In a prior post, we considered some specific texts in which we encountered the tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. We saw that neither is limited. Those passages were specific. But in the same vein of reasoning, we will consider some of the broad motifs and themes in the Old Testament, which also portray the tension between God’s freedom and sovereignty yet the responsibility of humanity.
The first thing to say is that God commands people and exhorts people. Adam and Eve were told not to eat the fruit in the garden from one particular tree. The law handed down through Moses contains numerous commands. Some commands are moral in nature, others cultic. Some pertaining to civil legislation, or even specific details about tabernacle construction. Broadly speaking, all people are called to seek the Lord. This theme certainly presupposes responsibility on the human agent.
Secondly, the Bible speaks of people obeying, believing, and choosing. Abraham is a prime example of this. He is the man of faith because he believes God and trusts in his promises. After the law is handed down through Moses, all the people of God agree to obey the law. The blessings and curses are put before them, and with their good sense of judgement, they reckon the blessings are worth pursuing.
Thirdly, the Bible is littered with the disobedient acts and rebellious works of mankind. People corrupt themselves and do ‘what is right in their own eyes.’ This would make no sense if people were not at all responsible for their actions.
Related to the rebellion of humanity is their judgement. They are responsible to God for their disobedience. God’s judgement presupposes human responsibility. That is inescapable.
Fourthly when people pray, their prayers are not for nothing. Their prayers aren’t just for show. Nor are people’s prayers automated scripts which are pre-programed. They are genuine pleas and calls from human desire. This relationship between humanity and God demonstrates a kind of agency and responsibility. Is not the interaction of machines but the interplay of personalities, as Carson puts it (p.22).
On the other end of the spectrum, or we might say, pulling on the other end of the rope is God’s sovereignty.
Firstly, God is spoken of as the creator, the possessor, and the ruler of all things. In no way does human responsibility or volition limit these matters or bring some kind of contingency to God. God creates without permission and obstruction. He is the owner of all things. He is the king of all things, ruling all the earth. He is sovereign, the sovereign. Everything is under his control in creation, whether that is the weather, calamity, or prosperity. There is not another force at work in creation called “chance”. The omnipotent God is behind it all. There is nothing purposeless or aimless in the world. As Carson puts it, “it is difficult to conceive how the Lord could control even the details of history unless he controls the minds and emotions of humanity.” (p.27)
Secondly, God elects people for salvation. Some people really get in and knot about this point, but you can’t avoid the language without doing linguistic gymnastics. You cannot escape the fact that God chooses whom to save. God chooses Isaac and not Ishmael. He chooses Jacob and not Esau. He chooses Moses to lead his people then he chooses Aaron to be the priest. He chooses David to be the king. Even broader, he chooses Israel as a nation, not because they were any better than anyone else or any other nation, but simply out of his divine will. The other side of this coin is that the Lord chooses not to save others. The Pharaoh is the archetypal example. Although he hardens his heart, it is equally said that the Lord hardens his heart.
Again, much like the prior post, we’re not called to reconcile this tension, but to live with it. To acknowledge both. We especially feel this tension when we undergo some sort of struggle or suffering. In fact it could be said, that is pretty much the context in which the biblical tension is written. The Israelites are not pondering the metaphysical realities and tensions between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility for the sake of it. The context for much of these passages and themes is the context of suffering.
I would chance a guess (not that chance exists), that suffering will be the context in which we will often ponder this tension as well. In the context of suffering then, we may find great comfort knowing that the Lord is sovereign and in control. When matters of human sin are involved, and we are victims, we must remember that God will hold them accountable and that they are responsible for their actions. When events are beyond human control (such as a natural disaster), again, we would do well to remember that this world was broken by the fall of Adam and Eve and their wilful disobedience of God, for which all of humanity are now involved in, yet the Lord still rules over all things.
This will be the context in which we will often face these tensions. Surprisingly, having a firm framework of ‘compatibilism’ as Carson coined it (if he coined it originally, I’m not sure) would do us well. It does us well because that’s what the Bible presents us with, and in a dark place, the word is a lamp for our feet.
Carson, D. A. (2002). Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Biblical Perspective in Tension. Wipf and Stock Publishers. (p.18-38)
Bigvai and Shiphrah 