Dear visitors,
I came across this article that was very thought-provoking, especially for Christians. Taken from http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8449/providence.html. Please take a moment to read and appreciate it. Especially useful for those puzzled by life’s challenges, even though it is a very long article.
Haz
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Is God in control? If so, what does it mean to say that God is in control? These are two very important questions because the answers affect how we view God, how we view the world, and how we view ourselves. The answers are found by examining the Biblical teaching on the Providence of God. God’s Providence–sometimes called His sovereignty–simply refers to His preservation of creation and His control over creation, which He does for the purpose of bringing about the greatest glory to Himself.
Preservation, the first aspect of Providence, is the activity of God whereby He preserves all created things in existence. In other words, it is his moment by moment activity of keeping the universe in existence. Hebrews 1:3 says Christ “upholds all things by the word of His power.” Colossians 1:17 says that “in Him all things hold together.” The universe only continues in existence because Christ keeps it in existence. If He were to cease His preserving activity, everything would cease to exist.
The second aspect of Providence is what answers the question, is God in control and what does that mean? A proper understanding of this aspect of Providence can be a rock of strength in suffering, a source of humility in godliness, and a blazing fire of amazement in worship. Therefore, we will examine the Biblical teaching on this in detail. After examining this truth, the third aspect of Providence should be clear–that God is directing history towards the goal of His greatest glory and His people’s greatest good.
God’s purposes are unstoppable
The first thing we need to understand about God’s rule over the universe is that none of His purposes can fail: “I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isaiah 46:9-10). It is absolutely certain that God will achieve everything that He wants in His creation. Nothing that God wants accomplished will be left unfulfilled–that is what God means when He says He will accomplish all of His “good pleasure” because His “purpose will be established.” Thus, it also follows that nothing can ever happen which would ultimately keep God from fulfilling everything that He wants.
Some say that God does not have any unstoppable purposes in regards to human history, because this would entail that humans are not in control of history. Scripture, however, poses no such limitation on God. In fact, in the very next verse God applies His purposes to the realm of human activity: “Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country” (Isaiah 46:11). Furthermore, it would be of almost no meaning for God to say that none of His purposes can be thwarted if His purposes had nothing to do with one of the most important areas of the universe–human history and human decisions! The impossibility of God’s purposes failing is significant and revealed in the Bible precisely because it applies to our very lives.
Many other verses confirm that God’s purposes in regards to human history cannot fail. “The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation” (Psalm 33:10, 11). God has not given control of history over to humans. Instead, this verse is clear that God takes action to frustrate human plans whenever He desires–which means whenever they are not in line with His plans. Since God’s counsel must “stand forever” and since God will, as Isaiah says, accomplish all of His “good pleasure,” He will frustrate allhuman plans that will not lead to the fulfillment of His plans. From this it follows that the only things which He will allow to happen are things which will ultimately contribute to the fulfillment of His plans.
So, while the plans of human beings fail, God’s purposes cannot fail because they must “stand forever.” And since God’s plans are always accomplished, He never changes them–they endure “from generation to generation.” There are no plan B’s with God.
Proverbs 19:21 confirms that while the plans of human beings are not always accomplished, God’s plans always succeed: “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord, it will stand.” Clearly, “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord” (Proverbs 21:30). The great Biblical character Job, after his extreme trials and great suffering, learned the great lesson that “Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). Similarly, the apostle Paul asks rhetorically in Romans 9:19, “who resists His will?” The answer, of course, is no one.
God’s purposes are specific, not only general
It is clear that God can accomplish whatever He wants. But how specific are his plans? Does God simply have general plans that will be fulfilled, or does He have specific purposes in regards to every detail of life? The answer seems to be that God’s purposes are specific–His Providence is in the details.
First, if God “can do all things” and “none of His purposes can be thwarted” (Job 42:2), then if follows that for anything that occurs, God could have prevented it if He had wanted to. Thus, if God allows something, it must be because it was part of His plan. For whenever one is able to prevent something that he wants to prevent, he will prevent it. The objection that God in many cases might want to prevent something but does not so that He does not violate our “free-will” fails because Scripture is filled with instances of God causing people to do His will (Ezra 1:1; Daniel 1:9; Exodus 14:4; Genesis 39:21), and because if God is our Creator He can, as Thomas Aquinas has said, cause us to act without doing violence to our wills. Thus, God only permits what He has purposed–what He wants, in some sense, to occur.
Second, God must control the details of life in order to ensure that His general plans will be fulfilled. If there is even the slightest and most insignificant thing outside of God’s control, it would have the ability to mess up God’s “bigger” plans. Who has not been amazed at how the difference of a few “insignificant” seconds, for example, can sometimes mean the difference between the significant issue of life and death?
