In Eric Bechler's sermon titled 'Of God's Decree,' based on the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689, the key theme is understanding God's eternal and unchangeable decree. It explores God's sovereignty, predestination, and the perceived conflict between divine will and human free will, addressing common objections to the doctrine. The sermon elaborates on the characteristics of God's decree, emphasizing its eternal, sovereign, infallible, and Christ-centered nature, among others. It asserts that God decrees all things, including the occurrence of sin, yet remains pure and not the author of sin. The role of secondary causes and human agency within God's decree is explained, maintaining that while God's will is supreme, human choices are made freely. Biblical examples, such as Joseph's story, illustrate how God can use evil for good. The sermon concludes by affirming that God's decree gives meaning to life, encouraging trust in His divine plan.
A reading today from the Second London Baptist Confession of 1689 comes from chapter three of God's decree. Paragraph one. God hath decreed in himself from all eternity by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably. All things whatsoever comes to pass, yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin, nor hath fellowship with any therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established, in which appears His wisdom in disposing all things and power and faithfulness in accomplishing His decree. Okay, our focus over the next seven weeks will be on God's decree, specifically God's sovereignty, predestination, and supposed conflict between God's will and man's free will, which have caused much confusion and many disagreements over the ages.
We'll discuss God's decree today, what it is, objections to it, and while going through this touch on the controversy of his decree impacting sin and free will. Since our paragraph begins with God's decree, let's first understand what it means. Noah Webster defines decree in a theological sense as the predetermined purpose of God, the purpose or determination of an immutable being whose plan of operations is like himself unchangeable. William Perkins, one of the earlier Puritans, describes it as such, God's plan is the wise decree of the Supreme King, neither an idle foreknowledge nor an arbitrary will, but an act engaging both God's supreme intelligence and sovereign design. Well what are some of the characteristics of God's decree?
Dr. Beeke offers 12 characteristics of God's decree that might help us better understand. It is eternal. It was established before the work of creation. It is sovereign, made by the Lord most high.
It is infallible. It will never fail. It is immutable. It cannot change. It is unconditional.
William Ames explains, there is no cause of God's will outside of itself. God's foreknowledge depends upon His decree and not the other way around. He knows what will happen because He has decreed what will happen. A conditional decree would teach us to say, God wills this or that if we will, rather than more properly to say, I will do this or that if God's wills. We see that in James 415.
God's decree is specific. It is not a general or strategic plan. It is comprehensive from within the smallest somatomic particle to the farthest reaches of the universe before time began until after the end of days. All depend upon God's command and His divine decree. It is mysterious.
It is beyond our ability to reason or understand. We see only what he has revealed like the tip of an iceberg. It is good. Only God is good. Therefore, his decrees are also only good.
It is wise through the perfect wisdom of God his divine decree integrates all things in a way that brings him glory and is ultimately good for his people. It is Christ-centered. All things revolve around His Son. His holy scriptures throughout point to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Savior, Lord, and Redeemer. And finally, it is God-glorifying.
Dr. Beeke states, God willed to make known the glorious riches of his wrath, power, patience, and mercy in the great drama of salvation and damnation that he ordained. As with many of the doctrines we discussed, there are controversies or disagreements with these teachings. And so what are some of the problems people have with God's divine decree? What are some of their objections?
We'll go through three of them. First, if God has ordained the murder of people, great wars, terrible, horrible tragedies, what kind of God is He? Is He evil? Is He purposely malicious? Does He degree sin itself?
Is he the author of sin? If God is love, if he is pure and holy, how can we reconcile this? How can we really accept the doctrine of divine decree? Augustine said, if it were not a good that evil should exist, its existence would not be permitted by the omnipotent God, who without doubt can as easily refuse to permit what he does not wish as Bring about what he does wish Johannes Wolobius stated Though God decrees both good and sin the former he causes and the latter he permits. And Gerhardus Vost clarifies, meaning that God decreed that specific sins would certainly take place, but He decreed them as something inherently displeasing to Him, for He remains absolutely holy and free from any wrongdoing.
We can look at the example of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37 through 41. Remember how Joseph said to his brothers in chapter 50 verse 21 22 do not be afraid for am I in the place of God but as for you you meant evil against me but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive. William Perkins concludes, God decrees sin not because of sin itself but for the sake of a greater good. He does not work sin in anyone and neither does he approve or delight in sin but he is able to use evil instruments for his good works. Another objection comes from the idea of determination.
Nothing is the result of choice. Every event has a cause. Furthermore, everything in the universe is absolutely dependent on and governed by casual laws. This leads to the personality of both man and God being swallowed up by an impersonal causation that links all things together. Dr.
Beeke counters the Lord's decree expresses his most personal and relational sovereignty over creation. The Lord who says, I am that I am, also says, I will show mercy on who I will show mercy. God's decree establishes true relationships with other persons. We're not machines or robots. We do have free moral agency.
