sovereignty – La Vista Church of Christ

Sovereignty and Predestination

Jeffrey Hamilton — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:24:01 +0000

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.

God Can Make Use of It

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:56:58 +0000

by Zeke Flores

"But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth" (Exodus 9:16).

God tells Pharaoh something surprising. Pharaoh's continued existence isn't a sign of strength; it's a platform for God's glory. God is using even Pharaoh’s stubbornness to reveal His power and make His name known.

This verse should reframe how we think about opposition and delay. Sometimes the things that stand against us aren’t obstacles to God’s plan; they’re platforms for it. God can use resistance to highlight His strength. He can use delays to deepen your trust. He can use difficult people or situations to display His faithfulness in ways comfort never could.

Think about the challenges in your life that feel immovable. What if God is using them to show you something about Himself? What if the very thing you wish would disappear is the thing God is using to reveal His power? Pharaoh wasn’t in control; God was, and the same is true in your life.

Nothing stands so tall that God can’t use it for His purpose.

God and the Nations

Jeffrey Hamilton — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:14 +0000

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/God-and-the-Nations.mp3

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton

Download Audio

Text: John 19:10-11

I. How involved is God in the activities of the nations?

A. We know that God doesn’t change, and from the teachings in the prophets of the Old Testament, we find that God was heavily involved in the governments of various nations.

B. If it was true then, we can expect it to be true today. We may not have God telling us His perspective, but a lack of information doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

II. Assyria

A. Assyria was a very ancient nation, surviving for nearly 3,000 years.

1. But under Tiglath-Pileser, Assyria began a period of rapid expanse to become a world empire. Tiglath-Pileser invaded Syria and Palestine to extend his borders.

2. Under Shalmaneser (727 - 722 BC) and Sargon (722-705 BC), northern Israel (Samaria) was overthrown and taken into captivity.

3. Judah was threatened while King Hezekiah reigned, but God intervened. This was recorded for us by Isaiah.

B. God used Assyria

1. Assyria was just an instrument of destruction in God’s hands - Isaiah 10:5-6

2. Yet Assyria did not recognize that this was happening - Isaiah 10:7

3. Even though God was using Assyria for His ends, Assyria wasn’t guiltless - Isaiah 10:12-14

a. Notice how many “I”s appear in verses 13 and 14

b. Assyria took no notice of God. The king was operating as he thought fit.

c. But God knew - Isaiah 10:15-16

4. Thus God told Judah to be patient - Isaiah 10:24-25

C. It wasn’t long before God rescued Judah - II Kings 19:34-37

D. A century later, Zephaniah predicted the ultimate end of Nineveh, capital of Assyria - Zephaniah 2:12-15

E. Nahum described its fall - Nahum 1:14

F. For two and a half millenniums Nineveh has been buried in the wastelands, only recently found by archeologists.

III. Babylon

A. God used the Babylonians to overthrown the Assyrians.

1. Naboplasser of the Chaldeans (626-604 BC) began the assault

2. His son Nebuchadnezzar (604-526 BC) completed the task in his first year of his reign.

B. Before the rise of Nebuchadnezzar, Habakkuk came to God with a problem: there was widespread evil in Judah - Habakkuk 1:3-4

1. God’s answer was that He planned to use the Chaldeans to punish Judah - Habakkuk 1:5-6

2. At the time God declared it, people would not have guess that such a thing could happen.

C. But if God raises up a nation to punish the wicked, can that nation be guilty? - Habakkuk 1:11

D. This puzzled Habakkuk. Why would the righteous God use a wicked nation to punish God’s people? - Habakkuk 1:12-17

E. But God makes clear in five pronouncements of woe that the Babylonians would be punished - Habakkuk 2:6-8, 9, 12-13, 15-17, 18-19

