Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility in salvation

John 3:3 "Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

So what roles do God's Sovereignty and human responsibility play in the realm of salvation?  John chapter 3 is an amazing chapter, since it lays out before us the role each plays in the realm of salvation.  Divine Sovereignty and human responsibility are both taught in scripture.  Today we will lay out scriptures from this chapter that show God's Sovereign role and man's responsibility in salvation.  Remarkably, both these truths occur often in one verse!   

1. God in grace grants the gift of the new birth or eternal life, man by grace through faith receives the gift 
God's Sovereignty in Salvation: John 3:3 "Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (or "born from above", original Greek, KJV) he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Man is responsible to believe in Christ: John 3:15 "so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life."

God's Sovereignty in the New Birth: John 3:6-8 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7“Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Whosever believes has eternal life: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.


2. God gets the credit for anyone who believes and receives the gospel, man is to blame for rejecting and not believing the gospel
God sent Christ, since no one seeks Him John 3:13 “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.
Unbelief is the reason for condemnation John 3:18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Responsibility: Although people choose to come to the light of truth. John 3:21a “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light...."
Sovereignty: Yet people can only choose to come to the light of the truth because of God. John 3:21b ".....so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

3. Faith is the Divine gifting wherein people can decide to choose Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord and Treasure
Responsible to receive salvation: John 3:27a "John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing....."
Sovereignty makes it possible to receive salvation: John 3:27b ..."unless it has been given him from heaven."

God is Sovereign over everything, including salvation: John 3:35“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand."
Man is responsible to receive salvation: John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”   

The God of second chances

Exodus 32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”


How an opportunity with God was squandered
Moses the man of God had been atop Mount Sinai for quite some time.  It had been 50 days since the Lord had led the people out of Egypt across the Red Sea on dry ground.  They had witnessed the ten plagues and they had been given the Law of God.  They witnessed the thunder and lightening of God's very presence atop the Mountain.  They were poised and postioned by God to achieve great things for His glory.  Moses was ready to deliver to them the revelation of Grace - the Tabernacle.  All was set.  It should not had happened - but it did.

The people presumed that Moses had delivered them, rather than God through Moses.  According to other scripture passages, the people concluded in their minds that Egypt was way better than their life with God.  According to Psalm 106:20-21, they exchanged the God of glory for a calf made of gold, and they forgot the Savior who had redeemed them.  Nehemiah 9:17a states -  “They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; So they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt."  They squandered their chance with God.

Much like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3, the opportunity of the ages was set before the people.  Yet apart from relying upon the grace of God, man chose to rely upon his own strength.  The episode here at Sinai gives us a slice of what every human being has done - exchanging the truth of God for a lie. (Romans 1:24)

God had the right to Judge and destroy
What these people had done was tantamount to High Holy Treason.  They exchanged God's glory for a calf. (Psalm 106:20-21)  They rejoiced in their own works, rather than in His work. (Acts 7:41)  When Moses got word from God that this breach of covenant was taking place at the base of the mountain, he plead to God on their behalf to stay His hand of judgment.  Exodus 32 records for us that for Moses' sake and the sake of the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God did postpone judgment. 

As Moses ran down the side of the Mountain, Joshua, his faithful aid, said to Moses at the end of Exodus 32 that he could hear the sounds of shouting and victory.  Moses comments that it was not the sounds of war, but of worship.  Ironically what both men were hearing was true.  In the idolatry of false worship is the declaration of war from sinful man on Holy God.  True worship is when we are exalting God the King and declaring war on the enemy.  No doubt, like all humanity, the evidence was overwhelming in sentencing man to judgment and destruction.  Yet, as you read on into Eoxdus 32-34, you discover that on that day, it was Mercy that said no.  Why?

Why God chose to render mercy
Why did God choose to render mercy?  Three things were present at this scene in Eoxdus 32-34. 
1. A Mediator was present.  Moses, the man of God, pleads twice in this episode for God to spare the people of God. 

2. Marvelous promises were present.  As Moses pleads on the people's behalf, Moses reminds God of the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The Mosaic covenant demanded death to the sinner.  The Covenant of works in written form had been breached.  Moses' act of breaking those tablets only illustrated the point.  Yet Moses' appeal to the Covenant of Grace spelled out to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was the only basis for mercy. 

3. Mourning repentance was present.  The people, in the sight and in the words of God in Exodus 33:5-6, took off their ornaments.  They showed, at least outwardly, that they wanted to turn from their sin, and that they mourned over how they had regarded the one who had saved them.  Repentance, like faith, is a Divine gifting, wherein the decision to repent and faith occurs.  (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:25-26)  

Why God is the Second chance God today
The Mediator is Present



Exodus 32-34 illustrates for us how it is God is the second chance God.  Moses' mediation for the people pictures the ultimate mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1-2) 



The Marvelous Promise of the Cross, was accomplished
The promise of God to send His Son into the world to die for sinners was the ultimate basis for God being the second chance God without violating His justice.  2 Timothy 1:9 tells us that He saved us and called us with a Holy calling, not based on anything we had done, but by His grace which was granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began."   

Mourning Repentance must be presence to receive the second chance
Then finally, only when faith and repentance is present can the sinner have the means whereby God grants that second chance.  When the Spirit of God so moves in your heart, by His grace you are convinced to turn from your sin (repentance) and trust in Jesus (faith). 

God is not only the God of the second chance, He is the God of second chances.  For following salvation, whenever a child of God sins, 1 John 1:9 tells us that when we confess our sins, He is just and faithful to forgive us all our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  I'm so glad that even though I deserve the yes of justice and judgment, instead by His grace through faith and repentance I can stand confidently in the "No condemnation" of mercy. (Romans 5:1-5; 8:1) 

God's purposes and the problem of evil

Daniel 9:26b-27 and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. 27“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

God's purposes and plans will prevail despite predicted evil
This prophecy of Daniel gives the believer a great lesson on the nature and scope of God's Sovereignty.  In the final seven years or week of Daniel's prophecy (termed Daniel's seventieth week, also called the time of Jacob's Trouble in Jeremiah 30), the world at large and Jerusalem in particular will be tormented and tyrranized by the man of lawlessness, the Anti-Christ.  Today we want to understand that despite this predicted event, God wills the inclusion of free-actions and events of evil agents to accomplish His overall good purposes.  Romans 8:28 reminds us:  "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

God included evil in accomplishing His good purposes in the Old Testament
When we look at this prophecy, we may ask ourselves: why?  Evil and suffering, in ways that scripture reveals, but in ways we do not fully comprehend, factors into God's Sovereign plan.  Passages like Genesis 50:20-21 read -  20“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. 21“So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.  Those words came from the lips of Joseph who had been left for dead by his brothers and thrown into prison.  Yet God worked forth His Sovereign will to raise up Joseph to be "a savior" of his people. 

God included evil in accomplishing His good purpose in redemption
As we saw in yesterday's blog, God's purposes for Christ's first coming included the cross.  Acts 2:23-24 tells us - "23this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24“But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power."  God's will for history included the evil, sinful decisions of the Gentiles and the Jewish nation to crucify the Lord of glory.  God includes evil in His overall Sovereign will, and yet is not the author of evil. (Isaiah 45:7; 1 John 1:6-8)

God will include evil in accomplishing his purposes for history
If we take seriously the Sovereignty of God, predictions such as the coming of Anti-Christ and the final rebellion of humanity will not disturb the faith of the Christian? Why?  Again, though God wills evil to be part of His Sovereign plan, yet He is not the author of it.  If evil occured outside of God's knowledge, then we could not say that He is Sovereign.  The biblical notion of God's Sovereignty including evil, while not being its author, brings greater comfort than other frameworks which try to make evil a separate thing from God's will.   

