The eternal decrees of God are “things which God determined and ordained before He had done anything at all” (93). The reasons for considering this difficult doctrine are these: a). “I must take my whole Bible,” b). “it will reveal to us fresh aspects of the glory of God Himself,” c). “it will save us from many errors,” d). “I know of nothing that gives me greater consolation than this particular doctrine” (94).
The methods for considering the doctrine are these: we must “get rid of your prejudices and any kind of party spirit,” and we “must not approach this subject philosophically”; in other words, we must approach the subject with humility and reverence; “we must approach it by faith, and with a ready admission of our own limits” (95).
* The first principle of the doctrine—the eternal decrees of God—is that “from eternity God has had an unchangeable plan with reference to His creatures” (96). (See Eph. 1:4; Gal. 4:4).
* Second, “the plan of God comprehends and determines all things and events of every kind that come to pass”; that is “all things are ultimately determined and decreed by Him” (96). All things must include “the free actions, the voluntary actions of free and voluntary agents” (97). (See Eph. 1:10-11; Proverbs 16:33; Matthew 10:29-30; Proverbs 21:1; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:13).
* Third, “even sinful actions are in the hands of God” (97). (See Acts 2:23; 4:27-28; Genesis 34:8; Genesis 50:20). Lloyd Jones explicates, “In view of what we have already agreed about the holiness of God, we must at once say this: God does not cause evil in any sense or in any degree. He does not approve of evil. But He permits the wicked agents to perform it and then He overrules it for His own and holy ends” (98).
* Fourth, “all the decrees of God are unconditional and sovereign” (98). To be more specific, God’s decrees are not dependent in any sense on human actions or by anything that people may or may not do, and not in the light of what He knows people are going to do. “They do not depend upon anything except God’s own will and God’s own holiness” (98). (See Daniel 4:35; Matthew 11:25-26; Eph. 1:5; Romans 9:11-14; 9:15-18).
* Fifth, “the decrees of God are efficacious” (100).
* Sixth, “the decrees of God are in all things perfectly consistent with His own most wise, benevolent and holy nature” (100). We do not know why God decreed to permit sin, but we are certain that “God is never the cause of sin” (See Habakkuk 1: 13; James 1:13) and the “purpose of God is, in all things, perfectly consistent with the nature and the mode of action of His creatures” (100).
* Finally, “the salvation of men and women and of angels, and of certain of them in particular, was determined by God before the foundation of the world” (101). (See Matthew 11:25-26; John 6:37; Acts 13:48; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Tim. 2:9).
沒有留言 :
張貼留言