If you ask the average Christian if God is sovereign, they will assuredly answer, “Yes.” No surprise there. However, my hunch is that many Christians do not understand the fullness of God’s sovereignty. Yes, the Lord is called the “King of kings” (1 Timothy 6:15); however this title does not bind Him to the likeness of flawed human beings who lack God’s character, nature, and capabilities (e.g., omniscience, omnipotence).
An Earthly king is a mere shadow of our King in Heaven.
Theologians, in an effort to describe God’s sovereign will, have often categorized it into multiple types. For example, the late R. C. Sproul categorized it as God’s Decretive Will (ref: God’s divine decrees), Preceptive Will (ref: God’s commandments), and His Will of Disposition (ref: God’s desires). This is an effective way of peeling back the onion so that mere man might increase his wisdom on the topic of God’s sovereign will; however, the overarching Truth is that God’s will is always achieved. Not once in human history has God’s will failed to come to pass. In other words, no creature’s will has ever usurped God’s, for all things that come to pass are consistent with God’s sovereign will. Even things we humans chalk up as “chance” are ordained by God from eternity past.
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
– Proverbs 16:33
We are inclined to chip away at God’s sovereignty by supposing that God “allows” evil to exist because He’s somehow lost control over wicked people, but this is untrue.
The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.
– Proverbs 16:4
Since God is omniscient, unbound by the construct of time, His sovereign will is not only absolute, but the outcomes that we observe in time here on Earth have all been willed by God before human history even began.
I’d argue that the same Christian who said “yes” to the question about God being sovereign may feel a little uncomfortable right about now. Why? Human beings, regardless of what they say, are naturally inclined to look at God as “partially sovereign”. People will accept that God is sovereign – if/when He decides something simply must happen, He will certainly ensure it comes to pass – but they simultaneously leave space in their doctrine for man to assert his own will over God’s.
Let’s give Holy Scripture the floor for a moment and let it assert the Truth regarding the ubiquity of God’s sovereignty.
Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
– Psalm 115:3
Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
– Psalm 135:6
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.
– Proverbs 21:1
The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
– Proverbs 16:9
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.
– Proverbs 19:21
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
– Job 42:2
“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
– Isaiah 46:8-11
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
– Genesis 50:20
We mustn’t forget that all things happen on God’s timeline, not man’s.
These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
– John 8:20
Arguably the greatest consternation regarding God’s absolute sovereignty precipitates from the study of soteriology (the doctrine of salvation). What’s interesting is that most people will concede that God is sovereign enough to have created the Universe in six days (Genesis 1), number the days of our lives before we live them (Psalm 139:16), as well as the hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30), along with a host of other things (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8); however, when it comes to salvation, many Christians resort to a “partial sovereignty” viewpoint, as if God’s will is somehow a function of man’s. Is man held responsible for his belief in Jesus Christ for salvation? Of course!
Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
– Acts 16:30-31
A person who perseverates on man’s so-called “free will” in salvation is forgetting about all that we’ve just noted in Holy Scripture. If God is sovereign over all things (He is), then He is sovereign over salvation, too.
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
– Matthew 19:24-26
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.
– Ephesians 1:11
According to Holy Scripture, a person who’s been “predestined” for salvation was chosen by God from eternity past for that grace (the Bible refers to this as election). We mustn’t conflate the temporal decisions of men with the divine plan of God. Either you believe God is entirely sovereign, or you don’t. Paul believed the former.
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
– 2 Timothy 2:10
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.
– Titus 1:1-2
Ultimately, salvation is God’s business (technically, He could’ve chosen not to offer it). As such, it is His sovereign will that we must accept as the final word, even if our human nature cannot wrap its head around it. We must accept what God’s Word states so plainly – God is sovereign in all things.
If we abide in the Truth regarding God’s sovereignty (avoiding the temptation to partake in a ‘partial sovereignty’ viewpoint that caters to our human flesh), we are blessed!
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
– Daniel 4:34-37
There’s no such thing as partial sovereignty. God is sovereign over all things. Period.
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins