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Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

Exodus 28-29
Matthew 23

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

Matthew 23:37 (CSB): “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”

Reflecting on God’s Word

If I heard one debate in the halls of the Bible college and seminaries I attended, I’ve heard dozens. I often found it distasteful to see two male students going at it on some doctrinal issue and why they each thought they were right. I believe many of them were motivated by naive pride in thinking they had it all figured out. But I also realize that some of them simply wanted to hone their skills in defending the faith.

One topic frequently discussed in those hallway debates was how in control God is. Is He exercising His sovereign free will over the created order so that mankind seems to be a puppet with no free will? Or is it mankind that has free will so that God appears to be playing catch-up after every decision we make?

As I have dug deeply into the truths of God’s Word over the past decades, I have come to the conclusion that God’s free will and our free will are paradoxical. They are both true, even as they seem to cancel each other out.

There is absolutely no question that God rules sovereignly over creation. As the psalmist said, “Our God is in heaven and does whatever he pleases” (Psalm 115:3). God is not limited in any way. He does what He wills to do, and “… There is no one who can block his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?'” (Daniel 4:35).

With God’s sovereign reign over His creation presented in the Bible so clearly, it would seem that it would negate our own free will. Yet, the Bible teaches this, too.

If I were to ask you why some people end up in Hell, some would say, “Because God did not choose them for salvation.” Given the biblical words like “chosen,” “election,” and “predestination,” they would be right … looking at it from God’s point of view.

But there is a human point of view, too! When Jesus said that there are people who are condemned and are headed to Hell, He didn’t blame His Father for not choosing them. Instead, He places the blame on each individual for not trusting in Him for their salvation.

John 3:18 (CSB): “Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.”

So, the same Bible that teaches us that God is sovereign over His creation also teaches us that we have legitimate free-will. This leads us to my final point: Sometimes, our sovereign God responds with what seems to be frustrated despair when we do not choose Him or choose to obey His Word.

Matthew 23:37 (CSB): “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”

Jesus clearly says that He desired to gather the people of Jerusalem to Himself to save them from their sins, but they didn’t want to. Instead, they rejected Him against His heart’s desire.

My point is simply this: Celebrate your God, who is sovereignly reigning over all things. But realize that the Bible also tells us that we have free will to choose Him or reject Him. So rest in God’s control over all things, but never let that truth allow you to settle into spiritual apathy. What you do matters.

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to help you enjoy digging into His Word to better understand what it means that God is sovereign and we have free will.
  • Ask God to help you embrace both truths, as presented in Scripture.
  • Ask God to help you believe these truths so deeply that they positively affect how you live.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into how God’s sovereignty and our free will coincide, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“How does God’s sovereignty work together with free will?”

“How do God’s sovereignty and humanity’s free will work together in salvation?”

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com)