Third, and most importantly, Scripture is clear that God’s purposes are specific and very detailed. Job 14:5 says that man’s “days are determined, the number of his months is with Thee, and his limits Thou hast set so that he cannot pass.” God has determined how long each person will live; you cannot die until God’s purposes for you on earth are finished. This is good news, for it means that if you are alive, it is for a reason.
John the Baptist informs us that, “A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven” (John 3:27). Everything you possess is a gift from God. Every meal you are provided with, is because God decided to give it to you. Every shirt you have, friend you have, and talent you have is ultimately a gift from God. If God had not decided to give it to you, you would not have it.
God causes people to be favorable towards us (Daniel 1:9; Genesis 39:21) or to not be favorable towards us (Exodus 14:7). He determines who will be rich and who will be poor: “The Lord makes poor and rich; He brings low and He also exalts” (1 Samuel 2:7). He gives children (Psalm 127:3) or withholds children (1 Samuel 1:5). A woman cannot conceive unless God decides that she will (Ruth 4:13).
God controls the affairs of nations: “He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away” (Job 12:23). “For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations” (Psalm 22:28). The land boundaries of each nation and their period in history are all determined by God: “and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 17:26). Not only that, God also determines which specific individuals will be the leaders in each country: “And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to men of understanding” (Daniel 2:21). “The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom he wishes…” (Daniel 4:17). God made it absolutely clear to King Nebuchadnezzar that he was not ultimately in charge, rather “it is Heaven that rules” (Daniel 4:26). Paul even tells us that the wicked Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus had been “raised up” by God so that He could show His power in defeating Him (Romans 9:17).
God has not even left the issue of salvation ultimately in the hands of humans. The Apostle Paul tells us that God “has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires” (Romans 9:18) and that salvation “does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” (Romans 9:16). Thus, God determines who will be believe in Christ: “And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). Jesus told His disciples, “You did not chose Me, but I chose you” (John 15:16).
God controls the wind and lightning (Psalm 135:7), the snow and the rain (Job 37:6-13), and directs the stars in their courses (Job 38:32). Forest fires, hail, and storms are all under his command: “Fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word” (Psalm 148:8). The sun does not simply rise on its own each day, rather God “causes His sun to rise” (Matt. 5:45). Neither does the grass grow on its own, but God “causes the grass to grow” (Psalm 104:14). God feeds the animals (Matthew 6:26; Psalm 104:27-29) and indeed controls even the most seemingly insignificant death of a sparrow (Matthew 10:29). God sends rain and withholds rain (Amos 4:7-10). There is nothing in the universe left to chance: “The lot is cast in the lap, but its every decision is wholly from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:33). Nothing in all creation–the weather, the stars, the plants, the animals, the affairs of nations, the role of dice, and the specific details of our lives–is outside of the sovereign control of God.
God controls everything
If God’s plans never fail, and if His plans are specific (not just general), then it follows that God literally controls every detail of our lives and every detail of the universe. This is exactly what dozens of verses directly and explicitly teach.
First, the Scriptures are clear on who is not in control. Jeremiah said, “I know, O Lord, that the way of human beings is not in their control, that mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps” (Jeremiah 10:23, NRSV). Humans are not in control. In fact, we do not even have ultimate control over our slightest actions, for “mortals as they walk cannot direct their steps.” But if humans do not direct their steps, who does? Proverbs 16:9 tells us: “The mind of the man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” It is God who is in control! And his control is specific, not just general because it extends to the very steps of individuals. Every move you make, every step you take has been determined by God. Proverbs 19:24 says “man’s steps are ordained by the Lord, how then can man understand his way?” Further, even the very words we say are controlled by God: “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:1).
Ephesians 1:11 tells us that believers have “been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” Everything that happens is in accordance with God’s unstoppable will. Or, put another way, God’s purposes extend to all things. The word translated “works” indicates that God “brings about” everything that happens; the verse adds that this is done according to His own sovereign will–not our will. Thus, God both decides what will happen and then acts to bring it about. God “brings about all things” and these are the things that He determined to do on the basis of “the counsel of His will.” As John Feinberg has said, “This verse, then, indicates that what occurs is fore-ordained by God, and nothing external to God such as the foreseen actions or merits of God’s creatures determines his choices. God deliberates, chooses and accomplishes all things on the basis of his purposes.”[1]
Daniel 4:35 is another very clear verse that God controls all things. “And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, `what hast Thou done?’” First, notice that God is not just able to do His will, but actually does His will both among the angels (the “host of heaven”) and with human beings (“the inhabitants of earth”). Thus, all of God’s creatures are under His control. Second, notice that nothing can prevent God’s will from being accomplished (“no one can ward off His hand”). Scripture knows nothing of God limiting his control so that humans can have ultimate self-determination. This verse (as well as all of the others we have seen) teaches the exact opposite–the will of God is always done. Third, Nebuchadnezzar found that God’s sovereign majesty was good news. We should share his attitude: “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride” (v. 37).
