Be careful what church you go to. Some well-known pastors teach that God actually ordained sin to enter the world so He could show off His grace in forgiving a small percentage of people — and they teach this with a straight face. In fact, they teach that all the evil and horrific things that have happened throughout history, including the millions who have died at the hands of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and all the shootings of innocent children, have been exactly as God wanted and ordained that these events should take place. Yet, they’ll say that God is holy and hates evil. Double-talk?
These teachers so emphasize God’s sovereignty that they seem to have forgotten that He is also righteous, holy, and loving. They think that since God is sovereign, He is free to do whatever He wants. That is true. God can do whatever He wants. But what He wants is to reconcile people to Himself and deliver them from the power of sin. That’s why Jesus came. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:17)
When we say, “God is sovereign,” we mean that no one in all the universe has greater authority than God. No one sits in judgment over Him. The Prophet Isaiah asks the rhetorical questions, “Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the right way? Who was it that taught Him knowledge or showed Him the path of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:14)
God is able to do as He wishes. Thus, He sovereignly decided to give people free will to make choices, to do what’s right or to do what’s wrong, and to believe in Jesus or to defy Him. In spite of man’s sin, God is not hampered to bring about His good plans. The clearest example is that He used man’s evil to bring about His plan to have Jesus crucified for our sin. “This Man [Jesus] was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.” (Acts 2:23) These wicked men will be held accountable for their choices, though.
The Apostle Paul mentioned God’s foreknowledge. This means that He knows everything that will happen in the future, including knowing who will accept Jesus and who will reject Him. Therefore, Paul said that the believers were “loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13) Notice that God’s choice was based upon your faith in Jesus.
These teachers mistakenly teach that God only knows the future because He has designed everything to happen exactly as it has. They malign God’s holy character by accusing Him of bringing evil into our world. These men speak of God’s love, but they think that He only loves the people that He unilaterally decided to save. So, their description of God is a cruel puppet master who is more of a dictator than the loving, merciful, and gracious God of the Bible who loves all people.
I don’t fully understand why God allows evil, but I know He is not an accomplice to it. He gives people free will. The misguided teachers I mentioned teach that evil is “for God’s glory.” That bewilders me. Instead, it is to God’s glory that He can work out His plans without denying people the free will to make bad choices.
Before Creation, God decided to save anyone who would receive Christ. However, these unorthodox teachers claim that God, without any consideration of peoples’ response to the gospel, picked who He would save and who He would damn. People have no say in who He picks, and can’t change His decision. Even if a person wants Jesus if they are not one of the “selected,” too bad for them. Still, according to them, God would be just to send the “non-selected” to Hell.
This unbiblical view is known as Calvinism. The truth of the Bible is that we all have free will to either receive Christ or reject Him. We know that salvation “is by grace, not of works.” The fact that you placed your faith in Jesus is not some kind of work that earned you salvation. It was the proper response that Jesus died for your sin. The truth is that, because of Jesus, God remains holy and just to forgive you and give you eternal life when you place your faith in Jesus.
If you haven’t yet received Christ, the opportunity is still available. God has given you enough faith to believe the gospel. “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3–4)
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