The Sovereignty Of God in ALL Things (Including our Hearts!)
Books and books have been written on this topic. So can I cover it in one blog post? Absolutely not. It can be a touchy subject and is not an easy one to understand. So, am I scared to even touch the surface of it? Yes, yes I am. But it is a big part of who God is and it is in His word. So, we can’t continue to read his word without taking notice of ALL of what He says. We must dig into all of if. Not just the easy stuff, but the hard stuff too. And there sure are a lot of hard stuff in there! But let’s start by remembering a few key verses:
2 Timothy 3:16- ALL scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
Isaiah 55:9-For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
There are some things that I can not fully grasp. Some things that I have a hard time reconciling in my head. I want to know ALL of what scripture says. And I believe it is ALL useful and it is ALL truth. But when I get to the point of not being able to have it fully make sense in my little brain, I remember that His ways are higher than mine and his thoughts are higher than mine. It doesn’t have to make sense to me to be true. He is true. His ways are higher than mine and I trust Him. I trust in His goodness. He is good! So here it goes. Let’s dive in!
Exodus 4: 21- God says to Moses about Pharaoh “I will harden His heart so that he will not let the people go.”
Why would God harden someone’s heart. And by doing this, isn't that taking away his free will and choice?
What a great question!!!
First, we must know that the Bible teaches that God is Sovereign.
- God’s Sovereignty
God rules over all of creation, over all of history, decreeing and determining whatsoever comes to pass. Joseph can look back at His wretched circumstances when His brothers sold him into slavery and say that God meant it for good. God says through Isaiah “I am...the one forming light and darkness, causing well being and calamity, I am the Lord who does ALL THESE (Isaiah 45;7). He works ALL things after the council of His will (Eph. 1:11). He causes ALL things to work together for His good ( Rom 8:28). There are no exceptions to this. Sparrows don't fall out of trees and hairs don't fall out of heads apart from His will. Math. 10:29,30). Everything is controlled and determined by God. Including evil? In one sense, yes, in another no. God is not the author of Evil, but neither is evil running loose in God’s universe outside of his sovereign purposes. Even the crucifixion, the most evil of all human deeds was said by Peter at Pentecost to be carried out by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God’ (Acts 2:23). The early church said that Herod and Pilate and the rest did whatever God’s hand and purpose ‘predestined to occur’ (Acts 4:28).
Every atom of existence is under the direct control of God. There is not even one maverik molecule. Everything is under the control of God.
2. Total Depravity
(The following section on depravity is taken from several different commentaries)
WHAT TOTAL DEPRAVITY MEANS:
Total depravity refers to the nature of fallen persons, not to their deeds. The word “total” refers to the total person--that every aspect of the person--mind, will, emotions, body--is corrupted by sin; and to the total human race, that every person since Adam and Eve, except for Jesus Christ, has been born with a nature that is alienated from God and in rebellion against God. Also, depravity must be viewed in relation to God, not by comparing men with men. With reference to God, total depravity means that no one is able in and of himself to do anything to choose God, to seek God, to please God, to love God, to glorify God, or to merit His salvation. Left to himself, every person will seek the things of self and sin. We are as unable to seek God as a corpse can choose to get up and walk (Eph. 2:1-3). The Westminster Confession states it clearly. Speaking of Adam and Eve it says (VI:II, III, IV),
By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body.
So total depravity refers to the extent of the damage, not necessarily to the degree. To illustrate, if you put a drop of deadly bacteria in a glass of water, it contaminates the entire glass. You may add a spoonful of bacteria, which makes it more potent, but the little drop is enough to pollute it all. Adam’s transgression was imputed to his posterity, so that all are polluted by sin.
Adam was the representative of the human race, so that his sin was charged to all who followed. Some will protest, “That’s not fair!” But several things must be said. First, there is nothing unfair about the concept of representation. Our entire government is built on it. The decisions our elected officials make affect us. But you may still protest, “I didn’t vote for Adam to represent me.” But, God did! God determined that Adam’s choice would represent the human race. We have no reason to believe that we would have acted any differently had we been there ourselves. When our representative fell into sin, the human race was linked to him, so that all are born in sin. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because by nature we are sinners. This is what total depravity means.
B. Total depravity defended:
We can only look at a few of the many verses in both the Old and New Testaments which defend this doctrine:
In Psalm 51:5, David laments, “I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” We are born in sin.
Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” The word “sick” is used of an incurable wound; here, the meaning is metaphorical of sin that is beyond human hope of fixing. We’re terminal!
Paul, quoting from the Old Testament, spells it out forcefully in Romans 3:10-18 (citing only 10-13 here): “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.”
In Romans 8:7-8, he emphasizes the inability of the sinner to follow God: “... the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
In Ephesians 2:1-3, he says that we were all dead in our trespasses and sins and that by nature we are children of wrath. In Ephesians 4:18, he states that unbelievers are “darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their hearts.”
