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Post by iconoclast on Jun 19, 2022 21:20:42 GMT -5
www.chapellibrary.org/pdf/books/aogo.pdfAttributes of God by A. W. Pink Contents Preface 2 Chapter 1 The Solitariness of God 2 Chapter 2 The Decrees of God 4 Chapter 3 The Knowledge of God 6 Chapter 4 The Foreknowledge of God 8 Chapter 5 The Supremacy of God 10 Chapter 6 The Sovereignty of God 12 Chapter 7 The Immutability of God 14 Chapter 8 The Holiness of God 15 Chapter 9 The Power of God 18 Chapter 10 The Faithfulness of God 20 Chapter 11 The Goodness of God 23 Chapter 12 The Patience of God 24 Chapter 13 The Grace of God 26 Chapter 14 The Mercy of God 28 Chapter 15 The Lovingkindness of God 30 Chapter 16 The Love of God 32 Chapter 17 The Love of God to Us 34 Chapter 18 The Wrath of God 36 Chapter 19 The Contemplation of God 38 Index of Authors Quoted 40
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Post by Admin on Jun 26, 2022 18:32:09 GMT -5
Chapter 2
The Decrees of God
THE DECREE OF GOD IS HIS PURPOSE OR DETERMINATION with respect to future things. We have used the
singular number as Scripture does (Rom 8:28; Eph 3:11), because there was only one act of His infinite mind about future
things. But we speak as if there had been many, because our minds are only capable of thinking of successive revolutions,
as thoughts and occasions arise, or in reference to the various objects of His decree, which being many seem to us to
require a distinct purpose for each one. But an infinite understanding does not proceed by steps, from one stage to another:
“Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).
The decrees of God
The Scriptures make mention of the decrees of God in many passages, and under a variety of terms. The word “decree”
is found in Psalm 2:7. In Ephesians 3:11 we read of His “eternal purpose.” In Acts 2:23 of His “determinate counsel and
foreknowledge.” In Ephesians 1:9 of the mystery of His “will.” In Romans 8:29 that He also did “predestinate.” In
Ephesians 1:9 of His “good pleasure.” God’s decrees are called His “counsel” to signify they are consummately wise.
They are called God’s “will” to show He was under no control, but acted according to His own pleasure. When a man’s
will is the rule of his conduct, it is usually capricious and unreasonable; but wisdom is always associated with “will” in the divine proceedings, and accordingly, God’s decrees are said to be “the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).
The decrees of God relate to all future things without exception: whatever is done in time was foreordained before time
began. God’s purpose was concerned with everything, whether great or small, whether good or evil, although with
reference to the latter we must be careful to state that while God is the Orderer and Controller of sin, He is not the Author of it in the same way that He is the Author of good. Sin could not proceed from a holy God by positive and direct creation,
but only by decretive permission and negative action. God’s decree is as comprehensive as His government, extending to
all creatures and all events. It was concerned about our life and death; about our state in time, and our state in eternity. As God works all things after the counsel of His own will, we learn from His works what His counsel is (was), as we judge of an architect’s plan by inspecting the building which was erected under his directions.
God did not merely decree to make man, place him upon the earth, and then leave him to his own uncontrolled
guidance; instead, He fixed all the circumstances in the lot of individuals, and all the particulars which will comprise the history of the human race from its commencement to its close. He did not merely decree that general laws should be
established for the government of the world, but He settled the application of those laws to all particular cases. Our days
are numbered, and so are the hairs of our heads. We may learn what is the extent of the divine decrees from the
dispensations of providence, in which they are executed. The care of Providence reaches to the most insignificant
creatures, and the most minute events—the death of a sparrow, and the fall of a hair.
Properties of divine decrees
Let us now consider some of the properties of the divine decrees. First, they are eternal. To suppose any of them to be
made in time is to suppose that some new occasion has occurred; some unforeseen event or combination of circumstances
has arisen, which has induced the Most High to form a new resolution. This would argue that the knowledge of the Deity
is limited, and that He is growing wiser in the progress of time—which would be horrible blasphemy. No man who
believes that the divine understanding is infinite, comprehending the past, the present, and the future, will ever assent to the erroneous doctrine of temporal decrees. God is not ignorant of future events which will be executed by human
volitions; He has foretold them in innumerable instances, and prophecy is but the manifestation of His eternal prescience.
Scripture affirms that believers were chosen in Christ before the world began (Eph 1:4), yea, that grace was “given” to
them then (II Tim 1:9).
Secondly, the decrees of God are wise. Wisdom is shown in the selection of the best possible ends and of the fittest
means of accomplishing them. That this character belongs to the decrees of God is evident from what we know of them.
They are disclosed to us by their execution, and every proof of wisdom in the works of God is a proof of the wisdom of
the plan, in conformity to which they are performed. As the Psalmist declared, “O LORD, how manifold are Thy works!
in wisdom hast Thou made them all” (104:24). It is indeed but a very small part of them which falls under our
observation, yet, we ought to proceed here as we do in other cases, and judge of the whole by the specimen, of what is
unknown, by what is known. He who perceives the workings of admirable skill in the parts of a machine which he has an
opportunity to examine, is naturally led to believe that the other parts are equally admirable. In like manner we should
satisfy our minds as to God’s works when doubts obtrude themselves upon us, and repel any objections that may be
suggested by something that we cannot reconcile to our notions of what is good and wise. When we reach the bounds of
the finite and gaze toward the mysterious realm of the infinite, let us exclaim, “O the depth of the riches both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Rom 11:33).
Thirdly, they are free. “Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being His counselor hath taught Him? With
whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and
shewed to Him the way of understanding?” (Isa 40:13-14). God was alone when He made His decrees, and His
determinations were influenced by no external cause. He was free to decree or not to decree, and to decree one thing and
not another. This liberty we must ascribe to Him who is Supreme, Independent, and Sovereign in all His doings.
Fourthly, they are absolute and unconditional. The execution of them is not suspended upon any condition which may,
or may not be, performed. In every instance where God has decreed an end, He has also decreed every means to that end.
The One who decreed the salvation of His elect also decreed to work faith in them (II Thess 2:13). “My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isa 46:10): but that could not be, if His counsel depended upon a condition which
might not be performed. But God “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).
Man’s responsibility
Side by side with the immutability and invincibility of God’s decrees, Scripture plainly teaches that man is a
responsible creature and answerable for his actions. And if our thoughts are formed from God’s Word the maintenance of
the one will not lead to the denial of the other. That there is a real difficulty in defining where the one ends and the other
begins is freely granted. This is ever the case where there is a conjunction of the divine and the human. Real prayer is
indited [dictated] by the Spirit, yet it is also the cry of a human heart. The Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, yet
they were written by men who were something more than machines in the hand of the Spirit. Christ is both God and man.
