Let no one say
when he is tempted,
"I am tempted by God;"
for God cannot
be tempted by evil,
nor does He
Himself tempt anyone.
James 1:13
Act one; scene two, where Queen Gertrude speaks to Hamlet: "Thou know'st 'tis common, all that lives must die. Passing through nature to eternity." The truthful words of Queen Gertrude cannot be disproved. It is the life between birth and death that for individuals is measured by God. It is sin, the sins of men, those sinful acts, all which must be somehow accounted, either to God or to man. It is very difficult to reconcile God's Providence with that fact of sin and sinful acts. The Scriptures teach us in regard to sin that they are under the control of God. They occur by His very permission and in execution of His purpose. As Sovereign and intimately involved in His creation and to the accomplishment for the purpose of creation that He guides men and women, both old and young, in their exercise of their wickedness, in all their forms and manifestations, each being determined by His will. Whoa! Wait a minute! Does this mean that God is the author of sin? Does this fact relieve us, His creation, without accountability for what we do? Is it then true that we are not responsible for what we do? What about the law of second causes? How can we reconcile these perplexing questions about God's relationship in Providence to sin? Some examples might help us clear the fog that so envelopes our minds. King Saul in a battle with the Philistines was wounded by an archer's arrow and Saul asked his armor bearer to kill him but the armor bearer would not obey so; "Saul took a sword and fell on it" (1 Chronicles 10:4b). Did God do the act of death or did Saul? The narrative of Saul's death, because he was unfaithful by not keeping God's word (a lesson for us, inasmuch as we are to keep God's word), continues where it is said that God killed him; (1 Chronicles 10:14). Who killed who? Was it God or Saul? It was God who inspired the narrative of the Exodus of the Jews and the warnings and the spiritual battle that was occurring with Pharaoh. During the 10 visits with Pharaoh and his magicians that Pharaoh hardened his heart (Exodus 7:3; 13; 22); then it is recorded that on the horribleness of the boils inflicted upon the Egyptians that Pharaoh's heart was hardened by the LORD; (Exodus 9:12). After the Israelites left Egypt, after the last plague, God hardened Pharaoh's heart; (Exodus 14:4). Why did God do such a thing? Because God controls all events towards His purpose as He so does state: "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the Children of Israel from among them" (Exodus 7:5). God purposed two things, one, to bring Israel out from under bondage and to make them into a great nation; two, that the Egyptians may know that He is God. John's Revelation speaks of God's control over events here on earth: "For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled" (Revelation 17:17). We all can remember the account of Joseph where his brothers sought to do harm to him but God turned that bad event into the release of Israel, God overturned evil for good. Most importantly, God allowed His Son, Jesus Christ, to be beat, humiliated, then allowed Him to die upon the cross. Let us not be quick to dismiss this story so well known, and lean only on the fact that God allowed this to have sins propitiated. Jesus Christ underwent a horrible death, imagine the nails being driven into your wrists and into the top of your feet, the slamming to the stake into the hole in the ground, the thirst, the ridicule He endured during His death. This God allowed, this was God incarnate as man, the second Person of the Trinity, crucified by the will of God, just for sinful man which by doing so accomplishes His purpose. Did God cause the death of Jesus Christ? Is God responsible for evil? We turn to the Scriptures for the answer: No! God did not cause the death of Jesus Christ because Jesus was sinful, only that by means of the death of Jesus, in His economy and dispensation, but allowed and determined the death of Jesus to accomplish His purpose; and no, God is not responsible for evil as the Scriptures so indicate. The Scriptures teach that God's Providence in relation to the sins of men, is that sinfulness proceeds only from the creature, man, and not from God. The Apostle John adds: "For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world" (1 John 2:16). The opening Scripture further admits that God is not the author of sin, man is the author. God places sin upon man, His allowance for sin is not the cause for sin, man is the cause as Jeremiah states: "Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come stand before me in this house which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered to do all these abominations" (Jeremiah 7:9-10)?
Oh! let us learn from Jeremiah's words, for how often do we do such evil things, maybe you say it was only a "little" sin, a "white lie," and harbor ill feelings towards someone, then come to Church as though all was well between you and God? God does not accept your worship! Repentance, true repentance, not some emotional response to guilt, rather a true guilt emotion for defaming God in your heart. You must admit, we all must admit, we are the source for sin, we are responsible for our sin. It is clear from Scripture that God does govern all His creatures, their actions, and this fact can be found in all religions. It is our nature as written earlier that we have as our nature the knowledge of God. No matter what manner of philosophy, or religion, and theory that a man may have it is consistent and intuitive to be convicted of our sins. How does God do this? I don't know! All attempts to explain this difficulty only raises more questions than answers, but, the Scripture's plain teaching are consistent in teaching that man is responsible for their actions. In God's Providence He takes our bad and makes good become the result because He is in control. We cannot rely upon human reason for the answer, we cannot use the authority of man to resolve this difficulty. We must solely rely upon the authority of God, His Sovereignty, His Providence, and upon the efficacious work upon the cross that removes sin, and makes infinite intercession for all those God saves and makes them holy and His children.
It would serve us and our understanding on this subject to examine different theories; that will be our next blog.
For all People
walk each in
the name of his
god,
but we will walk
in the name of the
LORD our God.
Micah 4:5
May God Lead You Today
Richard L. Crumb
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