Biblical Research Studies Group-THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By Dr. David L. Cooper
Biblical Research Monthly
January 1955

There is no subject in the world that is of greater importance to us in our efforts to understand the will of God than the doctrine of God's sovereignty. How I praise Him that He has enabled me to understand, at least dimly, the subject of His sovereignty. Though I may not see it perfectly, I do see it; and I rejoice greatly in that fact.

For something like thirty-five years I sought earnestly and prayerfully for the truth that I have presented in the chart on this page. When the Lord finally enabled me to see it, I felt like shouting. It was so very wonderful! I believe that this chart, "Eternity or the Plan of the Ages," is priceless. Oh, if only I could have seen, when I first began studying the Bible and preaching, the things that are set forth so very graphically and pictorially in this chart, I would no doubt be much further advanced in my knowledge of scriptural truth.

By looking at eh chart, we see that, according to the Scriptures, there was a time when God alone—existed. The most important verse in the Word of God is Israel's Great Confession, found in Deuteronomy 6:4 which, when literally and accurately translated, reads: "Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our Gods is Jehovah a unity." God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; three Personalities, three individuals—and yet, looked at from another standpoint, that is, from the standpoint of essence, of substance, of nature, and of cooperation, they are one!

As the ages of eternity—eternity in the past, without any beginning—rolled by, the Triune God decreed that they would manifest their glory to creatures whom they would create. And so God began His creative activity. He first brought into existence the highest creature of whom Deity could possibly conceive, and could make, namely, the anointed cherub of Ezekiel, chapter 28. This created being was "the anointed cherub that covereth," and he was perfect in all his ways from the day that he was created-until unrighteousness was found in him, and he fell, becoming Satan, the great Adversary of God and man.

Then the Almighty created other cherubs, or, as the Hebrew plural puts it, cherubim. Next He created the seraphim, another order of angelic beings; and then God created countless, untold, myriads of celestial beings of varying orders and ranks. God, having created these beings, wanted to reveal to them His glory. He could not reveal it in a moment's time, even to angelic beings. He could not reveal it to finite beings in centuries, or in a millennium of time! No, it will take Him throughout all eternity! And even then finite minds will never be able to understand fully His infinite Being! For

After the rebellion of the anointed cherub, the earth became waste and void. God then began His creative acts anew. He reconstructed the heavens and the earth. Having peopled it with flying and creeping things, with sea monsters and various kinds of birds and animals, He then "Created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Gen. 1:26). This work was the accomplishment of the Triune God. "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," was the decision of the Godhead—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

God created the universe, the material, physical universe, in an effort to convey to mortal, finite minds something of His infinite perfections. Now I am a believer in personalism. What I mean by personalism is this: the one Eternal God is an intelligent Being; He transcends all nature. When He created the universe, He did not clothe Himself in a strait jacket! Some would have us believe that, but I do not believe it for one second! "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." He created the material universe and gave to it its nature and its properties. But—and I must again emphasize it—He did not put upon Himself a strait jacket that limited His actions. I do not believe that the world is a closed system. I believe that God imposed upon material, physical nature certain properties. At the same time, He left Himself free to act, to overrule, and to direct all things toward one great consummation, that will give rise to yet another consummation, and another, and still another, on and on, as "the eternal years of God" roll on.

The government of the Triune God is a moral government. When He created the cherubim, the seraphim, and all ranks and orders of angels, and when He created man, He endowed them all with the power of free choice. Man can choose as he desires; he can pit his will against the divine will; or he can yield, submit his will to the Almighty's and accept anything that is God's will. God, I repeat, has a moral government, and He permits His free creatures to exercise their own freedom of choice. He never forces or coerces anyone's will. At the same time, He has a definite plan of the ages, and He is working all things together according to the counsel of his will: "… in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will" (Eph. 1:11). God, the Almighty, is unfolding His plan throughout all eternity.

God is an Absolute Sovereign. We see this set forth in Romans, chapter 9. No one can say to Him, "Why doest Thou this?" No creature in all the vast expanse of the universes (the modern telescope reveals the existence of innumerable universes throughout illimitable space) can dictate to God! He has His own divine plans and purposes, and no one can challenge anything that He does.

