A third will of God? R.C. Sproul on Exposing the Permissive Will of God.
The distinction between the sovereign will of God and the permissive will of God is fraught with peril and tends to generate untold confusion.
In ordinary language, the term permission suggests some sort of positive sanction. To say that God “allows” or “permits” evil does not mean that He sanctions it in the sense that He approves of it. It is easy to discern that God never permits sin in the sense that He sanctions it in His creatures.
What is usually meant by divine permission is that God simply lets it happen. That is, He does not directly intervene to prevent its happening. Here is where grave dangers lurk. Some theologies view this drama as if God were impotent to do anything about human sin.
This view makes man sovereign, not God. God is reduced to the role of spectator or cheerleader, by which God’s exercise in providence is that of a helpless Father who, having done all He can do, must now sit back and simply hope for the best. He permits what He cannot help but permit because He has no sovereign power over it. This ghastly view is not merely a defective view of theism; it is unvarnished atheism.
Coram Deo: How has a false view of God’s permissive will affected your Christian walk in the past? Do you have a different view of His permissive will now? How will it affect your walk in the future?
John 7:17: “If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.”
Psalm 37:23: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.”
Psalm 27:11: “Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.”
2 comments:
Rick,
The will of God issue as a whole is fraught with potholes, whether you go all permissive will or all sovereign will.
Folks who are strong on sovereign will and allow no exemptions logically end up painting God as an accessory to all sorts of awful things that happen. (They must, too, or else they open a doorway to free moral agency, which shoots some holes in their theology.)
We know that God is good. I know a pastor who pulled out of his garage on his way to a church meeting just as his toddler son was crossing, unseen, behind the car. The boy was crushed under the tires and died.
Stepping back, can we say that it was good that God caused that accident by his sovereign will? That is what some would say. Or do we avoid stepping into that conundrum by going the route of the wise Solomon in Ecclesiastes when he talks about "time and chance" happening to us all?
I don't know the answer to these things except to say that perhaps trying to systematize Christianity is wrongheaded. Perhaps there are times when it is okay for us to say, "I don't know, but God does." That some folks are always quick with an explanation...well, I'm not sure claiming more wisdom than Solomon is a wise way to go.
Dan - as always, good perspective ...
Post a Comment