The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, said, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” This tells us that God’s sovereignty is perfect and absolute, and that everything that is or happens, whether natural or spiritual, is predetermined by His sovereign will.
The works of the triune God, because they come from Him who is perfect and absolute, can only will works that are also perfect and absolute. What Christians often call the divine decrees are the first works of the triune God in eternity past. The divine works of creation, providence, and redemption come later as a result of the eternal decrees of God.
Some theologians and Christians alike refer to God’s decrees in the plural. But in fact, in Reformed theology, the divine decree is one. It is one act by the triune God. His knowledge is immediate, and His decree is also simultaneous with that knowledge. Human beings have a sort of consecutive knowledge, where one item builds on another to help us gain knowledge. God, on the other hand, knows everything at once and acts at once.
The prescribed law of God is usually translated in the Old Testament as ‘decree’ or ‘statute,’ depending on which translation of the Bible you use. In Hebrew, we most commonly find the male noun hōq and the female noun huqquâ translated as the prescribed law of God. Although many words are used in the Bible to describe some aspect of the Law of God.
In the New Testament, the Greek word πρόθεσις (pron. PRO-thes-is) is transliterated prothesis. It means a purpose, plan, or intent, and it is commonly used to describe an act of God. It is singular in nature.
The essence of God is not affected by His will. The essence of God is necessary; it is not dependent. So God’s will does not affect the essential nature of His being.
God’s will that generates His decree involves His own acts. His divine will at times includes the actions of His creatures, but they are nevertheless certain to occur. They are an obligation for humanity. God does not effectuate everything in His will, such as the sin of His creatures. He may make the sinful acts of His creatures certain to accomplish His purpose and His will. This part of His will, which involves the sinful acts of human beings, is referred to by some theologians as God’s permissive decree. These tolerant acts are certain, but they are allowed by God to come through His creatures, and God is not responsible for them, even though He permits them.
Christians must understand, though, that God’s decree to exercise His will is different from the actual exercise of His will. The decree is one thing in that it is always from God, but the execution of that decree is another thing. In other words, God gives the decree, and sometimes it is left to the free will of a human to perform one or more of the acts God has decreed, though God’s decree is still certain.
The decree or statute, or in other words, the prescribed law of God, is eternal because He issued it in eternity past. Also, the prescribed law of God is immutable and absolute. What God has decreed is based on His wisdom and will certainly come to pass, whether He does it or someone else does.
God’s law is based on His will, and it is certain to happen. But this doesn’t mean that God commits sinful acts. God is perfectly righteous and does not sin. However, He does permit man to choose to sin. He allows man to choose to do a sinful act under His decree, and at the same time, though he does not sin nor condone it, He controls the result of the human being’s sin.
But you say, ‘How can there be free will in human beings if God controls every act of His decree?’ Some people agree with this statement, and many disagree with this Doctrine of God’s Decree to the point that many Protestant denominations don’t even recognize it. Some believe that His decree is based solely on foreknowledge. So let’s talk about some objections to this doctrine.
Except for Reformed theology, most denominations do not recognize the doctrine of God’s decree. They feel it interferes with humankind’s free will. But God has issued His decree that all humankind, acting on humanity’s own free will, will nevertheless proceed in a way consistent with the decree of God. Humanity, therefore, continues to be responsible for its actions (Gen. 50;20, Joseph is speaking about his being sold into slavery by his brothers; 2:23, Peter speaking of Jesus being delivered up). God’s decree intends it for the ultimate good, although the actual effectuation of it is for evil purposes by human beings.
Fatalists say that God’s decree removes humanity’s requirement to do anything or to obtain salvation. This is not true because the decree is not spoken to humanity. God has ordained the means, and man uses those means. So the effectuation is determined by a human being’s free will, given the means available.
God is not the author of sin (James 1:13–17; 1 John 1:5). His decree is a single decree, as His knowledge is single. His decree is not based on His foreknowledge, though He certainly has foreknowledge, but His decree is based on His will. God doesn’t effectuate everything because He doesn’t sin and cannot do sinful acts. But human beings can and do, faced with the appropriate means, commit acts of violence and sin. God uses this to work for the ultimate good of humanity.
Although God’s decree is singular, Charles Hodge has otherwise written correctly that (1) The end or final cause contemplated in God’s decree, is His own glory. (2.) His decree has one eternal purpose. (3.) It is free and sovereign, determined by the counsel of His own will. (4.) His decree comprehends all events.[1],[2]
[1] Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. I (Hendrickson, 2016), p. 235.
[2] Bibliographic note: this article is based in part on reading from Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology, Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology, vol. I, The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, and The Bible (ESV).
