Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
The Divine Decress. Part 7.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Point 1. Decrees = the eternal plan by which God has perfectly defined and executed all of the events of the universe (angelic history, human history) past, present, and future.
Point 2. There are five characteristics of the divine decrees.
(A) The decrees are all-comprehensive.
Not the slightest uncertainty could exist as to one of the smallest or most insignificant of events without confusion to all.
(B) The divine decrees are eternal.
(C) God is perfect; therefore, His decrees are perfect.
(D) The decrees are unchangeable and certain.
(E) The decrees are the free choice of God in eternity past.
Having decreed, however, He is bound by His infinite faithfulness and truth to complete what He has begun.
PHI 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who has begun in you an absolute good work will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.
The “free choice of God” is very important because God, from His own sovereign volition, invented free will in two categories of creatures, angels and mankind, so that both categories can choose for or against God.
REV 4:11 “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created.”
PRO 16:4 “The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.”
It simply means that ultimately God will be glorified either by the positive volition of His creatures or through negative volition.
ROM 11:36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
ACT 4:27-28, “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur.”
“Did God make Judas betray TLJC and make Herod and Pontius Pilate order His execution or did they do it on their own?”
The decrees of God are His eternal purpose according to the counsels of His own will whereby for His own glory He has foreordained whatever comes to pass.
Foreordination in theology is the belief that God has set all events before they happen but not to the extent that He must destroy human freedom, an important part of being created in His image.
(a) All-comprehensive
(b) Eternal
(c) Perfect
(d) Unchangeable and certain.
(e) The free choice of God in eternity past.
EPH 2:10 “For we are His production [we have the provision of the invisible assets which we have been given as well as our election and predestination], having been created in Christ Jesus [the formation of the Royal family of God and a new spiritual species resulting in positional sanctification by which every believer becomes the heir of God and has equal privileges under predestination] – having been created in Christ Jesus for good works [good achievements in momentum inside the PPOG as a part of equal privilege of election] which God has prepared in advance [the divine decree and the divine provision of our portfolio of invisible assets prepared by God in advance in eternity past for every Church-age believer] – [purpose clause] that we should walk by means of them [utilization of our fantastic assets].”