Does God cause events, allow events, or both?
Talk about a hot topic, quick-fire, fatalistic, deterministic, compatabalistic, libertarianistic, kind of discussion point. But besides all of the tertiary issues this discussion can cause, there must first be premises and accepted orthodox truth that is the root to the contemporary discussions today. That is, the Bible’s clear representation of God’s position in the world. A basis to understand God’s sovereignty.
God certainly acts within the world; however, it is knowing how God acts in the world that is important to this discussion. For Christians, the desire to know how God works and acts in His creation is high in demand. Therefore, it is important to understand that God acts and allows occurrences in the world because scripture shows God’s works and how he accomplishes that work: Without sin.
First, Jesus is the best example of both God working and allowing occurrences in the world. Jesus worked miracles and salvation during His time on the earth. Healing the blind, lame, and the dead showed Jesus working to prove Himself as God in the flesh. He redeemed man to Himself through His sacrifice and resurrection on the cross. Moreso, He took on flesh, allowing people to interact with him. More importantly, He was tempted just like every other person. And yet he did not sin.
Second, scripture proclaims God does not and cannot sin because He is holy and righteous (Jas 1:13). Committing sin would reveal God as untrue and not truly God, so he does not sin. Nor does he cause sin because He is holy. If he did, then he would ultimately be sinning because He would be the cause. God’s holiness means He consumes all things that are not in order and sets things in right order. He has every capability to do that now, yet human beings are still here in their sinful nature. God has not destroyed the world yet, so he allows people to live in sin.
Ultimately, God does work in the world, but he also allows things to happen. The incarnation of Christ in the flesh is one such example. God also does allow for people to live in sin, though he can destroy sin at any minute.