If you compile all these and many other verses, we see that fallen man is incurably wounded; blind; ignorant and unable and unwilling to know; born in sin and with a nature oriented to sin; hard-hearted; enslaved to sin; polluted at the very core of his being; and, dead. Scripture is clear that if God had not rescued us by His sovereign grace, we all would have perished in our willful, proud rebellion against Him.
3. Sovereign Grace
This follows necessarily from the previous two points. Man is so incapacitated by sin that unless God acts to rescue him nothing will happen. He will remain dead and blind. The doctrine of the sovereignty of God, plus that of the depravity of man leads us to the doctrine of sovereign grace. We can not live spiritually unless we are born of God or of the Spirit. We remain dead unless we are made alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5). We cannot come to Him unless He draws us (John 6:44). We cannot choose Christ unless he chooses us. (John 15:16). We cannot love him unless he first loves us. We cannot believe him unless he gives us faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9). If we are to be saved God must sovereignly do it. By HIS doing, you are in Christ Jesus. (1 Cor. 1:30). The Apostle Paul writes Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9).
If you work your way through the book of Acts almost casually, you will read that the number who believe is the same whom the Lord shall call to himself (Acts 2:39). That God Himself adds to the number of the church (Acts 2:47); that God himself grants repentance (Acts 5:31, Acts 11:18); that the Lord opens the heart (Acts 16:14) and most blatantly we read, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48)
.
Turn to the Epistles. “God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation, the apostle Paul tells the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 2:13) He has ‘Saved us,” he tells Timothy,
...and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity (2 TIm 1:90). We could go on and on, but the point has been made. God is sovereign and grace is sovereignly dispensed. He softens hearts and If He chooses not to soften a heart by His doing, it remains hard. Eyes can not be opened unless He is the one who opens them. We are dead. A dead person can not make themselves alive. A dead person can do nothing. God must lift our heads and breath life into us. If He does not, we remain dead. If he doesn’t soften a heart, it remains hard.
Responses
There are usually several responses to this subject. For those unfamiliar with the bible or unsure if they believe, they would typically recoil in horror. For them the God described above is a monster. God, they would say is kindly and good and passively watching and remote. He doesn’t control and he certainly doesn't predestinate anything. Also, for the unfamiliar and unbelieving, man is good. He may be misled by corruptions in his environment but but he is essentially benevolent.
Second, even among Bible believing christians there is alarm. And their great question may be “what difference does it make?” If they can’t see how it makes a difference in their lives they aren’t interested. They’ll ignore parts of the Bible and pass it on as meaning something else. They aren’t sure what, but just not that!
This is where I was at for years. It didn't make sense to me how anyone could say this about God! Election? Predestination? These words actually made me sick to my stomach. I argued and argued. My sister showed me many passages that I somehow happened to skip by or not pay much attention to. I couldn't explain those clear passages away. These passages with these very words "Election," "Predestination," "Chosen." And so I came to the conclusion that I didn't know how to explain those passages, but it didn't matter. I don't know why the Bible says some of these things but some day when I'm in heaven God will give me the right explanation. My sister encouraged me to seek answers now. God wants us to know Him now. There is a reason this is in the Bible. And I either believed all of the Bible or I didn't. She encouraged me not ignore it but to ask God and trust that He would show me His answers. His Holy Spirit could open my eyes to His truths. Ask and seek. And so I did. And He answered me and opened my eyes to how absolutely incredible He is and His wonderful truths and grace changed my faith. I'm so grateful to now know these truths about God. I would have missed out on so much if I had ignored it and thought what difference does this make? It does make a difference! Knowing more of Him makes a HUGE difference!
Does it make a difference?
Yes! It impacts our personal relationship with God. As we know Him more, we are able to trust Him more and believe that He is who He says He is. These are truths He shared in the Bible. If He revealed these truths to us in His word, there is a purpose for that. He wants us to know this about Him. Why? Because knowing Him more changes us. It makes a practical difference in
Our lives in the following areas: assurance, humility, adversity, guidance, prayer, sanctification, and our outlook.
Hosea 4:6-My people perish for their lack of knowledge
I encourage you to have the patience to wrestle with great truths. Don’t deliberately avoid certain doctrines. The result of avoiding certain doctrines is the same results as when one refuses any part of God’s revelation of Himself. We suffer. We lose. Our souls don’t receive the nourishment that that doctrine supplies. Our personalities are warped by that omission. The Apostle Paul taught the whole counsel of God because we need it all. (Acts 20:27). If we didn’t need a part of it, God would not have revealed it to us.
The following excerpt is taken from the book “When Grace Comes Home” by Terry L. Johnson.