He is Omniscient, yet “increased in wisdom” (Luke 2:52). He was Almighty, yet was “crucified through weakness” (II
Cor 13:4). He was the Prince of life, yet He died. High mysteries are these, yet faith receives them unquestioningly.
It has often been pointed out in the past that every objection made against the eternal decrees of God applies with equal
force against His eternal foreknowledge.
Whether God has decreed all things that ever come to pass or not, all that own the being of a God, own that He knows all
things beforehand. Now, it is self-evident that if He knows all things beforehand, He either doth approve of them or doth not
approve of them; that is, He either is willing they should be, or He is not willing they should be. But to will that they should be is to decree them (Jonathan Edwards).
Finally, attempt, with me, to assume and then to contemplate the opposite. To deny the divine decrees would be to
predicate a world and all its concerns regulated by UN-designed chance or blind fate. Then what peace, what assurance,
what comfort would there be for our poor hearts and minds? What refuge would there be to fly to in the hour of need and
trial? None at all. There would be nothing better than the black darkness and abject horror of atheism.
O my reader, how thankful should we be that everything is determined by infinite wisdom and goodness! What praise
and gratitude are due unto God for His divine decrees. It is because of them that “we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28). Well may we exclaim,
“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Rom 11:36).
Chapter 3
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Post by Admin on Jun 26, 2022 18:41:14 GMT -5
God’s omniscience
GOD IS OMNISCIENT. HE KNOWS EVERYTHING: EVERYTHING possible, everything actual; all events and all creatures, of the past, the present, and the future. He is perfectly acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in heaven, in earth, and in hell. “He knoweth what is in the darkness” (Dan 2:22). Nothing escapes His notice, nothing can be hidden from Him, nothing is forgotten by Him. Well may we say with the Psalmist, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it” (Psa 139:6). His knowledge is perfect. He never errs, never changes, never overlooks anything. “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Heb 4:13). Yes, such is the God “with whom we have to do”!
“Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou knowest it altogether” (Psa 139:2-4). What a wondrous Being is the God of Scripture! Each of His glorious attributes
should render Him honorable in our esteem. The apprehension of His omniscience ought to bow us in adoration before Him. Yet how little do we meditate upon this divine perfection! Is it because the very thought of it fills us with uneasiness?
How solemn is this fact: nothing can be concealed from God! “For I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them” (Eze 11:5). Though He be invisible to us, we are not so to Him. Neither the darkness of night, the closest curtains, nor the deepest dungeon can hide any sinner from the eyes of Omniscience. The trees of the garden were not able
to conceal our first parents. No human eye beheld Cain murder his brother, but his Maker witnessed his crime. Sarah might laugh derisively in the seclusion of her tent, yet was it heard by Jehovah. Achan stole a wedge of gold and carefully hid it in the earth, but God brought it to light. David was at much pains to cover up his wickedness, but ere long the all-seeing God sent one of His servants to say to him, “Thou art the man”! And to writer and reader is also said, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Num 32:23).
Men would strip Deity of His omniscience if they could—what a proof that “the carnal mind is enmity against God” (Rom 8:7)! The wicked do as naturally hate this divine perfection as much as they are naturally compelled to acknowledge it. They wish there might be no Witness of their sins, no Searcher of their hearts, no Judge of their deeds. They seek to
banish such a God from their thoughts: “They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness” (Hosea 7:2). How solemn is Psalm 90:8! Good reason has every Christ-rejecter for trembling before it: “Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.”
But to the believer, the fact of God’s omniscience is a truth fraught with much comfort. In times of perplexity he says with Job, “But He knoweth the way that I take” (23:10). It may be profoundly mysterious to me, quite incomprehensible to my friends, but “He knoweth”! In times of weariness and weakness believers assure themselves, “He knoweth our frame;
He remembereth that we are dust” (Psa 103:14). In times of doubt and suspicion they appeal to this very attribute, saying, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psa 139:23,24). In time of sad failure, when our actions have belied our hearts, when our
deeds have repudiated our devotion, and the searching question comes to us, “Lovest thou Me?”, we say, as Peter did, “Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee” (John 21:17). Here is encouragement to prayer. There is no cause for fearing that the petitions of the righteous will not be heard, or that their sighs and tears shall escape the notice of God, since He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. There is no danger of the individual saint being overlooked amidst the multitude of supplicants who daily and hourly present their various petitions, for an infinite Mind is as capable of paying the same attention to millions as if only one individual were seeking its attention. So too the lack of appropriate language, the inability to give expression to the deepest longing of the soul, will not jeopardize our prayers, for “It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isa 65:24). Past and future
“Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite” (Psa 147:5). God not only knows whatsoever has happened in the past in every part of His vast domains, and He is not only thoroughly acquainted with everything that is now transpiring throughout the entire universe, but He is also perfectly cognizant of every event, from the least to the
greatest, that ever will happen in the ages to come. God’s knowledge of the future is as complete as is His knowledge of the past and the present, and that, because the future depends entirely upon Himself. Were it in anywise possible for something to occur apart from either the direct agency or permission of God, then that something would be independent of Him, and He would at once cease to be Supreme.
Now the divine knowledge of the future is not a mere abstraction, but something which is inseparably connected with and accompanied by His purpose. God has Himself designed whatsoever shall yet be, and what He has designed must beeffectuated. As His most sure Word affirms, “He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand” (Dan 4:35). And again, “There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand” (Pro 19:21). The wisdom and power of God being alike infinite, the accomplishment of whatever He hath purposed is absolutely guaranteed. It is no more possible for the divine counsels
to fail in their execution than it would be for the thrice holy God to lie.
Nothing relating to the future is in anywise uncertain so far as the actualization of God’s counsels are concerned. None of His decrees are left contingent either on creatures or secondary causes. There is no future event which is only a mere possibility, that is, something which may or may not come to pass: “Known unto God are all His works from the
beginning” (Acts 15:18). Whatever God has decreed is inexorably certain, for He is without variableness, or shadow of turning (James 1:17). Therefore we are told at the very beginning of that book, which unveils to us so much of the future, of “Things which must shortly come to pass” (Rev 1:1).
The perfect knowledge of God is exemplified and illustrated in every prophecy recorded in His Word. In the Old Testament are to be found scores of predictions concerning the history of Israel, which were fulfilled to their minutest detail, centuries after they were made. In them too are scores more foretelling the earthly career of Christ, and they too
were accomplished literally and perfectly. Such prophecies could only have been given by One who knew the end from the beginning, and whose knowledge rested upon the unconditional certainty of the accomplishment of everything foretold. In like manner, both Old and New Testament contain many other announcements yet future, and they too “must
be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44), must because foretold by Him who decreed them.