1. It is the Chaldeans who would face these woes, but God is telling this to a prophet in Judah.

2. But notice that the woes are in general terms, people with these characteristics will face the wrath of God.

3. There is no arguing with God - Habakkuk 2:20

F. The Chaldeans came and in 587-586 BC Judah was carried off into captivity

1. Among those captive was Daniel, who rose to prominence in the Babylonian empire

2. The stories were encouraging to the people

3. But we must not overlook that a major theme of Daniel was that God rules over the nations.

a. When Nebuchadnezzar had his dream that none of his magicians could say or interpret, Daniel declared - Daniel 2:21

b. When Nebuchadnezzar had another dream - Daniel 4:17

c. Years later, when Nabonidas was king and his son Belshazzar was ruling in Babylon, Daniel was called to interpret some writings on a wall and he reminded Belshazzar of those events - Daniel 5:21

G. When Babylon had served God’s purpose, it too was overthrown - Jeremiah 51:11

1. Nearly two hundred years in advance, God declared through Isaiah - Isaiah 45:1

2. Yet he too was a tool who did not know he was being used - Isaiah 45:5

3. It was told long in advance so that people would know who was in control - Isaiah 45:6-8

IV. The Romans

A. Clearly God raised up the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Medes for a purpose

1. Even though they did not know they were being used.

2. Though used, they committed crimes and were guilty of those crimes

3. God is in control - Isaiah 46:11

a. God uses the righteous, but He will also make use of the vilest man if that serves His purpose.

B. When Jesus stood before Pilate

1. Pilate thought he was in charge - John 19:10

2. Jesus said it was otherwise - John 19:11

3. Jesus was handed over to Pilate by Caiaphas. Both Caiaphas and Pilate were abusing their power, but Caiaphas had the greater responsibility.

4. No power, including Pilate’s, existed without God’s approval - Romans 13:1

C. Jesus holds all authority - Matthew 28:18

1. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth - Revelation 1:5

2. Lord of lords and King of kings - Revelation 17:14; 19:16

D. In describing the destruction of Jerusalem, imagery is borrowed from the prophets to emphasize that Jesus is in control of the nations

1. Seen by all - Matthew 24:27-28

2. Power - Matthew 24:29-31

3. As spoken of the Egyptians - Isaiah 19:1-2, 11-12

4. Or against Babylon - Isaiah 13:11; Jeremiah 4:19-23; Ezekiel 32:7-8

5. Just as God used the nations to punish Israel in the past, Jesus was bringing in the Romans to destroy Jerusalem.

V. Such continues today

A. God opposes the wicked - Romans 1:18; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:5-6

B. The governments were created by God - Colossians 1:16

1. If God made them, then they are under His control, to be used as instruments of His wrath, to accomplish His purpose.

C. Even in a crumbling, decaying world, such knowledge should give us encouragement.

1. Christ’s rule is absolute.

[Based on “God and the Nations Today” by Homer Hailey, 1952]

Is God in Control?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 17:44:02 +0000

by Doy Moyer

We often hear that “God is in control” when things in this world aren’t going well. With all the violence and evil, we wonder, how can God be in control? Are we saying that God makes bad people do bad things? Are we saying that God creates the violence and evil? It may seem counterproductive to say that God is in control while, at the same time, seeing the world fall apart around us. How can God be in control?

According to the dictionary, control means to “exercise restraint or direction,” to “hold in check,” or to have power over. I believe God is in control, even with all the evil in the world. He is sovereign and has all authority in heaven and earth (cf. Matthew 28:18). What I don’t believe is that God micromanages and coerces every decision, negates free will, pulls everyone’s strings like a puppet master, and makes all the bad things happen. That is not what is meant by affirming that God is in control. He doesn’t force everything, nor is He to be blamed for the evil.

What is the alternative? If God is not in control, then what is? Are we to accept that chaos or even the devil reigns and that God is taking a hands-off approach (i.e., a form of deism)? Are we to think that our exercise of free will has more power to control outcomes than God? We need to think about what we are accepting if we deny God’s control.

