The Sovereignty of God and Man's Free Will (Suffering 05)

When Charles Spurgeon was asked how these two grand, biblical doctrines could be reconciled, he responded as a real heir of the Puritans: “I didn’t know that friends needed reconciliation.” He went on to compare these two doctrines to the rails of a track upon which Christianity runs. Just as the rails of a train, which run parallel to each other, appear to merge in the distance, so the doctrines of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility, which seem separate from each other in this life, will merge in eternity. The Puritans would wholeheartedly concur. Our task, they said, is not to force their merging in this life but to keep them in balance and to live accordingly. We must thus strive for experiential Christianity that does justice both to God’s sovereignty and to our responsibility. Focusing on Christ, Joel Beeke

The great conundrum of our time is the coexisting realities of God’s absolute sovereign control over all things AND man’s freedom to make decisions independent of God pulling those puppet strings.

So important and vast is this subject that this one message may well take me three weeks to ponder through.

Let me begin by asking this.

How would you define man’s free will? What is your understanding of it?

What problems arise when you start talking about free will?

So, how do we define man’s free will? What is your understanding of it?

Dictionary defines it as “the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one’s own discretion

To best understand this idea of “free will,” we have to understand two different thought processes.

Natural Free Will - That will which is inherent to ALL people and grants them the ability to act as they will without compulsion or force.

It is a valid definition.

As it pertains to salvation, what problem arises?

The problem with us a view is this...

According to Romans 3, what will such a will result in?

All man turning away from God.

Thus, John Calvin asserted another type of will, acquired free will

Acquired Free Will - This kind of will, like natural, allows people to act voluntarily and not under compulsion. HOWEVER, this type of will requires a change by which man is ABLE and WILLING to choose anything OTHER than sin.

It is my view that an acquired free will is more in line with scripture. However, many people when they refer to free will, more than likely, refer to the natural free will type.

As you can see, the problems with the free will concept and terminology become abundant here.

Truth is, man DOES have the freedom to make choices. And this choice is ESSENTIAL as an expression of our faith, our devotion, and our love for God.

HOWEVER, our “free will” is not absolute. It is limited.

Ephesians 2:1-3 state...

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

As I am sure I have preached before, dead things can do nothing. When your nature is dead, you are limited by that nature.

Got Questions notes...

...free will does not mean that mankind can do anything he pleases. Our choices are limited to what is in keeping with our nature. For example, a man may choose to walk across a bridge or not to walk across it; what he may not choose is to fly over the bridge—his nature prevents him from flying. In a similar way, a man cannot choose to make himself righteous—his (sin) nature prevents him from canceling his guilt (Romans 3:23). So, free will is limited by nature. Got Questions.org

Our nature limits our ability and our desire to choose.

Even God, in his perfect nature, is limited.

James 1:13 says

James 1:13 ESV

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

God cannot sin. He is not tempted by evil, does not tempt with evil

Psalm 5:4.

Psalm 5:4 ESV

4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.

Evil and God are antithesis. They cannot exist together in the same person.

God is limited by this nature. HE CANNOT commit evil.

THE PROBLEM of identifying man’s “free will” is that is can suggest we have the ability to make any decision we want apart from any intervention.

Eph 2 begs to differ.

GOD HAD to interfere and make it possible for us to choose him.

Yes, now we have the ability, responsibility, and accountability of choice, but that would not be so if God had not first made it possible.

Suggesting that even God has absolute free will would lend itself to problems for then God would be capable of sin and untrustworthy because of it.

The “free will” of man, however is important because it is in the choice that we evidence our faith and love for God.

So YES, we do have a will to choose.

AND YES, God still maintains complete sovereign control over all things.

They do not seem like they should or can coexist and yet they do.

James Boyce notes...

The Scriptures recognize both the sovereignty of God, and the free agency, and accountability of man. Consciousness assures us of the latter. The nature of God…proves the former. The Bible makes no attempt to reconcile the two. Abstract of Systematic Theology. James Boyce

DA Carson also notes...

