The Sovereignty of God and the Responsibility of Man

Posted by Dan C. on

It’s such a profound subject that many sincere Christians who are brave enough to discuss it end up fighting over it, while others run for the door if the subject is brought up. The Bible teaches both. We mere mortals, whose wisdom is foolishness to God, tend to think about it in terms of God’s Sovereignty sort of ‘leaving stage left” and man’s responsibility ‘entering stage right’. Maybe that’s not the case at all. Perhaps in the mind of God they operate in complete harmony, but our simple minds can’t get there from here. Could it be that there is a finite point in time where our responsibility enters the scene (we are finite beings, after all), but God is totally and completely sovereign throughout?

6 responses to “The Sovereignty of God and the Responsibility of Man”

  1. ” end up fighting over it, while others run for the door if the subject is brought up.” Neither of which is a characteristic of a mature Christian.

    “Could it be that there is a finite point in time where our responsibility enters the scene (we are finite beings, after all), but God is totally and completely sovereign throughout?”

    Yup, in every step along the way with Him I believe this is true…. it takes both.

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    • A young pastor asked me Thursday evening where God’s sovereignty stops and man’s responsibility begins. I didn’t have an immediate answer. When morning dawned (literally), the spiritual light came on. That’s like saying that at some point God had done all He was going to do for my salvation having sent His Son to die for my sin, and left the rest up to me. If that was the case, I would never have said ‘yes’ to Christ. But God, when I was unable to come to Him, lovingly brought me to the place where I could, and would, freely choose Christ.

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  3. Debs,

    I’m not sure I understand the question, or if I could answer it if I did.. What I do know is that while our responsibility must have had a beginning, God’s sovereignty is as eternal as He is. In that sovereignty, he not only knew the moment when I would ‘choose’ Christ, He had a lot to do with the choosing. I wish I had a better explanation, but’s that’s all I got! 🙂

    Concerning forgiveness of our sin, it must be completely forgiven, the moment we place genuine trust in Christ’s sacrifice for it, because Jesus said that if we believe, we have eternal life and can never be condemned. (John 3:18)

    I am also confident that no matter how much I think about all this, I will never figure it it out or have THE answers. Hpefully all the thinking will result in a better ‘knowing Him and the One he sent’, which is ‘stuff’ of eternall life (John 17:3)

    I am so glad to see you again!

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  4. Ok, this is what is confusing to me. You have always said, as far as I can tell… that our salvation is completely about Him. I believe we have to cooperate with Him in order for this to be true… In predestination, the way it has been described in the past, we are just saved and need to do nothing. But there are too many scriptures that say we DO have to do something like “believe”, (which since the demons believe, I doubt that is even enough), or cooperate with Him in order to receive salvation. Even here you say ” the moment we place genuine trust in Christ’s sacrifice for it, because Jesus said that if we believe, we have eternal life and can never be condemned.” We HAVE to cooperate with Him in order to be saved… this post is the closest thing I’ve seen to what I believe, which is why I’m discussing…. I hope I’m making better sense…

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  5. It’s enougn to confuse Einstein probably. I don’t undestand completely either, but I Know the Bible teaches both the sovereighty of God and the responsilility of man. I try and find better ways to explain the concept. God is sovereign over the salvation of men AND we do need to hear and respond to the gospel.

    Salvation is truly offered to all men, but does that mean that all men will go to heaven? Of course not. Only those who choose to go by choosing to believe. Why does one man believe and another continuously reject the gospel message. WHY does one man ‘cooperate’ with God and the other doesn’t. Does a man figure it out on his own? If we are ‘spiritually’ dead, are we able to understand spiritual things? the Bible says the natural man cannot.

    God gives us the ability to hear and understand – opens our hearts (like Lydia in Acts) to understand the gospel. If we hear the right gospel message, we hear all about sin, God’s wrath against it, just punishment, all that really ugly stuff many preachers don’t preach any more.

    You see the freight train fifty feet away coming at you at a hundred miles an hour and and notice you are standing in the middle of the tracks. What are you going to do? Are you ‘cooperating’ with the train?

    Of course God is not that freight train. But you could say that His just wrath against all sin certainly is like that train! One day it’s a comin’!

    I made a willingly decision to come to Christ. Just HOW MUCH of that decision is mine and how much is God’s. It can’t be ALL mine, because before God gave me eyes to see and ears to hear, I never would have come. If I say that it was part God and part me, then I am able to take credit for someehing, which gives me something I can boast about, whether I do or not. Eph 2:8-9 tells me that the entire package (grace and faith are gifts) and there is absolutely nothing to boast about.

    All terribly confusing, so why talk about it? Just leave it alone, Dan! Shut up about it already and quit trying to prove YOUR point! What does it matter how much of a decision to follow Jesus is God’s and how much is man’s?

    Well, I’m not trying to prove MY point, but I think it matters to God that we somehow obtain as clear a picture of His greatness, power and majesty while we are still down here, as is possible for us to take without the sight of it killing us (no man has really seen god and lived). How many times did God say in the Bible “then they shall know that I AM the Lord”? 25-30 in a single book, for starters.

    The enemy hates it when we even discuss God’s sovereignty and plays upon our ‘natural’ tendency to want to prove our point and we end up arguing about it. That works at both ends of the discussion and all points in between.

    I gotta love Willison – although he said at one point that “I USED to be worth having a conversation with”, he also said I sure am passionate about what I believe. If that passion is passion for the sovereignty of God, the latter is a compliment. If it’s really about proving MY point, I need to shut up about it.

    Luv ya, Deb and have a great day!

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