GOD-DECREES
To
deny the Divine decrees would be to predicate a world and all its concerns
regulated by undesigned chance or blind fate. Then
what peace, what assurance, what comfort would there be for our poor hearts and
minds? What refuge would there be to fly to in the hour of need and trial? None at all. There would be nothing better than the black
darkness and abject horror of atheism. O my reader, how thankful should we be
that everything is determined by infinite wisdom and goodness! What praise and
gratitude are due unto God for His Divine decrees.
A.W. Pink
The Attributes of God.
The
decrees of God relate to all future things without exception: whatever is done
in time, was foreordained before time began. God’s
purpose was concerned with everything, whether great or small, whether good or
evil.
A.W. Pink
The Attributes of God.
Properties of the divine decrees. They are:
1.
Eternal – To suppose any of [God’s decrees]
to be made in time, is to suppose that some new occasion has occurred, some
unforeseen event or combination of circumstances has arisen, which has induced
the Most High to form a new resolution.
2.
Wise – Wisdom is shown in the selection of
the best possible ends and of the fittest means of accomplishing them. That
this character belongs to the decrees of God is evident from what we know of
them. They are disclosed to us by their execution, and every proof of wisdom in
the works of God is a proof of the wisdom of the plan, in conformity to which
they are performed.
3.
Free – God was alone when He made His decrees,
and His determinations were influenced by no external cause. He was free to
decree or not to decree, and to decree one thing and not another. This liberty
we must ascribe to Him who is supreme, independent, and sovereign in all His
doings
4.
Unconditional – The execution of them is not
suspended upon any condition which may, or may not be, performed. In every
instance where God has decreed an end, He has also decreed every means to that
end.
A.W. Pink
Excerpted
from: The Attributes of God.
Side
by side with the immutability and invincibility of God’s decrees, Scripture
plainly teaches that man is a responsible creature and answerable for his
actions. And if our thoughts are formed from God’s Word the maintenance of the
one will not lead to the denial of the other. That there is a real difficulty
in defining where the one ends and the other begins,
is freely granted. This is ever the case where there is a conjunction of the Divine
and the human.
A.W. Pink
The
Attributes of God.
As a
philosophical idea, God’s decreeing of a thing has dominance over His seeing a
thing beforehand. Even though…the word foreknowledge is more than
pre-sight, we nonetheless cannot disregard the verity that God sees all things
beforehand. Thus God’s seeing all things has forever been a reality to Him, and
God’s determining all things has also been forever. These two have had eternal
origins. As long as He has decreed, He has known; and as long as He has known,
He has decreed. So, in one sense, we cannot put one philosophical idea ahead of
the other in terms of time. Yet we can put one above the other in terms of
dominance. If God has seen and determined at the same time, we cannot make His
decreeing subservient to His knowing. The reason one is preceding the other in
terms of force (not time) is that determination is a willful act of God,
whereas seeing is a passive act. God cannot help but see all, but He wills to
decree. Therefore what He determines, He sees; and what He sees, is determined.
The force of decreeing a thing dominates the seeing.
Jim Elliff
A
Three-legged Stool: All Side of God’s Salvation Process, Christian
Communicators Worldwide, www.CCWtoday.org. Used by Permission.
God from all
eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and
unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass yet so, as thereby neither is God the
author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the
liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.
Westminster Larger
Catechism
Q3.
The
decree of God is His eternal plan or purpose, in which He has foreordained all
things that come to pass. Since it includes many particulars, we often speak of
the divine decrees in the plural, though in reality there is but a single
decree. It covers all the works of God in creation and redemption, and also
embraces the actions of men, not excluding their sinful deeds. But while it
rendered the entrance of sin into the world certain, it does not make God
responsible for our sinful deeds. His decree with respect to sin is a
permissive decree.
Louis Berkhof
Summary of Christian Doctrine, Part II: The Doctrine of God and Creation,
Chapter VIII: The Divine Decrees.
The
decree of God is founded in wisdom, Eph. 3:9-11, though we do not always
understand it. It was formed in the depths of eternity, and is therefore
eternal in the strictest sense of the word, Eph. 3:11. Moreover, it is
effectual, so that everything that is included in it certainly comes to pass,
Isa. 46:10. The plan of God is also unchangeable, because He is faithful and
true, Job 28:13, 14; Isa. 46:10; Luke 22:22. It is unconditional, that is, its
execution does not depend on any action of man but even renders such action
certain, Acts 2:23; Eph. 2:8. Moreover, it is all-inclusive, embracing the good
and the wicked actions of men, Eph. 2:10; Acts 2:28, contingent events, Gen.
50:20, the duration of man’s life, Job 14:5; Ps. 39:4, and the place of his
habitation, Acts 17:26. With respect to sin it is permissive.
Louis Berkhof
Summary of Christian Doctrine, Part II: The Doctrine of God and Creation,
Chapter VIII: The Divine Decrees.
