The Sovereignty of God

“Why are you doing this, Cain?” It was not a question of curiosity. Neither was it a question of a prey stalling for time, looking for escapes. Huddled in a corner, he knew that no one could save him from that pointed gun.

“You can still turn back,” he continued. It was the question of a man trying to convince his brother.

“No, I can’t,” Cain replied.

“Yes you can,” he pleaded.

“The author made me this way,” Cain’s void, callous eyes stared back at him.

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. I chose to.” Cain pulled the trigger.

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It’s been a while since I’ve last pondered about this, so long ago that I have lost the awe of this great realization. Recently, a very good thing has happened to me and I would like to go back to this. If you are struggling with this idea then I suggest you still think about this on your own, since it’s always so different when you realize it yourself.

If you are a theologically-inclined person then you would first probably ask, “are you a Calvinist or an Arminian?” And to that I answer, “I am a Christian; I would rather not be called by another name.” But with regard to doctrine, I agree with Calvin. Some would say it is a pointless thing to argue about these things because they’re not ‘fundamental,’ but personally this has probably been my greatest source of awe and comfort.

What are Arminianism and Calvinism? There are five main points of each camp and you can just read what they mean here if you want: http://www.fivesolas.com/cal_arm.htm

Anyway, comparing and contrasting these two thoughts has a danger of exclusivity (that is, excluding one idea from the other, or saying that they cannot coexist). But the general train of thought is this:

Arminianism – Humans choose whether to believe God or not. God predestines to heaven those He foreknew will choose Him. Consequently, if one loses faith then they lose their salvation.

Calvinism – Christ’s death on the cross is not for everyone, but only to those who are and will be called by the Holy Spirit. God predestines who will believe and who will not, for reasons that are known only to Him. Since God predestines who will believe, then consequently one cannot lose their salvation.

(There are a lot more things than that, but this is the shortest summary where I can show the conflict.)

Depravity

Now at first glance Arminianism makes much more sense. Wouldn’t that be a cruel God, to send humans to hell? That would be so unfair of Him, to send some to heaven and damn others to hell!

Perhaps this is the greatest objection to the sovereignty of God. But it is a funny thing to say, to measure God with human standards. But there is an underlying assumption here; that humans don’t deserve hell. And that is where Christians differ. Humans don’t deserve heaven. You would hear it over and over again; in the beginning of good news is bad news:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

“There is no one righteous, not even one”

(Here’s John Piper on it http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/piper/depravity.html if you want more verses haha)

Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone is so evil like they’re on drugs all the time and killing children and raping women and robbing banks and all that. It means that even “our righteous acts are like filthy rags” in God’s sight. When I am terribly hungry you can give me a donut and I as a fellow hungry man would think that what you did is good. But even the purest acts of kindness like that look wicked in God’s sight. God is holy, and that holiness is very difficult to grasp in our modern relativistic world.

Election

Humans have freewill. But on his own, man will never choose God. “There is no one righteous, not even one... There is no one who seeks God.” Jesus himself says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.” Humans don’t deserve heaven; left on their own they will never choose God. Even if God sent everyone (including me of course) to hell He wouldn’t have been wrong.

Now I know that this is an extreme assertion: that man, left alone, is totally depraved. After all, we would rather believe that children are tabula rasa. But we have no way of proving that, although it might interest you to read up on the very rare cases of feral children. So again, it boils down to whether you believe in the Bible or not.

Yet God gave heaven Himself. Christ died on the cross. In the same chapter (John 6) the Christ says, “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” And the beauty of it all: “whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

Who then, does the Father draw near? Does He call everyone, or only a chosen few? How does He choose them? In Romans 9 the apostle Paul quotes, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” Then he takes it to its natural conclusion: “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.”

Responsibility

God hardens whom he wants to harden. He sends to hell those he wants to send to hell. And He sends to heaven those He wants to send to heaven. What a whimsical God! The apostle knew this, and so he continued, “One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?”

To this the apostle Paul says, “But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?... Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” He has every right to do whatever to His creation.

“What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath... What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy?” What ifs. Even Paul could not comprehend the depth of God’s reasons.

Sovereignty and Free Will

Is God Sovereign? Does He control everything?

And not one of them [sparrow] falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.

If He controls everything including our choices, then is it really our choice?

http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/is-god-sovereign-over-my-free-will

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

Yes. And our choices have consequences. We have free will, but we are slaves. Once slaves to sin, and now to righteousness.

8

Helpless

This is a formal theme written in for my English class in 4th year high school after Ondoy, an incredibly devastating storm, hit the country.

A few weeks ago, a dreadful event that happened 16 years ago returned, only this time, it was a lot stronger. For two whole days it rained nonstop; darkness reigned above, and no hint of the sun was permitted to pass through the thick dark clouds of the storm. There was no electricity that will power the street lamps. The dams were forced to leak water into the rivers, which caused the creek that literally surrounded our village to overflow within an hour. Our area was a hill, yet half of it sank beneath the turbulent muddy waters. It was so deep that only the roofs of the houses downhill were visible. The two bridges that linked our community cracked; one of them broke down and can no longer be used, while the other one’s rusty railings got snatched by the flood.

Our house, thanks to the Lord, did not get flooded. All we lost was some electricity, some time, and some fun. During the time it was raining, it was too dark to work. All we could do was sit and stare at each other and at the ceiling. I preferred the latter. We got bored with staring and, to kill time, amused ourselves with a modified scrabble, chess, and toys that I used to play with when I was still a little kid. But without electricity, time is virtually invulnerable. It came to the point that I got bored of playing, and once more stared at the ceiling, wishing it would stare back at me. When the two days were over, electricity came back. My little brother shouted with joy, while I went straight to the computer and played. The clouds parted and the sun once more smiled on us, laying its warm, gentle rays on the wet roof of our house, making us forget the cold darkness we have experienced.

While the computer was booting, I realized how much I have changed. The action figures I used to play with for four hours straight no longer meant anything now. The board games I used to love have lost their appeal. But, more importantly, I realized that our society has been relying on the magic of electricity too much. We used it too recklessly, neglecting the negative effects it has on nature. Man has already begun to abuse and control nature; he has made his own source of light, his own sun, to make himself forget of all the hardships he has gone through. But, where there is light, there is shadow. It is true that today we enjoy life more, but we should also be reminded that there is a power much greater than what we could ever attain, that nature is not ours, but God’s.

I do not want this calamity to happen again – no one does – yet we cannot avoid it. The army of global warming is on its way and the Philippines is the front line of defense of the world. We will be the first to receive nature’s counterattack on humankind, and we are in no way whatsoever prepared for this. A lot of people still throw trash anywhere they want even though they know that it will go back to them in one way or another. Perhaps, we can make an effort to make the Filipinos realize their mistakes. The global warming awareness shows in TV helps a lot, and the environmentalist organizations also give their own contribution. By joining one of these groups, I can give my contribution to save the world. Or, I could do it in my own little way. But, unfortunately, our race is one that is eager for results. If we do not see or feel an improvement within a year, we will probably give up on what we do. We could try, but I personally believe that we are helpless against nature. But, then again, no one laughs at a man who does his best.