Does the Bible teach that God is
sovereign over men’s wills? You tell me.
“you meant evil against me; but God
meant it for good,
in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Gen.
50:20)
“But
I will harden his
(Pharaoh’s) heart, so that he will not let the people go.” (Ex.
4:21)
“And
the Lord had given the
people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they
granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.” (Ex.
12:36)
“And
I indeed will harden the
hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will
gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
(Ex. 14:17)
“But
Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the Lord your God hardened his
spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him
into your hand” (Deut. 2:30)
“For it was of the Lord to harden
their hearts,
that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might utterly destroy
them” (Josh. 11:20)
“God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of
Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech” (Jud. 9:23)
“the
anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them
to say, ‘Go, number Israel and Judah.’” (2 Sam. 24:1)
“The Lord has put a lying spirit in
the mouth of all these prophets”
(1 Kings 22:23)
“that
the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of
Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout
all his kingdom” (Ezra 1:1-3)
“the Lord made them joyful, and turned
the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work
of the house of God” (Ezra 6:22)
“He turned their heart to hate His
people, to deal
craftily with His servants.” (Ps. 105:25)
“A man’s heart (will) plans his way,
but the Lord directs his steps.”
(Pr. 16:9)
“The king’s heart (will) is in the
hand of the LORD…He turns it wherever He wishes. (Pr. 21:1)
“Woe
to Assyria, the rod of My anger…I
will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people
of My wrath I will give him charge…Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart
think so” (Is. 10:5-7)
“For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?” (Is. 14:27)
“Who
says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and he
shall perform all My pleasure’” (Is. 44:28)
“I will give them one heart and one
way, that they may fear Me forever” (Jer. 32:39)
“I will put My fear in their hearts so
that they will not depart from Me.” (Jer. 32:40)
“I
will give you a new heart (will) and put a new spirit within you; I will take
the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart (will) of flesh. I
will put My Spirit within you and cause
you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and
do them.” (Ezek. 36:26-27)
“For
His dominion is and everlasting dominion, and His kingdom is from generation to
generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the
army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His
hand or say to Him, “What have you done?” (Dan. 4:34-35)
“For
truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered
together to do whatever
Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.” (Acts
4:27-28)
“And
we know that all things
work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
the called according to His purpose.” (Rom. 8:28)
“Why
does He still find fault? For who
has resisted His will?” (Rom. 9:19)
“But
one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one
individually as He
wills.” (1 Cor. 12:11)
“for
it is God who works in
you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13)
“Instead
you ought to say, ‘If
the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’” (Jas.
4:15)
“For
God has put it into
their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to
give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.” (Rev.
17:17)
When your position is totally Scriptural, it is difficult for anyone to argue against it. Great post.
ReplyDeleteThank you again for taking the time all those years ago to show truth. I am using this help my friend as well. Its not easy since she believes election means we wouldn't need Jesus. Im tackling this very carefully. God bless you brother.
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