Jesus In Control Of His Destiny

 Jesus is said to have "set his face toward Jerusalem." He knew that He was born to die! His destiny was in His own hands as revealed by His Father. There was no turning back, even at the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed in relinquishment: "Thy will be done." There could be no conflict of interest or of wills within the Godhead. He boldly proclaimed His "fate": "That everything written of Him must be fulfilled."  Remember, Jesus volunteered to go to the cross and accept His Passion on our behalf! 

The fickle crowds (four days latter the shouted to crucify Him) did try to crown Him king at His triumphal entry and He did say that it was now His time, but He must be crucified first and He knew this--having prophesied it five times. He had said, "No prophet can die outside Jerusalem."  But He refused to stop the adorations and acclamations of the crowd and said that if they were restrained, the stones would cry out! 

Throughout His ministry, "Mum's the word so to speak," but now they vociferously shouted Hosanna to the Son of David!" This was prophecy and that blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD.  Jesus literally allowed them to throw His hat in the ring: for one doesn't become King by mere announcement!  There's protocol and tradition. He was not using figures of speech or a play on words and didn't beat around the bush anymore! 

We must realize a few points about Christ's fate: this was not karma (Jesus was innocent and didn't deserve this fate as a karma--which exact reward/punishment for deeds); nor was Jesus the victim of circumstances; nor was He intending to set us a good example; nor was He intending to become another religious martyr; or even champion a good moral cause to be remembered. In fact, Jesus was in full control all the time and this was Providence, which is God's answer to happenstance or coincidence. 

What's Behind Karma?

The demonic doctrine of karma (from Hinduism, New Age, and even Buddhism) must be exposed because, in this so-called Age of Aquarius, modern man is fooled and taken in by Eastern philosophy and thinking, letting it influence the Christian faith. Both Eastern faiths adhere to this and believe that actions in this life automatically determine your fate. Many Christians flippantly, or even seriously, say, "What goes around, comes around," and think that everyone gets precisely what they deserve in life like God has a ledger-book mentality, just keeping score of our deeds and dealing with us accordingly. Case in point: Job's friends accused him of evil-doing and told him to repent.

The beauty of our faith is that it is the opposite of karma: We don't get what we do deserve (mercy) and we do get what we don't deserve (grace)--both contrary to the doctrine of karma and its exact-reward concept. God doesn't just weigh out our good deeds versus our bad ones and deal with us as the result in the afterlife. Eastern thinking believes you cannot escape karma because it is the system of justice in the universe--people get precisely what they deserve, whether good or bad, and what's more, you should not interfere with someone else's karma--everyone is an island or a rock to himself and has to deal with his own reality and fate in life because he deserves it. This erroneous thinking also says that you can overcome bad karma with good karma, and this would make one believe it's alright to do evil if one balances it out or neutralizes it with a good deed--sort of like wasting fuel on a solo flight but planting a tree in remorse to make up for it.

How do we know karma is wrong? The Bible teaches that suffering is not something we can comprehend and that there's an easy answer to--one only need consult Job. No religion has a complete answer; God expects faith, but He gives us meaning in suffering.   If karma were true, why did Jesus suffer more than any man--did he deserve his sufferings? There is not a man alive that God is not good too and doesn't deserve to die a thousand deaths--even believers. George Whitefield was asked what he thought of the poor souls going to the gallows: "There, but for the grace of God, go I." It is said that if God were to actually wipe out evil from the earth, none of us would be left. The question is not why is there evil, but why is there good. The psalmist in Psalm 103:10 (ESV) delineates our thinking: "He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities."

Case in point: If you remember the massacre of refugees by the Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in Thailand (known as the "Killing Fields") in the mid-'70s, you should be informed that this happened on Buddhist turf, and they refused to help their own Buddhist brothers who were getting their comeuppance  (some 300,000 stranded in no-mans-land on the Cambodian border), because they felt they shouldn't interfere with their karma--Buddha taught that you are to be an island to yourself. It was Christian goodwill and relief organizations that stepped into the save the day and be the example of Christ's love for the outcast and rescued those in need. This is an example of that what the world needs is more Christian love, according to Lord Bertrand Russell, British philosopher, and mathematician, who happened to be atheist. There is no basis for the love and compassion of one's fellow man in a world of karma.

