Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The reason for sin in the doctrine of the Divine Decrees.
Wednesday, January 16, 2002
Point 4. The Distinctions Between What God Permits and What He Desires.
The decrees include a lot of things which are not God’s desires, because the decrees include all the things His creatures would think, say, or do.
Sin is in the universe by the permission of God who hates sin and, being sovereign, had power to keep it from manifestation had He chosen to.
That He did not hinder the manifestation of sin demonstrates that He must have a purpose in view other than the averting of sin.
God is greatly honored when His children go through failure and have the proper thoughts toward Him and recognize His divine attributes in action.
When Abraham, the father of our faith, lied to deceive the Pharaoh and protect his own life, GEN 12:13-19, God still was with him in spite of his sin of lying.
When Isaac lied and told the men of Gerah that Rebekah was not his wife but his sister, GEN 26:7, the Lord was still with him in spite of his sin.
GEN 25:31-33 - Jacob stole the birthright from Esau; GEN 27:18-29 - he deceived his father Isaac, yet God was still with him in spite of his sin.
EXO 2:12 - Moses murdered a man with his bare hands, but the Lord still stayed with him in spite of his sin of murder.
JUD 8:24-27 - Gideon foolishly makes a golden ephod which becomes a snare to Israel, yet in spite of all this the Lord was faithful to him.
Samson, JUD 14:1-3, kept associating with evil people, wild and perverted women, and was under the power of carnal lust, but God did not forsake him.
Solomon lived an excessive luxurious lifestyle, 1KI 4:22-23.
He married ungodly women, 1KI 11:1-2.
He lived in excessive sensuality, 1KI 11:3.
He even sanctioned idolatry, 1KI 11:4-7.
Both sin and the Cross were fed into the divine decrees.
Sin is neutralized by the Cross - God permits man’s free will to oppose Him yet maintains His own integrity and wins in the end.
“But the grace gift [Jesus Christ as a substitutionary atonement for sin] is not like the transgression.”
The grace of God was manifest by God the Father saving all the sins of the world, and His omnipotence imputing all those sins to Christ on the cross in three hours.
Ritual without reality is meaningless.
The reality of understanding the divine decrees gives the ritual of the Lord’s supper extraordinary and wonderful meaning.
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit knew that the two greatest systems of human law - Jewish and Roman - would meet at the Cross and break down and fail.
The Members of the Trinity knew that hearsay would be accepted as evidence, the facts would be omitted, and the whole succession of Christ’s seven trials would be a railroading of the law.
The precise manner in which Christ was convicted and crucified was decreed in eternity past because God knew the freewill decisions of every individual involved.
God also knew the mob mentality and the decisions of every member of the crowd that shouted, “Crucify Him!”
He knew the conspiracy of the religious Pharisees.
He knew the nature of religion because He knows Satan’s every thought, and Satan is the father of religion.
He knew that our Lord’s execution would be the sum total of human evil and reversionism.
The religious crowd crucified the Lord, yet God’s purpose was carried out by the free choice of man - even by the free negative volition of the evil reversionistic Sanhedrin.
God used religion, the devil’s ace trump, to provide our salvation.
Religion reached its peak only to provide the grace way of salvation as the justice of God imputed the personal sins of mankind to Christ and judged them on the Cross.
GEN 50:20 “And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good”
DEU 23:5 “but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you.”
God not only uses the wrath of man to praise Him, PSA 76:10, but He uses the wrath of angels as well.
Satan thought he had accomplished his objective, and in no way had his volition been coerced.
The mere avoidance of sin is not always the primary issue.
ISA 46:10-11 My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned {it, surely} I will do it.
The primary issue is that God is glorified.
In giving us volition, He decreed that our decisions would certainly take place, even those that are contrary to His desires.
“Understanding must precede execution.”
2PE 1:10 You would be motivated even more. The main problem of having no motivation is wrong priorities.
When you put anything before Bible doctrine you are putting those things before the Lord Jesus Christ.