Redeemer Catechism Series, Questions 9 and 10
JORDAN QUINLEY
As we continue our study through the Redeemer Catechism, we address the next two questions that arise logically after examining how we can know there is only one God. Questions 9 and 10 of the Redeemer Catechism concern God’s decrees, and we will address them together. The Catechism defines these decrees as the dictates under which all of history comes to pass. In other words, to quote John Piper, “God’s decrees are his own plans for history. And they always happen.”
Q9: What are the decrees of God?
A9: The decrees of God are his own eternal and definite plans, according to which all things come about as he intends, and through which he will at last be glorified.
Q10: How does God carry out his decrees?
A10: God carries out his decrees in the works of creation and providence.
The Two Wills of God
That which God “intends”, as referenced above, has also been called God’s will of decree, his will concerning what actually takes place in history. It is sometimes called his “secret will” because, except for certain prophesied events, it is known only to God. This will cannot be broken, upended, or avoided by the human will, human actions, or unforeseen circumstances. (There are no circumstances unforeseen by God; on the contrary, he planned all circumstances to begin with!) God’s decree always comes to pass.
On the other hand, we know that God’s requirements, which we also call God’s will, are often defied and disobeyed. If both these things are true, we must conclude that there are two different ways in which God “wills”. This second will is God’s will of desire—that which he requires of us. This is the “revealed will” mentioned later in question 46, since this will includes all that God has made known to us regarding how we are to live and act in this world so as to be pleasing to him.
Of all the mentions of God’s will in the New Testament, this sense is in view the majority of the time, as, for example, when John says that “whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1Jn. 2:17). However, in Ephesians 1:11, Paul gives one of the most succinct statements of God’s will of decree when he says that God “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”
In other words, while most of the New Testament reveals God’s desires for us and for His creatures, Paul gives us a glimpse into God’s decree that assures us that reality is ultimately under His sovereign control.
In classical Reformed theology, God’s decrees entail a meticulous (i.e., exhaustive) predetermination of all things, including the movement of every atom and all the decisions of rational creatures such as angels and humans. This is my view. (I am aware of the questions and challenges it raises, though I consider alternative views even more challenging, all considered.)
A softer view of the decrees of God entails God’s sovereign superintendence of all history in such a way that the outcomes he intends for his grand work of salvation and self-glorification and the consummation of the world take place as he planned—even if there is some “leeway” as to the intervening events.
In any case, God is transcendent, beyond time, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise. He “by wisdom … laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding set the heavens in place.” He has not left the fate of the world to chance. Moreover, as God is the ultimate cause, the one eternal, first, and un-caused mover, all things must ultimately trace their origin in time back to him in some way or another.
God’s control of the events that happen in history, though, is not simply a philosophical conclusion. It is a direct teaching of Scripture. God’s decree is taught as a general principle in such places as Isaiah 46:10, Daniel 4:35, and Ephesians 1:11. Additionally, events of all kinds are ascribed to the will of God. (With a few changes, the following list is borrowed from Samuel Waldron.) This includes:
- Both good and bad events (Is 45:7; Am 3:6; Job 1:21; Jer 15:2)
- Acts of sin (Ge 50:20; 1Sam 2:25; 2Sam 16:10, 11; 24:1; Lk 22:22; Ac 2:23; 4:27, 28)
- Chance occurrences (1Ki 22:28-34; Job 36:32; Pr 16:33; Jonah 1:7)
- The details of our lives (Job 14:5; Ps 139:16; Mt 10:29, 30: Jm 4:15).
- Affairs of the nations (Ps 75:1-7; Ac 17:26; Pr 21:31; Dan 2:21)
- The final destruction of the wicked (Pr 16:4; Ro 9:17; 1Pe 2:8; Jude 4)
At this juncture, it is important to remind ourselves that the Bible also teaches that human beings have volitional freedom and are rightly culpable for their actions. This fact is because God has ordained secondary causes, including the human will, as a means of carrying out his decrees. Thus the human will, rather than being overridden, is, along with everything else, established by God’s decree.