There is a certain manner in which we get what we deserve, reaping what we sow, but this basically refers to our eternal destiny whether in the flesh or the spirit and if we are in the habit of judging we shall be judged accordingly. Spiritually speaking, we are to sow to the Spirit, not the flesh. But Christians do indeed suffer the consequences of their acts but are forgiven and there is no eternal aftermath. The doctrine of karma has to do with the exact-reward concept that you cannot escape it and it is the final judge of your destiny.

One must not say that he has blown it and will suffer for it the rest of his life, because God doesn't punish us for our sins--He only prunes or disciplines us (according to Romans 8:28 all things will work out for the good) that we may grow and learn a lesson and be sanctified. God isn't finished with us yet and is still working on us--we are a work in progress! The immediate response when something disastrous happens, is that God is out to get us, or we may ask, "What did I do to deserve this?" We are not capable of understanding the motives of God and must accept by faith that He intends it for good just like Joseph said, "You meant it for evil, but God intended it for good" (cf. Gen. 50:20).

And so why is karma evil? It denies grace and mercy and means that there is an impersonal force in the universe meting out justice mechanically like fate. God is personal and deals with us accordingly, and knows us and has a plan of good and not of evil toward us and as Psalm 145:9 (ESV) says, "The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made." There is no one that will be able to claim that God is not good and that they got more than they deserved in life because of His blessings. The uniqueness of Christian thinking is the introduction of the concepts of grace and mercy as seen in the atonement of Christ.

People that believe in karma don't help out their fellow man, because they believe everyone must suffer his own personal karma. Karma denies the reality of a substitutionary death (no one should interfere with someone's karma), as done by Christ on our behalf. We get what we don't deserve and are delivered from what we do deserve! Eastern salvation or "nirvana" is released from this impersonal law of karma.

God is not only "great" like Islam proclaims, but He is also "good," and this is what they deny, seeing God as capricious, arbitrary, or whimsical and able to treat man unpredictably, according to any rational basis. This doctrine leads to pride in thinking because people think they are "self-made" and don't owe God anything for their prosperity (it is God who makes one have the power to get rich per Deuteronomy 8:17-18). This reminds me of the definition of a Victorian Englishman: A self-made man who worships his creator.

There is justice (meting out punishment as deserved and giving one his due). But God metes out justice with mercy and there is not always justice in this life--in which case they will meet it in eternity, so no one ultimately escapes it, except by the mercy of God in Christ. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Cf. Gen 18:25). Governments are God's ordained means to monitor evil and punish wrongdoers, but God's justice is never escaped. No one will be punished beyond that which strict justice requires, but believers escape justice by virtue of their faith in the atoning work of Christ on the cross, where He suffered for us.

We must acknowledge God's ultimate control of our destiny and that it is in His hands--He is sovereign over all. Remember what Jesus said to those who inquired why a person was born blind, whether he had sinned or his parents: "Neither, it was so the glory of God should be manifest." It is good news that there is no karma (I'm not saying we don't sometimes get what we deserve, but there is no iron-clad law that cannot be escaped and our destiny isn't controlled by it), and one should rejoice in the fact that we can say regarding our salvation: "What did I ever do, to deserve this?" This answer is nothing, it was all grace--God gets all the glory from start to finish.

I'm getting disgruntled thinking of Christians who believe in "karma." The law of karma states that there is an accumulation of good and bad karma and that the total net differential is one's karma. And you can compensate bad karma with accumulated good karma!   This is the belief that bad deeds (there is a causal relationship between deeds and events) catch up to you and you can offset them by good deeds or "good karma." It is analogous to the business executive with a private jet that plants trees to offset his carbon footprint (his guilt).  Ultimately, it leads to the belief that you are judged by whether your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds to get into heaven. That is to say, some deserve heaven and some don't.

