Our study of the attributes of God began with a consideration of the divine attributes, that is, those peculiar to God alone, such as infinite, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, etc. This has been followed by a study of His moral attributes, such as love, grace, holiness, righteousness, etc., that He desires to be manifested in His children as well. We conclude our study by considering another of His divine attributes_ the sovereignty of God.

The word "sovereign" is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary as "above or superior to all others . . . supreme in power, rank, or authority." As an attribute of God, sovereignty includes all these things plus the idea of being free to do whatever He wills to do at all times to carry out His eternal purposes. God’s sovereignty is well established in the Scriptures; let us read some of the passages.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). As Creator of the universe, how could God be anything other than sovereign?

"I … will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy" (Exod. 33:19).

"The Lord killeth, and maketh alive; He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich; He bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and He hath set the world upon them" (1 Sam. 2:6-8).

"Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all" (1 Chron. 29:11,12).

"Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counsellor hath taught Him? With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge?" (Isa. 40:13,14).

"I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. . . . Yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it" (Isa. 46:9-11).

"O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" (Rom. 9:20).

"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph. 1:11).

A number of questions have arisen over the years in relation to the sovereignty of God. One has to do with the presence of sin, pain, and death in this world. Since God is sovereign, He could have prevented these from coming into existence. Why did He not do so? I doubt if anyone has a fully satisfactory answer to this question. It is sufficient to rest upon the declaration of Scripture, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25).

Another question widely debated in Christian circles for centuries relates to the will of man. If God sovereignly rules His universe with the freedom to do whatever He wills to do, how is it possible for man to exercise free choice? And if man cannot exercise freedom of choice, how can he be held responsible for his behavior? Again, there is no totally satisfactory answer to such questions, and ultimately we must fall back on the fact that a God who is equally holy and loving will do those things that will be equally best for mankind and glorifying to Himself. But having said that, let us consider some of the issues involved.

The Scriptures clearly reveal the sovereignty of God in electing or choosing individuals for salvation. "He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Eph. 1:4). "God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thess. 2:13). "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit" (1 Pet. 1:2).

A number of facts about election are apparent from Scripture. First, God has by election chosen some to salvation, but not all (John 6:37-40,44,65; 17:2,6,9; Acts 13:48; Rom. 9:22,23). Second, this election was accomplished in eternity past (Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9). Third, election does not rest merely on God’s foreknowledge of those who will respond to the gospel call. If it did, it would make God’s choice dependent on man’s choice, and thus could not properly be referred to as God’s election. Further, election to salvation is according to the grace of God, not the good works of man, whether anticipated in the foreknowledge of God or already realized (Rom. 11:5,6; Eph. 2:8,9). Even the faith to accept God’s free gift of salvation is itself a gift of God.

The following objection is often raised against the notion of God’s election of some for salvation:If God has selected certain individuals to be saved, then has He not therefore selected the remainder to be lost? This may seem like a logical conclusion, but a careful study of Romans 9 will show that while God has appointed some to blessing, He has left the non-elect to reap the just punishment for their wicked deeds. "God . . . endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted [not by Him but by their own sinful behavior] to destruction; and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory" (Rom. 9:22,23). Those chosen for salvation were no less wicked. In fact, except for God’s sovereign election, not one person would have chosen by his own free will to receive God’s free gift of salvation. There are many things we do not understand about all this; but instead of condemning God for showing partiality or unfairness in not choosing all to be saved, we should rejoice and praise Him that He has at least chosen some! Those of us who have heeded the gospel message and have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for our eternal salvation now realize in retrospect that we are among God’s elect. How this draws out our hearts to God in praise and adoration for His sovereign grace in choosing, calling, and saving us. Well might we join with Isaac Watts in asking:

"Lord! why am I a guest?
Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?"

