Providence and Individual Human Life II

"To make us who we are, he must control our heredity.  So he has given us the parents we have, and their parents, and their parents.  And to give us the parents we have, God must control many of their free decisions, such as the free decisions of Jeremiah's parents to marry, and their parents, and their parents...

...Negatively, God's purposes exclude many free decisions that would otherwise be possible.  Since God had planned to bring Joseph to Egypt, his brothers were, in an important sense, not free to kill him, though at one point in the story they planned to do so...Nor could the Roman soldiers have broken Jesus' legs when he hung on the cross, for God's prophets had declared otherwise." - Frame, ST, p155.

My only thought about this is that Frame doesn't go far enough.  How could God have controlled "many of their free decision"?  Would He not actually have control of every single free decision we have ever made?

Providence and Individual Human Life

"...God controls the course of our individual lives.  That control begins before we are conceived.  God says to Jeremiah:

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations - Jer 1:5

Is Jeremiah an exception to the general rule because he is God's prophet, or does God know us all before conception?  If God knew Jeremiah before his conception, then God must have arranged for one particular sperm to reach one particular egg to produce each of Jeremiah's ancestors back to Adam...God's foreknowledge of an individual implies comprehensive control over the human family." - Frame, ST, p153.

Providence and the Natural World - IV

"Natural events come from God, the personal Lord.  He also employs angels and human beings to do his work in the world.  But the idea that there is some impersonal mechanism called 'nature' or 'natural law' that governs the universe is absent from the Bible." - Frame, ST, p147.

Deism teaches of a God who wound up the world and then left it to go on its own.  That is not the God of the Bible through Whom all things consist and cohere.

Providence and the Natural World - III

"Even those events that appear to be most random are under God's sovereign control.  'The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD' (Prov 16:33).  Throw dice or draw straw; God controls the result.  He decides the numbers to be drawn in the lottery.  Indeed, in some cases he reveals his will through the drawing of lots (Jonah 1:7; Acts 1:23-26).  What we call 'accidents' come from the Lord (Exod 21:13; Judges 9:53; 1 Kings 22:34)." - Frame, ST. p147.

Providence and the Natural World - II

Considering the many passages of Scripture that speak of God's providence over the natural world, Frame writes, 
"...these are things that God does because they please him.  He does not merely allow them to happen; rather, he makes them happen.  God waters the land.  God drenches the furrows.  God makes the clouds rise...God makes it snow or rain.  God sends the frost and the ice, and then, when he pleases, he melts it.  As he created all things by his word, so he sends his command, his word, to govern the events of nature." - ST, p147.

Providence and the Natural World - I

"The biblical writers do not hesitate to ascribe the events of the natural world directly to God" - Frame, ST, p146.

He then cites many examples and writes one out in particular: - 

Psalm 65:9–11 (NKJV)

⁹ You visit the earth and water it, 

You greatly enrich it; 

The river of God is full of water; 

You provide their grain, 

For so You have prepared it. ¹⁰ 

You water its ridges abundantly, 

You settle its furrows; 

You make it soft with showers, 

You bless its growth. ¹¹ 

You crown the year with Your goodness, 

And Your paths drip with abundance.

Providence Efficacy - X

We can summarize the biblical teaching about the efficacy of God's rule in the following passages, which speak for themselves:

Psalm 33:11 (NKJV)

¹¹ The counsel of the Lord stands forever, 

The plans of His heart to all generations.

Psalm 115:3 (NKJV)

³ But our God is in heaven; 

He does whatever He pleases.

Psalm 135:6 (NKJV)

⁶ Whatever the Lord pleases He does, 

In heaven and in earth, 

In the seas and in all deep places.

Isaiah 43:13 (NKJV)

¹³ Indeed before the day was, I am He; 

And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; 

I work, and who will reverse it?”

Revelation 3:7 (NKJV)

...‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:

Providence Efficacy - IX

"But Scripture regularly teaches that when God elects, calls, and regenerates someone in Christ, through the Spirit, that work accomplishes his saving purpose.  When God gives his people a new heart, it is certain that they will 'walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them' (Ezek 11:20).  When God gives new life (John 5:21), we cannot send it back to him.  Jesus said, 'All that the Father gives me will come to me' (John 6:37).  If God foreknows (i.e. befriends) someone, he will certainly predestine him to be conformed to the likeness of Christ, to be called, to be justified, to be glorified in heaven (Rom 8:29-30)." - Frame, ST, p145.

Providence Efficacy - VIII

"When God intends to bring someone to faith in Christ, he cannot fail, although for his own reasons he may choose to wrestle long with a person before achieving that purpose." - Frame, ST, p145

He goes on to say in a footnote - 
"There are also situations in which people who appear to be elect turn away from God and prove themselves not to be among his people.  There are also cases in which God chooses someone without the intention of giving him the full benefits of salvation.  Judas is one example (John 6:70), as is national Israel, which, because of unbelief, loses its special status as God's elect nation."

Providence Efficacy - VII

"Scripture also speaks of the efficacy of God's purposes in our lives by the image of the potter and the clay:  as easily as the otter molds his clay, makes one vessel for one purpose, another for another, so God deals with people.  His purpose will prevail, and the clay has no right to complain to the potter about it." - Frame, ST, p145.

Providence Efficacy - VI

God always accomplishes his purpose, counsel, pleasure, or will:

Isaiah 46:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, 

And from ancient times things that are not yet done, 

Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, 

And I will do all My pleasure,’

Daniel 4:35 (NKJV)

³⁵ All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; 

He does according to His will in the army of heaven 

And among the inhabitants of the earth. 