We affirm that God sits on His throne with all authority and maintains boundaries, even as He allows free will to operate and bear consequences. We are saying that God “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?’” (Daniel 4:35). “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases” (Psalms 115:3). When statements like these were made, people were evil then, too. Being in control is not forced coercion. Indeed, the fact that God allows people to make such choices and do bad things shows self-controlled patience and long-suffering on His part as He desires that none perish, but all come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). God is in control when He gives people up to the consequences of their sinful choices (Romans 1:24-32). Sometimes He does give people what they are asking for (negatively). Do not, for a moment, think that God is not in control just because we see terrible consequences from terrible behavior.

Consider the book of Job. Was God in control? The first two chapters show that He maintained control throughout, though He allowed bad things to happen to Job. It may be difficult to understand why, but our lack of understanding is not evidence that God is not in control. He set the limits of what Satan could do. The line was drawn by God, Satan acted freely within those boundaries, and the resolution at the end was of God’s making (a marked proof that Satan was wrong in his charges and pursuits).

When Daniel interpreted the “writing on the wall,” he referenced what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, stating that “the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will” (Daniel 5:21). When Jehoshaphat sought help from God, his prayer began, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you” (II Chronicles 20:6). This is what we mean when we say that God is in control.

During all of these times, evil and sin were in the world. Yet God maintained control and brought about resolutions according to His will. He allows free will. He allows evil to bear its consequences. He also brings an end to these things, sets limits, and uses such events to serve greater purposes (e.g., using Babylon to bring judgment upon Judah; see Habakkuk).

God can corral events to bring about good, as well. This is one reason we pray, for what can prayer do if God is not in control? We think of God’s providence and His use of what appear to be coincidences to bring people together and create positive outcomes (e.g., Esther, Joseph). The truth is that we just don’t know or understand what is going on behind the scenes. This is why it is upon us to trust Him. We don’t know what He knows, understand what He understands, or have the wisdom that He has.

God also controls the timing of the Day of Judgment, a day in which “He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). We can’t afford to think God isn’t in control. We just need to see that His control also allows us the freedom to make choices and provides us with the solution to sin by His grace through Jesus Christ.

The Sovereignty of God (Benton)

Jeffrey Hamilton — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 17:43:34 +0000

by Terry Wane Benton

I recently saw someone suggest that Calvinists would change John 3:19 to read: "And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, but I sovereignly chose not to regenerate them, so they had no choice but to love darkness instead."

This would need to be the reading if the doctrine of Calvinism and its spin on God’s “sovereignty” were true. Their take on God’s sovereignty is that God rules every moment and every thought and action, and therefore, if any are lost forever or saved forever, it will be because God ruled and made it happen that way. The word “sovereign” means ultimate authority with no higher power above it. God has ultimate authority, which includes the authority to give us certain powers of choice, and we can never be as high or higher in authority than God.

Even when we exercise choice, or think we did, God has the power to manage and direct that choice and still accomplish His will. In the case of evil, He can overrule it by destroying an evil city like Sodom and Gomorrah so that the evil those people choose will not overrule God’s greater plan. If He sees that the world is becoming so evil that it needs to be destroyed by a flood to manage His promised plan to bring a “seed” into the world and thereby to give a blessing to the cursed world, a blessing to reverse the power of sin and death on those who choose life over death, it is accomplished because He is sovereign. Evil will never be victorious over God. In the end, God ultimately wins over evil.

God sets before us life and death and urges us to “choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Therefore, we really have a choice, the power to choose either life or death. If we choose death, that does not overrule God's sovereignty. It just means that we choose death and suffer the consequences of our choice. God has a right to set up the world however He sees fit. If He wants to give us freedom to make our own choice, He has the sovereign right to set it up that way.

