Sovereignty and Predestination

by Terry Wane Benton

The sovereignty of God would mean He controls what happens, but it does not mean He is always causing everything to happen. If God causes (directly) everything to happen a certain way:

• He causes us to think and do evil, sinful things. God denies this (James 1:13).
• We are not creatures of choice if God causes everything. Joshua said we can choose (Joshua 24:15; I Kings 18:21).
• Man cannot be “permitted….to go their own way” (Acts 14:16) if God causes everything.
• There is no need for Him to ever be jealous (Exodus 20:5) or angry, etc., that we did what was only in His control, and He caused it. If I planned something to happen and directed it to happen, it would be silly to get angry that it happened exactly as I planned.

So, controlling how far things are allowed to happen is still sovereignty, even though God does not cause all that is allowed to happen. We can see the controlling aspect of sovereignty in many examples:

• Jonah was allowed to choose whether to go to Nineveh, but was prevented from carrying out his disobedient choice. God acted to give Jonah a basis for changing his mind and direction. God did not cause Jonah to run, but God overruled the choice. This is an example of controlling sovereignty and not causing all that happens.
• Esther could choose to appeal to the king on behalf of the Jews, or God could raise up deliverance “from some other place” (Esther 4:14). So, God would control what happened to the Jews without causing each turn of events. God has options to bring about His will, even if one option closes. The option of using Esther was on the table, but if that option was taken off the table due to her choice, God would bring deliverance through another option. That is sovereignty.

The clear teaching of scripture is that God allows choice but sometimes overrules choice or redirects the outcomes of choice so that a larger purpose is accomplished. Israel had to be protected from annihilation so the Messiah could be brought into the world through this people. God’s promises cannot be overruled by the freewill of man even if man does have the free will to cut himself off from the favor and blessings of God.

Ephesians 1:11 says that we (Jesus’ church) have been “predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” This means that there is no way that evil would prevent God from being able to stop His determination to have a called-out body of saved people. This verse does not mean that every choice of man was really just programmed into man, but that God can overrule what is happening and redirect it (like in Jonah and Esther) so that it cannot foil God’s plan to have a body of saved people. Paul is not affirming that every minute detail of every thought of every person is preset to happen but rather God predetermined some things that would happen even if God had to control some evil choices and events to redirect them so that Jesus makes it to the cross, through resurrection and ascension and the Spirit calls people through the gospel. The church would happen and souls would be saved in the body of Christ.

Now, if Ephesians 1:11 is construed to mean that every minute detail of all things is already predetermined, then this contradicts that “He is not willing that any should perish” (II Peter 3:9). He could never say, “I would…but you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37), placing blame on the will of man. He could not say, “I wanted no one to know it, but I couldn’t hide” (Mark 7:24). He could not say “if” regarding blessings or curses (Deuteronomy 11:26-28) if what happens is already set to happen. God mentioned two options for God depending on what Israel does (Deuteronomy 28:2-9,15-20). It would be ludicrous to appeal to people to please “choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:15ff, especially verse 19). He would never say, “If you are willing and obedient” (Isaiah 1:19-20). There would never be a statement like, “If you…but if you will not…" (Jeremiah 22:4-5). You would never hear Paul say, “If you continue….if they do not continue in unbelief…” (Romans 11:22-23).

These verses show that sovereignty does not cause everything; by allowing choice in His creatures, He controls events so that the means of salvation remain open to man, and obedient believers will receive the planned blessings. The adversary does not win. God wins over evil in the end, accomplishes what He planned in having a kingdom of volunteers, and still allows man to choose life or death for himself.