Transcript
Ben Fallon: Welcome back and happy Saturday. Just like we did in the last episode, we've collected several questions on a similar theme. Episode 13 covered death, the final resurrection of the body, and the new heaven and the new earth. Today, it's about God's sovereignty, His holiness, our free will, and sin. So, Paul, I'll throw them all at you at once, and then you can respond how you see fit. There are three of them.
“If God is completely sovereign over every detail of our lives, do we actually have free will?” “ Since God created everything, did God create sin?” And lastly, “Did God cause Adam and Eve to sin?”
Paul Tripp: This is one of those questions that makes perfect sense to want an answer for but that the Bible does not directly address. What we do know is that it's impossible for God to be evil in any way. We know that clearly because the Bible declares that a thousand different ways. It also declares that God doesn't tempt us to evil. Scripture says that our sin comes from the evil desires of our own hearts. So, we know that God cannot do evil, and God will not tempt us to evil.
We know that everything that happens was planned before the foundations of the world. And so, we're left with that question. We can surmise around it, “Well, if God's sovereign, then He must be sovereign over this too,” or, “No, no, no, that can't be the case, because God's never evil and can never tempt us to evil.”
And so, here's what I think is very, very important. You base your faith in how that faith then shows itself in the way that you live, in the choices, decisions, actions, and words that you take, based on what the Bible clearly declares about God and about you. What does the Bible declare about my sin? I'm responsible for my sin, but I can't escape it. God is never responsible for my sin. He's sovereign, but not responsible. And so, I face judgment for my sin, apart from the intercessory work of Christ–his justifying mercies.
I like places in the Bible where you get this balance, like there's a place in Acts, I think it's Acts 13:48, where it says that Paul and Barnabas were preaching, and it says, “The Gentiles heard the word of the Lord and those who were ordained unto eternal life believed.” Now notice what you have here. You don't just have the sovereignty of God. Preaching had to happen. People had to listen. They had to make a choice to believe. God was sovereign over all of that. It's never ‘either or,’ it's always ‘both and!’ So, in that situation we have a clear depiction of how this all operates.
You never can hold on to the sovereignty of God in a way that makes human responses mean nothing. And you can never have a view of human will that makes God captive to our will. And so, it's always ‘both and.’ And so, we don't get a clear answer about whether sin was part of God's ordained plan. We know he's sovereign over everything. We know he's completely holy, never evil. And we know that he can't tempt us to evil. And we leave that without a clear biblical declaration.
And I just want to say this. There are theologians that I love and respect, that I've learned from, that are on both sides of this question. Some say, “Yes, well, he's totally sovereign; that had to be part of his plan.” And others say, “No, no. That's God planning evil, and God couldn't do that!” And that just means the reason these people, who have loved Scripture and have lived in it, come down on different sides is because the Bible doesn't give us a clear yes or no.
BF: Paul, you said last episode, and again in a roundabout way just now, that it's natural for us to debate and discuss and consider these questions that either scripture doesn't give a clear ‘yes or no,’ or that are mysterious beyond our ability to fully comprehend. So, if we're archaeologists and philosophers, hardwired by God to make sense out of life, as we think about these issues, what's perhaps the most important thing to remember as we're considering two sides of a theological viewpoint or debate?
PT: Because we have been created to make sense out of life, we're rational, meaning-maker, thinking, human beings, we're always going to be asking questions. And there are some questions that will never, never get solved. So, here's what I would say to that is go ahead and ask those questions. If they help you to love Scripture more and to love God more and to want to understand more about the will and the way of God, that's wonderful. But base your faith and your obedience on the clear declarations of the Word of God, God's self-declaration, God's description of the world we live in, the description of who we are as human beings, the description of his plan for us, and the description of his grace in Christ. Build your life on those things as you ask those questions. Don't let those questions keep you from enthusiastically following the Lord because you're not able to reach a firm answer.
BF: Thanks, Paul. And a friendly request if you're listening, if you have been blessed by the “Ask Paul Tripp Podcast,” it would be so helpful if you rated the podcast and left a review on whatever platform you're listening. The more engagement we have in those areas, the more people can discover this resource.
We'll be back next week with more gospel answers for the questions of everyday life. Have a great weekend.
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