Joseph had some brothers who chose to hate Joseph and sell him into slavery in Egypt. They “meant it for evil,” but their choice did not interfere with God’s sovereignty. He still had the power to turn their evil intentions into something good for Joseph and the world. Joseph understood the sovereignty of God and said to his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20) to save many people alive. God is never overruled in His plan just because humans have free will to make evil plans.

If sovereignty means that God has to program every thought and action in every human, to have control, then why would He ever grieve at how He programmed us? It grieves God when we choose evil, but He would never grieve that we did what He programmed us to do. See the many passages that speak of “grieving” the Spirit.

In the tenets of Calvinism as expressed in such creeds as the Westminster Confession of Faith, God has preordained “whatever comes to pass.” If someone is not regenerated, it is because God did not want that person to be saved. People cannot choose to adopt the things that would initiate a new direction and a new heart. It all has to be God’s reprogramming of the thoughts and intentions He previously programmed. We have no choice but to love the darkness unless God arbitrarily chose us to be among the fortunate divine selections. In this case, the blame that “men loved darkness rather than light” becomes the fault of no man, since he cannot do other than what he was designed to do. The false spin on sovereignty can only mean that “I (God) sovereignly chose not to regenerate them, so they had no choice but to love darkness instead.” Many modern Calvinists will insist this is not what they believe, but they are simply refusing to accept the logical consequences of their doctrine. Under their spin on God’s sovereignty, I really had no choice in writing what I wrote! You had no choice but to read it and respond positively or negatively. Think about it! I have no choice but to reject such thinking!

Jesus’ Dual Role in Our Lives

Jeffrey Hamilton — Sun, 28 Dec 2025 21:36:13 +0000

by Scott Smelser
via InLight Media

Jesus is more than just our Savior — He's also our Lord. That's a whole other aspect to God's Son that has huge implications for our relationship with Him, and even for the way we live. Scott Smelser dives deep into this important topic in this video.

The Transcendence of God

Jeffrey Hamilton — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 17:02:45 +0000

by Tommy Peeler

"Thus says the LORD, Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool, Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hands made all these things, Thus all these things came into being, declares the LORD. But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:1-2).

The Utter Transcendence of God

His level of existence is far above and beyond anything we are or can imagine. This is a common theme in Isaiah:

“And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11, 17). In context, the LORD is bringing judgment on human pride.
“In the year King Uzziah’s death I saw the LORD sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).
“Now I will arise, says the LORD, Now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up” (Isaiah 33:10).
“Who has measured the waters in the hallow of His hand, and marked off the heaven by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure and weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in a pair of scales” (Isaiah 40:12).
“It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers” (Isaiah 40:22).
“For thus says the high and exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is Holy, I will dwell on a high and holy place” (Isaiah 57:15).

God's Transcendence Demands a Humble and Contrite Spirit

The word "contrite" is used elsewhere in the Old Testament, specifically about Mephibosheth (II Samuel 4:4; 9:3). Mephibosheth is crippled, and the word for "crippled" is the same word translated as "contrite" here. The word stresses a sense of inability and dependence. The LORD wants us to be broken, to see that the answers are not in man but in God. This helps us understand better (Acts 3:1-10).

We can be led to be humble and contrite by:

The intensity of our troubles (Psalms 34:18). See Psalms 34:6-7, 17-20.
The magnitude of our sins (Psalms 51:16-17). See Psalms 51:3-5.
The overwhelming glory of God (Isaiah 66:1-2).

Trembling Before God’s Word

"And who trembles at My word" (Isaiah 66:2, 5; Ezra 9:4; 10:3). The only other times the word trembling is used are in Judges 7:3 and I Samuel 4:13. These are the ones “who take seriously what He says and obey Him” [Willis, p. 476]. The humble tremble in looking at His instructions “for they realized that He knew them better than they knew themselves” [Beyer, p. 239]. This is in contrast to the dismal present when God speaks, and Israel does not hear or listen (Isaiah 65:12; 66:4). “The transcendent and creative God is fully accessible to the one who is humble, contrite, and respectful of God’s word” [Childs, 540]. See I Samuel 15:22; II Samuel 7:6-7.