Sovereignly God willed the existence of evil, even though He morally does not condone nor advocate its existence
All evil is directly accomplished by creatures - this much we know.  We also know that when Satan, or demons, or anyone commits an act of moral evil, they are acting responsibily and out of their own choice.  Though God includes evil in His Sovereign plan, that does not mean He is condoning it nor advocating it.  God's moral revealed will, the scriptures, clearly condemn the actions done by Judas in betraying Jesus.  Yet we know that such betrayal was within the Sovereign plan of God, otherwise Jesus would not had been handed over to be crucified.  Thus it is with what will take place in Christ's second coming.  The Anti-Christ will rise, however God's ultimate purpose is for Christ to be glorified and to defeat the kingdom of darkness and make all kingdoms to be under His glorious reign. (Revelation 11:15)

Final note of application: God permits what He hates in order to accomplish the good He intends
If we were to summarize everything we saw today, it would be this: God wills to permit what he hates in order to accomplish the good he intends.  Romans 8:28 states this for the Christian's individual life when facing evil and suffering: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Why the accuracy of God's word fuels faith and hope

Daniel 9:25-26a 25“So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26“Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing,


How accurate and trustworthy is the prophetic word?
Daniel gives us a detailed prophecy concerning the destiny of Israel and Jerusalem.  The events to which God decrees (His purposes) center around the first and second comings of Jesus Christ, and include the crucifixion and the yet to be revealed anti-Christ (God's predicted plans). 

According to the prophecy, the 490 year period of time is divided up into three main sets: 49 years (7 weeks);434 years (62 weeks) and the final 7 year period of time (1 week).  The first two sets encompass the time from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the week Messiah is cut off.  Those first two sets comprise 69 prophetic weeks or 483 years period of time (with each year containing 360 days).

As we saw yesterday, in history Artaxerxes Longimanus of Persia issued a decree to rebuild the wall and city of Jerusalem on March 14, 445 b.c.  This decree had reaffirmed an earlier decree made by his predecessor, Cyrus, in the book of Ezra in 539/538 b.c.  Nehemiah 2 records Artaxerxes decree and support of Nehemiah beginning the project.  According to Daniel's prophecy, from that decree until the cutting off of Messiah would be 69 total weeks (483 years).  Since the Jews reckoned their years by 360 day periods, we can work out Daniel's prophecy in terms of days:

69 prophetic weeks or 483 years x 360 days = 173,880 days.

Now when you count 173,880 days from March 14, 445b.c, you arrive at April 6, 32 A.D, the very day Jesus strode into Jerusalem in His Triumphal entry!  That very week Messiah was going to be cut off!  Those people who in the Gospel accounts were throwing their cloaks at Jesus' feet, shouting "Hosannah! Hosannah!" would be in a span of five days shouting "Crucify Him! Crucifiy Him!". 

The prophetic word leads you to the cross, and to the second coming
To know that God's word is this accurate pertaining to what took place in Christ's first coming, we know that the same level of trust can be given to what it says about Christ's second coming.  This is why the scriptures must be daily in our hearts and minds, because only through them can my faith be fed by the cross and my hope be fueled by His soon return. 

God's purposes, prophetic word and plans

 Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.

Yesterday we looked at the Bible's most amazing prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27.  These four verses provide the architecture for understanding how the God of the Bible brings forth His eternal purposes, through His prophetic word to yield success in the plans He executes here on earth.  Today I want us to consider those three main thoughts: God's purposes, prophetic word and plans.

God's purposes are what He declares to be the case in Eternity
In the verse above God makes a statement pertaining to the destiny of the people of Israel and their city - Jerusalem.  The purpose of the Bible's most incredible prophecy is set in six Eternal purposes God decreed in Eternity.  These purposes are purposes that will be accomplished, despite opposition from unbelieving man and Satan himself.  Note how the following six purposes are in two sets of three, wherein each set corresponds to what God decreed to be fulfilled in Christ's first coming and what will be accomplished in His second coming:

God's Purposes to be fulfilled in 1st coming      God's purposes to be fulfilled in second coming
1. To finish the transgression                            1. To bring in everlasting righteousness
2. To make an end of sin                                   2. To seal up vision and prophecy
3. To make atonement for iniquity                     3. To anoint the Most Holy Place

These six purposes, and the two events to which they refer, constitute God's Eternal purposes. 

God's prophetic word is what brings the Eternal purposes here to earth
Daniel writes that "seventy weeks" have been determined for the the city of Jerusalem and the people of Israel.  When he says weeks, He is referring to a prophetic week.  A prophetic week is seven years.  Each year is composed of 360 days (since the Jewish people used a Lunar Calendar, unlike our calendar of 365 days).  Thus the prophetic word is predicting a 490 year (70 week) period of time that God is setting aside to accomplish His purposes for His people, and ultimately the people of planet Earth.

