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Does God’s Sovereignty Require His Will Always Be Done?Our understanding of God’s sovereignty as it relates to God’s will influence our biblical interpretations. It’s important to understand what we believe God’s sovereignty or holiness to mean. Our view of God’s character, based on our interpretations, can make it less or more difficult for us and others to turn to God during difficult times. The word sovereign did not originate with the biblical languages. “Sovereign” doesn’t even appear in the KJV translation. The NIV often replaces God with Sovereign and translate Lord God as Sovereign Lord. When we say God is sovereign or holy, we think of God as being Ruler or King with all power and authority. Jeremiah 10:10 says: “But, the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King.” A New Testament example that conjures up thoughts of God’s sovereignty is God as the Potter having full authority over humans as the clay (Rom 9:19). Scriptures do not define what sovereignty means. We need to be aware of our assumptions as well as look for contextual clues how to define King or authority in passages such as the above. The Apostle Paul says that the Bible is the inspired words of God recorded through human vessels (2 Tim 3:16-17), so the primacy of Scripture is important. But, we have so many different interpretations of Scriptures, because our interpretations are fallible. Our assumptions influence our interpretation of Scripture whether we are aware of it or not. Human reasoning is not the enemy though. We are made in the image of God, so we have some ideas of God’s true nature. Believers have the Holy Spirit, who is the Truth, residing within them. As it relates to God’s character, rational and relational coherence is as important as theological coherence. A consideration is if our interpretation seems plausible based on what we believe a loving God would be like. When there are two debatable interpretations that can stand up to scrutiny, I suggest we err on the side that portrays God as the most relational and rational to the human?mind. For example, Hell as endless torture, if there is a defensible exegetical alternative, should be rejected. Debatable opinions of Scripture must not be a stumbling block for others to understand and know God. Let’s not be quick to claim God’s ways are mysterious if there are more reasonable interpretationsThree Assumptions About God’s SovereigntyScriptures don’t definitely confirm that God’s sovereign will can or cannot be opposed temporarily or forever. Scriptures are clear though that God is the only Ruler, the King of kings, and Lord of lords (I Tim 6:15; i.e. I Tim 1:17). There are a few main viewpoints when it comes to God’s sovereign will. The first assumption is that God’s will can’t be opposed, not even temporarily, possibly to protect God’s holiness. Evil obviously exist so in protecting the idea that nothing can happen outside God’s will, it is suggested that God preordained evil in the beginning to serve some purpose. I will speak more to this below. It is assumed evil was God’s intent from the beginning of Creation, since nothing can happen outside of God’s will. A second assumption is that God’s will is only temporarily opposed. Some are not comfortable with the notion that God’s will is not eventually carried out. Universalists and non-Universalists may actually agree that God isn’t sovereign if His will is forever thwarted. Since not all choose salvation Non-Universalists may argue for exclusive election to defend God always get His human here on earth. Many Universalists may be influenced in their beliefs because God can only be sovereign if God eventually accomplishes His will. Since God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (I Tim 2:4 i.e. 2 Peter 3:9), the logical conclusion is that God eventually saves all via a postmortem experience. I suggest God desires to save all, but God may not be able to save everyone while still respecting their freedom. A third assumption I hold to is that God’s will is opposed in the short-term and long-term yet God remains sovereign. No bible verse says that God’s will is always done. Scriptures instead imply that God’s will is not always accomplished, beginning in the Garden of Eden. Whether our theology likes it or not, things happen not according to God's will because of freedom. God cannot create life in its very essence, impossible to exist without death, violence, and suffering, and yet there be genuine free will. Not even God can force genuine love.? The only way for God to avoid rebellion against His will was to never risk creating or never allow freedom. God can be sovereign and yet people still reject Him. This is the clearest meaning of all the Scriptures that speak of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. God is not behind evil but He has not lost control of History. God, unlike humans, doesn’t have to control to be in control.Salvation And The CrossOne’s assumption that God’s sovereignty means His will is always accomplish can influence interpretations of who salvation and the Cross were intended for, as well as explanations regarding the presence of evil and God’s goodness. Calvinism suggests God only elects some to Heaven ahead of time while excluded others. A belief underlying this doctrine is God’s will is never thwarted. If God’s will is for all to be saved, all must be saved. Clearly, not all are saved on this earth. God wins because He predestines ahead of time who He wishes to save. Such a viewpoint is indefensible exegetically and morally. We would