A Big Deal

Almost every Christian I know agrees that God is Sovereign. Almost every Christian I know goes on to mitigate that Sovereignty either in word or deed. "God is a gentleman," they might say. "He'll never intrude where He's not wanted." Or, "Sure, He's Sovereign, and in His Sovereignty He's surrendered some of that sovereignty to us." More often, though, it's found in how they think when the question isn't in view. "Is the church in trouble?" "Oh, yes. If something doesn't happen I'm afraid it will vanish." "If you don't get involved in politics, God's hands are tied in saving this nation." I'm hoping you're getting the picture.

Any reader of this blog is surely aware that the Sovereignty of God is a critical concern of mine. I cannot imagine that God could have made it any clearer in Scripture. He cannot, for instance, have surrendered some of His Sovereignty to humans because He is the "only Sovereign" (1 Tim 6:15). It makes no sense to think that God won't interfere in humans affairs when He's not wanted given the vast number of biblical events when He did just that. (Ask Paul if God is a "gentleman" in that sense (Acts 9:1-6).) You can't read about God saying, "It was I who kept you from sinning against Me" (Gen 20:6) and think that God doesn't interject Himself in human choices. It makes no sense to find passages like the one that says God "works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Eph 1:11) or that the Lord does as He pleases (Psa 115:3; Psa 135:6) or Nebuchadnezzar's elegant, "None can stay His hand or say to Him, 'What have you done?'" (Dan 4:35) and come away thinking that God is in any way less than absolutely Sovereign. But we do.

So what? What does it matter? I'll tell you what it matters.

First, God declares about Himself that He is absolutely Sovereign. To deny that is to side with Satan (Gen 3:1-5). To deny that is to suppress the truth about God (Rom 1:18-19). To mitigate or diminish what God claims for Himself is to mitigate or diminish God. Second, the doctrine of God's unique ("only") Sovereignty isn't minor. It matters. In it is salvation itself (Eph 1:3-6). God's plan for saving humans is predicated on it (Acts 2:23; Acts 4:26-28). Absolutely essential. Beyond this make-or-break of Christianity itself, it is critical for Christian living. "We know," Paul says, "that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom 8:28). But if God is only mostly Sovereign, we don't know that. Scripture says, "We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Rom 5:3-5) Nice thought, but only valid if He actually is Sovereign and can actually pull this off despite His enemies' best efforts. Jude says of God that He is "able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy" (Jude 1:24), a pleasant idea as long as no other "sovereign" (including me) doesn't interfere. Indeed, all of God's promises are rooted in His ability to deliver, but that is in question if He is that gentleman or has surrendered His Sovereignty to Man. (Mind you, you can't both surrender Sovereignty and still be Sovereign. That doesn't even make sense.) Only in God's Sovereignty does prayer make sense because if He's not Sovereign, how can we expect Him to supply? Only in God's Sovereignty does Evangelism make sense because, given the nature of the unregenerate human (Eph 2:1-3; Rom 8:7; 1 Cor 2:14; etc.), there is no chance that they'll get it. If God is Sovereign, Jesus's claim, "I will build My church" (Matt 16:18) is reassuring, but if He's not, it looks bleak for the church. I am thoroughly relieved when Joseph tells his brothers, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good" (Gen 50:20) because that means that a Sovereign God can use all sorts of evil in this world for His good purposes. Otherwise ...

I've only touched on some of the concepts and ramifications here. Suffice it to say it's not a little thing. Either God is the "only Sovereign" or He is not. If He is, then we can have overwhelming confidence and courage in obeying Him and following Him and relying on Him. If He is anything less than that, there's very little we can be sure of. (One thing I think we can be ssure of if He is not Sovereign is that we can't understand the Bible with any clarity. After that it's all downhill.) His Sovereignty is critical to the Christian Faith. Perhaps Christians need to do some more critical thinking about it.