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GOD’S PROVIDENCE

• God is continually involved with all things in certain ways

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GOD’S PROVIDENCE: Keeps us from believing …

–Deism–Pantheism–Randomness–Fate

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GOD’S PROVIDENCE: Three parts to the doctrine

–Preservation–Concurrence–Government

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PRESERVATION

• God is continually involved with all things in such a way that he keeps them existing and maintaining the properties with which he created them

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PRESERVATION: Key Texts

–Heb. 1:3–Col. 1:17–Acts 17:28–Neh. 9:6–2 Pet. 3:7–Job 34:14-15–Ps. 104:29

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IMPLICATIONS : Things retain the properties with which God endowed them

–History is possible because of this

–Science is possible because of this

–Technology is possible because of this

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IMPLICATIONS: The universe will continue as long as God preserves it

–Security is possible because of this

–Dependence is required–Pride is undermined

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CONCURRENCE

• God is continually involved with all things in such a way that he cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do

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CONCURRENCE• Key Texts

–Eph. 1:11–Job 37:6-13–Ps. 104:10–Pro. 16:33–Phil. 4:19

–Gen. 50:20: Joseph

–Rom. 9:17: Pharaoh

–2 Sa. 24:1, 1 Chr. 21:1: David

–Isa. 45:7

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IMPLICATIONS

• There are no coincidences or random events outside of God’s foreknowledge and control–God directs & works

through the properties of created things

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IMPLICATIONS

• Events are –Fully caused by God–Fully caused by the created

things• God not matter/energy is the

primary cause • God is the “Something

Behind” the universe

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IMPLICATIONS

• We have choices–God created us with the

property of being responsible

–This makes us accountable to him for our choices

–Our choices have eternal results

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IMPLICATIONS

• God uses all things, even “evil,” for his glory and for our good–Rom. 8:28–Pro. 16:4

• God never does evil, and is not to be blamed for evil

• Unintended evil is an impossibility

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GOVERNMENT

• God is continually involved with all things in such a way that –God has a purpose in all that he

does in this world and –He providentially governs or

directs all things In order that they accomplish his purposes

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GOVERNMENT

• Key Verses–Ps. 103:19–Dan. 4:35–Rom. 11:36–1 Cor. 15:27–Eph. 1:11–Phil. 2:10-11

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IMPLICATIONS

• We are not totally free in our wills, in that our wills are never outside of God’s control–We are free in the greatest sense that

any creature of God could be free•Our choices have real effects•We have the power of willing choice

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IMPLICATIONS

• The eternal decrees of God made long ago bring about everything that happens–Job 14:5–Acts 2:23–Eph. 1:4 and 2:10

• God never makes up plans as he goes along

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OUR ACTIONS• Q. If God does what He wants, what

difference does it make when we act?• A. God has made us agents, too

– So, we can’t NOT be responsible

• A. God is permitted to do things it would not be right for us to do– Example: Evil is allowed by God, but we

are to resist evil

• A. God always does what he wants, and he often does it through acts we choose to do – Phil. 2:12-13

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IMPLICATIONS

• Laziness is never commended–Pro. 22:13

• Complacency is never commended–2 Ki. 13:15-19

• Fatalism is never commended–Acts 18:9-11

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IMPLICATIONS

• Since God limits our knowledge, we must act, believing in God’s attributes–1 Sam. 14:1-6–Mark 13:32-37–Phil. 1:22, 2:12-13

• Prayer is the hand that moves the hand of God–James 4:2

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ARMINIANISM:BASIC TENETS

• God cannot plan or control our choices– If he did, human freedom wouldn’t

be real, and human choices wouldn’t be real

• God wills the general outcomes, but leaves the details to human choice

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ARMINIANISM:BASIC TENETS

• God achieves his goals by using free human choices

• God’s will is not always done–Humanity fell–Souls are lost

• Predestination is not individual, but corporate– “The Body of Christ is predestined to be

conformed …” – But who is in the Body is up to individuals

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IMPLICATIONS

• Specific providential acts of God are not the norm

• The doctrines of God’s Government and God’s Decrees make God responsible for sin– So they must be modified

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IMPLICATIONS• God-caused choices cannot be real

human choices• “Calvinism encourages fatalism”

– If God has predestined everything, what good does it do to plan and act as if we are free to do so?

• “Arminianism encourages responsible living”– Your choice is essential to the shaping of the

future

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CALVINISM OR ARMINIANISM?

• The “Cat-hold” and “Monkey-hold” positions each leave out important elements

• Whether Calvin was teaching a “Monkey-Hold” position is less important than knowing whether Scripture teaches it

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CALVINISM OR ARMINIANISM?

• Can God’s Preservation, Concurrence and Government rightly be viewed as exceptional?

• Does doctrine have to be fully understood to be believed?

• Questions for Calvinists and Arminians (see notes section)

• Let’s conclude for now with what we

can affirm to be true

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AFFIRMATIONS• There is no reality

other than that which God brings about –John 1:3–2 Pet. 3:5-7

• We work, and God works–1 Cor. 3:5-7–Nehemiah 4:14 &

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• God’s decrees before time don’t prevent him from responding to human actions in time–Eph. 4:30

• We must not recreate God in our own image–Rom. 1:23

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MORE AFFIRMATIONS• God knows the

future• Nothing exists but

what God wills to exist–This includes evil

• Evil is not outside of the control of God

• God can never be blamed for evil

• The ultimate triumph of God over evil is certain

• We can choose because God chose to make us choosers