Christian Theology and a Sovereign God

QUESTION: Christian Theology – Sovereign God

ANSWER:

Besides believing that God is a personal God and has communicated His nature to us, Christians believe that God is self-determining—that is, sovereign in regard to His will. God’s self-determination is described in Daniel 4:35: “And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What hast Thou done?’”

Christian Theology – God’s Patience and Faithfulness
In addition to being self-determining, the God of the Bible is moral. Proverbs 15:3 warns us that God distinguishes between good and evil, and that He is concerned with our morality. (See also Proverbs 5:21.) God’s uncompromisingly moral character is one of the most crucial aspects of His being. A true understanding of God’s absolute goodness leads us unerringly to the conclusion that each of us has an acute need for a Redeemer.

Long-suffering patience and faithfulness are also personality traits of God. God’s willingness to delay His judgment upon the Israelites when they worshipped the golden calf (Exodus 32:11–14) and His faithful promise to save the believer from eternal judgment (John 10:28) are prime examples of His patience and faithfulness.

Notes:

Rendered with permission from the book,Understanding the Times: The Collision of Today’s Competing Worldviews(Rev. 2^nd ed), David Noebel, Summit Press, 2006. Compliments of John Stonestreet, David Noebel, and the Christian Worldview Ministry at Summit Ministries. All rights reserved in the original.