Romans 11:36 says, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” This is another clear verse that God is controlling (“bringing about”) all things according to His plan. John Reisinger explains this verse very well: “There are three different Greek prepositions in that verse. They show the truth of God’s absolute and total sovereignty. The verse states that all things, without any exception are: 1. from (The Greek is ek and means `out of, or out from’) God; 2. all things are through (The Greek is dia and means `by means of, or because of’) God; and; 3. all things are to (The Greek is eis and means `into’) God. In other words, all things have their source in God’s decrees or purposes, and all things that happen do so only because God’s power has brought them to pass, and finally, everything that God plans and then brings to pass will ultimately bring glory to him since they all move into him or unto him as their final end. Now that is the Biblical truth about our sovereign God. That is acknowledging that `God can do any thing He wants to do, any time He wants to do it, any way He wants to do it, for any purpose He wants to accomplish.’”[2]
The next verse we will look at is Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.” Jerry Bridges elaborates on this verse: “In Solomon’s time the king had the most absolute of all wills…There was no legislature to pass laws he did not like or a Supreme Court to restrain his actions. The king’s word was the last word. His authority over his realm was unconditional and unrestrained. Yet this Scripture teaches that God controls the king’s heart. The stubborn will of the most powerful monarch on earth is directed by God as easily as the farmer directs the flow of water in his irrigation canals. The argument, then, is from the greater to the lesser–if God controls the king’s heart surely he controls everyone else’s.”[3] This becomes even more significant when we recognize that from the heart flow “the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The deepest depths of every single individual and every decision they make are controlled by God.
Psalm 139:16 makes a very similar point: “In Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” This verse not only teaches that God has ordained how long you will live, but the Hebrew word translated “ordained” suggests a much stronger meaning. The meaning is that of being shaped, or formed. “David is affirming that God wrote the script of his life in the great book of God’s intentions before the actual events began to unfold, indeed, before David was even born. And, mixing his metaphors, David also says that the days of his life were formed or shaped, suggesting the action of a potter shaping the clay. He means that his life, considered not only as a whole but also right down to his daily experience, was determined (what other word fits?) ahead of time.”[4]
Lamentations 3:37 asks rhetorically, “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?” (NIV). The answer expected is, no one. There is nothing that comes to pass through human agency unless God has ordained it to happen. If you say to your friend, “Let’s go to Burger King for supper,” it will not happen unless God has ordained it to occur. If someone threatens to hurt you, take courage, for it cannot happen unless God has ordained it.
God is sovereign over sin and evil
God’s control over all things raises many questions for us. Perhaps the biggest one is in regards to evil. Does God ordain evil as part of His plan? In light of the verses we have examined above, the answer must be yes. If God controls all things, then it must be that evil is a part of His plan. There are also many specific Scriptures which make it clear that God controls evil.
Psalm 105:25, speaking of the Exodus, says of the Egyptians that God “turned their heart to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants.” After a time of unfaithfulness, Israel asked God, “Why, O Lord, dost Thou cause us to stray from Thy ways, and harden our heart from fearing Thee?” (Isaiah 63:17). In Revelation 17:17 it is said that the wicked kings who will wage war against Christ (which is sin) will ultimately be doing the purpose that God had put in their hearts: “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purposes by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be fulfilled.” Lamentations 3:37-38 is a direct statement that God decrees not only good things, but also bad things: “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?” God says that He is “the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these” (Isaiah 45:7).
When all of Job’s children were killed, he acknowledged the sovereign control of God behind the evil situation. Job did not say that “The Lord gave, and Satan took away.” He said “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Some argue that God is not ultimately behind the bad circumstances in our lives, and therefore Job was wrong to attribute his calamity to God. However, the author of the book, who was inspired by God and therefore infallible, affirms Job’s statement: “Through all his Job did not sin nor did he blame God” (v. 24). At the end of the book we once again see the author’s agreement with Job. When describing Job’s restoration, he says that Job’s friends came and “consoled him and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought on him” (Job 42:11). The book of Job makes it clear, however, that God’s control over evil does not deny the activity of Satan and the reality of wickedness in human hearts. Further, God never does evil and cannot be blamed for evil. However, God has not left the sources of evil to simply do as they please. He has them on a leash and they can only act if God specifically decides to allow it. Since the evil that Satan causes is only by the specific permission of God, then it is correct for Job to ultimately attribute his suffering to God’s plan.