“The first great difference that these doctrines made in my life was that of transforming a self-centered, pew-sitting spectator into a worshiper of God. When I first wrestled with the high doctrines of God’s sovereignty and man’s depravity and reconciled myself to the Bible’s teaching, I was overcome with awe. Up to that point, Knowing God had been helpful to me. I had grown considerably in spiritual maturity in college. But I hadn't really dealt with God except to treat Him as a personal asset. He was there for me. Of Course this is how so much of today's Bible teaching makes it seem. God is portrayed as the ultimate Helper in dealing with self-image, anger, decision-making, fear, relationships, finances, etc. When I realized that He had saved me and that I was in His sovereign hand, it reordered my perspective. I came to realize both that he was far beyond the little boxes I had constructed for Him and that I was there for Him, not Him for me. It made me bow in adoration before the God whom I was made to glorify.”
WORSHIP
The doctrine of God’s sovereignty will lead us to greater depths of worship. Because He could’ve left us in our sin, with hard hearts and closed eyes. But out of His great mercy, He chose to soften some hearts and open their eyes to Him and give them life. We are utterly helpless without Him. Completely dead in sin. He is obligated to save none. But out of His great mercy He saves some. It is not up to us to understand why or to be able to explain this. It is according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph 1:4-6) And the pottery needn’t question the potter why He creates and works the way He does. The potter has the right to create and form and do as He pleases and as He knows best. There would be no pottery without Him. He is obviously above what He creates. While we can not understand all of God in our flesh, He does want us to know these doctrines about Him that He gives us in His word. While may not be able to completely reconcile certain attributes of God and certain truths, if it is in His word, we must still cling to them as true. And as we do, it will lead us to a greater perspective of who God is and what He does in our lives and it will lead us to our knees in worship because of His greatness and sovereignty over ALL things. God works in minds and hearts for His glory. God answers to no one. He has the right to do as He pleases. If He chooses to show mercy He may. But He is not obligated to do so. God has mercy on whom He desires and He hardens whom He desires. (Romans 9:18).
It affects much more in our lives and there is much more on this topic that I can not cover in one article. The book that really helped me as I wrestled with this topic is called “When Grace Comes Home” by Terry L. Johnson. I highly recommend this book!!! Dig deeper! Pray and ask God to show you truths about Himself and give you answers to your questions. He will! Seek and He will answer :)
More Scripture
Romans 9:14-22
14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[f]
16 It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”[g] 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”[h]21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called,not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
*God is either sovereign over ALL things or is not sovereign at all. He couldn't be sovereign if any part was in OUR control. We are NOT in control. HE IS. We do not soften our own hearts. We can not. Our hearts are hardened by sin and we are dead in our sin. God chooses to soften our hearts. God chooses to draw us to Him and Give us life. God works in hearts and minds. He is sovereign over ALL things. And it is ALL for HIS GLORY.
Romans 8:26-28
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
John 6:64-This is why I have told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.
John 12:39-40-For this reason they could not believe, because as Isaiah says elsewhere: He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes nor understand with their hearts, nor turn and I would heal them.
John 15:16-You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit-fruit that will last-and so that whatever you ask in my name the father will give you.
Philippians 2:13- For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Prov 21:1
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.
1 Chron 29:11-12
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Riches and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is at your discretion that people are made great and given strength.
Ezekiel 36: 26-32
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord.
Jeremiah 24:7
'I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.
Ezekiel 11:19
"And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.
1 Samuel 10:9
As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day.
Acts 16:14
One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Clearly God has access to work in hearts in whatever ways He wishes. He is the sovereign Lord of the universe. He works in minds and hearts and controls ALL things. He is either sovereign over all things or not sovereign at all. And when we come to the realization that He is sovereign over ALL things, this will change the way we worship Him, the way we trust Him, the way we pray, our perspective and outlook on all things in our lives and the way we live our lives and walk with Him. Knowing this truth about God brings us immeasurably closer to Him. So, if you are grappling with it, keep wrestling and praying and seeking until He shows you His truths and gives you peace about His ways. He will. Because He is the God that opens eyes and minds and hearts to Him.
I pray that as you realize that God has chosen and called you to Himself, out of absolutely nothing you have done, but all because of His great mercy and grace, you will be drawn to worship Him! He died for our sins and He worked in our life to bring us this great news and in our hearts to believe and to know Him. He has rescued us from our chains and blindness. He has liberated us. He has freed us and given us new hearts and eternal life in Him. He has parted the seas and bridged the gap between us and the Holy Father. Jesus has saved us by His perfect love. He has rescued us and brought us into a relationship with God. And when we wander away, He brings us back to Himself. He puts people in our lives, He gives us messages or books or songs, or whatever tools He uses, to draw us right back to His side. He never leaves His children. He pursues us over and over again and draws us to Himself. He sustains us and we are His FOREVER. He has softened our hearts to know Him and He continues to draw us to Him. What awe and wonder and gratitude this stirs in my heart! Let us worship this amazing Lord!
Psalm 100:3-Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us and we are His. We are His people, The sheep of His pasture.
Psalm 95:3-For the Lord is a great God, a King who is superior to All.
Psalm 95:6- Come Let us bow down and worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Creator.
