Balance between God's Sovereign Will and Human Responsibility
The balance between God's sovereign will and human responsibility is a complex theological concept that has been debated throughout Christian history. At its core, it involves understanding the relationship between God's absolute sovereignty and humanity's accountability for their actions.
The biblical anchor for this concept lies in passages that affirm both God's sovereignty and human responsibility. For instance, Job acknowledges the difficulty of reconciling human justice with God's sovereignty, saying, "How should man be just with God?" [1]. Similarly, the one tradition notes that "God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another" [3], highlighting God's sovereignty in human affairs.
The decrees of God, as described by Easton's Bible Dictionary, are "his eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be" [2]. This understanding of God's sovereignty is echoed in the commentary on Matthew 26:24, which suggests that Jesus' statement about the Son of Man going as it was written of Him combines God's sovereign will with human responsibility [4].
Different Christian traditions have grappled with this balance. The Nonconformist/Puritan tradition, represented by Matthew Henry, emphasizes God's absolute sovereignty in disposing of the children of men with reference to their eternal state [5]. In contrast, the Baptist/Reformed tradition, as seen in John Gill's commentary, highlights the importance of human responsibility alongside God's sovereignty. For example, Gill notes that God is the Creator of all men and is the Saviour of all men in a providential way [6].
The Bible itself presents a nuanced view, with passages like Proverbs 21:3 indicating that doing justice and judgment is more acceptable to God than sacrifice, emphasizing human responsibility [7]. The commentary on Revelation 15:3-4 underscores God's justice and truth as the foundation of human integrity, reinforcing the idea that human actions have significance within God's sovereign plan [8].
Sources
- Job “Job 9:2 (KJV) — I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Decrees of God — "The decrees of God are his eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be in their causes, conditions, successions, and relations, and determining their certain futurition. The several contents of this one eternal purpose are, because of the limitation of our faculties, necessarily conceived of by us in partial aspects, and in logical relations, and are therefore styled Decrees." The decree being the act of an infinite, absolute, eternal, unchangeable, and sovereign Person, compre”
- Psalms “But God is the judge. He puts down one, and lifts up another. -- Psalms 75:7”
- Matthew (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Matthew 26:24: 26:24 as the Scriptures declared: Jesus might have been referring to Isa 53:7-9 or to the broader Old Testament theme of a suffering Messiah. This verse combines God’s sovereign will with human responsibility.”
- Romans (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Romans 9:14: The apostle, having asserted the true meaning of the promise, comes here to maintain and prove the absolute sovereignty of God, in disposing of the children of men, with reference to their eternal state. And herein God is to be considered, not as a rector and governor, distributing rewards and punishments according to his revealed laws and covenants, but as an owner and benefactor, giving to the children of men such grace and favour as he has determined in and by his secret and eternal will and counsel: both the favour of visible church-membership and privileges, ”
- 1 Timothy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Timothy 2:4: For there is one God,.... This does not so much regard the unity of God, with respect to himself, or his divine essence, though that is a truth; but does not carry in it any apparent and forcible reason why all men should be prayed for, for which it is produced; but the unity of God with respect to men, as that there is but one God, who is the Creator of all men, and who, in a providential way, is the Saviour of all men; and in a way of special grace is the one God, the one covenant God of all sorts of men, of Jews and Gentiles; for he has taken of the latter into t”
- Proverbs (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Proverbs 21:3: To do justice and judgment,.... The moral duties of religion, what is holy, just, and good, which the law requires; what is agreeably to both tables, piety towards God, and justice to men; that which is just and right between man and man; which, especially if done from right principles and with right views, is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice; not than any sacrifice; than the sacrifice of a broken heart, or the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, or of acts of goodness and beneficence, or of a man's whole self to the Lord; but than ceremonial sacrifice”
- Revelation (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Revelation 15:3: 15:3-4 The song of Moses and the Lamb signifies that God’s will is united in the old and new covenants. 15:3 The Lord God, the Almighty (see also 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:7; 19:6; 21:22): For persecuted Christians, the message that God is all-powerful provides great comfort and security. • The truth that God is also just and true is the foundation of human integrity in the midst of a confused, unjust, and dishonest world. • God is the supreme, universal King of the nations, not a localized deity attached to one nation or to a human monarch with limited authority.”