The most famous Christian apologist of the 20th century, C.S. Lewis, was asked to give a series of 10-15 minute talks about the Christian faith to the people of England over the BBC starting in August of 1941. Lewis eventually published these talks in the form of his popular book Mere Christianity. If you have never read this book, it is a thrilling literary ride through the core tenants of Christianity. Lewis is a master of taking the philosophy and theology of Christianity and making them easy to understand.
I am not C.S. Lewis.
The questions I am reviewing in this post are difficult to understand because they are only understandable in full by God. My prayer for this post is twofold. First, that I won’t completely miss the mark in talking about foreordination and the providence of God. Second, there are different theological understandings regarding foreordination and providence by different flavors of Christianity. I hope that this post will not only edify, but allow for respectful discussion of theological differences.
Without further ado, I very humbly submit questions 7 and 8 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
Questions 7 & 8
Q. 7. What are the decrees of God?
A. The decrees of God are His eternal plan based on the purpose of His will, by which, for His own glory, He has foreordained everything that happens.
Matt: Nothing in this universe happens outside of God’s direction or permission. The sun rose today because God had a purpose for it to do so. You and I exist because God foreordained it; our existence brings God glory and fulfills His purpose.
This begs the question, if God foreordains everything, do we still have free will? Yes, of course.
Reading through the New Testament, it is clear that God is sovereign and has given us free will. He has made us responsible for our choices. Before the beginning of time, God decided that humans would have free will, and their free will would fulfill His predestined plan. He designed this world knowing Adam and Eve would anoint creation in sin and that Jesus would have to die on the cross to save us from this sinful nature.
Why would God create a world where His creations would openly rebel against Him?
The simple answer is that if He did not create humanity in a way where they could reject Him, then humanity would never truly choose to love Him. I believe God wants to be in a relationship with us as beings who freely choose to love Him. However, according to scripture, we are not the initiators of our salvation. The Holy Spirit is. We are so lost in sin that we could never freely choose to be saved because we don’t even know we need to be saved until the Holy Spirit initiates the salvific process.
This is a hard concept to understand, and if it starts to frustrate you walk away from it and pray God will give you the wisdom to understand as you can in the future. My experience as a Christian has taught me that God reveals things slowly for those disciplined in pursuing Him.
Personally, I have come to find great comfort in God’s decrees because His plan is foreordained. Since we can confidently say that God has foreordained everything, we also know that everything will come good in the end for those who follow Christ. Through Jesus, we live in total peace that the Father is still driving the ship. We only need to look to Romans 8:28 to verify this, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose.”
Q. 8. How does God carry out His decrees?
A. God carries out His decrees in creation and providence.
Matt: R.C. Sproul taught that Christians should think of providence in the same way we think of provision. Those who proclaim Christ as their savior can be assured that God will provide for them according to his decrees. We are also his creation, designed and commissioned to carry out God’s decrees. Every person on this earth exists in some way as a creation and provision for the carrying out of God’s decrees.
Paul says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Before creation, the Father, Son, and Spirit existed in perfect unity and thought you up. They gave you special skills and gifts that you could use to carry out their decrees. We were created in God’s image and are loved by God in a way that we could never comprehend in this life… before time existed!
You and I are a part of God’s plan, and He will provide what is necessary for that plan to be carried out.