As you go down through the prophecy, this time period is divided up into three portions, with emphasis upon three main predictions:
1. The first seven week period (49 years) begins with the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and ends with its completion.  We know from history (March 14, 445 b.c) and scripture (Nehemiah 2, decree by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah) when this began.  We also know from history (396 b.c) and scripture (the end of the Old Testament canon in Malachi) when the 49 years were complete.

2. The second set of 62 weeks (434 years) began from the completion of the city in 396 b.c up until the week Jesus was crucified in April of 32 A.D.  According to Daniel 9:25-26a, Messiah would be "cut off", thus bring the prophetic word to fulfillment.

3. The third set is 1 week (seven year period of time).  This has yet to occur and is spoken of in Daniel 9:26b-27.  The Anti-Christ and the final human/Satanic rebellion is predicted.  Though the prophetic word predicts rebellion, the Anti-Christ and judgment, we must recall that God's purposes, not the whims of Satan or man, determine which set of plans will conclude history.

God's plans are the success of His eternal purposes predicted by the prophetic word
When we read the entirety of Daniel 9:24-27, we may come away discouraged, since it seems to end on a bad note - with the anti-Christ, judgment and rebellion being predicted for the final week (Daniel's 70th week, final seven years of history).  However God's purposes for that time (compare above) will set the stage for the success of God's plan - namely Christ's return and conquering of Satan, the unbelieving world and judgment of the nations. 

I sometimes tell people to focus on two words: "although" and "yet".  Although the Anti-Christ, rebellion and judgment are indeed predicted, "yet" Christ's return, defeat of the enemy and bringing in of everlasting righteousness will be the final outcome.  The plans of God cannot be thwarted, since He is Sovereign. (Job 42:2; Ecclesiastes 3:15; Ephesians 1:11; Romans 11:33-36)  Indeed, God does use means such as human decisions and actions, both good and bad, to accomplish His ends. (Judas' betrayal, the Anti-Christ's rebellion, the bulk of humanity's unbelief in the final days) 

God's purposes and plans will be accomplished, in both your life and the world at large, thus be familiar with His prophetic word
However, as long as we focus ourselves on God's purposes and plans, we will understand why it is we can gain much hope in what outcomes God can bring for both the world's future and our own.  Jeremiah 29:11 states: "I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

The Bible's most amazing prophecy

Daniel 9:20-22  20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding.


An 85 year old Prophet is visited by an Angel
The year was 538 b.c.  The man who had been deep in prayer on behalf of his people was Daniel, the prophet whom you may reocognize as the same Daniel who spent time in the Lion's Den.  The one called "the man Gabriel" was an angel, the same angel who would 538 years later appear to Mary and Joseph, announcing the coming and birth of Jesus the Messiah. (Luke 1:19,26)  Daniel the prophet was in his mid-eighties when he began receiving this latest prediction of events yet to come. 

The most detailed prophecy, the most broadly-sweeping prophecy and the most amazing prophecy
The Bible contains over 600 general prophecies and 333 prophecies about Jesus Christ.  Out of those 900 total prophecies, the 333 that speak about Jesus Christ deal with what He would come to do in His first and second comings.  Of those 333 prophecies, 109 were fufliflled by Christ at His first coming, and 224 have yet to be fulfilled at His second coming. Then of those prophecies, Daniel contains three of the finest examples of predictive prophecies we will find in the Old Testament. 

Daniel 2 is the vision of the great statue of Nebuchadnzzer's dream, wherein is contained the summary of all History stretching from Daniel's day up until our own.  That prophecy is the most broadly sweeping prophecy.

In Daniel 10-12 we see an intricately detailed prophecy that is virtually unparalleled in the detail it gives to events that were centuries removed from its utterance.  I term that prophecy the Bible's most-detailed prediction.  Now Daniel 9:24-27 takes the best features of both those prophecies and gives you both broad-sweep of time and incredible detail, making it the most amazing prophecy of the Bible.

Why is Daniel 9:24-27 the Bible's most amazing prophecy?
There are a number of reasons why this prophecy is most amazing:

1. The prophecy's scope In that prophecy we see prediction of the time leading up to both Christ's crucifixion and second coming.  Though there are many prophecies in the Bible that speak on both subjects, Daniel's does so in the shortest amount of time and in the most detailed manner. 