Does God make use of sinners?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 03:33:39 +0000

Question:

Good day sir,

In the context of the potter and the clay, is it simply explained that God uses sinners in their sinful condition doing wrong or sinning to accomplish His purpose?

Answer:

The illustration of the potter and the clay is used several times in the Scriptures.

"Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, and whose deeds are done in a dark place, and they say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?" You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, "He did not make me"; or what is formed say to him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?" (Isaiah 29:15-16).

"Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker -- an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'? Woe to him who says to a father, 'What are you begetting?' Or to a woman, 'To what are you giving birth?'" (Isaiah 45:9-10).

"There is no one who calls on Your name, who arouses himself to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have delivered us into the power of our iniquities. But now, O LORD, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD, nor remember iniquity forever; behold, look now, all of us are Your people" (Isaiah 64:7-9).

"The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, 'Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will announce My words to you.' Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 'Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?' declares the LORD. 'Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it.' So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds."' But they will say, 'It's hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.' Therefore thus says the LORD, 'Ask now among the nations, Who ever heard the like of this?'" (Jeremiah 18:1-13).

"What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory" (Romans 9:14-23).

I don't know which one you had in mind, but we can point out what is being taught in all of them. In each illustration, the point is that God is in control. He determines what happens, not men.

The sinner who rejects God is no less subject to God's use than those who follow God. Thus, we find in the Old Testament God using Samson, even though he did not live a godly life. He used the idolatrous nations around Israel to punish Israel for their sins. God made use of Pharaoh to demonstrate His might and to push the Israelites out of slavery.

Men are also unable to critique God's actions. People complain that they weren't born rich, beautiful, or intelligent, yet they are still expected to live godly lives and do good. Job lost everything he had, but he learned that he could not say that God had made a mistake or overlooked something. His righteousness did not earn him special privileges.

This is the Father's world, and we are His creation.

Confessing Jesus as Lord

Jeffrey Hamilton — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 15:56:05 +0000

by Doy Moyer

There is no conversion to Christ and His kingdom without recognizing He is King. In the context of teaching the message of good news, peace, happiness, and salvation, the proclamation is made, “Your God reigns!” (Isaiah 52:7). This is the passage quoted by Paul in Romans 10, showing the need for preaching and the hearing of the word as it produces faith (Romans 10:15-17). In the same chapter, confessing that Jesus is “Lord” is part of salvation (Romans 10:9).

Once we acknowledge the Kingship of Jesus, there will be no need for the typical faith vs. works debate, for anyone who bows in total allegiance to Jesus as King will not balk at the idea of doing what the King commands, nor will the person wait around before taking action. There will be no pushback, no requiring that the King answer to us concerning His will, and no thought that obedience somehow merits salvation. The King offers grace and tells us what He wants us to do. Both are true, and both work together. Obedience is not meritorious, but it is necessary because the King has spoken. Obedience to Christ is a primary difference between Christians and everyone else.

Rulers and Authorities

Jeffrey Hamilton — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:38:09 +0000

by Doy Moyer

All things were created by, through, and for Jesus, including all “thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” (Colossians 1:16).

Paul elsewhere calls these not only rulers and authorities but “cosmic powers over this present darkness” and “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” These are the ones against whom we battle, as opposed to flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12).

At some point, these spiritual powers and forces, created by and for the Lord, turned against Him and His creation. This is one of the reasons Jesus came into this world to die. By dying and being raised again, He not only offered forgiveness but also “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:15).

This is why, by trusting in God, we can be victorious. By His grace, He gives us victory over sin and death, including the spiritual forces of wickedness, and assures us of our salvation. Christ died to defeat death. By dying with Him, death is defeated for us, too. This is why we can be born again to a living hope (I Peter 1:3-5).