"Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it." For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, To whom be glory forever.Amen. Romans 11:34-36 (NKJV)
It is a popular aspect, in many Christian circles, to presume on God; to make God into a being that conforms to the imaginations of human desire, and has a nature that is more in uniformity with human frailty and inability than that of a Supreme Creator or a Sovereign God of the universe. However, that is the God that many choose to worship or, more properly, choose to utilize. This God is dependent on human beings, is powerless in relation to a world that is claimed to be owned by Satan, and can only act in response to the faith of human beings which calls Him to action, or in the case of a lack of faith, prevents Him from acting. God's will is defined and assumed to be His obligation to fulfill the desires of Christians. Whatever will God might have on His own, in relation to the lives of Christians, is relegated to impotence and the wills and desires of human beings usurp the autonomy of the Creator of the universe. Is this the true God, the God of the Bible or is this the wrong God, a god of human invention?
"Now what are the implications for our life today of this amazing picture of God. I will mention only three. First, if God is the creator of all things out of nothing, then he owns all things and all people absolutely. The scripture infers ownership from creation. Psalm 95:5, "The sea is his for he made it." Psalm 89:11, "The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine; the world and all that is in it, thou hast founded them." Psalm 24:1, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein." God owns all things absolutely. We may think of ourselves as owners only in relation to other people. That is, they have no right to take certain things from us without compensation. But in relation to God we own nothing, absolutely nothing and he has every right to dispose of us all our so-called possessions exactly as he pleases. This means that with regard to our possessions we are stewards or trustees of God's estate and with regard to ourselves we are slaves of the Almighty. It is very wrong to think that a tithe of our income belongs to God and 90% belongs to us. It is all God's absolutely, and we have no rights to dispense it in any way but what pleases its Owner. The doctrine of creation implies that we should ask of every expenditure: Am I by this purchase achieving the purposes of my Creator?" — John S. Piper READ ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS ON THIS WEBSITE He Commanded And They Were Created —John S. Piper [Desiring God website] The How, Why And When Of Creation Two sermon series —John F. MacArthur
"Do you see what is at stake here? If we lose the sovereignty of God, we eventually lose God. If the flavor of God's sovereignty goes out of our conversation - and our education! - deity goes out of our conversation and our education. The sovereignty of God is the cornerstone of life and preaching and education at Bethlehem, because God is the cornerstone of life and preaching and education at Bethlehem. We want to be a God-besotted people. We want our youth to be more entranced by God than by any musical group or any sporting event or any TV or movie hit. We want to be a church where children and youth and adults - single, married, male, female, rich, poor, thinkers, feelers, doers - know God and love God and are filled with all the fullness of God - for who he really is." —John S. Piper READ ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS ON THIS WEBSITE The Absolute Sovereignty Of God —John S Piper [Desiring God website] I Am The Lord And Beside Me There Is No Savior —John S Piper [Desiring God website] The Sole Consideration That God Is God, Sufficient To Still All Objection To His Sovereignty —Jonathan Edwards
"I observe, it implies that God can either bestow salvation on any of the children of men, or refuse it, without any prejudice to the glory of any of his attributes, except where he has been pleased to declare, that he will or will not bestow it. It cannot be said absolutely, as the case now stands, that God can, without any prejudice to the honour of any of his attributes, bestow salvation on any of the children of men, or refuse it; because, concerning some, God has been pleased to declare either that he will or that he will not bestow salvation on them; and thus to bind himself by his own promise. And concerning some he has been pleased to declare, that he never will bestow salvation upon them; viz. those who have committed the sin against the Holy Ghost. Hence, as the case now stands, he is obliged. he cannot bestow salvation in one case, or refuse it in the other, without prejudice to the honour of his truth. But God exercised his sovereignty in making these declarations. God was not obliged to promise that he would save all who believe in Christ; nor was he obliged to declare, that he who committed the sin against the Holy Ghost should never be forgiven, But it pleased him so to declare. And had it not been so that God had been pleased to oblige himself in these cases, he might still have either bestowed salvation, or refused it, without prejudice to any of his attributes. If it would in itself be prejudicial to any of his attributes to bestow or refuse salvation, then God would not in that matter act as absolutely sovereign. Because it then ceases to be a merely arbitrary thing. It ceases to be a matter of absolute liberty, and is become a matter of necessity or obligation. For God cannot do any thing to the prejudice of any of his attributes, or contrary to what is in itself excellent and glorious." — Jonathan Edwards READ ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS ON THIS WEBSITE God's Sovereignty In The Salvation Of Men —Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758 Election And Predestination: The Sovereighnty Of God In Salvation —A Grace Bridge panel discussion The Sovereignty Of God In Salvation —John F. MacArthur
"The doctrine of the Trinity is based on three Biblical truths that together form its foundation: 1. There is only one God (monotheism); 2. There are three Persons - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is in direct contradiction of modalism, Sabellianism, or the "Jesus Only" teachings that deny the separate personhood of Father, Son and Spirit; 3. There is full equality of the Persons. This is in direct contradiction of Arianism and all systems that would deny the full Deity and equality of the Son and the Spirit. Each of these truths is part of God's revelation of Himself, and no system can claim to be based on the Bible unless these truths are taken into account. The denial of any one of these Biblical teachings leads directly to heresy and false doctrine - denial of monotheism leads to polytheism (such as in Mormonism); denial of the three Persons leads into modalism (such as the United Pentecostal movement); and denial of the equality of the Persons leads to subordination-ism (Jehovah's Witnesses, the Way International, etc.)." —James White READ ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS ON THIS WEBSITE The Trinity, The Definition Of Chalcedon, And Oneness Theology —James White On The Trinity —Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758 The Nature Of God - The Triunity Of God Study Guide —James White
"All creatures are absolutely under the sovereignty of God, and are acted by his power in all their services. 'Thy wind': all are subject to his conduct, and are the guardians of his people, and the conquerors of his enemies. How easy is it for the arm of Omnipotency to demolish the strongest preparations against his Israel, and with a blast reduce their power to nothing! The sea suffers violence to preserve his people, and the liquid element seems transformed into a wall of brass. God can make the meanest creatures ministers of his judgments, raise troops of flies to rout the Roman army, as it was in Trajan's siege of the Agarenes." —Stephen Charnock 1628-1680 READ ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS ON THIS WEBSITE On God As A Deliverer —Stephen Charnock 1628-1680 Deliverance: The neglected Doctrine 6-sermon series —John MacArthur
God is as different from man as man is from God, so, as a consequence, man is not entitled to Godhood, not qualified in that respect and is not granted that position by God Himself. READ ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS ON THIS WEBSITE God Does Not Repent Like A Man —John Piper [Desiring God website] or E-MAIL ON DOCTRINE at: ondoctrine@ondoctrine.com
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