No one can restrain His hand 

Or say to Him, “What have You done?”

Matthew 11:25–26 (NKJV)

²⁵ At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. ²⁶ Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.

Ephesians 1:4–5 (NKJV)

⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

Providence Efficacy - V

So the wise teacher reminds us - 

Proverbs 21:30 (NKJV)

³⁰ There is no wisdom or understanding Or counsel against the Lord.

Proverbs 16:9 (NKJV)

⁹ A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

Proverbs 19:21 (NKJV)

²¹ There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.

Providence Efficacy - IV

"When God expresses his eternal purposes in words, through his prophets, those prophecies will surely come to pass...God sometimes even represents his word as his active agent that inevitably accomplishes his bidding:

Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV)

 (As the fruitful rain,)So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please, 

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

 - Frame, ST, p144.

Providence Efficacy - III

"(God's) purposes will always prevail.  (For an example) against Assyria, he says - 

Isaiah 14:24–27 (NKJV)

²⁴ The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, 

“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, 

And as I have purposed, so it shall stand: 

²⁵ That I will break the Assyrian in My land, 

And on My mountains tread him underfoot. 

Then his yoke shall be removed from them, 

And his burden removed from their shoulders. 

²⁶ This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth, 

And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. 

²⁷ For the Lord of hosts has purposed, 

And who will annul it? 

His hand is stretched out, 

And who will turn it back?”"

 - Frame, ST, p143.

Providence Efficacy - II

"For his own reasons, God sometimes wishes to delay the fulfillment of his intentions, even over a period of years...Through that period, he may allow himself to suffer apparent defeats.  But...each apparent defeat actually makes God's eventual victory all the more glorious.  The cross of Jesus is, of course, the chief example of this principle." - Frame, ST, p143.

Providence Efficacy - I

"To say that the power of God's providence is efficacious is simply to say that it always accomplishes its purpose." - Frame, ST, p143.

What is a Miracle?

"In my judgment, the best definition of the word miracle is "an extraordinary manifestation of God's covenant lordship."" - Frame, ST, p124.

And with this definition in mind, I always think it is wonderful to remember that anyone who has saving faith in Jesus Christ has experienced a miracle.

We Rule in Community

So it is true that the world is ours because the world is Christ's.  We have been raised up in Christ to rule with Him in the heavenlies.  But that rule is not a ruling by individuals, each clamoring to see how much of the Wild West one can claim for himself.

Frame gets this right - 

"There should be among us no spirit of competition or jealousy, but a desire to 'stir up one another to love and good works' (Heb 10:24).
So we practice the faith always in community.  Our brothers and sisters play a vital role in building us up in Christ, and their needs have a special call on our compassion.  As we have a special responsibility to support our families (1 Tim 5:8), so we should use our resources and gifts to support our Christian brothers and sisters (Gal 6:10)." - Frame, ST, p115

Adults Receive the Inheritance

Frame writes, 

"Paul speaks of the Mosaic covenant as a time of imprisonment (Gal 3:22-23), captivity (v23), guardianship (v24).  To Paul, these restrictions leave little distinction between sonship and slavery (4:1-3).  But in Christ, we become free: - 'But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba!  Father!"  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.' - Gal 4:4-7."

He goes on, 

"The new covenant age is a time of maturity for the family.  We are no longer little children, but adults, though we need to be reminded of this (Gal 4:8-11).  That means that we are closer to our inheritance, the new heavens and the new earth." - Frame, ST, p114.

This is well said, but I don't think Frame goes far enough and so my postmillenial juices get flowing.  Think about this.  He is right.  We are no longer children.  We are adults.  We have moved past the time of guardians to the time of taking care of the world ourselves.  But what does that mean?  It is not that we are "closer to our inheritance."  Adults receive their inheritance when they come of age.  We have received the new heavens and the new earth.  They have become ours because they have all become Christ's and He has given us all things.

This is important.  We are not the church in exile, waiting for God to come and free us from this dark world.  We are the church triumphant, calling the nations to repentance and claiming them all in the name of Jesus.  We are like the first astronaut on the moon, planting the flag and declaring the whole thing "ours!"  This world is ours because this world is Christ's.

Masculine Imagery and God

Frame makes an important (to our contemporary time) case for the theological importance of masculine imagery for the God of Scripture (Frame, ST, pp111-114).  Summing up some of his main points - 

1 - The Scriptures overwhelmingly use male imagery in the revelation of God and we do not have the right to change the biblical concept as revealed.
2 - It is false to say that the ancients were trapped in their cultural view of patriarchy.  They were fully aware of female deities and divine coupling that occurred in the religions of the pagans surrounding them.  They distinctly rejected such a view or practice, but not out of ignorance of the possibility of its existence.
3 - The pagan religions with fertility goddesses and female deities produced a view of creation that was either pantheistic or made creation something divine, something that came forth from god.  The idea of "Mother Earth" or "Mother Nature" comes forth from this and is to be rejected outright.
4 - God's relationship to His people is regularly described in marriage terms where He is the husband and we (corporately) are His bride.  The implications of this require a right understanding of submission and authority, headship and responsibility.  To reverse such relationships or metaphorical thinking would terribly confuse an understanding of God's relationship to us as well as the standard, biblical teaching on the relationship of husband and wife.