The Attributes of God
by Arthur W. Pink
The Decrees of God
The decree of God is His purpose or determination with
respect to future things. We have used the singular number as Scripture does
(Rom 8:28; Eph 3:11), because there was only one act of His infinite mind
about future things. But we speak as if there had been many, because our
minds are only capable of thinking of successive revolutions, as thoughts
and occasions arise, or in reference to the various objects of His decree,
which being many seem to us to require a distinct purpose for each one. But
an infinite understanding does not proceed by steps, from one stage to
another: "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world"
(Acts 15:18).
The Scriptures make mention of the decrees of God in many
passages, and under a variety of terms. The word "decree" is found in Psalm
2:7. In Ephesians 3:11 we read of His "eternal purpose." In Acts 2:23 of His
"determinate counsel and foreknowledge." In Ephesians 1:9 of the mystery of
His "will." In Romans 8:29 that He also did "predestinate." In Ephesians 1:9
of His good pleasure." God's decrees are called His "counsel" to signify
they are consummately wise. They are called God's "will" to show He was
under no control, but acted according to His own pleasure. When a man's will
is the rule of his conduct, it is usually capricious and unreasonable; but
wisdom is always associated with "will" in the divine proceedings, and
accordingly, God's decrees are said to be "the counsel of His own will" (Eph
1:11).
The decrees of God relate to all future things without
exception: whatever is done in time was foreordained before time began.
God's purpose was concerned with everything, whether great or small, whether
good or evil, although with reference to the latter we must be careful to
state that while God is the Orderer and Controller of sin, He is not the
Author of it in the same way that He is the Author of good. Sin could not
proceed from a holy God by positive and direct creation, but only by
decretive permission and negative action. God's decree is as comprehensive
as His government, extending to all creatures and all events. It was
concerned about our life and death; about our state in time, and our state
in eternity. As God works all things after the counsel of His own will, we
learn from His works what His counsel was, as we judge of an architect's
plan by inspecting the building which was erected under his directions.
God did not merely decree to make man, place him upon the
earth, and then leave him to his own uncontrolled guidance; instead, He
fixed all the circumstances in the lot of individuals, and all the
particulars which will comprise the history of the human race from its
commencement to its close. He did not merely decree that general laws should
be established for the government of the world, but He settled the
application of those laws to all particular cases. Our days are numbered,
and so are the hairs of our heads. We may learn what is the extent of the
divine decrees from the dispensations of providence, in which they are
executed. The care of Providence reaches to the most insignificant
creatures, and the most minute events—the death of a sparrow, and the fall
of a hair.
Let us now consider some of the PROPERTIES of the
divine decrees.
First, they are eternal. To suppose any of them to
be made in time is to suppose that some new occasion has occurred; some
unforeseen event or combination of circumstances has arisen, which has
induced the Most High to form a new resolution. This would argue that the
knowledge of the Deity is limited, and that He is growing wiser in the
progress of time—which would be horrible blasphemy. No man who believes that
the divine understanding is infinite, comprehending the past, the present,
and the future, will ever assent to the erroneous doctrine of temporal
decrees. God is not ignorant of future events which will be executed by
human volitions; He has foretold them in innumerable instances, and prophecy
is but the manifestation of His eternal prescience. Scripture affirms that
believers were chosen in Christ before the world began (Eph 1:4), yes, that
grace was "given" to them then (2 Tim 1:9).
Secondly, the decrees of God are wise. Wisdom is
shown in the selection of the best possible ends and of the fittest means of
accomplishing them. That this character belongs to the decrees of God is
evident from what we know of them. They are disclosed to us by their
execution, and every proof of wisdom in the works of God is a proof of the
wisdom of the plan, in conformity to which they are performed. As the
Psalmist declared, "O Lord, how manifold are Your works! in wisdom have You
made them all" (104:24). It is indeed but a very small part of them which
falls under our observation, yet, we ought to proceed here as we do in other
cases, and judge of the whole by the specimen, of what is unknown, by what
is known. He who perceives the workings of admirable skill in the parts of a
machine which he has an opportunity to examine, is naturally led to believe
that the other parts are equally admirable. In like manner we should satisfy
our minds as to God's works when doubts intrude themselves upon us, and
repel any objections that may be suggested by something that we cannot
reconcile to our notions of what is good and wise. When we reach the bounds
of the finite and gaze toward the mysterious realm of the infinite, let us
exclaim, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God!" (Rom 11:33).
Thirdly, they are free. "Who has directed the
Spirit of the Lord, or being His counselor has taught Him? With whom took He
counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and
taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding?" (Isa
40:13-14). God was alone when He made His decrees, and His determinations
were influenced by no external cause. He was free to decree or not to
decree, and to decree one thing and not another. This liberty we must
ascribe to Him who is Supreme, Independent, and Sovereign in all His doings.
Fourthly, they are absolute and unconditional.
The execution of them is not suspended upon any condition which may, or may
not be, performed. In every instance where God has decreed an end, He has
also decreed every means to that end. The One who decreed the salvation of
His elect also decreed to work faith in them (2 Thess 2:13). "My counsel
shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure" (Isa 46:10): but that could not
be, if His counsel depended upon a condition which might not be performed.
But God "works all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph 1:11).
Side by side with the immutability and invincibility of
God's decrees, Scripture plainly teaches that man is a responsible
creature and answerable for his actions. And if our thoughts are formed
from God's Word, the maintenance of the one will not lead to the denial of
the other. That there is a real difficulty in defining where the one ends
and the other begins, is freely granted. This is ever the case where there
is a conjunction of the divine and the human. Real prayer is incited by the
Spirit, yet it is also the cry of a human heart. The Scriptures are the
inspired Word of God, yet they were written by men who were something more
than machines in the hand of the Spirit. Christ is both God and man. He is
Omniscient, yet "increased in wisdom" (Luke 2:52). He was Almighty, yet was
"crucified through weakness" (2 Cor 13:4). He was the Prince of life, yet He
died. High mysteries are these, yet faith receives them unquestioningly.
It has often been pointed out in the past that every
objection made against the eternal decrees of God applies with equal force
against His eternal foreknowledge. "Whether God has decreed all things that
ever come to pass or not, all that own the being of a God, own that He knows
all things beforehand. Now, it is self-evident that if He knows all things
beforehand, He either does approve of them or does not approve of them; that
is, He either is willing they should be, or He is not willing they should
be. But to will that they should be is to decree them" (Jonathan Edwards).
Finally, attempt, with me, to assume and then to
contemplate the opposite. To deny the divine decrees would be to predicate a
world and all its concerns regulated by undesigned chance or blind fate.
Then what peace, what assurance, what comfort would there be for our poor
hearts and minds? What refuge would there be to fly to in the hour of need
and trial? None at all. There would be nothing better than the black
darkness and abject horror of atheism. O my reader, how thankful should we
be that everything is determined by infinite wisdom and goodness! What
praise and gratitude are due unto God for His divine decrees. It is because
of them that "we know that all things work together for good to those who
love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Rom 8:28).
Well may we exclaim, "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all
things: to Whom be glory forever. Amen" (Rom 11:36).