It should, however, be pointed out that neither God’s knowledge nor His cognition of the future, considered simply in themselves, are causative. Nothing has ever come to pass, or ever will, merely because God knew it. The cause of all things is the will of God. The man who really believes the Scriptures knows beforehand that the seasons will continue to
follow each other with unfailing regularity to the end of earth’s history (Gen 8:22), yet his knowledge is not the cause of their succession. So God’s knowledge does not arise from things because they are or will be, but because He has ordained them to be. God knew and foretold the crucifixion of His Son many hundreds of years before He became incarnate, and
this, because in the divine purpose, He was a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world: hence we read of His being “delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).
A word or two by way of application. The infinite knowledge of God should fill us with amazement. How far exalted above the wisest man is the Lord! None of us knows what a day may bring forth, but all futurity is open to His omniscient gaze. The infinite knowledge of God ought to fill us with holy awe. Nothing we do, say, or even think, escapes the
cognizance of Him with whom we have to do: “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Pro 15:3). What a curb this would be unto us, did we but meditate upon it more frequently! Instead of acting recklessly, we should say with Hagar, “Thou God seest me” (Gen 16:13). The apprehension of God’s infinite knowledge
should fill the Christian with adoration. The whole of my life stood open to His view from the beginning. He foresaw my every fall, my every sin, my every backsliding; yet, nevertheless, fixed His heart upon me. Oh, how the realization of this should bow me in wonder and worship before Him!
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Post by Admin on Jun 26, 2022 18:48:20 GMT -5
The Foreknowledge of God
WHAT CONTROVERSIES HAVE BEEN ENGENDERED BY THIS subject in the past! But what truth of Holy
Scripture is there which has not been made the occasion of theological and ecclesiastical battles? The deity of Christ, His
virgin birth, His atoning death, His second advent; the believer’s justification, sanctification, security; the church, its
organization, officers, discipline; baptism, the Lord’s supper and a score of other precious truths might be mentioned. Yet,
the controversies which have been waged over them did not close the mouths of God’s faithful servants; why, then, should
we avoid the vexing question of God’s foreknowledge, because, forsooth, there are some who will charge us with
fomenting strife? Let others contend if they will, our duty is to bear witness according to the light vouchsafed us.
Error dispelled
There are two things concerning the foreknowledge of God about which many are in ignorance: the meaning of the
term, and its Scriptural scope. Because this ignorance is so widespread, it is an easy matter for preachers and teachers to
palm off perversions of this subject, even upon the people of God. There is only one safeguard against error, and that is to
be established in the faith; and for that, there has to be prayerful and diligent study, and a receiving with meekness the
engrafted Word of God. Only then are we fortified against the attacks of those who assail us. There are those today who
are misusing this very truth in order to discredit and deny the absolute sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners. Just
as higher critics are repudiating the divine inspiration of the Scriptures; evolutionists, the work of God in creation; so
some pseudo Bible teachers are perverting His foreknowledge in order to set aside His unconditional election unto eternal
life.
When the solemn and blessed subject of divine foreordination is expounded, when God’s eternal choice of certain ones
to be conformed to the image of His Son is set forth, the enemy sends along some man to argue that election is based upon
the foreknowledge of God, and this “foreknowledge” is interpreted to mean that God foresaw certain ones would be more
pliable than others, that they would respond more readily to the strivings of the Spirit, and that because God knew they
would believe, He accordingly, predestinated them unto salvation. But such a statement is radically wrong. It repudiates
the truth of total depravity, for it argues that there is something good in some men. It takes away the independency of
God, for it makes His decrees rest upon what He discovers in the creature. It completely turns things upside down, for in
saying God foresaw certain sinners would believe in Christ, and that because of this, He predestinated them unto
salvation, is the very reverse of the truth. Scripture affirms that God, in His high sovereignty, singled out certain ones to
be recipients of His distinguishing favors (Acts 13:48), and therefore He determined to bestow upon them the gift of faith.
False theology makes God’s foreknowledge of our believing the cause of His election to salvation; whereas, God’s
election is the cause, and our believing in Christ is the effect .
Truth proclaimed
Ere proceeding further with our discussion of this much misunderstood theme, let us pause and define our terms. What
is meant by “foreknowledge”? “To know beforehand,” is the ready reply of many. But we must not jump to conclusions,
nor must we turn to Webster’s dictionary as the final court of appeal, for it is not a matter of the etymology of the term
employed. What is needed is to find out how the word is used in Scripture. The Holy Spirit’s usage of an expression
always defines its meaning and scope. It is failure to apply this simple rule which is responsible for so much confusion
and error. So many people assume they already know the signification of a certain word used in Scripture, and then they
are too dilatory to test their assumptions by means of a concordance. Let us amplify this point.
Take the word “flesh.” Its meaning appears to be so obvious that many would regard it as a waste of time to look up its
various connections in Scripture. It is hastily assumed that the word is synonymous with the physical body, and so no
inquiry is made. But, in fact, “flesh” in Scripture frequently includes far more than what is corporeal; all that is embraced
by the term can only be ascertained by a diligent comparison of every occurrence of it and by a study of each separate
context. Take the word “world.” The average reader of the Bible imagines this word is the equivalent for the human race,
and consequently, many passages where the term is found are wrongly interpreted. Take the word “immortality.” Surely it
requires no study! Obviously it has reference to the indestructibility of the soul. Ah, my reader, it is foolish and wrong to
assume anything where the Word of God is concerned. If the reader will take the trouble to carefully examine each
passage where “mortal” and “immortal” are found, it will be seen that these words are never applied to the soul, but
always to the body.
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Now what has been said on “flesh,” the “world,” “immortality,” applies with equal force to the terms “know” and
“foreknow.” Instead of imagining that these words signify no more than a simple cognition, the different passages in
which they occur require to be carefully weighed. The word “foreknowledge” is not found in the Old Testament. But
“know” occurs there frequently. When that term is used in connection with God, it often signifies to regard with favor,
denoting not mere cognition but an affection for the object in view. “I know thee by name” (Exo 33:17). “Ye have been
rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you” (Deut 9:24). “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee”
(Jer 1:5). “They have made princes, and I knew it not” (Hosea 8:4). “You only have I known of all the families of the
earth” (Amos 3:2). In these passages “knew” signifies either loved or appointed .
In like manner, the word “know” is frequently used in the New Testament, in the same sense as in the Old Testament.
“Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you” (Matt 7:23). “I am the good shepherd and know My sheep and am
known of Mine” (John 10:14). “If any man love God, the same is known of Him” (I Cor 8:3). “The Lord knoweth them
that are His” (II Tim 2:19).