The evil spirit that tormented Saul was said to be “from the Lord” (1 Samuel 16:14). In punishment for David’s sin, “The Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, so that it was very sick” (2 Samuel 12:15-18). If natural or man-made disaster occurs, it is ultimately because God had planned it, for Amos 3:6 asks rhetorically, “Does evil befall in a city, unless the Lord has done it?” Physical infirmity and disease are not outside of God’s plan either: “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” (Exodus 4:11). As Donald Barnhouse has said, “No person in this world was ever blind that God had not planned for him to be blind; no person was ever deaf in this world that God had not planned for him to be deaf–If you do not believe that, you have a strange God who has a universe which has gone out of gear and He cannot control it.”[5]
Perhaps the clearest example that God ordains sin is the crucifixion of Christ. It was sin for the Jews and Romans to crucify Christ, for He was the innocent Son of God. Yet, what Christian would deny that the crucifixion of Christ was brought about by God? Scripture is clear that “It was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer” (Isaiah 53:10). Acts 2:23 says that Jesus was “delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” even though it was “by the hands of godless men” that He was put to death. The acts of Herod and Pontius Pilate, the Jews and Gentiles, in crucifying Christ were sin. Yet Scripture says that “Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel [did] whatever Thy hand and Thy plan predestined to take place” (Acts 4:28). John Piper has said it well: “People lift their hand to rebel against the Most High only to find that their rebellion is unwitting service in the wonderful designs of God.”[6]
The holiness and goodness of God
The sovereignty of God over evil raises many questions for us. First, how can a holy, good God ordain sin? Very simply, God does not ordain sin for its own sake, but in order to bring about a greater good. For example, God did not will the crucifixion simply for the sake of bruising His Son, but because it was the means for bringing salvation to the world. Another example is the case of Joseph being sold into slavery. It was sin for Joseph’s brothers to throw him in the well and then sell him into slavery. But many years later when Joseph finally encountered his brothers again, he said “And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life…Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God” (Genesis 50:5, 8). Joseph being sold into Egypt was not simply allowed by God, but was actually brought about by God as part of His plan. This does not make God sadistic nor does it excuse Joseph’s brothers of their sin. Why? Because God’s intentions were for good, but Joseph’s brother’s intentions were for evil. “And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about his present result, to preserve many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). This is a necessary truth in order to properly understand God’s Providence. When God ordains bad things to occur, it is not because He delights in suffering and evil in itself, but it is because He is working to bring about a greater good.
John Piper gives a helpful illustration here. God has the capacity to look at any event through two lenses, a wide angle lens and a narrow angle lens. When God looks at an evil act through the narrow lens, He sees it for what it is in itself and abhors it. But when God steps back and looks at that event in the wide angle lens, He sees it in relation to all the events flowing up to it and flowing out from it. He sees it in relation to the good that He plans to bring out of it and its overall place in His wise plan. It is in this sense that He wants it to occur and thus decrees it.
Thus, God’s control over all things is good news, not bad news, because God is good, loving, and just and is therefore working all things for the greatest good. God’s Providence is not random, but is directing all things toward a goal–His greatest glory and His children’s greatest good. Thus, God’s Providence is something we can trust and rejoice in. It is good that we are not in control of history, for surely God knows better than we do!
Human responsibility
The second question that God’s sovereignty over sin raises is, does this take away human responsibility and put the blame on God for evil? The Bible is clear that the answer is no. God cannot be blamed for sin, and humans are responsible for the sins that they commit. God stands behind good and evil in different ways. God is behind good in such as way as all of the credit for it goes to Him. But He is behind evil in such a way that, though it is part of His sovereign plan, none of the blame for it is chargeable to Him. We do not need to understand how these truths can fit in our minds, but if we are going to believe the Bible must believe them both.
For example, God used the wicked Assyrian nation to carry out His judgements, yet judged them for sinning because their intentions were evil (see Isaiah 10). The case of Pharaoh is another example. In Exodus 7:2 God tells Moses to command Pharaoh to let Israel go. But God also says that He will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that Pharaoh will not let the people go (v. 3). God, however, does not regard this as taking away Pharaoh’s responsibility, because when Pharaoh refuses to let Israel go, God judges Egypt for this sin (vv. 14-25). Some say that Pharaoh hardened his heart first and that God only acted in response to this. But this view misunderstands the whole narrative of the Exodus. God says that He hardened Pharaoh’s heart so “that I may multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 7:3), not because Pharaoh hardened his heart first. Further, God’s promise to harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21) comes long before we find Pharaoh hardening his own heart (which we read of first in 8:15).
