Defining Our Terms: Sovereign

In my humble opinion, fewer words have been as misunderstood and misapplied as the word sovereign. In fact, the fruit of this confusion is Reformed theology, a belief system wherein God has predestinated certain individuals to eternal death, and others for eternal life... all before they've even left the womb.

Oftentimes, proponents of Reformed theology (and its subgroup, Calvinism) will appeal to God's sovereignty in order to justify their doctrines. But the word sovereign doesn't even appear in the King James Bible! Furthermore, if we search up the word in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, here are a handful of the definitions that show up:

• "one possessing or held to possess supreme political power or sovereignty" (Noun)
• "one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere" (Noun)
• "superlative in quality" (Adjective)
• "unlimited in extent" (Adjective)

(Note that sovereign can be used as a noun or an adjective.) Even if we go back roughly 200 years and crack open an older edition of Webster's Dictionary, here's what appears:

• "Supreme in power; possessing supreme dominion; as a sovereign ruler of the universe." (Adjective)
• "A supreme lord or ruler; one who possesses the highest authority without control. Some earthly princes, kings and emperors are sovereigns in their dominions." (Noun)

I encourage you to look up all of the definitions for yourself to see if any of them support the idea that God has predetermined a select group of individuals for eternal life, and others for eternal doom. Instead, the sovereignty of God should be understood as His unparalleled authority and power over everything in the universe. There is no one above God and He will always get the final word! In view of such claims, consider the following declarations from Scripture:

• " I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" (Revelation 22:13).
• "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen" (Jude 24-25).
• "Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding" (Daniel2:20-21; emphasis added).

Regarding the reality that it is God who sets up and removes kings, Costi Hinn (a well-known Calvinistic pastor and speaker) said that,

"He controls everything and everyone, including earthly sovereign authorities like kings and presidents and prime ministers."

But is that what we find in Scripture? The sovereignty of God can be seen in that he installs and takes down human rulers. That much is true. But is it true that He controls everyone? Mr. Hinn pointed to Proverbs 21:1 as justification for such an idea:

"The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."

I believe that this writer masterfully called attention to the inconsistency between Mr. Hinn's claim and what we do find in Proverbs 21:1:

"If God had decreed every thought, word and deed, including every desire and intention of the heart, then what would God now be turning? Would Calvinism have God turning His own decree? The passage doesn’t make any sense unless there is freewill, in which under divine influence, a new course is being directed."

Moreover, there are numerous passages of Scripture that flatly contradict the idea that God controls everyone. Here are a few that I would encourage you to study:

• "They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind" (Jeremiah 19:5; emphasis added).
• "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers" (Acts 7:51-52; emphasis added).
• "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9-10; emphasis added).

Was it God's will for Jewish children to be burnt alive in the name of the false god, Baal? He allowed that to happen, yes, but murdering children is clearly not God's will (Exodus 20:13, Jonah 4:11). And as Stephen noted in the Book of Acts, the descendants of those who sacrificed their own children were also guilty of resisting the Holy Ghost (and they themselves were about to murder Stephen).

Think about this for a minute: How could they be guilty of resisting the Holy Spirit if God had controlled them to do just that? Also, why did Jesus teach that we should pray for God's will to be done "in earth" if His will is already being done here?

It is scriptural to say that God is in control. His plans and purposes are not at the mercy of men, animals, or angels. But it is unscriptural to say that God's will is always being done– just turn on the news for 30 seconds and you'll see what I mean! For right now, though, let's follow the Reformed train of thought to its conclusion:

"God wills all things that come to pass…God desired for man to fall into sin. I am not accusing God of sinning; I am suggesting that God created sin."

Those words were penned by R.C. Sproul Jr. in his book Almighty over All, and if that isn't a total slander against the character of God and the testimony of the Bible, I don't know what is! Sadly, he isn't the only person to make such a blasphemous claim like that. (And yes, saying that God is the author of sin is a blasphemous denial of the biblical record.)

In an article published by Crossway (the ministry behind the English Standard Version of the Bible), author Mark Talbot argues that God "... even brought about the Nazis’ brutality at Birkenau and Auschwitz as well as the terrible killings of Dennis Rader and even the sexual abuse of a young child."

But what does the Bible say?

• "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints" (1 Corinthians 14:32-33; emphasis added).
• "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed" (James 1:13-14; emphasis added).

By the way, Mr. Talbot's words were included in John Piper's book, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God. Mr. Piper is an immensely influential Christian writer and conference speaker who apparently agrees with that horrific claim! But the words of Mr. Sproul Jr. and Mr. Talbot are only two examples of the bad fruit that results from misunderstanding what the word sovereign means.

Instead of reading a particular theological system into the text of Scripture (i.e., Reformed theology) or appealing to extrabiblical creeds and confessions, let's build our thinking on God's infallible Word. Looking at a world that is filled with suffering and death should remind us that things weren't always this way (Genesis 1:31). By the same token, however, we can look forward to the age of righteousness, peace, and justice that Christ will usher in when He sets up His kingdom on Earth (Isaiah 11).

Thanks for reading,

Angel