Buddhists and Hindus believe in "karma" and that everyone is an island suffering his own "just dessert." The Hindus of India have trouble with the lower castes because they think they are getting what they deserve. "If someone is suffering, that's his karma." Buddha taught that we are all an "island to ourselves." Remember the disciples asking Jesus "Who sinned?"   I believe in the "Law of the Harvest", and that we reap what we sow, according to Gal. 6:7. Remember what Hosea said: "They sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind" (Hos. 8:7). If we sow to the flesh we will reap destruction, and if we sow to the Spirit we will reap eternal life (our destiny respectively). There is a way out with the Lord, and that is mercy and grace. Psalm 103:10 proclaims, "He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities." 

That is the essence of Christianity: We get what we don't deserve (grace) and we don't get what we do deserve (mercy). I heard one guy say that all he wanted from God was what he deserved! Well, do I need to point out that we all deserve hell? Thank God that there is a God of a second (or third, etc.) chance! God doesn't keep a record of all our sins to hold against us, but has thrown them to the bottom of the sea and sent them as far away as the east is from the west. (Cf. Mic.7:19; Psalm 103:12.)

The big dilemma is how do you explain the sufferings of Christ and of Job? I have heard it said by a wise man that if we suffer it is so that others won't have to, and if we don't suffer it is because others have. Thank God for forgiveness and a fresh start; we can be born again to a new life in Christ no matter we may have botched up our life. We are all a "work in progress." "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground..." (Hos. 10:12). karma is a word that should not be in the believer's conversation, except in disapproval.

In summation: karma is balderdash, poppycock, and hogwash. (We have a personal loving God that cares for us individually who knows each of us and has a plan for our lives.) "He has not dealt with us according to our sins...." By and large, karma is simply a mechanical, iron-clad law of cause and effect for good and bad deeds and their effects that is counter-Christian.    Soli Deo Gloria!

How About Providence And Destiny?

 

1. “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps.” (cf. Prov. 16:9)
2. “I know, LORD, that a man’s way of life is not his own; no one who walks determines his own steps.” (cf. Jer. 10:23).
3. “A man’s steps are determined by the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?” (cf. Prov. 20:24).
4. “He will certainly accomplish what He has decreed for me, and He has many more things like this in mind.” (cf. Job 23:14).

HCSB version.

God cannot be frustrated in His plan; He has no Plan B. (cf. Job 42:2). Our free will doesn’t limit His sovereignty. He is in control and Lord of all. We do make choices but God determines the conditions, and what choices we must make—whether between A or B. There are no other opportunities but what He grants. We must choose to serve God because the default god is Satan—we will serve someone or something.  Soli Deo Gloria!

What's Behind Karma?

The demonic doctrine of karma (from Hinduism and Buddhism) must be exposed because, in this so-called Age of Aquarius, modern man is fooled and taken in by Eastern philosophy and thinking, letting it influence the Christian faith.  Both Eastern faiths adhere to this and believe that actions in this life automatically determine your fate.  Many Christians flippantly, or even seriously, say, "What goes around, comes around," and think that everyone gets precisely what they deserve in life like God has a ledger-book mentality, just keeping score of our deeds and dealing with us accordingly. Case in point:  Job's friends accused him of evil-doing and told him to repent.

The beauty of our faith is that it is the opposite of karma:  We don't get what we do deserve (mercy) and we do get what we don't deserve (grace)--both contrary to the doctrine of karma and its exact-reward concept.  God doesn't just weigh out our good deeds versus our bad ones and deal with us as the result in the afterlife.  Eastern thinking believes you cannot escape karma because it is the system of justice in the universe--people get precisely what they deserve, whether good or bad, and what's more, you should not interfere with someone else's karma--everyone is an island or a rock to himself and has to deal with his own reality and fate in life because he deserves it.  This erroneous thinking also says that you can overcome bad karma with good karma, and this would make one believe it's alright to do evil if one balances it out or neutralizes it with a good deed--sort of like wasting fuel on a solo flight but planting a tree in remorse to make up for it.

