature, because we have our own opinions, therefore we either push aside these doctrines or ignore them, or interpret them disregarding Scripture.
In this little study I do not want to get into the argument of Calvinism versus Arminianism. I want to simply state some facts and look at what the Bible says. People have often asked me which of these viewpoints I take. I almost always reply, “when I’m with an Arminian I am a Calvinist, and when I’m with a Calvinist, I am an Arminian.” And I will leave it at that…for now. This devotion is not for argument, however, one of its main purposes is to get you to think.
Right off the bat I will say–our thoughts of God are too human! Since He is God, infinite and eternal, we cannot comprehend Him fully, therefore we bring our thoughts about Him down to the human level. As I said earlier, if we had a truer picture of God we would have less problems and issues. In one aspect, the God of the Scriptures is unknown. I say that for two reasons: first, we cannot fully know Him or imagine Him; second, we do not look rightly into His Word to come to the knowledge that He has revealed of Himself.
Men imagine that God is moved by sentiment. That is false, no matter the pity party we throw or the tantrums, or the threats we level, it does not move Him. He works on His principles and through His character. Do we really mean it when we pray, “Thy will be done?” Hmmm, don’t worry, it will be. Man also declares that whatever power God possesses must be restricted. Man does not want God’s will to invade man’s “free will” (whatever that is). Therefore, God is often “manufactured” out of the carnal mind. In reality, it should give us confidence and build our faith in that all He has designed He does. All that He has decreed He performs. The Psalmist declares, “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” (115:3, NKJV)
“God’s dominion is total: he wills as he chooses and carries out all that he wills, and none can stay his hand or thwart his plans.” (J.I. Packer) God acts according to His decrees, which is defined as “determinate counsel,” “foreknowledge, foreordination, and election.” He is sovereign over all His works. The decrees of God is His purpose in determination with respect to future things. They are called His “will” to show He was under no control, but acted according to His own pleasure. Whatever is done in time was foreordained before time.
God’s decrees are first of all–eternal, circumstances cannot alter His decrees. No matter the effort put forth by man, or the effort put forth by Satan and his demons, God’s decrees will be carried out. Neither time nor culture can change the decrees of God. His decrees are always infinitely wise. His decrees are free–meaning that there was no external cause to influence God when He made His decrees. They came from His “the counsel of His will.” Here are a couple of verses to contemplate:
“Just as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” — Ephesians 1:4 (NKJV)
“But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” –1 Peter 1:19-20 (NKJV)
Just think of those words, “before the foundation of the world.” Before creation, before time, God had decreed. Also we know that His decrees are absolute and unconditional. The execution of them is not suspended upon any condition which may or may not be performed. Know this! God honors His principles!
Now that I have fully boggled your mind with another aspect of the greatness and majesty of God I leave you with a verse from Isaiah, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.'” (46:19, NKJV) This gives us hope and confidence that we truly serve the God of gods, the Almighty–the I AM!
———————————–
“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”
–Ephesians 1:11(NKJT)
Probably some of the most misunderstood and complex attributes of God is that of His decrees and His sovereignty. Part of our problem is our finiteness; we think only with the natural mind and cannot know completely the workings of God. Another reason is that we do not like to think of these things. They go against our nature, because we have our own opinions, therefore we either push aside these doctrines or ignore them, or interpret them disregarding Scripture.
In this little study I do not want to get into the argument of Calvinism versus Arminianism. I want to simply state some facts and look at what the Bible says. People have often asked me which of these viewpoints I take. I almost always reply, “when I’m with an Arminian I am a Calvinist, and when I’m with a Calvinist, I am an Arminian.” And I will leave it at that…for now. This devotion is not for argument, however, one of its main purposes is to get you to think.
Right off the bat I will say–our thoughts of God are too human! Since He is God, infinite and eternal, we cannot comprehend Him fully, therefore we bring our thoughts about Him down to the human level. As I said earlier, if we had a truer picture of God we would have less problems and issues. In one aspect, the God of the Scriptures is unknown. I say that for two reasons: first, we cannot fully know Him or imagine Him; second, we do not look rightly into His Word to come to the knowledge that He has revealed of Himself.
Men imagine that God is moved by sentiment. That is false, no matter the pity party we throw or the tantrums, or the threats we level, it does not move Him. He works on His principles and through His character. Do we really mean it when we pray, “Thy will be done?” Hmmm, don’t worry, it will be. Man also declares that whatever power God possesses must be restricted. Man does not want God’s will to invade man’s “free will” (whatever that is). Therefore, God is often “manufactured” out of the carnal mind. In reality, it should give us confidence and build our faith in that all He has designed He does. All that He has decreed He performs. The Psalmist declares, “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” (115:3, NKJV)
“God’s dominion is total: he wills as he chooses and carries out all that he wills, and none can stay his hand or thwart his plans.” (J.I. Packer) God acts according to His decrees, which is defined as “determinate counsel,” “foreknowledge, foreordination, and election.” He is sovereign over all His works. The decrees of God is His purpose in determination with respect to future things. They are called His “will” to show He was under no control, but acted according to His own pleasure. Whatever is done in time was foreordained before time.
God’s decrees are first of all–eternal, circumstances cannot alter His decrees. No matter the effort put forth by man, or the effort put forth by Satan and his demons, God’s decrees will be carried out. Neither time nor culture can change the decrees of God. His decrees are always infinitely wise. His decrees are free–meaning that there was no external cause to influence God when He made His decrees. They came from His “the counsel of His will.” Here are a couple of verses to contemplate:
“Just as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” — Ephesians 1:4 (NKJV)
“But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” –1 Peter 1:19-20 (NKJV)
Just think of those words, “before the foundation of the world.” Before creation, before time, God had decreed. Also we know that His decrees are absolute and unconditional. The execution of them is not suspended upon any condition which may or may not be performed. Know this! God honors His principles!
Now that I have fully boggled your mind with another aspect of the greatness and majesty of God I leave you with a verse from Isaiah, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.'” (46:19, NKJV) This gives us hope and confidence that we truly serve the God of gods, the Almighty–the I AM!