Foreknowledge defined
Now the word “foreknowledge” as it is used in the New Testament is less ambiguous than in its simple form “to
know.” If every passage in which it occurs is carefully studied, it will be discovered that it is a moot point whether it ever
has reference to the mere perception of events which are yet to take place. The fact is that “foreknowledge” is never used
in Scripture in connection with events or actions; instead, it always has reference to persons. It is persons God is said to
“foreknow,” not the actions of those persons. In proof of this we shall now quote each passage where this expression is
found.
The first occurrence is in Acts 2:23. There we read, “Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” If careful attention is paid to the
wording of this verse, it will be seen that the Apostle was not there speaking of God’s foreknowledge of the act of the
crucifixion, but of the Person crucified: “Him [Christ] being delivered by...”
The second occurrence is in Romans 8:29,30. “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them
He also called.” Weigh well the pronoun that is used here. It is not what He did foreknow, but whom He did. It is not the
surrendering of their wills nor the believing of their hearts, but the persons themselves, that are here in view.
“God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew”—(Rom 11:2). Once more the plain reference is to persons,
and to persons only.
The last mention is in I Peter 1:2: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” Who are “elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father”? The previous verse tells us: the reference is to the “strangers scattered,” i.e., the
Diaspora, the Dispersion, the believing Jews. Thus, here too the reference is to persons, and not to their foreseen acts.
Now in view of these passages (and there are no more) what Scriptural ground is there for anyone saying God
“foreknew” the acts of certain ones, viz., their “repenting and believing,” and that because of those acts He elected them
unto salvation? The answer is: None whatever. Scripture never speaks of repentance and faith as being foreseen or
foreknown by God. Truly, He did know from all eternity that certain ones would repent and believe, yet this is not what
Scripture refers to as the object of God’s foreknowledge. The word uniformly refers to God’s foreknowing persons ; then
let us “hold fast the form of sound words” (II Tim 1:13).
Another thing to which we desire to call particular attention is that the first two passages quoted above show plainly
and teach implicitly that God’s foreknowledge is not causative, that instead, something else lies behind, precedes it, and
that something is His own sovereign decree. Christ was “delivered by the [1] determinate counsel and [2] foreknowledge
of God” (Acts 2:23). His counsel or decree was the ground of His foreknowledge. So again in Rom. 8:29. That verse
opens with the word “for,” which tells us to look back to what immediately precedes. What, then, does the previous verse
say? This: “All things work together for good to them...who are the called according to His purpose.” Thus God’s
foreknowledge is based upon His “purpose” or decree (see Psa 2:7).
God foreknows what will be because He has decreed what shall be. It is therefore a reversing of the order of Scripture,
a putting of the cart before the horse, to affirm that God elects because He foreknows people. The truth is, He foreknows
because He has elected. This removes the ground or cause of election from outside the creature, and places it in God’s
own sovereign will. God purposed in Himself to elect a certain people, not because of anything good in them or from
them, either actual or foreseen, but solely out of His own mere pleasure. As to why He chose the ones He did, we do not
know, and can only say, “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” The plain truth in Romans 8:29 is that God,
before the foundation of the world, singled out certain sinners and appointed them unto salvation (II Thess 2:13). This is
clear from the concluding words of the verse: “Predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.” God did not
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predestinate those whom He foreknew were “conformed,” but, on the contrary, those whom He “foreknew” (i.e., loved
and elected) He predestinated “ to be conformed.” Their conformity to Christ is not the cause, but the effect of God’s
foreknowledge and predestination.
God did not elect any sinner because He foresaw that he would believe, for the simple but sufficient reason that no
sinner ever does believe until God gives him faith; just as no man sees until God gives him sight. Sight is God’s gift,
seeing is the consequence of my using His gift. So faith is God’s gift (Eph 2:8,9), believing is the consequence of my
using His gift. If it were true that God had elected certain ones to be saved because in due time they would believe, then
that would make believing a meritorious act, and in that event the saved sinner would have ground for “boasting,” which
Scripture emphatically denies (Eph 2:9).
Surely God’s Word is plain enough in teaching that believing is not a meritorious act. It affirms that Christians are a
people who “have believed through grace “ (Acts 18:27). If, then, they have believed “through grace,” there is absolutely
nothing meritorious about “believing,” and if nothing meritorious, it could not be the ground or cause which moved God
to choose them. No; God’s choice proceeds not from anything in us, or anything from us, but solely from His own
sovereign pleasure. Once more, in Romans 11:5, we read of “a remnant according to the election of grace.” There it is,
plain enough; election itself is of grace, and grace is unmerited favor, something for which we had no claim upon God
whatsoever.
It thus appears that it is highly important for us to have clear and spiritual views of the foreknowledge of God.
Erroneous conceptions about it lead inevitably to thoughts most dishonoring to Him. The popular idea of divine
foreknowledge is altogether inadequate. God not only knew the end from the beginning, but He planned, fixed,
predestinated everything from the beginning. And, as cause stands to effect, so God’s purpose is the ground of His
prescience. If then the reader be a real Christian, he is so because God chose him in Christ before the foundation of the
world (Eph 1:4), and chose not because He foresaw you would believe, but chose simply because it pleased Him to
choose; chose you notwithstanding your natural unbelief. This being so, all the glory and praise belongs alone to Him.
You have no ground for taking any credit to yourself. You have “believed through grace “ (Acts 18:27), and that, because
your very election was “of grace” (Rom 11:5).
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Post by makesends on Nov 22, 2022 22:53:27 GMT -5
The Foreknowledge of God
WHAT CONTROVERSIES HAVE BEEN ENGENDERED BY THIS subject in the past! But what truth of Holy
Scripture is there which has not been made the occasion of theological and ecclesiastical battles? The deity of Christ, His
virgin birth, His atoning death, His second advent; the believer’s justification, sanctification, security; the church, its
organization, officers, discipline; baptism, the Lord’s supper and a score of other precious truths might be mentioned. Yet,
the controversies which have been waged over them did not close the mouths of God’s faithful servants; why, then, should
we avoid the vexing question of God’s foreknowledge, because, forsooth, there are some who will charge us with
fomenting strife? Let others contend if they will, our duty is to bear witness according to the light vouchsafed us.
Error dispelled
There are two things concerning the foreknowledge of God about which many are in ignorance: the meaning of the
term, and its Scriptural scope. Because this ignorance is so widespread, it is an easy matter for preachers and teachers to
palm off perversions of this subject, even upon the people of God. There is only one safeguard against error, and that is to
be established in the faith; and for that, there has to be prayerful and diligent study, and a receiving with meekness the
engrafted Word of God. Only then are we fortified against the attacks of those who assail us. There are those today who
are misusing this very truth in order to discredit and deny the absolute sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners. Just
as higher critics are repudiating the divine inspiration of the Scriptures; evolutionists, the work of God in creation; so
some pseudo Bible teachers are perverting His foreknowledge in order to set aside His unconditional election unto eternal
life.