I was taught the sovereignty of God from childhood; but I was also taught that, in exercising His sovereignty, He had decreed that certain ones of His creatures should be saved for all eternity, and that that number was so very definitely fixed, it could be neither increased nor diminished by anything that man might do. I was also taught that a certain part of the human family was foreordained to eternal damnation, and that, no matter what choices they might make, or what they might do, they could not alter that decree of God, the Almighty, one particle. These people, I was taught, are born into the world, pass through this life with all its sorrows, and then pass out through the exit of death, only to go into a never-ending hell.

Yes, I was taught these things; but how I praise God that He gave me the ability to do independent thinking, to use my mental faculties, and to study these questions out for myself, and then to arrive at logical and scriptural conclusions!

We have found that God is an Absolute Sovereign, that no one can challenge one thing that He says or does, and that he has endowed His creatures with the power of choice, with freedom of will. But at the same time, there are other things that we should learn about God. Next to the most important passage in the entire Bible, which is Deuteronomy 6:4, is Exodus 34:6,7. Unless a person is familiar with, and understands, this passage, he is likely to have a warped, and one-sided idea concerning the one and only absolute Sovereign of the universe.

When Moses went up into Mount Sinai, taking the two tables of stone in his hand, "Jehovah descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah. 6 And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth; 7 keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation" (Exod. 34:5-7). Here is God's own sevenfold statement of His divine character. Every preacher and teacher of the Word of God should know and clearly understand what these verses say, for this is God's own declaration concerning Himself and His true character. He has given it to us for our information and guidance, and we ought to understand it thoroughly.

There are those today who tell us that God is a God of love, and that we should emphasize that love of God. Yes! He is a God of live, of compassion, of lovingkindness, of grace and mercy-He is all of that! But if I should dwell only on that one aspect of His divine character, I would be misrepresenting Him. He is a God of love, praise His name! But He is also a God of wrath, of indignation; a God who is "a righteous judge, Yea, a God that hath indignation every day" (Ps. 7:11); a God who will "by no means clear the guilty." Let us always remember that! He has given us, in unmistakable terms, His own estimate of His divine character and His attitude towards things, persons, and classes of people.

Along with Exodus 34:5,6 there is another passage that we should always bear in mind when we are studying the subject of sovereignty of God, and that is God's statement through the psalmist David, concerning Himself, found in Psalm 103:

Ah! Do you get the wonder of it? Just as a loving human father pities his children, so Jehovah, the God of the universe pities them that fear (reverence) Him!

In this connection let me call attention to Paul's statement at Mars Hill, Athens, found in Acts, chapter 17. Paul said, "… he is not far from each one of us: 28 for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring" (vss. 27,28).

"For we are also his offspring." We are children of God. In one sense all men are children of God, because God "made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us …" (26,27). God is our Father from that standpoint, and we are His offspring. And, just as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities "them that fear [reverence] Him."

Here is the statement of God's Word concerning His attitude toward those who are His children. He knows our frame; knows that we are as dust; and He pities us, just as any loving father pities his children.

There is another statement which I feel is germane to this discussion, and to which I wish to call attention. It is what Peter said to the household of Cornelius. Peter did not want to go to the Gentiles. He considered them unworthy of salvation. But the Lord, through a vision, showed him that he should go. And the Holy Spirit told him to go. When he arrived with the messengers of Cornelius at the latter's home, he received a royal welcome. And then Peter opened his mouth and said: "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him" (Acts 10:34,35). God is sovereign. He has a plan and a purpose. He is working all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11). His moral kingdom is peopled by cherubim, seraphim, and all ranks and orders of angels. And, as we have already shown, God has endowed each of these celestial beings, and man also with the power of free choice. God never forces any one's will, but He uses moral suasion, always stopping short of coercion, or of forcing any man's will.

