The teaching "God is in control" often inadvertently blames God for all the good and evil people do in the World, making them like puppets or flowers on a string, ignoring man's free choice. https://www.pexels.com/el-gr/photo/1374115/
[This next tradition is a deeply held one and I ask for grace as you read this, knowing that it is being shared humbly in an effort to be true to God’s Word, even though it differs what I was taught growing up. To begin with, the Bible never uses the phrase “God is in control.” However, the N.T. does emphasize the similar phrase “self-control” eight times in six passages.]
[Act 24:25 NKJV] 25 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, "Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you." [1Co 7:5, 9 NKJV] 5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ... 9 but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn [with passion]. [Gal 5:23 NKJV] 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. [1Ti 2:15 NKJV] 15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control. [2Ti 3:3 NKJV] 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,… [2Pe 1:6 NKJV] 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
[I hear the phrase “God is in control” nearly every week at church, to express the sovereignty of God. How can God be in control and then order us to have self-control—a product or fruit of the Holy Spirit in those who have received the Helper (Gal. 5:23). There is an apparent contradiction here and I believe it has been made worse because of a recent change in the definition of the word “sovereign.” I believe whole heartedly in the sovereignty of God based on the traditional definition of the word. In many versions of the Bible, one of the Hebrew names for God—Adonai YHWH—is translated Lord GOD in many Bible translations. However, the NIV translates Adonai YHWH as Sovereign LORD, because they didn’t want to translate it redundantly as Lord LORD. The NIV does this 294 times.
This debatable translation choice in the NIV, combined with the meaning of the word “sovereign” gradually changing over the last 100 years, has fueled a teaching called the Extreme Sovereignty of God. The teaching states that God is in complete control or at least allows everything and is therefore ultimately responsible for everything. Some believe He even controls and causes evil for his hidden purpose, and to teach and discipline us. There are numerous varying degrees of the level of God’s responsibility believed by Christians and it is important to note that this teaching is not one that an individual’s salvation hinges on. But here is the traditional meaning of sovereign from Webster’s 1913 dictionary:
“Sov’er eign … L. superus that is above, upper, higher, fr. super above. See Over, Super, and cf. Soprano. The modern spelling is due to a supposed connection with reign.] 1. Supreme or highest in power; superior to all others; chief; as, our sovereign prince. 2. Independent of, and unlimited by, any other; possessing, or entitled to, original authority or jurisdiction; as, a sovereign state; a sovereign discretion. 3. Princely; royal. "Most sovereign name." Shak.” https://www.websters1913.com/words/Sovereign
Modern dictionaries maintain the above definitions but add some new ones including:
“5. Efficacious in the highest degree; effectual; controlling; as, a sovereign remedy.”
I believe God is the only perfect, sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient being in the universe, using the original meaning of the word “sovereign” (supreme, highest in power, superior to all others, chief as a sovereign prince). This does NOT mean He chooses to control everything. He gives man a choice to be self-controlled, exercising free will. Believing God controls everything can inadvertently put the blame for all the evil in the world on God. Scripture teaches in Genesis that God’s will for man was a good, perfect, abundant life in Eden, not this fallen evil world.]
[Jhn 10:10 NKJV] 10 "The thief [Satan] does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have [it] more abundantly.
[Clearly Jesus taught in this passage that Satan is the one causing evil in this world. Just because God is sovereign (supreme, highest in power, superior to all others) doesn’t mean He controls the actions of Satan to steal, kill and destroy in this world.
Neither does a sovereign king who makes the laws, force everybody to obey those laws. Kings usually delegate authority to others to enforce the law when his subjects break it. Certainly, unlike an earthly king, Our God can intervene as the All-Mighty Creator at any time to force His will on His creation. But God chooses to limit Himself by His Word which says He cannot lie. This fact is important because God granted man free will (using phrases like “whoever believes” 10 times in the NKJV) and has granted man dominion over all the Earth (Gen. 1:26 & 28). Scriptures never records God taking our free will nor dominion away from man, however, He did lower Himself to become a man so that He now shares sovereign dominion with us as joint heirs.]