When the solemn and blessed subject of divine foreordination is expounded, when God’s eternal choice of certain ones
to be conformed to the image of His Son is set forth, the enemy sends along some man to argue that election is based upon
the foreknowledge of God, and this “foreknowledge” is interpreted to mean that God foresaw certain ones would be more
pliable than others, that they would respond more readily to the strivings of the Spirit, and that because God knew they
would believe, He accordingly, predestinated them unto salvation. But such a statement is radically wrong. It repudiates
the truth of total depravity, for it argues that there is something good in some men. It takes away the independency of
God, for it makes His decrees rest upon what He discovers in the creature. It completely turns things upside down, for in
saying God foresaw certain sinners would believe in Christ, and that because of this, He predestinated them unto
salvation, is the very reverse of the truth. Scripture affirms that God, in His high sovereignty, singled out certain ones to
be recipients of His distinguishing favors (Acts 13:48), and therefore He determined to bestow upon them the gift of faith.
False theology makes God’s foreknowledge of our believing the cause of His election to salvation; whereas, God’s
election is the cause, and our believing in Christ is the effect .
Truth proclaimed
Ere proceeding further with our discussion of this much misunderstood theme, let us pause and define our terms. What
is meant by “foreknowledge”? “To know beforehand,” is the ready reply of many. But we must not jump to conclusions,
nor must we turn to Webster’s dictionary as the final court of appeal, for it is not a matter of the etymology of the term
employed. What is needed is to find out how the word is used in Scripture. The Holy Spirit’s usage of an expression
always defines its meaning and scope. It is failure to apply this simple rule which is responsible for so much confusion
and error. So many people assume they already know the signification of a certain word used in Scripture, and then they
are too dilatory to test their assumptions by means of a concordance. Let us amplify this point.
Take the word “flesh.” Its meaning appears to be so obvious that many would regard it as a waste of time to look up its
various connections in Scripture. It is hastily assumed that the word is synonymous with the physical body, and so no
inquiry is made. But, in fact, “flesh” in Scripture frequently includes far more than what is corporeal; all that is embraced
by the term can only be ascertained by a diligent comparison of every occurrence of it and by a study of each separate
context. Take the word “world.” The average reader of the Bible imagines this word is the equivalent for the human race,
and consequently, many passages where the term is found are wrongly interpreted. Take the word “immortality.” Surely it
requires no study! Obviously it has reference to the indestructibility of the soul. Ah, my reader, it is foolish and wrong to
assume anything where the Word of God is concerned. If the reader will take the trouble to carefully examine each
passage where “mortal” and “immortal” are found, it will be seen that these words are never applied to the soul, but
always to the body.
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Now what has been said on “flesh,” the “world,” “immortality,” applies with equal force to the terms “know” and
“foreknow.” Instead of imagining that these words signify no more than a simple cognition, the different passages in
which they occur require to be carefully weighed. The word “foreknowledge” is not found in the Old Testament. But
“know” occurs there frequently. When that term is used in connection with God, it often signifies to regard with favor,
denoting not mere cognition but an affection for the object in view. “I know thee by name” (Exo 33:17). “Ye have been
rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you” (Deut 9:24). “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee”
(Jer 1:5). “They have made princes, and I knew it not” (Hosea 8:4). “You only have I known of all the families of the
earth” (Amos 3:2). In these passages “knew” signifies either loved or appointed .
In like manner, the word “know” is frequently used in the New Testament, in the same sense as in the Old Testament.
“Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you” (Matt 7:23). “I am the good shepherd and know My sheep and am
known of Mine” (John 10:14). “If any man love God, the same is known of Him” (I Cor 8:3). “The Lord knoweth them
that are His” (II Tim 2:19).
Foreknowledge defined
Now the word “foreknowledge” as it is used in the New Testament is less ambiguous than in its simple form “to
know.” If every passage in which it occurs is carefully studied, it will be discovered that it is a moot point whether it ever
has reference to the mere perception of events which are yet to take place. The fact is that “foreknowledge” is never used
in Scripture in connection with events or actions; instead, it always has reference to persons. It is persons God is said to
“foreknow,” not the actions of those persons. In proof of this we shall now quote each passage where this expression is
found.
The first occurrence is in Acts 2:23. There we read, “Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” If careful attention is paid to the
wording of this verse, it will be seen that the Apostle was not there speaking of God’s foreknowledge of the act of the
crucifixion, but of the Person crucified: “Him [Christ] being delivered by...”
The second occurrence is in Romans 8:29,30. “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them
He also called.” Weigh well the pronoun that is used here. It is not what He did foreknow, but whom He did. It is not the
surrendering of their wills nor the believing of their hearts, but the persons themselves, that are here in view.
“God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew”—(Rom 11:2). Once more the plain reference is to persons,
and to persons only.
The last mention is in I Peter 1:2: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” Who are “elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father”? The previous verse tells us: the reference is to the “strangers scattered,” i.e., the
Diaspora, the Dispersion, the believing Jews. Thus, here too the reference is to persons, and not to their foreseen acts.
Now in view of these passages (and there are no more) what Scriptural ground is there for anyone saying God
“foreknew” the acts of certain ones, viz., their “repenting and believing,” and that because of those acts He elected them
unto salvation? The answer is: None whatever. Scripture never speaks of repentance and faith as being foreseen or
foreknown by God. Truly, He did know from all eternity that certain ones would repent and believe, yet this is not what
Scripture refers to as the object of God’s foreknowledge. The word uniformly refers to God’s foreknowing persons ; then
let us “hold fast the form of sound words” (II Tim 1:13).
Another thing to which we desire to call particular attention is that the first two passages quoted above show plainly
and teach implicitly that God’s foreknowledge is not causative, that instead, something else lies behind, precedes it, and
that something is His own sovereign decree. Christ was “delivered by the [1] determinate counsel and [2] foreknowledge
of God” (Acts 2:23). His counsel or decree was the ground of His foreknowledge. So again in Rom. 8:29. That verse
opens with the word “for,” which tells us to look back to what immediately precedes. What, then, does the previous verse
say? This: “All things work together for good to them...who are the called according to His purpose.” Thus God’s
foreknowledge is based upon His “purpose” or decree (see Psa 2:7).
God foreknows what will be because He has decreed what shall be. It is therefore a reversing of the order of Scripture,
a putting of the cart before the horse, to affirm that God elects because He foreknows people. The truth is, He foreknows
because He has elected. This removes the ground or cause of election from outside the creature, and places it in God’s
own sovereign will. God purposed in Himself to elect a certain people, not because of anything good in them or from
them, either actual or foreseen, but solely out of His own mere pleasure. As to why He chose the ones He did, we do not
know, and can only say, “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight.” The plain truth in Romans 8:29 is that God,
before the foundation of the world, singled out certain sinners and appointed them unto salvation (II Thess 2:13). This is
clear from the concluding words of the verse: “Predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.” God did not
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predestinate those whom He foreknew were “conformed,” but, on the contrary, those whom He “foreknew” (i.e., loved
and elected) He predestinated “ to be conformed.” Their conformity to Christ is not the cause, but the effect of God’s
foreknowledge and predestination.