We have been considering the character of the Omnipotent God, the Absolute Sovereign of the universe; and we have found that, while He will "by no means clear the guilty," yet He is a God of love, mercy, and compassion. It is the will of God that all men should be saved. Do we have Scripture for that? In I Timothy 2:1-7, a passage that has loomed before my mind in a new way of late, we read: "I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men; 2 for kings and all that are in high place; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity." The act of praying for all men—the whole world—"is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself a ransom for all; the testimony to be borne in its own times" (vss. 3-6).

To what period does the expression, "in its own times," refer? To the Tribulation. What is my authority for my saying this? You may ask. I say it upon the authority of our Lord's own words: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come" (Matt. 24:14). Jesus was talking about the Tribulation Period.

Yes, we are exhorted to pray for all men, for God "would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth."

The testimony "is to be borne in its own times." That is why we, of the Biblical research Society, are giving the truth of God's Word to Israel in this generation—because after the Church is gone, 144,000 Jewish "Pauls," who, we are convinced, are among those to whom we are now giving the Word of God, will give out this testimony "in its own times"—the Tribulation Period—to all nations. It is the will of God that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Now, with these facts in mind, let us turn to Romans, chapter 9, as we consider, in connection with the sovereignty of God and the free will of man, the doctrine of election.

I believe in the doctrine of election with all of my heart, and I believe in the doctrine of election to eternal salvation for the individual—not the false doctrine that I was taught in my youth, and to which I referred earlier in this discussion. I believe in the "election" and "foreordination" of Romans, chapter 8. (That chapter should be carefully studied, verse by verse, for it deals with the election of the individual unto eternal salvation.) And I believe in the election to service of Romans, chapter 9. My friend, never, never mix these two chapters; for if you do, nothing but confusion, or worse, will result therefrom. Let me repeat, because of its importance, that the election mentioned in Romans, chapter 8, is the election of the individual to eternal salvation; whereas, in chapter 9 it is the election to service, first, of the nation of Israel, and then of that group of people from both Jews and Gentiles who now, during the present dispensation, are elected to perform the work that Israel has refused to carry on. It is the election to service that you see in Romans, chapter 9: "… for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not of works, that no man should glory. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:8-10).

"I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit," said the Apostle Paul in Romans, chapter 9, "2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart." In verse 3 the Apostle's words as they appear in the American Standard Version (1901 ed.) read: "For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake." Let me read this as it actually is in the Greek text: "For I was about at the point of wishing myself anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh." "I could wish that I myself were anathema" (A.S.V.) does not represent the Greek text at all, and it misrepresents Paul, who did not say, "I could wish myself accursed from Christ¹. Instead, he said, in effect "I was brought almost to the point, but I jerked back."

Paul was like a man walking along a path and coming suddenly to the edge of a precipice. Instead of going ahead, he jerks back. Paul's love for his brethren was so very intense, and his desire for their salvation of such depth, that he had been on the verge of wishing that he were severed from Christ for their sake. But he had come up to the very edge of the pit of the abyss of all eternity, and he shrank back from that. All who are thoroughly acquainted with the Greek text know that here is a special idiom, and that Paul did not say—as our English translation has it—that he wished, or could wish, himself anathema for his brethren's sake, his brethren, "who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the services of God and the promises; 5 whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" (9:4,5)

You and I, dear friend, owe everything of a spiritual nature that we have to God, who has brought it to us through the Jewish people. "6 But it is not as though the word of God hath come to nought. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: 7 neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called."

Not everyone who has Jewish blood in his veins is of Israel, says Paul. Our Lord said the same thing. There were certain of the Pharisees and the scribes who were attacking Jesus, and who even picked up stones to throw at Him (see John, chapter 8). And He said to them: "… ye seek to kill me, because my word hath not free course in you." They answered Him, "Our father is Abraham." To which Jesus replied, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I heard from God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye do the works of your father." Then they made a thrust at His virgin birth by saying, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I came forth and am come from God; for neither have I come of myself but he sent me" (John 8:39-42).