How do we know karma is wrong?  The Bible teaches that suffering is not something we can comprehend and that there's an easy answer to--one only need consult Job.  If karma were true, why did Jesus suffer more than any man--did he deserve his sufferings?  There is not a man alive that God is not good too and doesn't deserve to die a thousand deaths--even believers.  George Whitefield was asked what he thought of the poor souls going to the gallows:  "There, but for the grace of God, go I."  It is said that if God were to actually wipe out evil from the earth, none of us would be left.  The question is not why is there evil, but why is there good.    The psalmist in Psalm 103:10 (ESV) delineates our thinking:  "He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities."

Case in point:  If you remember the massacre of refugees by the Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in Thailand (known as the "killing fields") in the mid-'70s, you should be informed that this happened on Buddhist turf, and they refused to help their own Buddhist brothers (some 300,000 stranded in no-mans-land on the Cambodian border), because they felt they shouldn't interfere with their karma--Buddha taught that you are to be an island to yourself.  It was Christian goodwill and relief organizations that stepped into the save the day and be the example of Christ's love for the outcast and rescued those in need.  This is an example of that what the world needs is more Christian love, according to Lord Bertrand Russell, British philosopher, and mathematician, who happened to be atheist.  There is no basis for the love and compassion of one's fellow man in a world of karma.

There is a certain manner in which we get what we deserve, reaping what we sow, but this basically refers to our eternal destiny whether in the flesh or the spirit and if we are in the habit of judging we shall be judged accordingly.  Spiritually speaking, we are to sow to the Spirit, not the flesh.  But Christians do indeed suffer the consequences of their acts but are forgiven and there is no eternal aftermath.  The doctrine of karma has to do with the exact-reward concept that you cannot escape it and it is the final judge of your destiny.

One must not say that he has blown it and will suffer for it the rest of his life, because God doesn't punish us for our sins--He only prunes or disciplines us (according to Romans 8:28 all things will work out for the good) that we may grow and learn a lesson and be sanctified.  God isn't finished with us yet and is still working on us--we are a work in progress! The immediate response when something disastrous happens, is that God is out to get us, or we may ask, "What did I do to deserve this?"  We are not capable of understanding the motives of God and must accept by faith that He intends it for good just like Joseph said, "You meant it for evil, but God intended it for good" (cf. Gen. 50:20).

And so why is karma evil?  It denies grace and mercy and means that there is an impersonal force in the universe meting out justice mechanically like fate.  God is personal and deals with us accordingly, and knows us and has a plan of good and not of evil toward us and as Psalm 145:9 (ESV) says, "The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made."  There is no one that will be able to claim that God is not good and that they got more than they deserved in life because of His blessings. The uniqueness of Christian thinking is the introduction of the concepts of grace and mercy as seen in the atonement of Christ.

People that believe in karma don't help out their fellow man, because they believe everyone must suffer his own personal karma.  Karma denies the reality of a substitutionary death (no one should interfere with someone's karma), as done by Christ on our behalf.  We get what we don't deserve and are delivered from what we do deserve!  Eastern salvation or "nirvana" is released from this impersonal law of karma.

God is not only "great" like Islam proclaims, but He is also "good," and this is what they deny, seeing God as capricious, arbitrary, or whimsical and able to treat man unpredictably, according to any rational basis.  This doctrine leads to pride in thinking because people think they are "self-made" and don't owe God anything for their prosperity (it is God who makes one have the power to get rich per Deuteronomy 8:17-18). This reminds me of the definition of an Englishman:  A self-made man who worships his creator.

There is justice (meting out punishment as deserved and giving one his due).  But God metes out justice with mercy and there is not always justice in this life--in which case they will meet it in eternity, so no one ultimately escapes it, except by the mercy of God in Christ.  "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Cf. Gen 18:25).  Governments are God's ordained means to monitor evil and punish wrongdoers, but God's justice is never escaped.  No one will be punished beyond that which strict justice requires, but believers escape justice by virtue of their faith in the atoning work of Christ on the cross, where He suffered for us.