Biblical writers in both the OT and NT have, on the whole, fewer problems about the tension between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility than do many moderns. This is not because they fail to distinguish purpose and consequence, as many affirm, but because they do not see divine sovereignty and human responsibility as antitheses. In short they are compatibilists and therefore juxtapose the two themes with little self-conscious awareness of the problem (cf. Gen. 50:19-20; Jud. 14:4; Isa. 10:5-7; Hag. 1:12-14; Jn. 11:49-52). The Gospel of Matthew, EBC, Zondervan, www.zondervan.com, 1984, p. 309. D.A. Carson

Truth is, scripture does not see the tension, does not seem to explain the tension, and struggles far less (not at all) with teaching the seemingly incompatible truths.

BOTH are true.

BOTH exist.

BOTH are to be affirmed.

But for many today, it has one to one or the other. They cannot both exist.

And yet scripture affirms both.

As we will discover from our study of the word.

Sermon Body

A quick review....

We have discovered in God’s word that God does use and plan evil to accomplish His will among men. Isaiah clearly states in Isaiah 14:24, 27. God plans everything with purpose and no one or anything can change it. There is nothing good or evil, whether it is events or people that God does not ordain.

Why does a good God use so much evil? If there was no suffering, then man would never acknowledge extreme horribleness of sin.

All evil and suffering is the result of the curse of sin.

In order for man to come to a saving knowledge of Christ, he must acknowledge that he is a sinner before a Holy God.

Man ignores or redefines what God calls sin.

God uses suffering to encourage man to wake up to his situation.

Even Job’s trials were the result of the sin curse. Job’s friends even accused Job of some secret sin, but the suffering was brought on by Satan’s sin against Job and God.

We as believers can become desensitized to sin. We see it every day and tend to ignore it. Yet God keeps the suffering ever present in our lives in order to remind us personally of the curse of sin and its affect on the whole human race. He does not want us to become desensitized to sin, for it damages our relationship with Him. After all, this is what real life is all about.

So the question should come to our mind, “What about our freedom to choose, our will and our responsibility?”

And it is to that question, we turn today. We will consider texts that reveal man’s choice vs. God’s plan.

We will see Man and his free will

We will see how man will choice sinful actions

And we will see how to make the right choices.

Let’s begin with....

Examples of Man’s Choice vs. God’s Plan

A. Peter’s message at Pentecost (Acts 2:22-23, 37).

Acts 2:22–37 ESV

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ 29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’ 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Who physically crucified Christ?

The Romans and the Jewish leaders

Why did they do so?

They believed him to be a blasphemer.

They believed him to be a threat to them.

Jealousy, etc.

And yet, what does verse 22 say about WHO actually delivered Christ up?

God

By God’s plan, Jesus was delivered up through lawless men. These men were responsible for their actions and they acknowledged their choice in the matter.

However, God used MAN’S FREEDOM of choice to accomplish his plan.

B. Jesus acknowledges Judas's betrayal (Mt 26:20-24).

Matthew 26:20–24 ESV

20 When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

Judas was to blame for the choice he made (Jn. 6:64). Christ knew who would betray Him.

John 6:64 ESV

64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)

Was it Judas’s choice to betray Christ?

YES!

And YET....God predetermined that Christ would be betrayed and crucified. (We will consider this in more length next sermon in this series)

DESPITE that, Judas is responsible for his decision.

C. Peter and John’s imprisonment was predestined by God (Acts 4:24-28).

Acts 4:24–28 ESV

24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

The politicians gathered together against Christ AND against his disciples.

AND YET Acts 4:28 clearly states this was all by God’s purpose.

Nevertheless, these men were responsible for their actions.

What do these examples show?

God is sovereign and in complete control over all his creation.

Man is responsible and accountable for his choices.

BOTH are true.

They live in harmony and unison

God is so sovereign that he works man’s freedom to choice into his plan uses that freedom as a tool in his toolbox to accomplish his will.

