Bible 201.3
(All Scripture References Are KJV)
We are going to conclude our study of the framework in which to study God’s word, the presuppositions that we should bring to the interpretation of the Bible. Thus far, the studies have covered:
- Having God’s attitude toward His word
- The dual nature of the plan of salvation
- By grace through faith
- Never by works
- History is open and flowing in real time
- Salvation open to all
- Salvation conditioned upon our faith
- Men have freewill of the thoughts and intents of their hearts
- The bible is divided into dispensations of time
- Having the correct framework, the correct presuppositions
In concluding this segment, I want to spend a little more time on foreknowledge as this is a major point of division in the Church.
God’s Foreknowledge
Calvinism/Reformed and Arminianism have God predestinating all things, which would give Him total foreknowledge of all, man having no freewill of choice in anything. Having done so, obviously, sovereignty is unquestioned. But is this the only way to maintain the Lord’s sovereignty?
Does the Lord have to predetermine everything, or is He sovereign simply by controlling the flow and outcomes of history?
There are attempts at reconciling God’s sovereignty with the freewill of men. This particular reasoning was given as a means to reconcile them.
The 41st President of the United States of America, George H. W. Bush, reportedly hates broccoli so intensely that he simply refuses to eat it under any circumstances. There is no chance of him choosing it, not because he is a robot or a puppet, but because he hates it. If you had the power to change his tastes such that he suddenly loved broccoli, you could effectively predetermine whether or not he would ever eat it:
If you chose to leave him as he is, and not change his tastes, you would be effectively dooming him to brocolliless meals forever! You could count on the fact that he would always shun it of his own free will.
If you elected to step in and change his tastes, you would be effectively assuring that he would eat it. If he began to love it, he would seek it out of his own free will. George’s freewill remains intact, and you make certain your will is done, with no contradiction. — David J. Finnamore; elevenmistrel.com
(I believe he means both God’s sovereign will and George’s free will remain intact.)
It is not clear if the author of that illustration understands what a contradiction is. It is not free will if God dictates what that freewill is.
Get D. Paul Walker’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
The lack of understanding of the extent and limits of freewill has been a debilitating factor in understanding the issues of many of the teachings of Scripture. The idea that man has free will to do as he pleases is utterly unbiblical. Man has free will of desire, inclination, passion, aspirations, motivation, intention, likes, dislikes, loves, hatreds. He does not have freedom of action, only of the thoughts and intents of his heart.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
All actions must serve God’s purpose and be within the confines of the master plan.
Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
1 Samuel 2:3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
Lamentations 3:37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
Though not predetermined, the Lord is controlling, guiding, leading, or allowing or disallowing all actions in accordance with His plan, His needs, His desired outcomes.
James 4:13–15 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
It would not be difficult for the Lord to find someone with the right thoughts and intents of the heart to serve his purpose in any given circumstance.
Romans 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Do you think it was hard to find a haughty-minded, lifted–up–with–pride, selfish, self-centered, self-willed individual who regarded neither man nor God to set upon the throne? It would have been harder to find one that lacked these qualities.
1 Timothy 4:15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
Neo-Arminian Foreknowledge
Neo-Arminianism portrays God as looking back from eternity upon a history He did not previously know, merely to discover what happened. In this view, God initiates creation, places humanity on the earth, and then watches history unfold to its completion.
Once the completed course of history is known, He then returns to insert Himself into it through recording prophecies and other interventions — without altering what had already occurred and while taking credit for much of it.
This conception is less glorifying to the Lord than predestination because it reduces His role from the sovereign ruler of history to a passive observer who acts only after learning how events unfolded.
I cannot accept this as biblical in any sense. I laud their realizing the faults with Calvinistic Theologies, but their answer to it is less acceptable.
Open Theology
Open Theology has history running, flowing, in real time under the control, guidance, and the leading of God. There is no need to manufacture fabrications to fill in the gaps. Men come into existence at conception, and the Lord is dealing with men’s hearts in real time. It is the only theology that does not limit God, contradict, or cause the Bible to contradict itself. The other three all limit God in some form and cause the bible to contradict itself.
Salvation is open to all; God is dealing with all. Men are depraved but not totally. Freewill is that of the thoughts and intents of the heart. God presents men with choices. The choices they make are of their own freewill; the consequences of the choices are predetermined by the Lord.
As the Lord governs history, He shapes its course as events unfold. His foreknowledge of future events concerns those events He determines to introduce into the ongoing flow of history. Certain events are established from the beginning of creation, including the plan of salvation and the formation of a nation, Israel, that would become the focal point of His revelation. Others are determined within the flow of history in response to human choices and the judgments He renders.
Consider prayer: only if history is open does prayer mean anything. If all is predetermined or completed and unchanging, how can it be changed or directed toward your desires? If something were changed, no matter how minor, it would create a whole new future.
The God of Open Theology is acting far greater than the God of the others. Dealing with the thoughts and intents of billions of men in real time, countering Satan’s moves against Him. It is analogous to a Chess game where God knows every possible move on the board and every change a move makes and has prepared His moves for them all.
The Lord’s wisdom and abilities are mind-boggling.
Job 5:8–9 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: 9Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
Open Theology is the only biblical theology of those presented.