2. The prophecy's extensive use in the New Testament The New Testament makes reference to Daniel 9:23-27 in explaining the second coming of Jesus Christ.  Jesus uses Daniel 9:27 to explain end time events in Matthew 24:15.  The Apostle Paul uses Daniel 9:24-27 as the background for his material in 2 Thessalonians 2.  The entire section of Revelation 13-19 could be taken as an extended Divine commentary on this maginificent prophecy in Daniel.  

3. The prophecy's incredible accuracy Daniel 9:24-27 predicts down to the very day when Jesus Christ was going to ride into Jerusalem, as well as the very week He was going to be crucified. There are other key events that this prophecy predicts down to the very day. If anything, this one prophecy demonstrates the Divine origin and accuracy of God's Word.

4. The prophecy's encouraging message Daniel 9:24-27 points to how God is going to bring an end to the final human and satanic rebellion at the end of all time.  When read in concert with other texts such as Daniel 10-12; Matthew 24-25; 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13-19, we discover that God's glory revealed at Christ's second coming will crush the Evil rebellion by satan and his minions.  Truly God has and will have the final word.  Christ will reign and the Bible's words and message will be vindicated. 

Christ our Satisfying King

Exodus 25:17-18 17“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. 18“You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat.

The Throne of God represented by the lid of the Ark of the Covenant
As we saw in yesterday's blog, the ark of the Covenant in the most Holy Place of the Tabernacle represents the very presence of God among His people.  Furthermore, we saw that the wood overlayed with Gold on this "Ark" pictured for us the Humanity and Deity of Christ.  Today we will be looking at the "lid" that was placed upon this "Box of God", the "Ark of the Covenant" which is referred to as the "Mercy Seat." 

Like the other furnishings and materials of the Tabernacle, the Mercy Seat tells us something about the dwelling place and character of God in the Heavenly realm.  Psalm 80:1 reveals that God dwells "between the Cherubim" in Heaven as He sits upon His throne.  Other passages, such as Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4-5 further reinforce this fact that the Lord God of Eternity is seated upon His Throne over and among the Angels.  Thus in addition to representing the presence of God among the people, the Mercy Seat demonstrates that God is the King over His people.

The Mercy Seat - the Place of Satisfaction
In the Hebrew the word translated "Mercy Seat" is the word "propitiation", which we could also translate to mean "satisfaction".  In Leviticus 16 we see the details surrounding the Jewish ritual and Festival of the "Day of Atonement", "Yom Kippur", wherein the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year to sprinkle blood upon the Mercy Seat. 

When God from Heaven would look down through that Mercy Seat on other days, He would see straight down into what was contained in the Ark of the Covenant - The tablets of the Ten Commandments, the Jar of Manna and Aaron's Rod that had budded.  These objects were testimonies of God's unending faithfulness and Israel's failure to follow the Law of God.  Thus God had ordained the Day of Atonement for the High Priest to sprinkle blood upon the Mercy Seat, so that when God looked through that "lid", He saw only the blood.  Thus His wrath would be satisfied and He would deem Israel fit to approach Him for another year. 

Christ - Our Satisfaction
The New Testament uses a word to refer to the wrath of God being satisfied - propitiation. 1 John 4:10 describes Christ as our "propitiation" or "satisfaction" - In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. For all those who by Grace through Faith believe on Him, satisfaction or "propitation" from the wrath of God is granted.  This word is taken straight out of the rituals surrounding the mercy seat - the place of satisfaction.  Other New Testament passages such as 1 John 2:2 speak of Christ's work on the cross (called "Atonement") as propitiating the wrath of God upon the whole world, prolonging the age of Grace to give everyone a chance to hear the Gospel. 

Thus the King who reigns came to be the One who would die for His unruly subjects.  Those who had committed High Holy Treason against this King would be offered immunity from Divine wrath.  The Mercy Seat, like the other parts of the Tabernacle, tells the Gospel in its fullest and most robust richness.  When I by grace through faith believe on Christ, His blood makes me fit to approach God for eternity!  Thank you Lord for the satisfaction of wrath payed for by Jesus, applied to all who by grace through faith believe on Him.