For some time now I have been arguing that God is in control of all activity in existence, both on the human level and in the world at large. I would like to present a series of scriptures that support this worldview, all the while acknowledging that there may be other scriptures that reflect different views of the relationship between God and His creation.
It is naive and inaccurate to assume that any two devoted persons reading the holy scriptures will come to the same conclusion on theological matters. You only have to look at the countless scholarly debates on YouTube between believers of different denominations to realise one can be immersed in the scriptures, and be a believing Christian, but also be at odds with other Christians in terms of core doctrinal beliefs and scriptural understanding.
I don’t believe in the devil as a free autonomous being. This is because I believe God is omnipresent and therefore that there is no atom in existence which is not under God’s control. Everything that exists is part of God and therefore under God’s control. I reach out to God in prayer in the knowledge that He really is in control of everything that happens. Here are a few scriptures which back up this position:
“I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the Lord, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7)
Many Christians believe in a creature called Satan (or the devil) who is supposedly in control of all that we consider to be evil in the world. The above scripture clearly demonstrates that it is God who creates ‘disaster’ in the world and not Satan.
“Who can speak and have it happen,
if the Lord has not decreed it?
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?” (Lamentations 3:37-38)
Once again, the above scripture makes it clear that God is in control of all those things in life that we would consider ‘calamities’. Surely we must conclude either that God is in control of those things that we consider ‘evil’, or the rebellious Satan is in control of such calamities. The above scripture demonstrates it is God who is in control.
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)
Here is a scripture where Job is speaking to God and it clearly demonstrates God’s sovereign power over all events. The implication here is that no purpose of God’s can be thwarted, because He is in control of all things and therefore all events. This could not be the case if Satan was in control of certain purposes.
“Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,” (Isaiah 46:9-10)
God clearly has the power to accomplish any purpose which He wills. This would not be the case if there was a being in opposition to Him (the devil) that had power to act against God’s sovereign will.
“The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” (Proverbs 16:4)
It couldn’t be any more clear that God is in control of both those things that we consider ‘good’ and those things which we consider ‘evil’. God is omnipotent and omnipresent and is therefore in control of everything that happens.
We may find it hard to understand why God creates things that we consider to be evil as well as things that we consider to be good. But just because it is a difficult problem to respond to doesn’t mean we should deny the reality that we see evidenced here in Scripture. We know that God is working all things together for good for those who trust in Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), so we should always see evil in the light that God ultimately brings the good out of the bad. But this shouldn’t lead us to deny that God, as our creator and sustainer, is and always has been in control of all things, both ‘good’ and ‘evil’.
For a deep-dive into the divine sovereignty vs human free will problem, I recommend checking out my book God’s Grand Game, which is currently available for free. For further information, visit the Books page.
Perfect Chaos 
17 responses to “God’s Sovereignty in Scripture”
Hi Steven!
I happened on a site that deals well with topics on Christianity and uses Biblical references. I thought I should share it with you:
http://www.frimmin.com/faith/index.php
Also, from the web site, I found the info on the topic, “God is Love,” very reassuring and helpful:
http://www.frimmin.com/faith/godislove.php
Please let me know your thoughts on the way this web site deals with topics on Christianity.
Peace and love to all,
Dinos
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Hi Dinos!
Funnily enough I am familiar with this website. A few years ago I was doing some research into panentheism and found an excellent article on this website. I think the article was called ‘Biblical Panentheism’ but I had a look and I can’t seem to find it anymore. It may have been removed for some reason. I remember bookmarking the page because I thought it was helpful, but I have since deleted the bookmark!
I may revisit this site later today and read some other articles. Thanks for the links.
Peace and love to you,
Steven
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Hi Steven!
The article you seek is still there, I believe, but its title has been changed to, “God In All Things”. It is one of the topics in the Introduction:
http://www.frimmin.com/faith/godinall.php
I would be interested to know, in essence, is this the article you read before?
Peace and love to you,
Dinos
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Hi Dinos, yes this is the article! 😊
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Good post Stevey boy.
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Thank you, Gregg 🙂
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Hi Steven!
I thought you might find these two links of interest:
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Deuteronomy-6-5/
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Scripture/Parashah/Summaries/Ki_Teitzei/Goal_of_Law/goal_of_law.html
The first link was useful to me because I didn’t know the reference in the Torah that Jesus was quoting from.
The second link suggests a connection between the number of bones in our bodies and the number of positive commandments, but this is untrue. We have 270 bones at birth and some of them fuse together so that we have only 206 as adults. The number of negative commandments is, however, equal to the number of days in a year.
Peace and love to all,
Dinos
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Hi Dinos!
Thanks for the links. As you will see above I corrected the link in your comment.
As for your second link, I read the first section but I don’t find the idea of commandments being linked to bones in the body or days of the year very compelling!
God bless you friend,
Steven
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Hi Steven!
I found it quite amusing that people should try to make more of the scriptures than was needed and they got the number of bones in our bodies wrong anyway.
I have watched documentaries that suggest that the Bible has a hidden secret code that identifies the names of the prophets and their dates of birth and/or death. This belief extends beyond the Jewish faith. Do you have a view on this?
Peace and love to you,
Dinos
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Hi Dinos!
I must admit I don’t take these kinds of theories too seriously. Not that I deny it’s possible that God could have included some kind of secret code in the Bible. I just feel it’s highly unlikely He would do something like this.
Hope all is well, many blessings,
Steven
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Hi Steven!
Thank you for fixing the second link. I see now that I pasted it twice in my first attempt, and that the two pastings were joined together.
I’m sorry you found the site uncompelling. Close to the end of this written work is a paragraph,
God doesn’t need your help – you need His…
We are saved by God’s grace alone. We can add nothing to the work of Yeshua.
Peace and love to you,
Dinos
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Hi Steven!
Thank you for sharing your view about secret codes within biblical scriptures.
I agree with you. It’s enough that we have to interpret translations from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Why would God insert hidden code into what should be God’s revelation? We humans are always looking for patterns.
Peace and love to all,
Dinos
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[…] then we must be prepared to confess He is in control of both good and evil. I recently dedicated a blog post to discussing the evidence in scripture that this is so, and it seems Bridges is in agreement as he […]
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[…] https://perfectchaos.org/2016/07/24/gods-sovereignty-in-scripture/ (Yes, this is the third link for the same blogger – what can I say, he has some good points. Here he outlines some Bible verses that support God’s control over all good and evil.) […]
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