Exploring the Character of God: Sovereignty and Human Free Will

What if the age-old paradox of God's absolute authority and human free will could be untangled? Here's a tantalizing revelation: our choices, freely made, are intricately woven into God's grand plan.  In this episode we will venture into an enlightening exploration of these profound aspects of faith. We dive into the vast ocean of God's sovereignty.  So let's unravel these mysteries together and deepen our understanding of faith.

If you want to dive into more about the attributes of God yourself check out
A. W. Tozer’s The Attributes of God: Deeper into the Father’s Heart Volume 1 & 2.

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Do you want to read about how to live faithfully? Check out the blog http://lyfe102.org

Get a free Road Map to get started learning how to study the Bible https://mailchi.mp/88f9c9405da0/bible-study-road-map

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Welcome to Faithfully Living, the podcast where we learn how to live for Christ in our daily lives. I am Dawn, your host, and I would like to invite you on a journey with me to explore and learn how to be a faithful follower of Christ. So learning about the sovereignty of God has helped me to trust God more than I have in the past. Let's dive into our topic. What do I mean when we explore the attribute of God's sovereignty? Let's start with a definition. Easton's Bible dictionary states that the sovereignty of God is his absolute right to do all things according to his good pleasure. Charles Rare, a Christian theologian, says the concept of sovereignty involves the entire plan of God, in all of his intricate details of design and outworking. Although he allows things to take the natural course according to the laws which he designed, it is his sovereign God who is working all things according to his wise plans. So God controls and knows everything. Simply because he is God. It involves all of the authority and power he has as the supreme creator. There is no one greater than God or higher than God. He's over all creation. He has foreseen and has planned everything. So as humans, we like control, but as believers, we know who is in control and letting go. It can be tough sometimes. The issue we must think about when we learn about the sovereignty of God is why is there evil in the world? I'm not going to touch too much in detail about the problem of evil in this episode, but I think it's an issue that is kind of paired with this attribute of God, for the simple reason that it means for God to be sovereign. So, yes, evil exists in the world, but the mere fact that evil exists is that good also exists. Evil is a corruption of good. We can't understand why God would allow evil into the world he created in the first place. We have to remember the Most High God of Heaven and Earth contains evil and his plan took evil into account long before he created it. He knew that evil would enter through the disobedience of Adam and Eve.

Speaker 1: 3:17

I like what AW Tozer says. He says God does not play it by ear or dodle or follow whatever happens to come into his mind or let one idea suggest another. God works according to the plans which he purposed in Jesus Christ before Adam walked in the garden, before the sun, moon and stars were made. God who has lived all after morals and carries time in his bosom, is carrying out his eternal purposes. God does not panic, tozer continues. God has absolute freedom to do what he wills to do. This does not mean that God can do anything. And he says, before you clutch our pearls, can't, and call me crazy, let me explain.

Speaker 1: 4:11

He says what I mean that God can't do anything. God can't do anything. That is against his nature, meaning God can't lie because he is truth, so he can't lie. God cannot violate his very nature. His nature is who he is. He is God. God's nature is that he is good, so he can't be evil. God can do anything that he wills to do.

Speaker 1: 4:36

Tozer continues the sovereignty of God and the will of God are bound together. The sovereignty of God does not mean that God can lie, for God does not lie, does not will to lie. God is truth and therefore God cannot lie, for he wills not to lie. He cannot break a promise, because to break a promise would violate his nature and God does not will to violate his nature. Tozer then says it is scriptural to say that God can do anything he wills to do. God is absolutely free. No one can parallel him, no one can hinder him, no one can stop him. God has freedom to do as he pleases, always, everywhere and forever. We have a reminder in Joel 42.2. It says and this is Joel talking I know that you can do anything and no one can stop you. Alright, so let's get to the one thing that trumps people up, and that's free will. What I mean by free will is that God has given people, humanity, the ability to choose. The question is how can God's sovereignty and free will exist without counseling each other out?

Speaker 1: 6:10

Throughout the years, theologians, bible scholars, pastors have studied the Bible as it relates to God's sovereignty and free will when it comes to salvation. And here are two thoughts or belief. The first one is God is sovereign in that in the beginning he planned everything who would be saved, who would be lost, when Christ died on the cross, for those who would be saved and not for those who would not be. And then the second one is God died for everyone and humanity is free to choose to accept God's gift of salvation. And God is not sovereign, because if man can make a choice that God doesn't like, then God does not have his way. So, on one hand, it seems wrong that God should save some people and not others, and the other view kind of like counsels out God's sovereignty all together. So when we try to marry what we know about God's sovereignty and try to maintain the notion of free will uninfluenced by God, we can piece together what we can choose. At the same time, god knows what we will choose. Now how can that happen without it seeming like God might be directing everything anyway? It kind of seems like a contradiction. So AW Tozer puts it this way.

