Concursus In Reference To Sin

For if by the one man's

offense death reigned

through the one,

much more those who

receive abundance

of grace 

and of the gift

of righteousness 

will reign in life

through the One,

Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:17

     When referencing sin to man and the fact that God is the First Cause and nothing occurs that occurs unless it is the will of God and God is not the author of sin; then how do we reconcile this seemingly dilemma? All advocates of sin admit to this great difficulty. First, what is the dilemma, the difficulty? It is not so much as to the relation of sin and the responsibility of the sinner. If sin arises from a free act, from a free agent, from the free will of man, and if God does not interfere with man's freedom, then God does not interfere with man's responsibility towards sin. When God by His grace declares by means of His will that His people are holy, then they are holy and that holiness is theirs. Why? Because it constitutes their nature, their character. An example will help: if God makes you beautiful; then you are beautiful. Furthermore, in His cooperation in the sins of men leaves men in their freedom unimpaired so that they are free to sin; they are truly sinful as though there was no cooperation from God. But this is not the difficulty. The question that is most important and needs an answer is, how can God's cooperation in sin be reconciled with His own holiness? I know of no one who will object that when man is good and acts good that God's cooperation in man doing good, we have no problem admitting that that goodness was from a Good God and it is His gift. Next, our question is nothing more than what sinful men also question and for Christians to answer this question is near to being impossible or we give "pat" answers using some form of Christian jargon. So it is important that we understand the question and have a correct answer, one that you can understand and impart to those who may question (2 Corinthians 5:12; 1 Peter 3:15). The question is: How can we reconcile God's cooperation or His concursus in sinful acts in sustaining and preserving the sinner in the sinner's exercise of sinful acts, his ability to act, and for God to excite to action, determining man's acts to be what it is, and not otherwise? This difficulty has been recognized and remarked upon by many theologians, they acknowledged that this difficulty existed. How did they answer? By defining sin as mere defect. Man does not want to conform to moral law. For man to have this nature then there must be a deficiency in man and could not be efficient within himself. The account of creation in Genesis shows that God not only created but that His creation was "good." There was no defect in any of His creation. It was the fall of Adam when Eve acquiesed when tempted by Satan and Adam willingly succumbed to that sin, the doing of what was explicitly condemned by God. Adam as the federal head of man brought upon man the deficiency that God spoke of; death. Death is a deficiency in all men and unless God intervenes as he did with Enoch and Elijah; men die, men have the effects of that original sin and deficiency in man, their character and nature are no longer able to do "good" and live only by the will of God for any time upon this earth. For man to be relieved of their deficiency requires one that is efficient, God is immediately or remotely of all efficiency, but is not the source of man's deficiency. When man sins and causes a sinful act there must be an efficient cause, a first mover, one that excites movement by His power, but the moral quality of that act or lack of moral quality a want of conformity to God's law, which is a mere relation and is not a being, then in no way is that act to be referred to God. 
     Take the sun for instance and solar rays; it is the sun that influences and quickens life into all kinds of plants, (all living things), whether that plant be poisonous or nutritious; or as water's current may be guided in one channel or another; as the same vital force gives animation to both the cripple and to the sound man, it is the same hand that plays either a tune either to be in tune or out of tune; it is to be admitted that the same all-pervading force due to divine efficiency causes that ability to move and act. Yet, it is the particular nature of man's own acts, at least when evil, are to be referred and not to the all-pervading efficiency of God, only to the nature or character of each particular agent. It is the omniscient and omnipotent attribute of God working  for it controls and governs wicked men, He determines that their wickedness to take one form and not another, He guides it to manifestations which will promote either good or evil, and this is not inconsistent with the Sovereignty of God and operates under God being Providential and in His assuring that His will to have a holy people for His name to occur. God is Holy and all that He does is holy and for good, He did not infuse envy and hatred into man, into their hearts as is well demonstrated by the brother of Joseph when the attempted to kill him and then decided to sell him into slavery. But, God, in His Holiness and Providence took that sinful act and guided it for good as is stated in the story to be found in Genesis chapter 50. Joseph's brothers exercised evil passions and God guided those evil passions and secured the preservation of Joseph and for the preservation of His people elected by Him, the Jewish nation. God kept them from destruction. 
     God did this according to His will and saved His people guiding the actions of evil men towards that which produced His people from which would come the Savior of the world; Jesus Christ. It is God who chose, it is God who chooses certain men and women to be included into the bride of Christ, His called out ones, the Church. Man cannot in their deficiency choose God, it is not in their heart and unless God places that ability by His enabling and drawing men to Himself, they will not come even if they call themselves Christian (Matthew 7:23). When you find yourself desiring to pray and lean upon God for all that you do, and read His word with expectation that He will reveal Himself to you from His word, then you are to know that God has chosen you and when you continue to become devoted to Him you are, at least for your knowledge, secure in Him. He chose you from before the foundation of the world, (Romans 8:28-29). 

I will lift my eyes
     to the hills---
from whence comes
    my help?
My help comes 
    from the LORD,
who made heaven
    and earth.
                 Psalm 121:1-2


The Lord is your keeper


Richard L. Crumb