accuse earthly parents of immorality if they showed similar favoritism toward their children.Jesus’s death on the Cross is suggested to not be for all as all are clearly not saved. The assumption is that God’s sovereign work on the Cross cannot fail. His death cannot be in vain. Some may be persuaded to interpret the purpose of Jesus dying on the Cross from a legal standpoint, so to avoid God’s sovereign will failing. A relational view of the Cross suggests Jesus die for all. Traditional, legal views do not adequately convey God’s love reasons for the Cross. Jesus' death was a depiction of how far God will go to have a relationship with us, not how far God will go to get sins paid for. Scriptures can be used to justify the legal or relationship view of the Cross. I Tim 2:6 says Jesus: “gave himself as a ransom for all people...” though it doesn’t say the ransom was to appease God. John 3:17 says “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” I believe the Bible as a whole suggests the Cross was not to satisfy some need in God at the expense of His Son but to satisfy a need in us at His expense. God didn’t need to be appeased by human sacrifice like other OT gods. Talking about the Cross in legalistic rather than relational terms doesn’t convey God’s true love. Law court judges care to impart justice; a biblical judge cared to liberate and persuade to do right. The Cross is not about payment but empowerment from sin and death by trusting in God. The Cross is not a one-time act of justice. Jesus exhorts us to take up the Cross daily and follow him (Lk 9:23). The Cross demonstrates the length to which God will go to influence us to trust in Him. Jesus’ death was God’s attempt in human flesh to win our hearts over and provoke repentance and trust. The Cross was not about God’s wrath and justice but His mercy and love. The Cross enables us to know God sees us as Christ as our sins are nailed to the Cross, so we can be comfortable with God despite our guilty feelings. The Cross can persuade us to follow in Jesus’ footsteps to trust in God than our own wisdom.The Origins Of EvilIt may be suggested God is the originator is evil, contrary to an understanding of a good God, because of an assumption about God’s sovereignty. It may be thought that God preordained evil in the beginning if assumed nothing can happen outside of God’s will. Genesis 2:17 says: “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will certainly die.” For some this is straightforward. God is the only Creator and God originated evil by creating the tree of knowledge. We usually don’t speak of trees as possessing evil. Evil is not a created thing. You can’t see, touch, feel, smell or hear evil. The writer clearly says evil originates with the thoughts of the human heart (Gen 6:5). God wanted Adam and Eve to have knowledge of good and evil to be prepared. God didn’t want the first couple to be caught off guard by choices in a free world that create evil. Freedom misused could be the demise of Adam and Eve and future generations. Loving parent always seek to warn their loved ones of dangers ahead.James 1:13-15 explains the origins of evil: “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone, but each of you is tempted when you are dragged away by your own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” If God created evil, this implies He is not pleased with His Creation but this contradicts Genesis 1:31 when God declares: “God saw all that he made, and it was very good…” God could only say this if He did not create evil, since the Bible declares God hates evil. Unless Scriptures is clear to the contrary, intuitively we understand that evil comes from the hearts of humans. God didn’t create evil that leads to sin. Evil stems from misguided desires. God is simply incapable of being the author or originator of evil because of His character. Let’s not lay at God’s feet the evil choices of others.Conclusion: Our interpretations can be influenced by assumed beliefs such as what God sovereignty means. In Genesis we read how Joseph’s provocative ways leads to brotherly jealousy. Joseph’s brothers entertained murderous thoughts and eventually sold him into slavery, only for Joseph to rise to power in Egypt. It is suggested Genesis 50:20 speaks to God’s mysterious ways in that God preordained evil to accomplish His will when Joseph says to his brothers: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of lives.” Is it mysterious though how divine sovereignty and human responsibility work together in this story? God never desires or wills evil to accomplish good. God always desires good. In this story God simply doesn’t interference with the freedom to act in immoral ways. There is no mystery how God, with His powers, can bring good from evil.As mentioned rational and relational coherence is as important as theological coherence. We must consider if our interpretation seems plausible based on what we believe a loving God would be like. When there are two debatable interpretations that can stand up to scrutiny, we must err on the side that portrays God as the most relational and rational to the human?mind. For example the only reason I can think of as to why one would believe God is the originator of evil is because they believe this is the correct interpretations of Scriptures. Debatable opinions of Scripture must not be a stumbling block for others to understand and know God. Let’s not be quick to claim God’s ways are confusing or irrational if there are more reasonable interpretations. ................
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