Each person's choices come spontaneously from the heart when he perceives his situation and makes a rational judgment about what is good. William Perkins concludes, the necessary decree of God does not abolish the nature of second causes and impose a necessity upon the will of man. The last objection we'll touch on is fatalism. This is the belief that what will be will be. Since all past, present, and future events have already been predetermined by God or another all-powerful force such as fate.
This makes human effort meaningless. Why should we strive against a predetermined result? Why should I pray? God has already decreed what will happen. It breeds passivity and despair.
Again, Dr. Beeke counters this objection. God's decree establishes meaningful context for human action and hope. For it does not dissolve the links between wise diligence and reward, or between foolish disobedience and sorrow, but ordains those connections. God decreed both the event and the means by which the event comes to pass.
The same God who decreed the limits of our lives also gave us the responsibility to strive to preserve our lives by the means He provides while submitting to His will. If we neglect those means, our foolishness may be the means of our destruction. And back to prayer, We should pray. It is not futile. God is able to answer our prayers as part of His wise integrated plan for all things.
God calls us to pray not to inform Him, but so that we may honor and enjoy our Heavenly Father. Now let's take a closer look at our paragraph. God hath decreed in himself. God had done this. He did this by himself, not with anyone or anything else.
From all eternity, from before time even began, our sovereign Lord has ordained all things. All things have been predetermined. Well, how did He do this? He did this by His own will and His holy counsel freely and unchangeably. God did not ordain all things arbitrarily or at random.
God had a predetermined purpose defined by His own will and His holy counsel. God did this freely. God was not coerced or manipulated. God doesn't change. He doesn't change His plans.
He is immutable as are what he has ordained or planned. God did not take a peek into the future to make or adjust his plans based on how certain people would act or react. William Ames again states, if a particular decree of God depended on any foresight, then an idea of God would have come to him from somewhere else which hardly agrees with his nature. No, God did this on his own freely and unchangeably. Isaiah writes, The Lord of hosts hath sworn saying, Surely as I have thought so shall it come to pass, And as I have purposed so shall it stand, That I will break the Assyrian in my land, And upon my mountains tread him underfoot.
Then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth, And this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" Isaiah 14, 24 through 27. God is sovereign and God is almighty.
What he has decreed shall come to pass, it shall not be canceled, and it shall not be changed. Isaiah reiterates this idea in Isaiah 46 10 through 11, declaring the end from the beginning and from the ancient of times, the things that are not yet done saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country, yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also do it.
His decree is eternal from ancient times, and it shall stand and it will be done. He will do whatsoever he pleases." Psalm 115.3 and 135.6. Well, God has decreed in himself all things whatsoever comes to pass. That's pretty much everything. That means there is nothing that happens that God has not decreed.
As R.C. Sproul has said, there is not one Adam anywhere in the universe outside of God's control. He is perfectly sovereign, for of him and through him and to him are all things. Romans 11 36. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose, Romans 8, 28.
And being predestinated according to the purpose of Him, who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. Ephesians 1, 11. God ordained whatever comes to pass, not only the ends but also the means. We spoke of this earlier but does this mean God has decreed sin or evil? Yes, He did.
But is He the author of sin? No. He is not the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein. God is righteous. God is good, pure, and holy.
God does not create sin. God ordains it for his own holy purposes. Remember that our redemption came about by the sin of Judas, the Jewish leaders, their people, and the Romans through the crucifixion of Jesus, the Son of God. Even this was ordained by God. James writes, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.
For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. James 1, 13. God is light and in him is no darkness or sin at all. 1st John 1 5. We also can look at Abraham's discourse with the angels about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.
Be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the righteous with the wicked and that the righteous should be as the wicked that be far from thee shall not the judge of all the earth do right. Genesis 1825. Yes, the judge of all the earth shall do right. He is perfectly just. God is not the author of sin nor by his decree is violence offered to the will of the creature nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away but rather established.
So what does it mean no violence offered? Simon Martynian explains when God ordains sin he does note violence to the will of the creature, nor is their liberty hindered or taken away. Everyone committing sin and evil does so because they will and desire so. In the example about the crucifixion of the Lord, everyone in the act was a willing participant. Judas, the Jewish leaders, the Romans, all really wanted to do these things and they were not forced to will so.
Nevertheless, the scriptures are clear that they came to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. According to Reformed theology, God's decree establishes the liberty of creatures because their liberty is found within God's decree. This high and mysterious doctrine shows the wisdom of God in disposing all things in power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree. How has he determined everything that takes place in time and yet he is not the author of sin or we are not forced to do those things which God ordained but freely carry out God's decree? All these things remain truths revealed by Scripture but not fully comprehended by the human mind.