The precise way this works has long been discussed and debated. Some deny that exhaustive divine predetermination and human freedom are compatible at all. Of these, some deny God’s meticulous determination of outcomes, while others deny human freedom. It seems to me that classical Reformed theology is on sound biblical footing to staunchly defend both. The view that human freedom and meticulous divine sovereignty are not mutually exclusive, but rather are compatible, is called “compatiblism.”
If God is in Control, What about …
Does this mean everything? We can easily bring to mind all the awful things that people can do to each other, not to mention accidents that happen. The tragedies and atrocities of the world, done both to communities and to individuals, create scars upon the human experience that can be almost unbearable. Are these, too, included in God’s decree? And if so, what does this say about God?
The answer is yes, all these are included in God’s decree, for there can be nothing that is outside of God’s decree. To those who have suffered, or those who know someone who has suffered, this answer surely comes back cold and academic. I wish to say three things about this. First, not all Christians take the view that God’s decree includes every atrocity and evil. Rather, God’s decree mainly includes the grand conclusions of redemptive history and some of the means (such as the calling of Abraham, the choosing of Israel, the coming and the passion of Christ, and so forth) by which the consummation comes about.
He has made mankind a rational, freely acting being, made for fellowship with God and one another, and we choose to defy God and do all manner of evil against our neighbors.
Second, regardless of how meticulous you take God’s decree to be, it is vital to understand that God does not directly cause any sin. He has ordained secondary causes, with their cause-and-effect relationships, to act in the world as the ordinary means of bringing about events. He has made mankind a rational, freely acting being, made for fellowship with God and one another, and we choose to defy God and do all manner of evil against our neighbors. Be these part of God’s decree, they are nonetheless our own actions, not God’s, and God hates these things.
Thirdly, I would suggest that it may help, at least somewhat, to look at this from another angle. If God had not determined these things, then there would be pain without specific purpose, meaningless evil. That is to say, while suffering in general might contribute indirectly to God’s big goals, it would not be the case that every instance of suffering would directly contribute to God’s goals, even if we cannot see how. Would this really be preferable? As part of God’s plan, however, afflictions can have redemptive value, either for those involved, for others, or for both.
One biblical example of this is the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Recall that his brothers treated him terribly. They threw him into a well. They planned to kill him, but then decided to sell him into slavery. They told their father he had been mauled by wild animals. In Egypt, separated from everyone he loved, Joseph was falsely accused and thrown in prison. But in the end, he is made Pharaoh’s adviser, put in a position of great authority, and permitted to manage Egypt’s affairs so as to prepare for a severe famine. After all of this, he says to his brothers, “you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (emphasis mine).
Even the worst injustice in history, the killing of the Lord of Glory, played out because, as Peter says, “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross” (Ac 2:23). The wickedness and the ugliness were not lessened by the fact that the deed was done in conformity with the deliberate plan of God, but, as part of God’s plan, the ultimate end was the salvation of the world.
I am in no way suggesting that all the affliction we witness or personally experience will turn out for us as it did for Joseph. Joseph’s story had a happy ending. Oftentimes in this world things happen which have no such upturn, in earthly terms. But an understanding of God’s sovereignty over these things can help us cope by giving us a sense that they did not happen gratuitously, pointlessly, or in vain, but rather that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
Creation and Providence
I will wrap up briefly. God’s decrees, according to question 10, are carried out in the works of creation and providence. Creation involved the supernatural bringing of the world into being. God created, and then He rested. That is to say, He stopped creating. From that time forward, His decree is carried out by his work of sustaining his creation, normally by natural (non-miraculous) means. This is referred to as providence. The next few questions of the catechism cover creation and providence and will be addressed in upcoming posts. †
- How Did God Create Humankind? - February 29, 2024
- What is God’s Work of Creation? - August 24, 2023
- What Are God’s Decrees and How Does He Carry Them Out? - June 22, 2023