· Theology Proper ·

Lecture Twenty Five:  Divine Decrees and Providence I

TH330 Systematic Theology I · Moody Bible Institute · Dr. Richard M. Weber

I. Introduction

“God is actively related to and involved in the creation at each moment, … [and that] creation is distinct from him.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 315)

“God is continually involved with all created things in such a way that he (1) keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them; (2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and (3) directs them to fulfill his purposes.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 315)

II. The Doctrine of Preservation

“You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.”  (Neh 9:6)

“God keeps all created things existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 316)

A. God Keeps All Created Things Existing

“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”  (Heb 1:3a)

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  (Col 1:17)

PantOn = “all things”

“In Him we … have our being.”  (Acts 17:28)

B. God Maintains the Created Properties of All Things

Hebrews 1:3a

“sustaining”= to carry, to bear.

God carries along these things. He created them with certain properties and then sustains and preserves His creation.

III. The Doctrine of Concurrence

“God cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 317)

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, …” (Eph 1:11)

“works out” energeO “accomplishes, works, brings about.”

IV. A Note on Causation

Primary and Secondary causes

Who established the relationship that the grass will grow. We have to look at the fact that there is a cause that does these things.

Created things act in orderly and predictable ways…creation will act in law and property. God is the one that works out all these events in conformity with His purpose.

God is the primary cause. He uses the secondary to accomplish these things. 

V. Some Examples of Divine Preservation and Concurrence

A. Some Examples from Inanimate Creation

“Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding…”  (Ps 148:7-8)

“He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’  So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor.  The animals take cover; they remain in their dens.  The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds.  The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen.  He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them.  At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth.”  (Job 37:6-13)

“…He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  (Matt 5:45)

Cf. Job 38:12, 22-32; Ps 1-4:4, 14; 135:6; 137:7

GOD IS ACTIVE IN THE “INANIMATE THINGS” IN THE WORLD

B. Some Examples from Animals

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”  (Matt 6:26)

Cf. Ps 104:27-29; Job 38:39-41; Matt 10:29

C. An Example of a Seemingly “Random” or “Chance” Event

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” (Prov 16:33).

D. Some Examples of Human Affairs

“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”  (Acts 17:26).

“All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.  He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.  No one can hold back his hand or say to him:  ‘What have you done?’” (Dan 4:35)

Cf. Job 12:23; Ps 22:28; Acts 14:16

E. Some General Examples from Everyday Life

“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  (Ps 139:16)

“Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.”  (Job 14:5)

“But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man…”  (Gal 1:15-16)

“…God’s providential work of concurrence extends to all aspects of our lives.  Our words, our steps, our movements, our hearts, and our abilities are all from the Lord.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 321)

VI. The Role of Human Free Will and Choice

“[O]ur choices are real choices and do have significant effects, because God has made us in such a wonderful way that he has endowed us with the property of willing choice.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 321)

“Exactly how God combines his providential control with our willing and significant choices, Scripture does not explain to us.  But rather than deny one aspect or the other (simply because we cannot explain how both can be true), we should accept both in an attempt to be faithful to the teaching of all Scripture.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 321)

“To say God could not make a world in which he causes us to make willing choices … is simply to limit the power of God.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 322)