We must acknowledge God's ultimate control of our destiny and that it is in His hands--He is sovereign over all.  Remember what Jesus said to those who inquired why a person was born blind, whether he had sinned or his parents:  "Neither, it was so the glory of God should be manifest."  It is good news that there is no karma (I'm not saying we don't sometimes get what we deserve, but there is no iron-clad law that cannot be escaped and our destiny isn't controlled by it), and one should rejoice in the fact that we can say regarding our salvation: "What did I ever do, to deserve this?" This answer is nothing, it was all grace--God gets all the glory from start to finish.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Are You A Stoic?

Stoicism:  Founded in the third century B.C.  by Zeno of Citium, who believed God permeated the cosmos which was the absolute reason.  The cosmos was governed by the laws of cause and effect and there was no genuine free will. Virtue and acceptance of or resignation fate were the highest goals.  We call this forbearance and fortitude.  Socrates resignation to his fate in taking the hemlock was honored as death with dignity.

Famous Stoics were Seneca, tutor to Nero (who ironically participated in an assassination attempt), Prime Minister of the Roman Empire and the greatest of all Stoic philosophers, Quintilian, the great  Roman orator, and the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who was a  great writer and author of the classic Meditations, too.  Socrates was very stoical in accepting the proclamation to take his life with hemlock and was revered by virtue of his bold acceptance of this fate.   Stoicism was a Greek philosophy of antiquity that was common in Paul's day and he met some Stoics at Mars Hill in Acts 17 that were curious about what he had to say.   Epictetus, and was known for his philosophy of the "stiff upper lip."  He said that he couldn't escape death but he could escape the fear of it.   (It means more than not showing emotion and not being demonstrative in worship or in tragedy as they tell you to be stoical.)

They believed that there was fate or a plan for everyone and it was our duty to accept it and live with it, whatever it was.  It was all impersonal and one could do nothing to alter that fate.    Stoics believe the universe was governed by the logos which was the mind and will of God that kept the stars and planets in their places and in their appointed tracks.  Therefore, the universe was not a chaos, but orderly. If the universe didn't have order, science would be impossible!   The logos also had a plan and purpose for everyone.

Destiny involves a personal God and as it may be our destiny to become piano virtuosos, it is also our responsibility to practice diligently and faithfully.  It just doesn't just happen automatically.  We should never give up and resign ourselves to the belief that nothing can be done and there is no hope.  Being complacent is when we become so self-satisfied  that we are worse than being  content, but don't see any need or desire to better ourselves or condition:  "Oh, this is my lot in life and I must grin and bear it!"

  What not to be: 

Don't be like Doris Day singing "Que sera, sera, what will be, will be...!"  But rather let Jesus' motto of "Thy will be done!" work for you.  This is resignation and relinquishment to God's will and we must surrender to it as believers; even Jesus had to decide to follow the Father's will to the cross at Gethsemane.   Don't say, "Let the chips fall where they may."  There is no hopeless situation; only people who have given up hope. There are two types of Christians:  those who say, "Thy will be done!" and those to whom God says, "Okay, have it your way!"  We don't want it our way because we will mess it up--"Father knows best," as they say.  It is said that with the hope one can endure anything.   With Christ, we can endure any trial or tribulation with the joy of the Lord.

It is never too late to "get with the program" and to live in God's will,  used for His glory, fulfilling His plan for your life. Though I believe God has a plan for us ("I know the plans that I have for you, says the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future," says Jeremiah in chapter 29, verse 11), it is also our responsibility to make plans and not to just be aimless.  If you aim at nothing, that is what you get in life. Thomas Edison never called his experiments a failure, but an experiment that taught him what didn't work. The Army slogan, "Be All You Can Be!" And the Air Force motto to "Aim High"is good advice and one should be realistic, but also have dreams.  Case in point: If you aim for the presidency and only become a senator you shouldn't call yourself a failure.

An anecdote is told of a great woman of faith in God named Saint Theresa, who said that she was going to build a convent.  They asked her how much she had in resources and she replied 12 pence.  They told her that even Theresa couldn't accomplish much with twelve pence!  She replied that twelve pence, Theresa and God could though!  God promises to supply all we need to do His will according to 2 Cor. 9:8. It may be not how big our faith but how big our God!