In 1 Chronicles 21:1 we read that “Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.” The parallel passage in 2 Samuel 24:1, however, tells us that God incited David to take the census. David, however, is regarded as responsible for his sin, saying “I have sinned greatly in what I have done” (2 Samuel 24:10). His responsibility is further shown in that God judged him for this sin (24:15). “In this one incident the Bible gives us a remarkable insight into the three influences that contributed in different ways to one action: God, in order to bring about his purposes, worked through Satan to incite David to sin, but Scripture regards David as being responsible for that sin.”[7] If we are to remain faithful to the Bible, we must hold these two truths together: humans are responsible for their sins, yet every sin committed was allowed by God as part of His plan. For those who are interested in taking a prayerful look at how these truths are consistent, see my article The Consistency of Divine Sovereignty and Human Accountability. For those interested in how God controls sin without being the author of it, see my article The Sovereignty of God Over Evil.
Objections
There are perhaps three remaining objections. The first objection is that God’s Providence means that our choices are not real and that they do not make a difference. But our choices are real and genuine because God says they are. And they make a difference because God brings about His will by means of our choices, not in spite of our choices. Our choices are important, they make a difference, and therefore we should always seek to make good, holy, and wise choices.
The second objection is that, since God often commands us to do things in Scripture and calls us to make choices, He cannot be ultimately in control of our decisions. This objection, however, cannot account for all of the verses we have seen that God does control all things–including our decisions. The Bible views commands–and the crucial importance of us to obey them–as perfectly consistent with God’s control over our choices. For example, in 1 Chronicles 28:9 David commands Solomon to serve God with a whole heart and a willing mind. This shows his responsibility to choose to follow God. But does this mean that God has ultimately left it up to Solomon to follow Him or not? No, because in the next chapter we see David acknowledging that it is ultimately God who gives a person a heart to obey, for He prays “give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Thy commandments” (29:19). There would be no use in asking God to cause Solomon to obey if God had ultimately left the choice up to Solomon. In light of all that we have seen, it seems best to conclude that since God controls all things, He causes us to make willing choices so that His will is always done, yet these choices are genuine, and we are accountable for them. Again, we do not need to necessarily see how these truths fit together, but if we are going to believe the Bible, it seems that we must believe them.
Finally, do not conclude that the Providence of God should cause us to be passive and indifferent. This is not a crippling doctrine, but a very freeing one. The same Scriptures which teach God’s absolute Providence also teach that we are to act and choose wisely and righteously. In fact, the Scriptures use God’s Providence as an incentive to action, not a decentive (Judges 7:9; Philippians 2:12-13; Hebrews 13:21). We should never sin, as it will always harm us and others. And we should always seek to obey, for this is what pleases God and what He will bless. If we gain our belief in Providence from the Bible, we will not draw conclusions that the Bible rejects. See my article If God is Sovereign, Why do Anything? for a more in-depth analysis of this issue.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many wonderful applications of the Providence of God. They include a joyful trust in God, deep comfort in adversity, and overflowing gratitude for all good things.[8] Perhaps the main application is to give us an attitude of adoring worship. J.B. Moody has said, “True worship is based upon recognized greatness, and greatness is superlatively seen in sovereignty, and at no other footstool will men really worship.”[9]
NotesUnless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible.
1. John Feinberg, “God Ordains All Things,” in Predestination and Free-will: Four Views (Downer’s Grove, IL: IV Press, 1986), p. 30.
2. John Reisinger, Our Sovereign God, delivered at the International Baptist Conference in Toronto in 1988.
3. Jerry Bridges, “Does Divine Sovereignty Make a Difference in Everyday Life?” in The Grace of God, the Bondage of the Will, Thomas Schreiner and Bruce Ware, ed., (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1995), vol. I, p. 208.
4. Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., “The Sovereignty of God: Case Studies in the Old Testament,” in The Grace of God, the Bondage of the Will, vol. I, p. 32.
5. Donald Barnhouse, quoted in “Does Divine Sovereignty Make a Difference in Everyday Life?” p. 211.
6. John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1996), p. 37.
7. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (IV Press and Zondervan Publishing, 1994), p. 324.
8. For a detailed explanation of the applications, see my article The Importance of Providence.
9. J.B. Moody, quoted in The Sovereignty of God, by A.W. Pink, p. 190.
MP
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, by the Lockman Foundation.