[Rom 8:17 NKJV] 17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him], that we may also be glorified together.
[The need to share man’s dominion could be partially why He had to become a man, to regain the authority over all the Earth that He had granted to man, and to be able to rescue man from his deception and fall in the Garden.]
[Mat 28:18 NKJV] 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
[So now Jesus has the same authority He granted to man on Earth to enforce His law, Word and will, to undo the damage Satan caused in the garden where he tricked man into obeying him, essentially enslaving man to Satan’s will through his lies. This is why Satan is referred to in Scriptures as the god of this world, and Satan continues to deceive man into causing all evil up to this day.]
[Rev 12:9 NKJV] 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
[Jhn 12:31 NLT] 31 The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out.
[2Co 4:4 NLT] 4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.
[Job 1:22 NKJV] 22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
[As mentioned previously, believing “God is in control” inadvertently blames God for directly or in-directly causing all evil in the world. Many Christians believe another saying not found in Scripture: “nothing can happen unless God wills it... including suffering.” I know people who were turned away from seeking after a relationship with God because they blamed Him for the suffering in their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Why would they want to serve a God who causes or allows suffering and evil?
It is important to note that God loves people who believe nothing happens outside of His “sovereign” will and still serve God. They are operating in a higher level of piety, willing to serve God no matter what trials they believe God orchestrates in their life. God knows the intents of their heart, and is likely sympathetic to them and easily extends His grace to them. However, His Word never said He chooses to control everything.
So how does believing that “God is in control” cause double-mindedness in our prayers? If you believe God is in complete control and allows, or causes, our suffering for some mysterious purpose, possibly to teach us a lesson, or so that others might come to the Lord, some may think “why pray to get out of God’s lesson?” If the suffering is from God why not just give-in and give-up? Why take medicine or pray to be rid of a disease? This teaching can create double-mindedness and un-belief when we could be believing God’s numerous promises in His Word for healing. If sometimes it is not God’s will for us to get well, how can we stand single mindedly on Scriptures that promise healing like:]
[Psa 103:2-3 NKJV] 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
[Psa 91:3 NLT] 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.
[1Pe 2:24 NKJV] 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.
[3Jo 1:2 NKJV] 2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
[For many more passages on healing see tip 35) How to Pray for Healing and Salvation. If God controls everything, including evil, how can I know for sure I am not just a vessel of wrath predestined for destruction (Rom. 9:22)? The extreme sovereignty teaching causes condemning thoughts from Satan like this, and makes it more difficult to fight doublemindedness and unbelief.]
[Heb 6:17 NIV] 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.
[There is a blame game going on in the world and it has been happening since the deception in the Garden. When confronted by God, Adam blamed God for giving him Eve, who in turn blamed the Devil. All three were punished. To believe that God has given man complete autonomy, free will, and that God is NOT in complete control beyond His omniscient foreknowledge, brings up the question: Why are some people NOT healed as promised in the Word? Who is to blame? Is it the sick person, others praying for them, Satan, or is God the one to blame for prayers not being answered?
When I was 13, my mother, a pastor’s wife and mother of four, passed away in the hospital during a second round of chemotherapy for leukemia after a 2-year remission. I remember well-meaning people from our church family giving sentiments like “God is in control…that He puts us through trails like this to teach us things and make us stronger… His ways are above our ways and we may never know why till we get to heaven…etc.” Growing up in a pastor’s family, I accepted these statements. I had heard them and even used some of them myself. I took some comfort knowing that God was going to somehow work this for good like He did for Joseph and Paul in Scriptures. I was not bitter, but the hurt of losing my mom was very real, negatively affecting my dad and us kids emotionally and even physically. Most notably my dad’s ministry suffered the lack of a pastor’s wife. A family needs a mom, and a small church benefits greatly from the extra hands of a pastor’s wife. Still, we all tried to focus on the positive in the midst of this adversity. I didn’t realize that by accepting these sentiments, I was in a sense, blaming God for this evil circumstance, just like Adam, in his pride, blamed God for his disobedience in the Garden. James equates pride like Adam’s with double-mindedness.]