God did not elect any sinner because He foresaw that he would believe, for the simple but sufficient reason that no
sinner ever does believe until God gives him faith; just as no man sees until God gives him sight. Sight is God’s gift,
seeing is the consequence of my using His gift. So faith is God’s gift (Eph 2:8,9), believing is the consequence of my
using His gift. If it were true that God had elected certain ones to be saved because in due time they would believe, then
that would make believing a meritorious act, and in that event the saved sinner would have ground for “boasting,” which
Scripture emphatically denies (Eph 2:9).
Surely God’s Word is plain enough in teaching that believing is not a meritorious act. It affirms that Christians are a
people who “have believed through grace “ (Acts 18:27). If, then, they have believed “through grace,” there is absolutely
nothing meritorious about “believing,” and if nothing meritorious, it could not be the ground or cause which moved God
to choose them. No; God’s choice proceeds not from anything in us, or anything from us, but solely from His own
sovereign pleasure. Once more, in Romans 11:5, we read of “a remnant according to the election of grace.” There it is,
plain enough; election itself is of grace, and grace is unmerited favor, something for which we had no claim upon God
whatsoever.
It thus appears that it is highly important for us to have clear and spiritual views of the foreknowledge of God.
Erroneous conceptions about it lead inevitably to thoughts most dishonoring to Him. The popular idea of divine
foreknowledge is altogether inadequate. God not only knew the end from the beginning, but He planned, fixed,
predestinated everything from the beginning. And, as cause stands to effect, so God’s purpose is the ground of His
prescience. If then the reader be a real Christian, he is so because God chose him in Christ before the foundation of the
world (Eph 1:4), and chose not because He foresaw you would believe, but chose simply because it pleased Him to
choose; chose you notwithstanding your natural unbelief. This being so, all the glory and praise belongs alone to Him.
You have no ground for taking any credit to yourself. You have “believed through grace “ (Acts 18:27), and that, because
your very election was “of grace” (Rom 11:5).
"[They say that] because God knew they would believe, He accordingly, predestinated them unto salvation. But such a statement is radically wrong. It repudiates the truth of total depravity, for it argues that there is something good in some men. It takes away the independency of God, for it makes His decrees rest upon what He discovers in the creature."
Yet, how many hours are spent on forums and other places, arguing with the tireless voices of those who will not yield to the obvious truth, that if God is God, he is sovereign in EVERYTHING and in every detail? Both Scripture and logic scream it! But somehow they want it divided between God and men. And these are some of them the Elect! Believers. Regenerated and redeemed! |
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Post by makesends on Nov 23, 2022 0:00:08 GMT -5
Chapter 2 The Decrees of God
THE DECREE OF GOD IS HIS PURPOSE OR DETERMINATION with respect to future things. We have used the
singular number as Scripture does (Rom 8:28; Eph 3:11), because there was only one act of His infinite mind about future
things. But we speak as if there had been many, because our minds are only capable of thinking of successive revolutions,
as thoughts and occasions arise, or in reference to the various objects of His decree, which being many seem to us to
require a distinct purpose for each one. But an infinite understanding does not proceed by steps, from one stage to another:
“Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).
The decrees of God
The Scriptures make mention of the decrees of God in many passages, and under a variety of terms. The word “decree”
is found in Psalm 2:7. In Ephesians 3:11 we read of His “eternal purpose.” In Acts 2:23 of His “determinate counsel and
foreknowledge.” In Ephesians 1:9 of the mystery of His “will.” In Romans 8:29 that He also did “predestinate.” In
Ephesians 1:9 of His “good pleasure.” God’s decrees are called His “counsel” to signify they are consummately wise.
They are called God’s “will” to show He was under no control, but acted according to His own pleasure. When a man’s
will is the rule of his conduct, it is usually capricious and unreasonable; but wisdom is always associated with “will” in the divine proceedings, and accordingly, God’s decrees are said to be “the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).
The decrees of God relate to all future things without exception: whatever is done in time was foreordained before time
began. God’s purpose was concerned with everything, whether great or small, whether good or evil, although with
reference to the latter we must be careful to state that while God is the Orderer and Controller of sin, He is not the Author of it in the same way that He is the Author of good. Sin could not proceed from a holy God by positive and direct creation,
but only by decretive permission and negative action. God’s decree is as comprehensive as His government, extending to
all creatures and all events. It was concerned about our life and death; about our state in time, and our state in eternity. As God works all things after the counsel of His own will, we learn from His works what His counsel is (was), as we judge of an architect’s plan by inspecting the building which was erected under his directions.
God did not merely decree to make man, place him upon the earth, and then leave him to his own uncontrolled
guidance; instead, He fixed all the circumstances in the lot of individuals, and all the particulars which will comprise the history of the human race from its commencement to its close. He did not merely decree that general laws should be
established for the government of the world, but He settled the application of those laws to all particular cases. Our days
are numbered, and so are the hairs of our heads. We may learn what is the extent of the divine decrees from the
dispensations of providence, in which they are executed. The care of Providence reaches to the most insignificant
creatures, and the most minute events—the death of a sparrow, and the fall of a hair.
Properties of divine decrees
Let us now consider some of the properties of the divine decrees. First, they are eternal. To suppose any of them to be
made in time is to suppose that some new occasion has occurred; some unforeseen event or combination of circumstances
has arisen, which has induced the Most High to form a new resolution. This would argue that the knowledge of the Deity
is limited, and that He is growing wiser in the progress of time—which would be horrible blasphemy. No man who
believes that the divine understanding is infinite, comprehending the past, the present, and the future, will ever assent to the erroneous doctrine of temporal decrees. God is not ignorant of future events which will be executed by human
volitions; He has foretold them in innumerable instances, and prophecy is but the manifestation of His eternal prescience.
Scripture affirms that believers were chosen in Christ before the world began (Eph 1:4), yea, that grace was “given” to
them then (II Tim 1:9).
Secondly, the decrees of God are wise. Wisdom is shown in the selection of the best possible ends and of the fittest
means of accomplishing them. That this character belongs to the decrees of God is evident from what we know of them.