Our authority in accepting this statement to be truthful is because the Scriptures teach these things asserted, not because our mind comprehended the truths confessed. The other phrase here that you may not be familiar with is related to second causes. Theologians speaking of the forces truly operating in the world as secondary causes. God is the first cause or primary cause, but the forces of nature and free actions of personal beings whom God has created are second causes and it is extremely important that the existence of secondary causes should not be denied. Only it is important to observe that the two causes are not on the same plane.
One is completely subordinate to the other. In every event in the natural world, God has completely accomplished what He willed to accomplish. He is not limited by the forces of nature or by the free actions of his creatures. They act truly, but they truly act only as he is determined they shall act. The correct way therefore expressing the relation between secondary causes and God the great first cause is to say that God makes use of second causes to accomplish what is in accordance with his eternal purpose.
Second causes are are not independent forces whose cooperation he needs but they are means that he employs exactly as he will. Exactly the primary causes might be Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, John 11 43, the delay of the sun setting for a whole day as Joshua as they battle the Amorites in Joshua 10 14 or the time going backwards 10 degrees for Hezekiah in 2 Kings 2011. These things that are supernatural not explainable with the laws of physics or nature. Example of second causes would include judgment of famines on the land, such as in 1 Kings 18.2, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans in 2 Corinthians 36.19, or Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery, Genesis 50-20. In these examples, God utilizes the forces of nature or free actions of his creatures to accomplish his divine decree.
This means they are not taken away but are utilized. Solomon teaches, the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. In Proverbs 1633, this means that what we ascribe to chance is really determined by the counsel and providence of God. Peter in his sermon told the men of Jerusalem that they were responsible for the crucifying of Christ, but that he was only delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, Max 2 23. It was only by his divine decree that this even occurred.
Jesus reminded Pilate before his crucifixion that he could have no power at all against him except it were given to him from above. John 19 11. We're thankful for God's power, His wisdom, His faithfulness in accomplishing His defined decrees, especially as God's people. Paul writes, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who had blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us in the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. Ephesians 1, 3 through 5.
What is your attitude towards God's decree? When you think of later today or tomorrow or even out into the future. What is your attitude? Is it, I will be doing this, I will be doing that, or is it if it is the Lord's will? Do you grumble or complain in trials or in suffering?
Or are you at peace with where God has you? Even thankful because you know that they have been ordained by God and He has a special purpose in them. I find it a great comfort to know that life is not just a chance. To know that there is an all-loving, all-wise, and all-powerful God who has ordained all things and whatsoever I face. I would like to close with an observation on God's decree by R.J.
Rushtouni from an article in 2017. I hope you find it helpful. Simply stated, it tells us this, that the Lord is God, that God rules over all things and not chance. You and I sit down frequently and try to plan our lives. We figure on so much time for work, so much time for play.
We budget and plan our finances and decide that a certain sum will have to be set aside monthly for set payments, leaving us a specific sum of money for other purposes. We earnestly and sincerely try to plan our lives. But of course, the trouble is that they don't plan well. Unexpected things happen. Events which we cannot control and neither our time nor our money prove our own.
Illness or extra expenses wipe out all our planning, and sometimes years of hoping. Then we start planning and hoping all over again. It has value, and it gives us minor victories, which would be impossible without planning, but we also know, always know, that we can never control every factor in our lives or in our work and world. We plan but events outside our control continuously compel us to alter and adjust our planning. If God's planning were like our planning then most of God's creation would have to be outside his control and moving under chance.
It would make chance more important than God because God's plan would be liable to change if events overruled his planning. We know that this is not so. There's no chance in this world as James the brother of our Lord declared at the Council of Jerusalem, known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Acts 15, 18. God's planning is perfect planning.
It leaves nothing to chance, and neither man nor events, but only God controls the course of the plant. What does this mean for you? It raises, of course, some questions about how to reconcile God's decree and human freedom and responsibility. Such questions we cannot answer. We don't have the mind to grasp all their implications, but this one thing we know, That to believe in a God who is in full control gives meaning to every moment and to every act in our lives.
Nothing that happens to us is senseless or meaningless. The world is not out of hand or God out of the driver's seat. He is in full and absolute control. This means there is a purpose to all things which faith and patience can discern and trust in. Every one of us suffers things and undergoes trials and tribulations which sorely try our spirits.
It would make life senseless and cruel if we could believe no more than that these things were meaningless and chance acts. But if we can believe as we are asked by Scripture to believe that all these things are a part of God's decree and have a meaning in terms of Him, then we know that nothing is senseless or wasted in our lives or in all creation, then we know that there is an eternal purpose in and behind all things. And our strength is in trusting in God and his workings. It enables us to say, although I do not know why these things have happened to me, I believe in the love and purpose which stands behind them and brought them to me because the Lord planned this. I know that His purpose is to His eternal glory and to my strengthening and fulfilling in Him.
With Paul, we can say, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8 28. Amen.