And so the apostle Paul is telling his readers that to be real Jews, real Israelites, they must have two qualifications: They must have both the Abrahamic blood and the Abrahamic spirit: "For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: 7 neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are all children." And then he says that, although there are some; for instance, the Ishmaelites, the Moabites, and others who are descendants, through Ishmael, of Abraham— "children of the flesh"—these are not "children of God," and they are cast out. The bondwoman's son is not to be heir along with the child of promise. So now, the Apostle tells us, two sons were born to Isaac, Esau and Jacob. God passed by Esau, the elder, whose was the birthright, and accepted Jacob. In doing this, God was exercising His divine sovereignty. Let us remember that God is not, as I have expressed it, in a strait jacket. He has a right to do as He sees fit, and who can challenge anything that He does or says? God knew which son of Isaac to choose. He knew biology. Speaking scientifically, He knew how and where the genes were deposited in those two boys, and they developed exactly as God knew they would. Esau was a happy-go-lucky fellow, not spiritually minded, looking at today, not tomorrow. But Jacob had inherited the real genes, the spiritual ones. He was a meditative, quiet lad, interested in spiritual things, knowing that material things were only temporal and fading away, while the things of the spirit are eternal.

God, therefore, using His own wisdom, foreknowledge, and foresight, passed by Esau and accepted Isaac ("in Isaac shall thy seed be called"). Let us not forget that God has His divine plan, and that He is the Absolute Sovereign. To carry out His plan of the ages, He had to exercise His sovereignty and bestow certain blessings and certain endowments on different ones. "14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runeth, but of God that hath mercy" (Rom. 9:14-16). This language is an echo of the record of how Rebecca and Jacob schemed to obtain the birthright from Esau so that Jacob could have it (Gen., chap. 27). You will recall the underhanded way they achieved their selfish ends. And you will remember how Rebecca paid for her scheming and wire-pulling. To the very day when she drew her last breath, she had to pay for it. Her son Jacob, on whom she doted, had to leave home, and she never laid eyes on him again. No one can deal crookedly and get away with it; for God is not only merciful and loving, but He is also just and righteous, and His holiness abhors sin and wickedness.

The Lord intended that Jacob should have the birthright, for it was in him that the seed was to be reckoned. But in their trying to help the Lord out, Rebecca and Jacob brought down punishment upon their own heads. "So then," the Apostle says, "it is not of him that willeth, nor him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy." Paul was talking about the birthright. It was not the scheming of Rebecca and Jacob that got the birthright for him, but it was the fact that the Lord knew that Jacob possessed the qualifications which made it possible for him to be used in the furtherance of the divine plan, "that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of him that calleth. (Rom. 9:11).

Moses was chosen of God to do a definite work—not chosen to eternal salvation or damnation, but chosen for a certain work. But even though Jehovah had told him, "Mine angel shall go before thee," yet Moses wanted further reassurance, and so he said to Jehovah: "Show me I pray thee, thy glory" (Exod. 33:18). This request was almost presumptuous. God had never granted that privilege to any man, but here was one who asked it of Him! The Lord knew, however, that it would be a good thing for Moses to see His glory, so He said to him: "I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy" (vs. 19). The Lord, however, added: "Thou canst not see my face; for man shall not see me and live." But He did permit Moses to see His back, after He placed him in the cleft of the rock (vss. 21-23).

God uses His sovereign will wisely. He did not have to do what He did, but it was to help His servant Moses, to enable him to see the situation clearly. Thus God exercised His sovereignty and had mercy upon Moses. Was this done for the latter's personal salvation? No. Then what was the reason for it? It was to qualify Moses, to prepare him to carry on the special work to which the Almighty had called him.

Now let us look at the other side of the picture. God lavished upon Pharaoh, the King of Egypt, untold power and wealth such as no ruler had enjoyed up to that time. Why did the Lord heap wealth, glory, and power upon Pharaoh? Because it was His sovereign will so to do. The Almighty God is working, and He is overruling all things according to His will. In this, He wanted to teach the world a lesson. He raised Pharaoh to the highest pinnacle of power for that day and time, and then He brought His divine judgments upon the gods of the Egyptians. He delivered a mighty sledge-hammer blow against Pharaoh. The nations round about saw what had happened and knew that it was the God of the Hebrews who had done this: "For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth. 18 So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth: (Rom. 9:17:18).