Practical Application: It is clear that man is responsible for his decisions and these decisions are foreordained by God. We have a god given ability to choose, where as animals do not. (Psalm 32:9)

Psalm 32:8–11 ESV

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. 11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Animals act “without understanding.” They act on instinct, not with conscious decision making.

Do not be like them, David admonishes. CHOOSE to worship the Lord and act upon your WILL, your choice, not mere lack of understanding.

God is calling us to CHOOSE to worship and serve Him. And BY HIS intervention, we have the will and freedom to do so....or not.

SO, what does man and his free will involve?

Man and His Free Will

A. Our choices and consequences

1. God encourages man to make right choices (Dt. 30:19).

God admonished Israel...

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 ESV

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Despite what we see in scripture about God’s sovereign and complete control over all things, we see that God grants man the choice to choose and holds us responsible for it.

He expects us to CHOOSE to love and obey him.

2. “Choose today whom you will serve” (Josh. 24:14, 15).

Joshua 24:14–15 ESV

14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

What is the significance when someone CHOOSES to serve another? Why is that different than forced servitude?

Choosing to serve displays a humility, a respect, admiration, thankfulness, etc in the person who willingly chooses to serve. It shows a heart attitude. When you choose to serve another, you are leveraging all you have for their benefit.

Joshua is telling the people, they need to decide, WHOM will they serve? God, self, others?

Scripture (and history) tells us that when man chooses to worship and serve someone other than God, disaster results.

Why does God give man this choice if it brings so much hurt and damage?

Because it is in the CHOOSING that we reveal or deny our love for God.

It is in the CHOOSING that we expose our devotion, our desire, our heart.

God WANTS us to WANT to choose him.

Love is (what again).....unselfishly choosing for another’s highest good.

As it pertains to US toward God…we UNSELFISHLY choose to PUT HIS GLORY above our fleshly desire.

The problem is....with this choice comes the freedom to reject God.

3. Man does not choose to fear God (Prov. 1:29).

We considered this already when we began and as mentioned Romans 3. However, look as well at...

Proverbs 1:20–29 ESV

20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? 23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. 24 Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25 because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, 27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. 28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord,

What is the definition of a fool?

What does the fool do according to this passage?

One who rejects truth.

One who rejects discipline/correction/reproof.

One who, though perhaps possessing knowledge, does not possess wisdom and the proper use of that knowledge.

One who DOES NOT FEAR GOD.

Left to ourselves, every living man, woman, and child, would reject God.

You know what is so terrifying about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the men of the city WERE BLINDED by the angels AND THAT DID NOT DETER THEM FROM THE ACTION THAT DREW THEM TO LOTS HOUSE.

Their decision to NOT fear God was so total, that not even supernatural blindness over the entirety of the men in the city deterred them from the pursuit of their wicked sinfulness.

Their only god, in that moment, was their flesh. No fear of God existed.

THAT is the very definition of a fool.

OT Hebrew word - Fool, stupid, or shameless person. Describes not only one who hates knowledge and takes no pleasure in understanding but also one who displays a defective moral character.

Man, being fools, choose to REJECT God and not fear him, not honor him.

But man is given the freedom to make that choice…which by the very reality of that is also given the opportunity for the inverse…to fear God and obey him.

Every man is given the knowledge of God and the invitation to worship him, to fear him.

When they reject doing so, it is their choice…but they will bear the consequence that comes with it.

4. Do not choose the violent life (Prov. 3:31).

Proverbs 3:31 ESV

31 Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,

Why would any one envy such a life?

Because it promises to satisfy the pleasure of the flesh.

Gives vent to their emotion, their anger, which can feel good, at least for a time.

Makes them feel powerful and significant (the power they can wield over others).

What is the result though?

Death

Proverbs 3:32–35 ESV

32 for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence. 33 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous. 34 Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor. 35 The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace.

