Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

In a recent message on Acts 13:44-52, verse 48 took our church family into some deep theological waters, so I decided to follow up and clarify a few things.

First, imagine an iceberg: God and his ways are, to some extent, beyond us (so too, much of an iceberg is out of view). After all, since God is the eternal, all-wise, infin­itely glorious maker and master of all things, and since we are finite, fallible, sinful creatures, we should expect the Lord and his designs to exceed our grasp: how could it be otherwise? Still, the iceberg is no excuse for failing to study Scripture vigorously and thus love the Lord with our minds (Matt 22:37). But it’s just a fact: we don’t and won’t comprehend all God’s ways.

Acts 13:48 says about Gentiles at Antioch, “and all who were appointed for eternal life believed” (NIV). All the standard English translations render the verse much the same (some say “ordained” or “destined”). I noted that the Greek verb behind “were appointed” is passive—that means the subject is acted upon by another. So those “appointed for eternal life” were recipi­ents of the impact of that deed; God’s action, not theirs, is in view.

Also, I noted that the Greek verb is in the perfect tense (that means it conveys past action that has present effects). In 13:48, then, the appoint­ing precedes the believing. Thus we can’t construe the act of appointing / ordaining by God as something done after the fact in response to human initiative. The text weighs against this view. The Lord is pictured as the initiator.

Widening our Bible study lens a bit, we recall how Christ’s adver­saries “… did what your [God’s] power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (4:28). And looking ahead, in 16:14 we’ll see how “The Lord opened her [Lydia’s] heart to respond to Paul's message.” Our sermons in Ephesians put a spotlight on 1:4-5, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”

At the same time, as I mentioned last Sunday, Acts 13 and the rest of the Bible treat human will and choice seriously. God’s initiative in salvation does not undermine human responsibility. In Acts 13:46 Paul confronts obstinate listeners—they were judging themselves unworthy of eternal life (note: Paul does not say they were simply non-elect and so their choices don’t matter). Or looking ahead, in 14:1-2, Paul and Barnabas speak “effectively” in Iconium (their witness matters), and many believe. Others refuse to believe, and the text does not say this is because they’re just robots programmed to reject Christ. Unbelievers are accountable for refusing the Gospel. Stepping back, Paul pours his heart and soul into mission, knowing that it matters that people hear and respond to the Gospel (cf. Acts 11:14). In other words, he does not take God’s initiative in salvation as a reason to stay home and put his feet up.

Here are a few other Bible passages that speak to these issues:

Human choice and will, necessity of a personal response to God…
· Deut 30:19 (now choose life, so that you and your children may live)
· Josh 24:15 (choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve)
· Matt 11:28 (come to me … and I will give you rest)
· Mark 1:15 (repent and believe the good news)
· Acts 2:38 (repent and be baptized, every one of you)
· Acts 16:31 (believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved)
· Rom 10:9 (if you confess and believe, you will be saved)
· And so, too, countless other commands of Scripture

Divine initiative and intervention to save, human inability…
· John 1:13 (new birth not based on human will but God’s working)
· John 6:44, 65 (no one comes to Jesus unless drawn by the Father)
· John 10:26 (you don’t believe because you’re not of my sheep)
· Rom 8:29-30 (God predestined those whom he foreknew)
· Rom 9:16 (what ultimately matters is God’s mercy, not human will)
· 2 Cor 4:4-6 (unbelievers are blind to the light of the gospel)
· Eph 2:1-10 (vv 1, 5 dead in sin; v 8 salvation thru faith a gift)
· 2 Tim 2:25 (God may grant that non-believers repent)

How do these two groups of texts fit together? There is mystery here. But that is no reason to dismiss either of these major biblical themes.

What do we do with the Bible’s portrayal of divine saving intervention? Embrace it—the Bible teaches it. And more, celebrate the fact that God is able to break into rebellious souls and breathe life into spiritually dead hearts: this gives us hope in outreach and boldness for prayer.
And what do we do with the biblical doctrine of human will and choice? Embrace it—the Bible teaches it. And more, trumpet the call to turn to God and obey his Word, and encourage each other to be faithful to the Lord in this life’s venture, choosing wisely, stepping out in faith, as we follow Christ!

Remember, my job, as a pastor, is to preach and teach in a way that conveys “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), not dodging the tough issues. We must look these texts and topics in the eye, even if they’re controversial.

Maybe all this is confusing or unsettling for you. Or maybe it’s just uncharted territory in your experience. Believers through the centuries have wrestled tenaciously with these texts and themes—it’s not easy, that’s for sure. But be assured that the Lord will guide us as we attend carefully and humbly to the study of his Word. And be assured that our Lord, who is all-wise and perfectly holy and completely good, sees how all truth coheres: he can be trusted with these things.