In God's performing these acts, He was not doing anybody an injustice. He was simply exercising His sovereign rights: "Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will? (vs. 19). God bestows blessings upon one of His servants in order that he might carry out the divine plan. If the Lord heaps wealth, power, and prestige upon a wicked, hard-hearted king in order that a great octopus of political power might be overthrown and the people see and recognize the sovereignty of the Eternal God, who can withstand His will? "O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?" (Rom. 9:20).

The first time my wife and I went to the Holy Land (in 1937), just as we were about to leave Jerusalem, I realized that we had not seen a potter at work. So we went down to the Jerusalem pottery. There were two men working at the pottery, making finger bowls for a concern up in Damascus. We watched them as they worked the lumps of clay and placed them on the wheels, using their fingers skillfully in making the beautiful bowls.

As we stood there watching, I prayed inwardly: Lord, let me see what Jeremiah saw! You sent him down to the potter's house to learn a lesson. I want you to show me the same lesson. I don't want this man to ruin one of these bowls; but, if it is possible, I want to see the clay marred in his hands, and then see what he will do! I had no sooner prayed this than lo, and behold! One of the men who had been doing such perfect work found his clay wadding up—I believe that God answered my prayer—and then the clay "balled" up. What did the potter do? Did he throw the clay away? No, he merely placed his fingers in a different position and made an entirely different vessel out of it! That is the lesson that God wanted to teach Jeremiah. And that is the lesson that Paul sets before us in this passage. When the clay is marred, the Divine Potter does not cast it aside; He simply makes it into a different vessel! And if God exercises His sovereignty in doing this, who is man, that he should find fault with God and speak against Him? "… hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? 22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: …?" (Rom. 9:21,22). For instance, Pharaoh, who was "fitted unto destruction," actually fitted himself for his doom. He was stubborn, proud, and arrogant. "Who is Jehovah," asked Pharaoh, "that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go?" (Exod. 5:2). When Moses and Aaron explained their request, "the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens" (vs. 4). Virtually, he was saying, "I don't recognize Jehovah. Get out of here!" That was Pharaoh's attitude, and by his attitude he fitted himself, as a vessel of wrath, unto destruction.

God endured Pharaoh. He suffered him to go on until the psychological moment came, and then, in His sovereignty, He dealt with him. He is a God of justice and righteousness, whose judgments are always in keeping with His holiness, and He is at the same time a God of love and mercy. Having endowed His creatures with freedom of will and choice, He never forces any man's will, but He does use moral suasion, always stopping short of coercion.

The Lord wishes to show His mercy and extends His grace, "… that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory, 24 even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles" (Rom. 9:23, 24). If God wishes to shower His blessings upon us, what are we going to say? "… for the Lord will execute His word upon the earth" (Rom. 9:28). In doing this, He is simply exercising His sovereignty and is true to His divine character.

May the Holy spirit enable us to see these truths clearly, is my prayer!

¹"Our English translation lends itself to this erroneous interpretation; but a knowledge of the idiom in the original shows that it is not what the Apostle declared on this occasion. Instead of saying that he could wish himself accursed from the Christ, the Apostle said, 'I was wishing myself accursed (or anathema) from Christ.' He states that he had been on the verge of wishing at some time in the past that he was severed from Christ for his brethren's sake, but upon mature thought he spurned the idea. He gave it up. Doubtless one of the reasons was this: His being made anathema from Christ would not avail anything with reference to others. At the time of his writing this statement, he had no such idea but was simply talking about a thought which he had at one time been at the point of accepting, but which he had long since abandoned. His great love for and interest in his brethren were so very intense that they brought him to that point at one time in his former meditation. But in seeing the light concerning the true situation, he shrank back from such a thought." (From Installment 21 of the series of studies in THE BOOK OF ROMANS, Biblical Research Monthly, Oct., 1948, p. 190.)