[Jas 4:6-8 NKJV] 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse [your] hands, [you] sinners; and purify [your] hearts, [you] double-minded.
[It is sin to shift the blame for evil from ourselves to God, even inadvertently. It is pride to do so, and God resists the proud. It would be better to confess we don’t know why bad things happen, rather than say “God is in control,” a phrase not found in Scriptures that pins the blame on God. However, when we acknowledge our short-comings such as: 1) we don’t know what is happening in the spiritual realm, 2) that Satan is still at work deceiving people in this world, and 3) that our knowledge of Scriptures and how to pray is most likely in-complete, then we remain humble before God in the midst of our circumstances. Clinging to pious sounding sentiments not found in Scriptures that take the potential blame off us and places it on God is not wise. At a minimum we can acknowledge Satan’s responsibility in deceiving man to commit his evil ideas.
More importantly, when we take responsibility for man’s individual and corporate actions, we can stand on God’s promises for healing with single-mindedness, avoiding thoughts that say this suffering is God’s will and His promises in the Word may not apply in this situation. These are the thoughts of unbelief that Satan would like to plant in our minds in hopes of undermining our faith in God’s Word. I no longer believe that it was God’s will that my mom die and leave 4 kids, a pastor and church that needed her. God’s will for her and all man-kind was perfect fellowship with God just like in Eden, life more abundant, without sickness and loss!
Here is another way to look at it. If you are a follower of Jesus, ask yourself if God controls you? Does He control you if you choose to speed? Of course not, we have freedom to make choices. Freedom to sin or not to sin. God foreknows what we are going to choose, but that does not violate our free will. Then why is it that most Christians assume that God controls the evil of non-Christians who do not have the presence of the Holy Spirit in their life when they don’t believe God controls Christians who have the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t make sense.
The temptation is to interpret Scripture in light of our circumstances, rather than interpreting our circumstances in light of Scripture. God’s Word needs to become more real to us than this world, so when the promised trials and tribulations come, we fight them, and not become passive and just let them defeat us because we believe it is God’s will for us to go through them… even to the point of death. This appears to be one of Satan’s tactics, to deceive God’s followers right out of the fight. Contrast the lesson’s we might learn in suffering compared to a testimony of miraculous healing through prayer. That powerful healing testimony can be used to call others to a relationship with Jesus just like He did throughout His ministry and subsequently commanded His disciples.
Still some can take this teaching that man is the variable in answered prayers, not God, too far, unlovingly blaming the sick or those praying for them as not having enough faith or failing to pray correctly. My mom and dad, church family, and people from churches all over the state were praying for her healing yet we didn’t see it. I don’t know if we were deficient somehow in our prayers, and/or if Satan was interfering in some unseen spiritual battle. I do know that the way I prayed then compared to now is very different. Back then I prayed like other’s around me adding phrases like “if it be your will?” Today I simply try to enforce the promises already provided in God’s Word. Instead of throwing up a prayer begging, cajoling, and futilely trying to pressure God to answer it, now I simply ask for what He has already promised. I also know that God is unchanging when it comes to His promises in His Word that say He will do all we ask in the same proportion to His power that works in us, which is exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or think.]
[Eph 3:20 NKJV] 20 Now to Him who is able to do or exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
[God’s grace allows us a key part in answered prayer just like we have a part in our salvation. We are saved by grace through faith (Eph 2:8). In the same way our prayers are answered by God’s grace through faith. As you’ll see in the next tips, He even provides the faith we need, so those who go too far and teach that we don’t have enough faith are just plain wrong.]
Comentarios