Saturday, September 19, 2009

Why believe in God's sovereignty?

At Desiring God I came across this post about Bethlehem Baptist Church's reasons for believing what they do about God's sovereignty.

What we mean by the sovereignty of God is captured in paragraph 3.2 of The Bethlehem Baptist Church Elder Affirmation of Faith. The dozens of biblical passages used to support this paragraph are found in the online version.

3.2 We believe that God upholds and governs all things—from galaxies to subatomic particles, from the forces of nature to the movements of nations, and from the public plans of politicians to the secret acts of solitary persons—all in accord with His eternal, all-wise purposes to glorify Himself, yet in such a way that He never sins, nor ever condemns a person unjustly; but that His ordaining and governing all things is compatible with the moral accountability of all persons created in His image.

Why does it matter whether we believe this? Ten reasons.

1. The good news of God’s substituting his Son for us on the cross depends on it.

2. The perseverance of the saints in the fear of God depends on it.

3. Progress in holiness now, and the final perfecting of the saints in the end, depends on it.

4. The assurance of God’s final triumph over all natural and supernatural evil

5. The comfort that there is a wise and loving purpose in all our calamities and losses, and that God will work all things together for our good, depends on it.

6. The hope that God will give life to the spiritually dead depends on it.

7. Well-grounded expectation of answered prayer depends on it.

8. Boldness in the face of seeming hopeless defeat depends on it.

9. Seeing and savoring the revelation of the fullness of God’s glory depends on it.

10. Praise that matches the fullness of God’s power, wisdom, and grace depends on it.

For the full article with Scripture references, look here.

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