Theology Thursday!

Paradox and God's Will

Now that Andrew has broken the awkward silence of the blog, it is safe to read again! Now onward to today’s subject….

Our Bible is full of paradox, irony, and tragedy – things found in any literary masterpiece and abundantly in the Bible. While we may look at the other items later, today we will be looking at one particular paradox – God’s will and human free agency. Note on the outset that this will not be an exhaustive treatment of this subject but only a look at how it plays out in certain scenarios.

At first, the two items seem in contradiction or opposition to each other. For instance, if human freedom is elevated too high, God becomes subject to it and forced to comply with the results of our decisions. He becomes a reactionary God always trying to bring order to chaos upon chaos. On the other hand, if God’s will is elevated too high (in this manner of speaking), humans become nothing more than robots, having no meaningful choices – they aren’t choices at all!

The Christian must understand, however, that Scripture affirms that 1) all things happen in accordance to God’s overall will for his creation and 2) human beings make real choices that have real significance. For an example from Scripture, let’s look at John 19 (the Crucifixion)

• v. 23: soldiers divide up Jesus’ garments, by their own desires to have it.
• v. 31-37: The Jews ask Pilate to have his soldiers to speed up the deaths of the crucified criminals (including Jesus). The soldiers also pierce Jesus’ side to confirm that he is dead.
• v. 38: Joseph of Arimathea takes Jesus’ body and gave Christ his own tomb

So what do these instances matter? Well if you pay attention to the verses after each occurrence, it says “in order that Scripture might be fulfilled” or something of the like. The point is that even while the individuals involved in Christ’s crucifixion acted freely by their will, they were also acting according to God’s predetermined purpose. And these events are only a small handful of examples when this phenomenon happens.

The bottom line is that God has created us in a way in which we act freely in our will and also according to His overall will. An important distinction needs to be made here though: while God acts sovereignly over our actions, He is NOT responsible for sins – the responsibility of our actions lies with us. If we were not responsible for our actions, then we would not be guilty of transgression (which we are).

Our responsibility is easily seen in Ezekiel 3: 16-21, where God tells Ezekiel that if he listens to God and warns the people of their sin, his soul will be delivered, but if he does not warn the people when God tells him, then their blood will be on his hands.

We must not deceive ourselves into thinking that we are exempt from pursuing God’s will and living accordingly. The Bible affirms that our actions really do cause things and really do have significance – they are just not the primary (or first) cause. For us, we must remember 2 things:

1. God is sovereign over His creation and always accomplishes His “good, perfect, and pleasing” will.
2. We are responsible for what we do and are held accountable for our actions

Again, this is paradox – it means that while we can’t understand it, it nonetheless exists. The “how” is beyond us. And lastly, remember that this is not without grace, for “He was crushed for our iniquities… and with his stripes we are healed” (Is. 53)