They are disclosed to us by their execution, and every proof of wisdom in the works of God is a proof of the wisdom of
the plan, in conformity to which they are performed. As the Psalmist declared, “O LORD, how manifold are Thy works!
in wisdom hast Thou made them all” (104:24). It is indeed but a very small part of them which falls under our
observation, yet, we ought to proceed here as we do in other cases, and judge of the whole by the specimen, of what is
unknown, by what is known. He who perceives the workings of admirable skill in the parts of a machine which he has an
opportunity to examine, is naturally led to believe that the other parts are equally admirable. In like manner we should
satisfy our minds as to God’s works when doubts obtrude themselves upon us, and repel any objections that may be
suggested by something that we cannot reconcile to our notions of what is good and wise. When we reach the bounds of
the finite and gaze toward the mysterious realm of the infinite, let us exclaim, “O the depth of the riches both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Rom 11:33).
Thirdly, they are free. “Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being His counselor hath taught Him? With
whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and
shewed to Him the way of understanding?” (Isa 40:13-14). God was alone when He made His decrees, and His
determinations were influenced by no external cause. He was free to decree or not to decree, and to decree one thing and
not another. This liberty we must ascribe to Him who is Supreme, Independent, and Sovereign in all His doings.
Fourthly, they are absolute and unconditional. The execution of them is not suspended upon any condition which may,
or may not be, performed. In every instance where God has decreed an end, He has also decreed every means to that end.
The One who decreed the salvation of His elect also decreed to work faith in them (II Thess 2:13). “My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all My pleasure” (Isa 46:10): but that could not be, if His counsel depended upon a condition which
might not be performed. But God “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).
Man’s responsibility
Side by side with the immutability and invincibility of God’s decrees, Scripture plainly teaches that man is a
responsible creature and answerable for his actions. And if our thoughts are formed from God’s Word the maintenance of
the one will not lead to the denial of the other. That there is a real difficulty in defining where the one ends and the other
begins is freely granted. This is ever the case where there is a conjunction of the divine and the human. Real prayer is
indited [dictated] by the Spirit, yet it is also the cry of a human heart. The Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, yet
they were written by men who were something more than machines in the hand of the Spirit. Christ is both God and man.
He is Omniscient, yet “increased in wisdom” (Luke 2:52). He was Almighty, yet was “crucified through weakness” (II
Cor 13:4). He was the Prince of life, yet He died. High mysteries are these, yet faith receives them unquestioningly.
It has often been pointed out in the past that every objection made against the eternal decrees of God applies with equal
force against His eternal foreknowledge.
Whether God has decreed all things that ever come to pass or not, all that own the being of a God, own that He knows all
things beforehand. Now, it is self-evident that if He knows all things beforehand, He either doth approve of them or doth not
approve of them; that is, He either is willing they should be, or He is not willing they should be. But to will that they should be is to decree them (Jonathan Edwards).
Finally, attempt, with me, to assume and then to contemplate the opposite. To deny the divine decrees would be to
predicate a world and all its concerns regulated by UN-designed chance or blind fate. Then what peace, what assurance,
what comfort would there be for our poor hearts and minds? What refuge would there be to fly to in the hour of need and
trial? None at all. There would be nothing better than the black darkness and abject horror of atheism.
O my reader, how thankful should we be that everything is determined by infinite wisdom and goodness! What praise
and gratitude are due unto God for His divine decrees. It is because of them that “we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28). Well may we exclaim,
“For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Rom 11:36).
Chapter 3 |
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Post by makesends on Nov 23, 2022 0:39:08 GMT -5
God’s omniscience GOD IS OMNISCIENT. HE KNOWS EVERYTHING: EVERYTHING possible, everything actual; all events and all
creatures, of the past, the present, and the future. He is perfectly acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in
heaven, in earth, and in hell. “He knoweth what is in the darkness” (Dan 2:22). Nothing escapes His notice, nothing can
be hidden from Him, nothing is forgotten by Him. Well may we say with the Psalmist, “Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it” (Psa 139:6). His knowledge is perfect. He never errs, never changes, never
overlooks anything. “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened
unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Heb 4:13). Yes, such is the God “with whom we have to do”!
“Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path
and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, Thou
knowest it altogether” (Psa 139:2-4). What a wondrous Being is the God of Scripture! Each of His glorious attributes
should render Him honorable in our esteem. The apprehension of His omniscience ought to bow us in adoration before
Him. Yet how little do we meditate upon this divine perfection! Is it because the very thought of it fills us with
uneasiness?
How solemn is this fact: nothing can be concealed from God! “For I know the things that come into your mind, every
one of them” (Eze 11:5). Though He be invisible to us, we are not so to Him. Neither the darkness of night, the closest
curtains, nor the deepest dungeon can hide any sinner from the eyes of Omniscience. The trees of the garden were not able
to conceal our first parents. No human eye beheld Cain murder his brother, but his Maker witnessed his crime. Sarah
might laugh derisively in the seclusion of her tent, yet was it heard by Jehovah. Achan stole a wedge of gold and carefully
hid it in the earth, but God brought it to light. David was at much pains to cover up his wickedness, but ere long the allseeing God sent one of His servants to say to him, “Thou art the man”! And to writer and reader is also said, “Be sure
your sin will find you out” (Num 32:23).
Men would strip Deity of His omniscience if they could—what a proof that “the carnal mind is enmity against God”
(Rom 8:7)! The wicked do as naturally hate this divine perfection as much as they are naturally compelled to acknowledge
it. They wish there might be no Witness of their sins, no Searcher of their hearts, no Judge of their deeds. They seek to
banish such a God from their thoughts: “They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness” (Hosea
7:2). How solemn is Psalm 90:8! Good reason has every Christ-rejecter for trembling before it: “Thou hast set our
iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.”
But to the believer, the fact of God’s omniscience is a truth fraught with much comfort. In times of perplexity he says
with Job, “But He knoweth the way that I take” (23:10). It may be profoundly mysterious to me, quite incomprehensible to
my friends, but “He knoweth”! In times of weariness and weakness believers assure themselves, “He knoweth our frame;
He remembereth that we are dust” (Psa 103:14). In times of doubt and suspicion they appeal to this very attribute, saying,
“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting” (Psa 139:23,24). In time of sad failure, when our actions have belied our hearts, when our
deeds have repudiated our devotion, and the searching question comes to us, “Lovest thou Me?”, we say, as Peter did,
“Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee” (John 21:17).
Here is encouragement to prayer. There is no cause for fearing that the petitions of the righteous will not be heard, or
that their sighs and tears shall escape the notice of God, since He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. There is no
danger of the individual saint being overlooked amidst the multitude of supplicants who daily and hourly present their
various petitions, for an infinite Mind is as capable of paying the same attention to millions as if only one individual were
seeking its attention. So too the lack of appropriate language, the inability to give expression to the deepest longing of the
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soul, will not jeopardize our prayers, for “It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet
speaking, I will hear” (Isa 65:24).