Selfish ambition is sin, according to Jer. 45:5 ("Should you then seek great things for yourself?  Seek them not!")  But we are to seek the glory of God and His will for our lives:  ( Jer. 29:11 says, "I know the plans that I have for you....")  That is to say, that God has good intentions for us according to Rom. 8:28 that says, "All things work together for the good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose."   N.B. our destiny is ultimately in God's hands ("He controls my destiny"--Job 23:12)-- unlike Ernest Henley's poem Invictus that says we are the "captains of our souls and the masters of our fate. "

To sum up:   The psalmist says,  "My future is in your hands"  (Ps. 31:15).   God wishes us good:  "May he grant you all your desires and fulfill all your plans"  (Ps. 20:40.  But always remember that it says in Romans 8:31,  "If God be for us, who can be against us?"   [All emphasis is mine.]  Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is "Karma?"

I'm getting disgruntled thinking of Christians who believe in "karma."  The law of karma states that there is an accumulation of good and bad karma and that the total net differential is one's karma. This is the belief that bad deeds (there is a causal relationship between deeds and events) catch up to you and you can offset them by good deeds or "good karma."   It is analogous to the business executive with a private jet that plants trees to offset his carbon footprint (his guilt).

Ultimately, it leads to the belief that you are judged by whether your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds to get into heaven. That is to say, some deserve heaven and some don't.

Buddhists and Hindus believe in "karma" and that everyone is an island suffering his own "just dessert."   The Hindus of India have trouble with the lower castes because they think they are getting what they deserve. "If someone is suffering, that's his karma."  Buddha taught that we are all an "island to ourselves."  Remember the disciples asking Jesus "Who sinned, the baby or the parents, that he should be born blind?"   They say, "What goes around, comes around."  During the "killing fields" of Cambodia in the '70s, the Pol Pot and the  Khmer Rouge was torturing 300,000 refugees and it was the Christians that showed mercy, not the Buddhist monks.  You might say they thought they were getting their comeuppance.

I believe in the "Law of the Harvest", and that we reap what we sow, according to Gal. 6:7.   Remember what Hosea said:  "They sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind"  (Hos. 8:7).   If we sow to the flesh we will reap destruction, and if we sow to the Spirit we will reap eternal life (our destiny respectively).  There is a way out with the Lord, and that is mercy and grace.  Psalm 103:10 proclaims, "He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities."  That is the essence of Christianity:  We get what we don't deserve (grace) and we don't get what we do deserve (mercy).   I heard one guy say that all he wanted from God was what he deserved!  Well, do I need to point out that we all deserve hell?   Thank God that there is a God of a second (or third, etc.)  chance!  God doesn't keep a record of all our sins to hold against us, but has thrown them to the bottom of the sea and sent them as far away as the east is from the west. (Cf. Mic.7:19; Psalm 103:12.)

The big dilemma is how do you explain the sufferings of Christ and of Job? I have heard it said by a wise man that if we suffer it is so that others won't have to, and if we don't suffer it is because others have.  Thank God for forgiveness and a fresh start;  we can be born again to a new life in Christ no matter we may have botched up our life.   We are all a "work in progress."    "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground..."  (Hos. 10:12).   karma is a word that should not be in the believer's conversation, except in disapproval.   In summation:  karma is balderdash and hogwash.  (We have a personal loving God that cares for us individually who knows each of us and has a plan for our lives.)  "He has not dealt with us according to our sins...."  By and large, karma is simply a mechanical, iron-clad law of cause and effect for good and bad deeds and their effects.    Soli Deo Gloria!

Is Providence Downplayed?

I can remember reading early American literature of the Puritan era where they wrote of  Providence  (a term not found in Scripture, but biblical, nevertheless). The Federalist Papers and the Declaration of Independence mention it also. Ben Franklin said, "The longer I live the more I see that God governs in the affairs of men." Lincoln referred to Providence, and not just as rhetoric--he believed in it. Today a lot of people think this is just some town in Rhode Island.

