THE GOODNESS OF GOD

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  1. The Responsibility for Sin:

  1. God

  1. God is not sinful (Psalm 92:15; Isaiah 6; Hosea 11:9; 1 John 1:5).

  2. God is responsible for the creation of men--but He is not responsible for their sin (Ecclesiastes 7:29; James 1:13).

  3. God uses sin for His good purposes (Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6; Acts 2:23, 4:27-29).

  1. Men

  1. Men are sinful (Romans 3:23).

  2. Men are responsible for their sin (Romans 6:23).

  1. Conclusion

God permits and uses sin but He is not responsible for sin.

"The Bible makes clear, it is true, the He (God) has given to all His creatures their own individual natures and that, being true 'second causes,' men's thoughts and deeds are their own thoughts and deeds, not God's. Yet God's perfect control of His world ensures that even wicked deeds take their place in His perfect plan (John W. Wenham, The Goodness of God, page 186)." Beware of his stand on eternal punishment found on pages 41 and 78.

"God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to past; yet so as thereby (1) neither is God the author of sin (2) nor is violence offered to the will of the creature (3) nor is the liberty or contingency of secondary causes taken away, but rather established (Westminister Statement of the Decree of God)."

Also, see Proverbs 16:9; Isaiah 10; Luke 22:22.

 

  1. Sin is not a disaster that was unexpected by God.

God should not devise anything more worthy of Himself than that which is now in process (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, volume 2, pages 229-230). See also I Samuel 2:3 and Isaiah 42:9.

 

  1. Sin exists for the glory of God (J. Oliver Buswell, A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, volume 1, pages 269-269).

Beware of his covenant theology, views on baptism ecclesiology, etc.

Also see Romans 9:17, 22-23.

 

  1. Why God permits sin and how He uses it:

  1. The Fall of Man

Man's free will and the resulting fall cause his character to be developed because he has to live his live by faith. This results in a deepening of his knowledge of God (Wenham, pages 51-54).

  1. The Redemption of Man:

  1. To have free choice, men must have both good and evil to choose from.

"It is evidently the purpose of God to secure a company of beings for His eternal glory who are possessed of that virtue which is the results of a free-choice victory over evil (Chafer, volume 2, page 231)."

  1. Men's sin allows God to show His love by redeeming souls by sacrificial blood and at infinite cost (Chafer, volume 2, page 231).

  2. Men's sin allows them to attain knowledge that God has possessed eternally.

They learn the sinfulness of sin through the sufferings sin inflicts and the judgment God imposes (Chafer, volume 2, pages 231-232).

  1. The Suffering That Sin Causes:

It is good that sin results in suffering because:

  1. Suffering is a deterrent to further sin and additional suffering (Wenham, pages 54-57).

See also Proverbs 19:15, 19.

  1. Suffering is retribution to maintain the sanctity of just law that is an expression of the goodness of God (Wenham, pages 58-70).

See also Psalm 25:8; Romans 7:12; and Galatians 6:7-8.

  1. Suffering is a device that promotes spiritual life (Wenham, pages 79-81).

See also, 2 Corinthians 4:8-10.

  1. Suffering is a medium through which our supreme good has come.

Man's sin resulted in our Lord suffering on the cross for men (Wenham, pages 81-84).

See also Acts 3:15 and Romans 15:3.

  1. The Corporate Nature of Sin:

It is good that the results of sin (sufferings) are not confined to the doer since men see the horror of sin in the heart of man through the cumulative efforts of sin in society (Wenham, pages 74-77).

  1. Angels (1 Peter 1:12):

  1. Angels observe men on earth and learn about evil in a way they cannot experience (Chafer, volume 2, page 232).

  2. Angels observe men on earth and learn about a type of grace that they will never experience (Chafer, volume 2, page 232-233). See also Ephesians 2:7-8).

  1. Hate:

The existence of sin allows God to show His hatred of evil (Chafer, volume 2, page 232).

See also Romans 9:22.

  1. Judgment:

The existence of sin allows it to be seen as a concrete issue, not a hypothetical issue, that is unlike God (Chafer, page 232).

  1. Delayed Punishment:

It is good that punishment for sin is sometimes delayed because it allows the sinner a prolonged opportunity for repentance and it provides the believer with an opportunity for deepening his faith and purifying his motives (Wenham, pages 71-74).

  1. Sins in the Bible:

The Bible's morality, or God's goodness, is not compromised by the sins it records (Wenham, pages 89-92).

  1. Man cannot expect to fully understand God:

"When one thinks about it, it is really absurd for a being as ignorant as man to expect fully to understand the whole complex web of purposes which go to make up his God-given experiences . . . Who is man to pretend to understand the infinite wisdom and complexity of the divine purposes? It is man's desire to be as God which has been his undoing (Wenham, pages 84-86)."

Also, see Job 42:1-6; Psalm 92:5; 139:17-18; Isaiah 55:8-9; Daniel 4:35; and Romans 9:14-24; 11:33-35.

HOME © 2003, Ken Bowles -- February 21, 2003, Edition

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