Past and future
“Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite” (Psa 147:5). God not only knows whatsoever has
happened in the past in every part of His vast domains, and He is not only thoroughly acquainted with everything that is
now transpiring throughout the entire universe, but He is also perfectly cognizant of every event, from the least to the
greatest, that ever will happen in the ages to come. God’s knowledge of the future is as complete as is His knowledge of
the past and the present, and that, because the future depends entirely upon Himself. Were it in anywise possible for
something to occur apart from either the direct agency or permission of God, then that something would be independent of
Him, and He would at once cease to be Supreme.
Now the divine knowledge of the future is not a mere abstraction, but something which is inseparably connected with
and accompanied by His purpose. God has Himself designed whatsoever shall yet be, and what He has designed must be
effectuated. As His most sure Word affirms, “He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand” (Dan 4:35). And again, “There are many devices in a man’s heart;
nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand” (Pro 19:21). The wisdom and power of God being alike infinite,
the accomplishment of whatever He hath purposed is absolutely guaranteed. It is no more possible for the divine counsels
to fail in their execution than it would be for the thrice holy God to lie.
Nothing relating to the future is in anywise uncertain so far as the actualization of God’s counsels are concerned. None
of His decrees are left contingent either on creatures or secondary causes. There is no future event which is only a mere
possibility, that is, something which may or may not come to pass: “Known unto God are all His works from the
beginning” (Acts 15:18). Whatever God has decreed is inexorably certain, for He is without variableness, or shadow of
turning (James 1:17). Therefore we are told at the very beginning of that book, which unveils to us so much of the future,
of “Things which must shortly come to pass” (Rev 1:1).
The perfect knowledge of God is exemplified and illustrated in every prophecy recorded in His Word. In the Old
Testament are to be found scores of predictions concerning the history of Israel, which were fulfilled to their minutest
detail, centuries after they were made. In them too are scores more foretelling the earthly career of Christ, and they too
were accomplished literally and perfectly. Such prophecies could only have been given by One who knew the end from
the beginning, and whose knowledge rested upon the unconditional certainty of the accomplishment of everything
foretold. In like manner, both Old and New Testament contain many other announcements yet future, and they too “must
be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44), must because foretold by Him who decreed them.
It should, however, be pointed out that neither God’s knowledge nor His cognition of the future, considered simply in
themselves, are causative. Nothing has ever come to pass, or ever will, merely because God knew it. The cause of all
things is the will of God. The man who really believes the Scriptures knows beforehand that the seasons will continue to
follow each other with unfailing regularity to the end of earth’s history (Gen 8:22), yet his knowledge is not the cause of
their succession. So God’s knowledge does not arise from things because they are or will be, but because He has ordained
them to be. God knew and foretold the crucifixion of His Son many hundreds of years before He became incarnate, and
this, because in the divine purpose, He was a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world: hence we read of His being
“delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).
A word or two by way of application. The infinite knowledge of God should fill us with amazement. How far exalted
above the wisest man is the Lord! None of us knows what a day may bring forth, but all futurity is open to His omniscient
gaze. The infinite knowledge of God ought to fill us with holy awe. Nothing we do, say, or even think, escapes the
cognizance of Him with whom we have to do: “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the
good” (Pro 15:3). What a curb this would be unto us, did we but meditate upon it more frequently! Instead of acting
recklessly, we should say with Hagar, “Thou God seest me” (Gen 16:13). The apprehension of God’s infinite knowledge
should fill the Christian with adoration. The whole of my life stood open to His view from the beginning. He foresaw my
every fall, my every sin, my every backsliding; yet, nevertheless, fixed His heart upon me. Oh, how the realization of this
should bow me in wonder and worship before Him! AWPink: "But to the believer, the fact of God’s omniscience is a truth fraught with much comfort." Not because the believer is righteous, and deserving of God's favor, but because God is merciful, and does everything for his own purposes. Reminds me of the story of David taking a census of Israel's fighting men (2 Samuel 24). When he repented of the deed:
12 "...'This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’”
13 So [the prophet] Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”
14 David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” |
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Post by Admin on Jan 1, 2023 23:17:30 GMT -5
Of God and His perfections;Thomas Boston
Thirdly, The next incommunicable attribute of God is unchangeableness.
God is immutable, that is, always the same, without any alteration.
Hence it is said, Jam. 1:17. 'With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,'
Mal. 3:6. 'I am the Lord, I change not.'
God makes changes upon the creatures, but is liable to no change himself.'
Though he alters his dispensations, yet not his nature; but, by one pure and constant act of his will and power, effects what changes he pleases. He is the same in all his perfections, constant to his intentions, steady to his purpose, unchangeably fixed and persevering in all his decrees and resolutions.
When God is said to repent in scripture, Gen. 6:6. 1 Sam. 15:11. It denotes only a change of his outward conduct according to his infallible foresight and immutable will. He changes the way of his providential dealings according to the carriage and deportment of his creature, without changing his will, which is the rule of his providence.
For otherwise that is an eternal truth, Num. 23:19. 'God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent,' 1 Sam. 15:29. 'The Strength of Israel will not lie, nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.'
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Post by Admin on Jan 1, 2023 23:23:06 GMT -5
Do you perhaps have some scripture to explain what you mean?
God is never the author of sin.
3. He could foresee no moral goodness in fallen and corrupted men, as moving Him to elect them to everlasting happiness, Gen 6:5; Gen 8:21; Ps 5:9-10; Ps 14:1-4; Isa 59:1-15; Rom 1:21-32; Rom 3:10-19,23; Rom 5:12; Rom 8:7-8; Titus 3:3; Jer 13:23; Jer 17:9; Eph 2:1-3; Eph 4:17- 19; Job 14:4; Job 15:14,16; Matt 15:19.
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Post by electedbyhim on Jan 2, 2023 18:30:57 GMT -5
Excellent post and love A.W. Pinks writings. The Sovereignty of God is a must read.
Grace and peace to you.
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Post by fastfredy on Jan 29, 2023 12:11:13 GMT -5
God is never the author of sin.
This is an interesting subject. One needs to define "author of sin" first though. |
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Post by electedbyhim on Jan 30, 2023 18:21:04 GMT -5
God is never the author of sin.
This is an interesting subject. One needs to define "author of sin" first though. Agreed. |
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Post by makesends on Jan 31, 2023 2:15:17 GMT -5
God never sins. God never makes anyone sin. God cannot be blamed for Man's sin. Does God being first cause not imply causation of all things? (John 1) I agree that God never sins, nor can he be blamed for sin, but if all you mean by "God never makes man sin" that man does not sin according to the descending of all things by God, to mean that God does not cause that man sin, I can't agree. He does never make them sin, in the sense that they have no choice, but he causes them to sin in the sense that because of his causation, they always are sinning, regardless of what they choose. The choice is there before them, but they will always choose sin. They are to blame. He is to be praised for who he is —the cause behind the whole matter, hierarchically establishing their very choices. |
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