The Big Question So, this is the big question that has stumped theologians and divided Christians. If God is sovereign and predestines, then what freedom do we have to make choices and thus what responsibility do we have for our actions. This is a question we will come back to in more detail when we… Continue reading Predestination or free will?
Category: Theology
God creates, sustains, judges and redeems
We follow on from saying that God wills and decrees to look at some of the specific things he wills and decrees. We are going to look at these in far more detail later on when we come to look at Creation, Humanity and New Creation. However, I want to just highlight those three things… Continue reading God creates, sustains, judges and redeems
God Predestines
So, if God is sovereign and eternal and if God’s will always comes to pass, then doesn’t that lead us to a particularly thorny question? The topic of Predestination has been one of the most explosive and divisive issues in church life. It famously led to quarrels between John Wesley’s Methodists and other leading Evangelicals,… Continue reading God Predestines
God wills and decrees
God is active and working. We know that from what Jesus tells us in John 5: 17. When Jesus worked here on earth, healing and teaching, casting out demons, raising the dead, he was doing what his father did. “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what… Continue reading God wills and decrees
The goodness and greatness of God: Implications for spiritual warfare
If God is completely sovereign and knows all things, past present and future, then is spiritual warfare real? Or to put it the other way round, given that the Bible talks about spiritual warfare and given our experience in life of an ongoing struggle between good and evil, doesn’t this challenge our understanding of God’s… Continue reading The goodness and greatness of God: Implications for spiritual warfare
God’s Goodness and Greatness: Implications for prayer
Another response to God’s character should be a lively prayer life. In fact, this is part of worship. Prayer is an obvious response to God’s goodness. God is love and so prayer is about a relationship with him, knowing God and knowing that he loves to hear us. We can be confident that a good… Continue reading God’s Goodness and Greatness: Implications for prayer
God’s goodness and greatness: Implications for worship
Our first response to God’s goodness and greatness is worship. In fact, Calvin says that our first priority in life is to seek to be worshippers: “We should consider it the great end of our existence to be found numbered among the worshippers of God.”[1] We exist in a Christian culture where worship is often… Continue reading God’s goodness and greatness: Implications for worship
God in the dock: objections to his greatness and goodness (part 2)
The second big objection to God’s goodness and God’s greatness we are going to look at is atheism. This says that if we have a problem with saying that God is good or that God is great, then the better option is to deny both: to say that God is neither good nor great. In… Continue reading God in the dock: objections to his greatness and goodness (part 2)
God in the Dock – challenges to His greatness and goodness (Part 1)
We can choose to believe either truth or lies about God. Earlier, we named the lies: that God is not good and/or God is not great/ sovereign. That if there is a God, then he must be either infinite and all powerful, but therefore distant, impersonal, disinterested or even cruel, but certainly not loving, good… Continue reading God in the Dock – challenges to His greatness and goodness (Part 1)
God is holy
What happens when you put God’s goodness and sovereignty together? The answer is that you get a sense of God’s glory and holiness. What is holiness? Well, it is something to do with being distinct and different. When applied to people and objects, it means they are set apart as special, precious, God’s personal possession.… Continue reading God is holy
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