Sorry so long since I've posted! School is killin' me (but I'm lovin' it!)
Article IV of the Abstract of Principles:
God from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs and governs all creatures and all events; yet so as not to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.
All things owe their original creation as well as their continued existence with all their various properties to the will of God.
- Hebrews 1:3 – He upholds all things by the word of His power
- Colossians 1:17 – He is before all things and in Him all things consist
- Nehemiah 9:6 – He alone is creator and preserver
- Acts 17:28 – In Him we live, move and are
- Ephesians 4:6 – He is over all, through all, and in all
All things, both in heaven and on earth, from the seraphim down to the tiny atom are ordered by His never-failing providence. Dr. Charles Hodge said,
To suppose that anything is too great to be comprehended in His control, or anything so minute as to escape His notice; or that the infinitude of particulars can distract His attention, is to forget that God is infinite… The sun diffuses its light through all space as easily as upon any point. God is as much present everywhere, and with everything, as though He were only in one place, and had but one object of attention… He is present in every blade of grass, yet guiding Arcturus in his course, marshalling the stars as a host, calling them by their names; present also in every human soul, giving it understanding, endowing it with gifts, working in it both to will and to do. The human heart is in His hands; and He turneth it even as the rivers of water are turned [Proverbs 21:1]. (Systematic Theology, I, p. 583)
God determines when, where, and under what circumstances every person is born, will live, and die. He does whatsoever He wills. His distribution of His favors lies solely within His own will. Some get riches, some honor, some health, some talents of this kind, some talent of another kind. Others are poor, unknown, dishonorable, victims of disease, living lives filled with all manner of wretchedness. Some are the beneficiaries of growing up in Christian homes, and others live and die in the darkness of paganism, never having heard the Gospel. To a very large degree, these things that have absolutely nothing to do with individual choice decide a person’s eternal destiny. Both Scripture and everyday experience teach us that God gives to some what He withholds from others (see Matthew 11:25-30). Only the doctrine of the Fall and Redemption can give us true understanding regarding what we see around us. God does not simply “watch over” the universe He has made, as if he had set the creation to spinning and then retreated to watch what then would come to pass. No, He is everywhere present and active, the all-sustaining ground and all-governing power of all that is.
All of history and every particular event in it is its own part of progress toward a predetermined end. Put a man in a time of real danger and most often his innate, instinctive response proves these truths. Even the reprobate is often found appealing to God in such times of danger. The fact that this is true in our experience testifies to the universal sense in man of his own moral responsibility and dependence upon God (see Romans 1:18-21).
A conundrum?
Does this doctrine do violence to the nature of man? Wicked men are called the rod, staff, axe, and saw in His hand (Isaiah 10:5-15). The Bible everywhere teaches this universal, providential control of God, and yet, at the same time the Bible everywhere teaches that man is fully responsible for all his actions. How can the responsibility of man and the doctrine of God’s providence be reconciled? I would assert that there is no contradiction here. The only violence done is done to the proud heart of a man. A man always does what he wants to do the most - always and without exception. If a man then does according to his volition, who other is to be held responsible for his own actions which proceed from his own will? Man does not like the sound of this because it places him firmly and squarely in the need of Someone outside of and above him.
