(lessons 104-107 are taken largely from Wayne Grudem’s Bible Doctrine published in 1999 by Zondervan.)

Definition of Providence: God is continually involved with all created things in such a way that the following is true.

1. Preservation – God keeps all things in existence and maintains the properties with which he created them;
2. Concurrence – God cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and
3. Government – God directs them to fulfill his purposes. (Grudem, Bible Doctrine, p.142)

Preservation

Christ upholds or carries along the entire creation.

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds (Greek: phero – carries) all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,  Hebrews 1:3 (NASB95) 

The use of the present participle of the Greek verb phero indicates that Jesus is continually carrying and sustaining the creation.

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together [consist].  Colossians 1:17 (NASB95)

Without our Lord’s continually sustaining the creation, it would cease to exist.

Only God is self-existent. Everything and everyone else must be continually sustained by the Creator.

for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’  Acts 17:28 (NASB95)

You alone are the Lord; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve (Hebrew: chayah – give life in an ongoing sense) them all. The host of heaven worships You.  Nehemiah 9:6 (NKJV)

God preserves us in congruity with how he made us. We maintain the same properties over time, which is the basis for science. God’s unchangeableness is reflected in this aspect of creation.

Concurrence

God accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will while maintaining the properties of his creation.

also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works (Greek: energeo) all things after the counsel of His will,  Ephesians 1:11 (NASB95)

He concurs with his creation as he works all things together to accomplish his will. This includes inanimate matter, animals, and people. This means that even seemingly random or chance events are under his direction in the sense that God makes everything work together to accomplish his will. Often God’s concurrence is hidden from our sight. It may seem that events are caused solely by created beings or processes, but the Bible assures us that God is the ultimate Mover.

His sovereignty extends to nations.

For the kingdom is the Lord’s And He rules over the nations.  Psalm 22:28 (NASB95)

His sovereignty oversees every aspect of our lives, including gender, family, health, intelligence, location, lifespan (Psalm 139:16), provision (Matthew 6:11), salvation (Galatians 1:15), calling (2 Timothy 1:9), and the choices we make (Proverbs 16:9). Everything we have comes from God. (1 Corinthians 4:7)

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  Philippians 2:13 (NASB95)

God is sovereign, but he is he not responsible for evil.

The Bible maintains the twin assertions that God is sovereign and uses evil to accomplish his ends, but he is not the author of evil.

“For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”  Luke 22:22 (NASB95) 

this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.  Acts 2:23 (NASB95)

For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.  Acts 4:27–28 (NASB95)

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28 (NASB95)
 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.  Genesis 50:20 (NASB95)

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.  James 1:13–14 (NASB95)

God does not do evil, or he would not be good. If evil does not fulfill his purposes, then evil is not under his control and might not fulfill his purposes. (Grudem, pp.149-150)

God is perfectly righteous when he judges his moral creatures for the evil we commit.

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,  Romans 9:19–23 (NASB95)

God is sovereign and we are responsible.We cannot fully comprehend how both are true, but it is what the Bible affirms. We dare not limit the Bible’s meaning to only what we can grasp.

We have freedom to choose, but only within the bounds of God’s sovereignty. An absolute freedom that could contravene God’s purposes is not possible. Nevertheless, we do make choices that have real consequences. No one sins involuntarily, unless it is done in ignorance. We act according to our desires. This is where the New Covenant comes to bear. God changes us on the inside so that we begin to desire to do what pleases God. Then the Holy Spirit gives us the grace to carry out those things.

While acknowledging God’s sovereignty, we reject fatalism, the idea that our actions are outside of our control and predetermined. We believe God predetermines outcomes without violating our ability to choose. This is a profound mystery, but both must be true.

Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.  Romans 9:13–16 (NASB95)

We must accept what the Bible teaches, even if we cannot completely comprehend it. Man is not the measure of what is true. God is.

Government

God providentially directs all things to accomplish his purposes.

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.  Psalm 103:19 (NASB95) 

“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’  Daniel 4:35 (NASB95)

It is only because God sovereignly governs all things that Paul can say that God works everything together for good (and his glory). (Romans 8:28)

Human Responsibility

• We are responsible for our actions.
• Our actions have consequences that impact history.
• Prayer is important and can change outcomes.
• Trust in God is also called a “work” by our Lord.
• Our faith is demonstrated by what we do. (James 2:18)

Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”  John 6:28–29 (NASB95)

In conclusion, we maintain that God is sovereign over creation and predetermines outcomes without violating our responsibility to choose life and reject sin and death. Ultimately, we can only choose Christ because the Holy Spirit draws us and enables us to repent and believe. When it is all said and done, we will give thanks to God for his supreme kindness to us who believe.

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