By the sovereignty of God, we mean that God is always ultimately in control, as He declares “thus says the Lord, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:18 NKJV) God alone reigns supreme over all the earth, Daniel said, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.” (Daniel 2:20–21 NKJV) The Bible is clear from Gen 1:1 “In the beginning God” to Revelation 22:21 may “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (NKJV) that God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
At the same time, the Bible teaches the responsibility of man, from the very beginning “the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17 NKJV) It teaches that death is a result of human rebellion and sin against God. “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8 NKJV)
The sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man are not conflicting doctrines, though they are commonly misunderstood that way. What we find in the Bible is that God has sovereignly given limited free will. For example, Adam and Eve could listen and obey God and live forever, or they could rebel and die, but there was no third option, so in our time, we can listen to God, or we can listen to lies, but there is no third option. The psalmist said, “I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me.” (Psalm 119:30 NKJV). In contrast, the Apostle John said, “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19 NKJV)
When we look at the Word, God’s plan will unfold as God has ordained, and His plans will be carried out. However, the question remains, will it be a day of mourning or rejoicing? That depends on where you place your faith. In God, or the lies of the evil one? This same principle affects all areas of our walks. God in His sovereignty “has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,” (2 Peter 1:3 NKJV) This was given to us by His choosing, His will, His grace, it is His Wisdom, but to benefit from it, we must respond in faith, God has always required faith from humanity as a condition to be a beneficiary of His promises. Hebrews 11:6 States, “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (NKJV) David Guzik sums this passage up well in his commentary with the following comment. “The writer to the Hebrews doesn’t say that it is difficult to please God without faith. He says that it is impossible.”1 The Word of God clearly teaches both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man or woman to respond individually in faith. These are not conflicting doctrines but truths that run on parallel tracks, God sovereignly appointed limited freewill.
- David Guzik, Hebrews, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Heb 11:5–6.