While God’s sovereign choice of individuals to be saved is not based on any foreknown merit on the part of those individuals, we can be certain that His choices are not random or haphazard. The fact that oftentimes entire families are saved and that those who are objects of prayer and evangelistic efforts seem more likely to end up being saved than the rest speak against a purely random selection. Perhaps God’s election does in some way take into account His foreknowledge of the prayers and the efforts of others to present the gospel to a given individual. In any case, we know that God is "long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9). We also know that God has enjoined us to go "into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), and to pray "for all men" since God "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:1,4). So the doctrine of God’s sovereignty in election must not deter us from actively seeking, through prayer and evangelistic activities, the salvation of the unsaved. We can be certain that every soul that places his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation will find that he is among God’s elect. We know this because Jesus said, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). Also, "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. . . . And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17).

I have purposely avoided mention of the term "predestination" in the foregoing discussions. If we consider this word in the various contexts in which it is found in Scripture, it seems to have a more narrow application than election. Election refers to God’s choice of certain individuals to be saved. Predestination refers to God’s determination that those thus elected should become His sons (Eph. 1:5), receive His inheritance (Eph. 1:11), and become "conformed to the image of His Son, that He [Jesus] might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). God could very well have chosen us to be delivered from eternal punishment and live forever as His bondslaves. Surely we would be grateful for this much. But in His sovereignty, "according to the good pleasure of His will" (Eph. 1:5), He has brought us into a much higher and nearer position to Himself, "having predestinated us unto the adoption of children [or bringing into the position of sons]." This leads us to far deeper gratitude, even "praise of the glory of His grace" (verse 6).

One further note concerning the will of man in relation to the sovereignty of God:Many scriptures attest to the fact that God has given each individual a will of his/her own (see Gen. 6:5; 11:4,6; 49:6; Dan. 8:4; 11:3,16,36; Luke 23:23; Acts 24:27; 27:43; Rom. 7:18; 1 Cor. 7:37; 16:12; and many others). The fact that God is sovereign and free to do whatever He wills to do at all times does not mean that He always forces His will upon man’s will. The sin and rebellion against God throughout the millenia of man’s history on earth indicate that God has largely given man free reign to act according to his own will. No man can stand before the great white throne or the judgment seat of Christ and claim that he sinned because God willed that he sin. The fact that God has allowed man to sin without divine hindrance does not make God responsible for the sin.

Sometimes we hear people say, unthinkingly, "God is in control of all things. Therefore, while so-and-so sinned, it must have been God’s will that he sin." In the same vein, the "all things" that "work together for good" in Rom. 8:28 are sometimes taken to include man’s sin. Let us be very clear that God is not the author of sin. He is holy and abhors sin! It is true that in special instances (notably the crucifixion) God has worked good and blessing for man out of man’s wickedness. (God may use man’s sin to work out His purposes, but He is never dependent on man’s sin to accomplish these purposes.) But let us never condone or make light of sin by saying, "God allowed it," or "All things work together for good."

It is probably safe to say that whenever we have a desire to do something pleasing to God it is a result of God moving our wills in that direction. This is true concerning our desire to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, as noted previously in connection with election. It is also true for the believer in a more general way as indicated in Phil. 2:13:"It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." It is quite a different matter with regard to the sins we commit. "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.. . . Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin" (James 1:13-15).

In conclusion, our God is sovereign; He has absolute authority in all areas of existence, even though He does not always impose His authority and will upon His creatures. He is not dependent upon the advice and actions of others for the decisions and choices He makes. How wonderful to know that the One who has absolute authority is the same One who is eternal; infinite in power, knowledge, and wisdom; present everywhere; the God of love, grace, mercy, and longsuffering; the holy, righteous God. So we can be assured that the One who has absolute freedom to carry out His own will is working that which is good and beneficial to His created beings.

"To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever" (Jude 25).

FRAGMENT
Eternal Sov’reign, Lord of all,
Prostrate before Thy throne we fall,
While here our claim and song we raise,
"Thou art our God, and Thee we’ll praise!"