Actually, Providence is "God's answer to happenstance," as Charles Colson puts it. When you realize there is no such thing as chance (it's merely a mathematical probability),  luck (which is dumb), fortune (it's blind), or fate (which is impersonal). (As R. C. Sproul describes it.) There's no such thing as coincidence; God governs over all things great and small. Prov. 16:33 talks about even the throw of the dice is in God's control. God is no onlooker or spectator, but is actively involved in ruling everything. According to R. C. Sproul, there isn't even one "maverick molecule" in the universe.

Naturalism says everything is ruled by independent iron-clad laws that can't be broken. The mistakes in thinking are Deism (that God doesn't interfere), Pantheism (that God is nature), and the Epicurean notion of chance and the Stoic notion of fate. Providence actually refers to God's government of the universe, concurrence (working together) of secondary and primary causes, and preservation of nature. Theologians have written volumes expounding on these aspects of Providence. The issue is God's sovereignty, plain and simple.

Arminians want to believe that God's will is not always done, and that in our "free will" we can frustrate or thwart God making things happen--that He doesn't ordain to be. Up with man and down with God, so to speak. They think that God was frustrated and had to change His plans when Satan sinned, as if that was not in God's plan. If God was unable to keep evil out of the Universe in the first place (according to Arminians), what makes them think that He can keep it out in eternity--what if one of us goes bad? You see, God could have kept Adam from sinning and also kept his will intact; however, it was in His decreed or secret will to have Adam fall and then to redeem the elect of the race.

Arminians don't understand how God can cause us to do something willingly (cf. Phil. 2:13). Indeed, He makes the unwilling willing (cf. Jer. 20:7).  , because He is the potter and we are the clay (cf. Isa. 64:8). He melts the hardest heart and makes the heart of stone into a heart of flesh (cf. Jer. 24:7). Arminians don't understand that God decreed the crucifixion down to the minutest detail and every sinful act included without interfering (i.e. using an outside force to force him to do something) with anybody's own will. Arminians don't understand that God is the causa prima or first cause and man is only the causa secunda or secondary cause.

We are moral agents who have the power of willing choice and responsibility for what we do. Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing." Acts 17:28 says, "In Him we live and move and have our being." Eph. 1:11 says, "He accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will." "I will accomplish all My good pleasure," He says in Isa. 46:`10. God does as He pleases in heaven and on earth (Ps. 135:6); that's one of the perks of being God. The poem, Invictus, by William Ernest Henley, talks about man being the "captain" of his fate. ("I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps", says Jer. 10:23; cf. Prov. 20:24; 16:9.) But actually, Christ is the captain of our destiny.

The Arminian doesn't see how God can ordain us to do evil without being stained by it--he limits God's omnipotence. God doesn't do evil, but uses evil (yes, he uses Satan as His servant) for His glory and purpose. Ps. 76:10 says, "He makes the wrath of men to praise Him...." Joseph said that his brothers meant him harm, but God meant it for good (Gen. 50:20; 45:5).

If God can ordain the crucifixion, it stands to reason that He can ordain all events. If God ordained one sin,  He can't be holy according to their way of thinking (Acts 2:23; 4:28 refer to the crucifixion). No one can thwart Him or say to Him "What are you doing?" (see Job 9:12; Dan. 4:35).   "No one can resist His will" (Rom. 9:19). Either God rules or man rules, there is no middle ground or neutral position. We live in an age of luck and of denying God's ultimate control over His creation.

Jonathan Edwards said that he likes to "ascribe absolute sovereignty" to God. God is in control of the nations (Psalms 22:28). ("The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as rivers of water, He turns it whithersoever he will.") He sets up one and down another--all the nations are a drop in the bucket to Him. ("I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil"--Is. 45:7.)  John Wesley read the newspaper daily "to see how God is doing in the world." God doesn't have "Plan B." He knows the future because He is in control of it; not just because He has foresight or a crystal ball, as it were.   Soli Deo Gloria!