God “works all
things after the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). This “all things”
includes the fall of sparrows (Matthew 10:29), the rolling of dice (Proverbs
16:33), the slaughter of His people (Psalm 44:11), the decisions of kings
(Proverbs 21:1), the failing of sight (Exodus 4:11), the sickness of children
(2 Samuel 12:15), the loss and gain of money (1 Samuel 2:7), the suffering of
saints (1 Peter 4:19), the completion of travel plans (James 4:15), the
persecution of Christians (Hebrews 12:4-7), the repentance of souls (2 Timothy
2:25), the gift of faith (Philippians 1:29), the pursuit of holiness
(Philippians 3:12-13), the growth of believers (Hebrews 6:3), the giving of
life and the taking in death (1 Samuel 2:6), and the crucifixion of his Son
(Acts 4:27-28).
John Piper
Whether
God has decreed all things that ever come to pass or not, all that own the
being of a God, own that He knows all things beforehand. Now, it is
self-evident that if He knows all things beforehand, He either doth approve of
them or doth not approve of them; that is, He either is willing they should be,
or He is not willing they should be. But to will that they should be is to
decree them.
Jonathan Edwards
Whoever
be the instruments of any good to us, of whatever sort, we must look above
them, and eye the hand and counsel of God in it, which is the first spring, and
be duly thankful to God for it. And whatever evil of crosses or afflictions
befalls us, we must look above the instruments of it to God.
Thomas Boston
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter Catechism.
Consider
the end of God's decrees – and this is no other than His own glory. Every
rational agent acts for an end; and God being the most perfect agent, and His
glory the highest end, there can be no doubt but all His decrees are directed
to that end. “For to Him are all things” (Rom. 11.36).
Thomas Boston
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter
Catechism.
The
properties of God's decrees:
1.
They are eternal. God makes no decrees in time,
but they were all from eternity. If the divine decrees were not eternal, God
would not be most perfect and unchangeable, but, like weak man, should take new
counsels, and would be unable to tell everything that were to come to pass
(Eph. 1:4).
2.
They are most wise. God cannot properly
deliberate or take counsel, as men do; for He sees all things together and at
once. Nothing is determined that could have been better determined (Rom.
11:33).
3.
They are free. [They depend] on no other, but
all flowing from the mere pleasure of His own will. He has made no decrees
suspended on any condition without Himself (Rom. 11:34).
4.
They are unchangeable. God's decrees are
constant; and He by no means alters His purpose, as men do (Psm. 33:1).
5.
They are most holy and pure (1 Jn.
1:5).
6.
They are effectual. Whatsoever God decrees
comes to pass infallibly (Isa. 46.10).
Thomas Boston
Excerpted from: Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter Catechism.
That all sinful actions fall under the divine
decree.
Though sin itself flows from transgressing the law, yet the futurition
of it is from the decree of God. No such thing could ever have been in the
world, if it had not been determined by the eternal counsel of Heaven for a
holy and just end. This is plainly asserted by the apostle Peter, with respect
to the greatest villainy that was ever committed on the earth, namely, the
death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, at the hands of sinful men (Ac.
2:23; 4:27-28)... There was never such an atrocious crime or higher act of
wickedness committed, than the murdering of the Lord of glory. And yet it
appears from these texts of Scripture, that, in this bloody and horrid scene,
wicked men did no more than God's hand and counsel determined before to be
done.
Thomas Boston
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter
Catechism.
The
great, and glorious end for which God decreed the after-being of sin, is His
own glory: and the ends subordinate thereunto are not a few. Particularly, God
decreed the futurition of sin:
1.
That He might have occasion of glorifying His
infinite wisdom, love, and grace in the redemption and salvation of a company
of lost sinners through the death and sufferings of His own dear Son.
2.
That His patience and long suffering in
bearing with and forbearing sinners, might be
magnified, admired, and adored.
3.
That He might be honoured
and glorified by the faith and repentance of His people, and their walking
humbly with Him.
4.
That His justice might be illustriously
displayed and glorified in the eternal damnation of reprobate sinners for their
own sins and abominations, sin being the cause of their damnation, though not
of their reprobation.
Thomas Boston
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter
Catechism.
God
hath decreed the end, so He hath decreed the means that are proper for
attaining that end; so that these two must not be separated.
Thomas Boston
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter
Catechism.
It
is our duty to look to God's commands, and not to His decrees; to our own duty,
and not to His purposes. The decrees of God are a vast ocean, into which many
possibly have curiously pried to their own horror and despair; but few or none
have ever pried into them to their own profit and satisfaction.
Thomas Boston
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter
Catechism.
Has
God decreed all things that come to pass? Then there is nothing that falls out
by chance, nor are we to ascribe what we meet with either to good or ill luck
and fortune. There are many events in the world which men look upon as mere
accidents, yet all these come by the counsel and appointment of Heaven.
Thomas Boston
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter
Catechism.
