“But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” – Psalm 115:3 NASB
“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” – Job 42:2 NASB
There are few Christian doctrines that cause as much argument as the sovereignty of God. On the surface that may seem a troublesome statement, yet if you were to “press” professing Christians on the idea of doing “whatever He pleases” you would soon see why this causes such controversy.
Of course, there are varying views of sovereignty. Some maintain that God is sovereign in all areas; others hold a more limited scope. Yet, what does God’s sovereignty or divine sovereignty mean? Well, one theologian describes it as such:
“That God is the ultimate, final, and complete authority over everything and everyone. God’s sovereign will is also free, for nobody forces him to do anything, and whatever He does is in accord with His own purposes and wishes.”1
It seems to me the concept of God’s sovereignty is so problematic because it conflicts with sinful humans’ individual autonomy. The Genesis account of the fall (specifically Gen. 3:5) provides the background for man’s rebellion and subsequent downfall as part of a dysfunctional god complex, which I believe sinful beings still hold. That is, man, in his fallen state, is infatuated with his personal authority, autonomy, and will being accomplish,2 which is consistent with his objection to the sovereign rule of God. To diminish the sovereignty of God is to elevate the sovereignty of man; there can be no other result. The two concepts have a direct correlation.
To be fair, some biblical texts would seem to contradict the aforementioned definition of divine sovereignty; the biblical citations I provided at the introduction are merely general ones that support divine sovereignty. It’s noteworthy to mention, though, that sovereignty is also shown in salvation (Eph. 1:4), in “all” things (Eph. 1:11), in government (Rom. 13:1), in various details of circumstances (Gen. 50:20; 1 Sam. 2:6-8), and even creation as a whole (Ps. 50:10). When reviewed collectively, I think it’s impossible to conclude anything other than God is indeed sovereign over creation. This is not to say those who hold a view of God’s sovereignty different from the definition provided are part of the occult, heretical, or unsaved. What I am saying is that those who oppose the full sovereignty of God as espoused above (and I believe as the Scripture teaches), end up possessing a God that is lesser in power, jurisdiction, or concern with His creation.
I’ll conclude my statements here (I’m trying to do better with brevity and making more posts that don’t turn into a doctorate-level thesis). As I have more thoughts in the future on this topic, perhaps I’ll do more posts. For now, let me say that although it may crush our understanding of human autonomy, this sovereignty does not conflict with human free will3 and humanity acting as responsible moral agents. I believe the sovereignty of God in its fullest sense and anything short of that makes for a lesser, puny god–a god foreign to Scripture.
1. John S. Feinberg, No One Like Him (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 294.
2. As is commonly stated, the anthem of Satanic groups and the occult, “Do what thou wilt; that is the whole Law,” can be seen as central to various anti-theist and atheistic groups.
3. Admittedly, I didn’t develop this idea. However, that would take another few thousand words. In short, we must strive to understand biblical free will in contrast with common understandings of free will. Those of the Calvinist and Arminian traditions hold vastly different views of this concept.