The violent life, however, is not a life that is lived in the fear of God. Thus, it ought to be rejected in our fear of God.

Instead of envying an evil man’s life, we ought to choose wisdom.

5. Choose wisdom (Prov. 16:16).

Proverbs 16:16 ESV

16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

The rich get their reward in the pleasures of the flesh.

The evil get their reward in the flesh.

But their end is horrific.

Defeating envy over the violent life, over the evil life is found in cherishing wisdom, of deferring pleasure for the eternal.

What is wisdom?

The proper application of knowledge.

Various OT ways it is translated....wisdom, aptitude, experience, good sense, skill.

NT denotes the idea of not only understanding something but also acting accordingly.

Wisdom it the skill of rightly applying the knowledge one possesses.

Our goal for life should be one of wisdom.

Consider Proverbs 8:1-21.

Proverbs 8:1–21 ESV

1 Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? 2 On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; 3 beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: 4 “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. 5 O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense. 6 Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right, 7 for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. 8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. 9 They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge. 10 Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, 11 for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. 12 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. 13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. 14 I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength. 15 By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; 16 by me princes rule, and nobles, all who govern justly. 17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. 18 Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. 19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. 20 I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, 21 granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

Wisdom heralds its case for it’s superiority and its’s worth. Thus, God admonishes us to choose wisdom’s way.

Wisdom which leads to a life that pleases God.

6. Choose to please God (Isa. 56:4).

Isaiah 56:3–5 ESV

3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

Isaiah 56 addresses salvation of foreigners and God’s dealings with them.

The emphasis is that those who repent, believe, and choose to please Christ, to seek him, they will find salvation and blessing.

Wisdom CHOOSES to fear God, to please God because it recognizes and humbles itself before His holiness.

2 Cor 5:9.

2 Corinthians 5:9 ESV

9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

Is our aim to please Christ in ALL we do?

I wish that we all could answer yes to that.

At the very least, is our aim to please him in ALL we do greater and more consistent today than it was yesterday?

Are we striving to GROW in our aim to please him in ALL we do?

It is our desperate plea that it should be.

We must make it our Aim to please him in all we do.

Like Mary, we ought to choose WORSHIP over him over even other good things.

7. Mary’s choice was to worship God (Lk. 10:41-42).

Luke 10:38–42 ESV

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

What is the circumstance here? Someone summaries what is going on?

What Martha wrong in what she was doing?

NO. Just in that moment, she chose a good thing instead of the BEST thing.

This does not make serving and doing wrong, as they CAN be an act of worship themselves.

However, there are times when “serving God” has become more about us than about God.

There are times when our serving is not worship of God but worship of self.

Martha, in this moment, had allowed the social pressure of ensuring good hospitality to override the better thing to sitting before Jesus’ feet and worshipping.

God invites us to worship him FIRST.

This is especially important during times of our life when we are under trial and uncertainty. The tendency is to make all of our interactions with God about supplication, about requests, and asking God to intercede in our lives. This can become so much so that we forget to just worship God for who he is.

I was meditating on this reality this week as I spent time in Psalm 9. David did make supplication to God…AFTER he spent time worshipping and adoring God for his attributes and works.

It struck me that sometimes I come to God straight with my requests before I spend time worshipping God for who He is.

We MUST CHOOSE to worship God as our HIGHEST priority BEFORE and OVER all other things.

In addition to these passages pointing to God admonishing us to make right choices, we many OT references to it as well.

Conclusion

Even though we may not comprehend how it all fits together, we have a choice on how we think and believe. Due to the fact we are born with a sin nature, the only choice we can make in sinful. As a result we experience suffering due to our poor sinful choices. But God desires our relationship and so He draws all men to Himself. We prove our love for Him by gladly obey Him. As we do we reduce the consequences of our sin and build our relationship with Him. IT IS OUR CHOICE.

Our choice holds in perfect harmony with God’s sovereign control over all.

And in this hope as we are ever growing together to become more like Jesus for the glory of God.

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