When
ye murmur and repine under cross and afflictive dispensations, this is a
presuming to instruct God how to deal with you, and to reprove Him as if He
were in the wrong. Yea, there is a kind of implicit blasphemy in it, as if you
had more wisdom and justice to dispose of your lot, and to carve out your own
portion in the world. This is upon the matter the language of such a
disposition, Had I been on God’s counsel, I had ordered this matter better;
things had not been with me as now they are. O presume
not to correct the infinite wisdom of God, seeing He has decreed all things
most wisely and judiciously.
Thomas Boston
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter
Catechism.
Let
the people of God comfort themselves in all cases by this doctrine of the
divine decrees; and, amidst whatever befalls them, rest quietly and
submissively in the bosom of God, considering that whatever comes or can come
to pass, proceeds from the decree of their gracious friend and reconciled
Father, who knows what is best for them, and will make all things work together
for their good. O what a sweet and pleasant life would ye have under the
heaviest pressures of affliction, and what heavenly serenity and tranquility of
mind would you enjoy, would you cheerfully acquiesce in the good will and
pleasure of God, and embrace every dispensation, how sharp soever
it may be, because it is determined and appointed for you by the eternal
counsel of His will!
Thomas Boston
Of the Decrees of God, Commentary on the Shorter
Catechism.
[God's
decrees were] formed within Himself. He needed not to go without Himself,
either for the impulse which led to it, or the knowledge in which it was conceived.
He had all knowledge, both of the actual and the possible, all wisdom as to the
best end and means, all power to execute what He devised in the use, or without
the use of appropriate secondary means, and free will to select, of all
possible plans and means, whatever He Himself should please, and the impulse
which moved Him existed alone in that knowledge and will.
James P. Boyce
Abstract of Systematic Theology.
The
Scriptural authority for the doctrine of decrees:
1.
[They]
are eternal (Ac. 15:18; Eph. 1:4; 3:11; 1 Pet. 1:20; 2 Thes. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:9;
1 Cor. 2:7).
2.
They
are immutable (Psm. 33:11; Isa. 46:9).
3.
They
comprehend all events.
a.
The
Scriptures assert this of the whole system in general embraced in the divine
decrees (Dan. 4:34, 35; Ac. 17:26; Eph. 1:11).
b.
They
affirm the same of fortuitous events (Pr. 16:33; Mat. 10:29, 30).
c.
Also
of the free actions of men (Eph. 2:10, 11; Phil. 2:13).
d.
Even
the wicked actions of men (Ac. 2:23; 4:27, 28; 13:29; 1 Pet. 2:8; Jude 4; Rev.
17:17. As to the history of Joseph, compare Gen. 37:28, with Gen. 45:7, 8, and
Gen. 50:20. See also Psm. 17:13, 14; Isa. 10:5, 15).
4.
[They]
are not conditional (Psm. 33:11; Pr. 19:21; Isa. 14:24, 27; 46:10; Rom. 9:11).
5.
They
are sovereign (Isa. 40:13, 14; Dan. 4:35; Mat. 11:25, 26; Rom. 9:11, 15-18;
Eph. 1:5, 11).
6.
They
include the means (Eph. 1:4; 2 Thes. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2).
7.
They
determine the free actions of men (Ac. 4:27, 28 ; Eph.
2:10).
a.
God
Himself works in His people that faith and obedience which are called the
conditions of salvation (Eph. 2:8; Phil. 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:25).
b.
The
decree renders the event certain (Mat. 16:21; Lk. 18:31-33; 24:46; Ac. 2:23;
13:29; 1 Cor. 11:19).
c.
While
God has decreed the free acts of men, the actors have been none the less
responsible (Gen. 50:20; Ac. 2:23; 3:18; 4:27, 28).
James P. Boyce
Abstract of Systematic Theology (The author modified Hodge’s Outlines to
compose this list).
The decrees
of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby,
for His own glory, He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.
Samuel
Willard
The Decrees of God, 1690.
[God’s
decrees are based on the] conception of God as a rational, intelligent being
who is a wise builder, who has an idea of His works before He does them. It is
clear that God works in time and therefore we suppose that He intended to do so
before time.
Samuel
Willard
The Decrees of God, 1690.
God’s
infinite wisdom may be seen in His plan. In our minds, a plan is necessary to
any sort of decree, human or divine. The Bible plainly shows us that God works
according to a plan. We can describe His plan in this way: it is His eternal
deliberation with Himself, concerning the best way to accomplish His own
purposes.
Samuel
Willard
The Decrees of God, 1690.
This will of
God is the first cause of all things. If we seek out the reason why things are,
back to the original cause, we must find it in the decree, and determined by
God's will.
Samuel
Willard
The Decrees of God, 1690.
That
there are no random events with respect to God. To us it is true that time and chance
influence all things. Things come to pass in unseen ways, and by unknown means,
but with respect to God it is not so. Nothing can happen either outside His
knowledge or intention, for it is His decree that gives being to all events.
The things that are, would never be if He had not intended them.
Samuel
Willard
The Decrees of God, 1690.
The
decree of God is His firm decision by which He performs all things through His
almighty power according to his counsel. Ephesians 1:11, “He does all things
out of the counsel of His own will.”
William Ames
The Decrees of God.