Speaker 1: 7:45

The matter of man's free will versus God's sovereignty can be explained in this way God's sovereignty means that he is in control of everything, that he planned everything from the beginning. God's, man's free will means that he can, anytime he wants, make any choice he pleases, within his human limitations, of course. Man's free will can apparently defy the purpose of God and will against the will of God. And then he goes on to say we first have to wrap our head around. The sovereignty of God and free will are truths that coexist, and they are both true. And then Tozer goes on to give a little bit more explanation here.

Speaker 1: 8:35

It's a little bit longer passage. He says God Almighty is sovereign, free to do as he pleases. Among the things he is pleased to do is to give us freedom to do what we please. And when we do what we please, we're fulfilling the will of God, not counter converting it. For God, in his sovereignty, has sovereignly given us freedom to make a free choice. So even if we make a choice, not the one that God would have made for us, his sovereignty is fulfilled in us making the choice. And when we make a choice, because the great sovereign God, who is completely free, said to us in my sovereign freedom, I bestow a little bit of freedom to you Now, choose you this day, who, whom you serve.

Speaker 1: 9:28

And that's when Joshua 2415. Be good, be good or be bad, at our own pleasure. Follow me or don't follow me, come on or go back, go to heaven or go to hell. Joshua continues the sovereignty of God has put the decision in our lap and said this is yours. You must take, make the choice. And when we make a choice, we're fulfilling his sovereignty and that his sovereignty wills that I should be free to make a choice. If I choose to go to hell, that is not what his love would have chosen, but it does not convert or cancel out his sovereignty.

Speaker 1: 10:17

Also goes on to say I believe that God is free to do as he pleases and I believe that in a limited sense, he has made men free to do as he pleases within a certain framework, but not a very big one. After all, you're not free to do very many things. You're not free. You are free to make more choices. You're free to decide the color of your necktie, what food you'll have, whom you will marry, if that person agrees. You are free to to do a few things, but not many. But the things you're free to do are gifts from God, who is utterly free. So he goes on to say therefore, anytime we make a choice, I'm fulfilling the freedom God gave us. Therefore, I am fulfilling God's sovereignty and carrying it out. So that's the end of the quotation. So because God is free, he has given us freedom to, within certain boundaries, our freedom is part of the plan God has set out from the beginning. Alright, so I continue to use Toe'ser, because he gives a really good illustration to kind of help us understand the sovereignty of God.

Speaker 1: 11:46

So here it is. He says a ship leaves New York City, bound for England, with a thousand passengers on board. They're going to take a nice, easy journey and enjoy the trip. Everyone on board usually the captain, is the authority who carries papers that says you are to bring the ship to harbor in England. After the ship leaves New York, the next stop is England. That's it. Everyone on the ship is out on the ocean. They lose sight of the shoreline and they are out floating around in the ocean. What are they to do? No, no one is bound and changed, with the captain walking around with a stick to keep them in line. The people are free to move about the ship as the please. They can play games, swim, listen to music, sunbathe, take pictures. Passengers are perfectly free to roam around as they please on the deck of the ship, but they're not free to change the course of the ship. It's going to England, no matter what they do. They can jump off if they want to, but if they stay on board they're going to England. Nobody can change that. And yet they're perfectly free within the confines of the ship.

Speaker 1: 13:08

So this is Toe'ser's explanation of the illustration. He said In the same way you and I have our little lives. You are born and God says I have launched you into the sea from the shore of birth. You're going to go into a little port we call death. In the meantime, you're free to romp around all you want. Just remember you're going to answer for what you've done when you get over there. So we throw our way around, make demands, declaring what we can do as we please. We boast about our freedom. We've got a little freedom, alright. But remember, we can't change God's almighty's course. God has said to those who follow Jesus Christ and believe in him shall be saved and those who refuse shall be punished. That settled eternally, sovereignly settled. But you and I have freedom in the meantime to do what we want to do and although most people think very little about it, we're going to answer for that someday, according to the sovereign will of God.

Speaker 1: 14:29

Have you struggled with studying and understanding the Bible? Do you wish you could get some help? Well, go check out the Faithfully Living YouTube channel. There is a library of videos to help you learn how to study and understand the Bible better. There are videos on various topics, such as Bible study tools and how to use them, understanding context and more. You can find a link to the channel in the show notes. Happy studying.

Speaker 1: 15:22

So, reflecting on the sovereignty of God, we can know and trust that no one can stop God. What we call unforeseen circumstances do not derail his plans or even our free will. Knowing that God is in control, yet he allows us to have a choice, should give us some comfort. We serve a God who has good in store for us. So, whatever happens while we live on this earth, god knows and controls. So as you ponder about the sovereignty of God, remember that we can't fully comprehend how God's sovereignty and free will coexist. It's always going to be a mystery to us. But this attribute of God helps us to know and trust that he has planned for the future and, as believers, he has good things in store for us. Alright, that's it for this episode. Remember God is always good and he's always faithful. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Do me a favor by following the podcast and leaving a review to help spread the word. I look forward to hearing from you.