Of Free Will God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that it is neither forced, nor, by … Nevertheless, the authors of this confession denied such a claim. That language is certainly problematic, since we usually associate cause with blame. Not at all. 1 1 John 3:4.Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. The 1646 Westminster Confession of Faith is highly esteemed among Calvinists. There are various advantages and disadvantages among the different terms. Of Free Will. I. WESTMINSTER CONFESSION OF FAITH ... but wholly on God (who is truth itself), the author of it. Words are the theologian’s tools. . Despite this denial in a major Reformed confession, Arminians regularly charge that Reformed theology makes God the author of sin. I. In his last three sermons, John Piper has made some provocative statements about God’s sovereignty over sin. The confession is very clear, as is Scripture, that God permits evil to exist for a time, but that He is never the first cause of evil (WCF 5.4). Copyright © 2011 by Timothy Zebell. God is holy, so God cannot be responsible for creating and causing sin. . Westminster Confession of Faith. The first question which springs immediately to mind is, “How is God’s binding His creation to sin a good thing?” Unfortunately, the writers of The Westminster Confession of Faith offer no explanation to this question. This is part 1 of a 4-part series on how to talk about God's sovereignty over sin. . Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Now theologians have found it difficult to formulate in general terms how God acts to bring about those sinful actions. Many of these are extra-scriptural terms; none of them are perfectly easy to define in this context. The Westminster divines were careful, however, to fence off the doctrine of God’s eternal decree from any kind of fatalism. But as we saw [in chapter 8] libertarian freedom is incoherent and unbiblical. The Westminster Confession. “What I have maintained about the diversity of causes must not be forgotten: the proximate cause is one thing, the remote cause another.” (Calvin. God is not, in fact, really like the little boy staring through the candy shop window. decree with respect to everlasting state of men and angels Do we want to say that God is the “cause” of evil? 3. This makes us by nature children of wrath. We’re on a mission to change that. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that is neither forced, nor by … if someone makes a cake they do not become a cake themselves. Let us consider some of those that are most frequently discussed. . Regarding the issue of sin, how it came about, and who is responsible, The Westminster Confession of Faith says: The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest themselves in his providence, that it extendeth itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men; and that not by a bare permission, but such as hath joined with it a most wise and powerful bounding, and otherwise ordering, and governing of them, in a manifold dispensation, to his own holy ends; yet so, as the sinfulness thereof proceedeth only from the creature, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.[1]. James 4:17.Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Thus, every sinful act was predetermined from eternity past and is in perfect agreement with what God willed and ordained. One can make something which is entirely different from oneself. I agree with you that Calvinists contradict themselves and are inconsistent with their own theology. A Biblical Look at the Argument of Second Causes. 5. I.God from all eternity, did, by the most wise andholy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordainwhatsoever comes to pass;[1] yet so, as thereby neither isGod the author of sin,[2] nor is violence offered to the willof the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causestaken away, but rather established. [I]t seems that if God causes sin and evil, he must be to blame for it. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable;1 yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God… God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. What is predestination? He cannot sin, … Yet he does so in such a way that he is neither the author of sin nor does he obliterate the reality of secondary causes (WCF 3.1). . Sin is transgression and lack of conformity to God’s law (WCF 6.6, WLC 24, WSC 14). *[3] It was man, not God, who actually performed the action, so God’s hands are clean. Q: What is sin? God's sovereignty would include the means God allows for wickedness to happen in our world. ... God is not the author of sin nor does He offer violence to the will of His creatures. What other conclusion could be reasonably drawn? e.g. What other conclusion could be reasonably drawn? How can this be? The inherent contradiction in this statement is apparent. God cannot be the author of sin because he is entirely holy and righteous. The plight of all humanity is that we are lovers of sin and sons of disobedience. The Westminster Confession of Faith makes bold statements about God’s ordaining all things after the counsel of His own will from eternity past, binding His creatures to that will, and ordering or governing His creatures to accomplish His will. So in bringing sin to pass he does not himself commit sin. It then directly contradicts these claims by stating that God neither authors those actions, nor approves of them. Of Free Will. Your email address will not be published. "Of God's Eternal Decree". The Westminster Confession of Faith is still used as an expression of sound biblical doctrine. A third question which comes to mind is, “If God’s creatures act in a way which is obedient to God’s predestination, wisdom, binding, ordering, and governing, then how can God not approve of those actions? But it is equally clear … They are logically inconsistent. . In fact I shall argue later that it provides us a reason to deny that. Therefore, there has been much discussion among theologians as to what verb should best describes God’s agency in regard to evil. Your email address will not be published. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that is neither forced, nor by … According to this confession, God “binds” and “orders” in His “governing” of all things including “the first fall” and “all other sins of angels and men,” but is not the “author or approver of sin” because God is “holy and righteous.” God is said here not to merely grant His creation permission to sin, but that God binds them to sin. . So theologians need to give some careful thought about which of these terms, if any, should be affirmed, and in what sense. God is holy, so everything God wills and desires must be holy. Nevertheless, the authors of this confession denied such a claim. Westminster theology is a doctrine of hope and confidence. This Westminster Confession of Faith Study Workbook: Teacher’s Manual provides ... God is sovereign over all yet not the author or doer of sin? Nevertheless, we are told that God is not the author of those actions. The confession states that the fall and all other sins were foreordained by divine providence; however, the confession also teaches that sin "proceedeth only from the creature, and not from God". Dr. Frame and P&R Publishing have graciously given us permission to quote his Doctrine of God at length. The Westminster Confession refuses to give ground on either of these truths because both are taught in Holy Scripture. . . All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. Lest there be confusion over language: the “author/story” model of God’s relation to creatures, which I [will advocate later], does not make God the “author of sin” in this sense. Nothing about that model implies that God commits or approves of sin. Consequently, John Calvin concludes that if God wills and desires a sinful action, He must have a good and holy intention for it. Chapter III. The Bible instructs believers to examine themselves, but does it tell us to what extent or how often we should question our salvation? The following is from The Doctrine of God, Chapter 9, “The Problem of Evil,” by John Frame. Nonetheless, Calvinists miss this connection. God has used His almighty power, wisdom, and goodness to bind His creatures to act in a sinful way. In their view, nothing less than libertarian freedom will serve to absolve God from the charge of authoring sin. It is rarely defined, but it seems to mean both that God is the efficient cause of evil and that by causing evil he actually does something wrong.1 So the [Westminster Confession] says that God “neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin” (5:4). The Westminster Confession itself explains that God ordains whatsoever comes to pass. Desiring God has received a batch of emails in response—some more heated than others!—questioning (or outright disagreeing with) God’s sovereignty over sin. The term authors is almost universally condemned in the theological literature. The Westminster Confession of Faith appears to explicitly state that God is the author of sin. The headings are added; the paragraphs are Dr. Frame’s. The following piece may be the least known, but most important, short document of the Westminster Assembly. Instead, they repeatedly contradict themselves. Start studying Westminster Confession of Faith. The Westminster Confession and Catechisms speak of sin in two ways: the definition of what sin is and the sinful condition of humanity. He orders and governs their actions. The Westminster Confession of Faith in Modern English1 Prepared by Dr. James A. Hughes Contents ... the result that neither is God the author of sin nor is the will of the creatures violated, nor is the liberty or contingency of the creatures taken away, but rather established. For further clarification of this issue, let us examine another portion of The Westminster Confession of Faith, “God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin; nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.”[2]. Of God's Eternal Decree. God's sovereignty in the case we are considering has been displayed most prominently with the fact of His choice to create creatures with free will. 1. Is God disapproving of His own wisdom, will, and governing?” Sadly, we are again not given an answer. If God had a holy motive why Jesus alone should fulfil the Law {total obedience} then God might have a holy motive to withhold from man the grace to obey His Law/command. The excerpts below (and in the next 3 parts of this series) are not available elsewhere on the web. If you get some help here, we’d highly recommend purchasing The Doctrine of God. We’ve found that John Frame provides some significant help on how to talk about God’s sovereignty over sin. This confession of faith clearly states that the fall of mankind, the rebellion of Lucifer and his followers, and every sin of man occurs because of God’s almighty power, wisdom, and goodness. It is an integral supporting document in the explanation of their doctrines. Some initial possibilities: authors, brings about, causes, controls, creates, decrees, foreordains, incites, includes within his plan, makes happen, ordains, permits, plans, predestines, predetermines, produces, stands behind, wills. We are told that everything that happens—good or bad—is part of God’s will. “Let no one say when he is tempted,” writes James, “‘I am being tempted by God,’ Chapter III "Of God's Eternal Decree" God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of … None of this completely resolves the mystery, of course. Covenant theology, Christ's mediation and … To deny this, or to charge God with wickedness on account of it, is not open to a Bible-believing Christian. I. And as we saw [in chapter 4] God does bring about sinful human actions. Westminster Confession (A.D. 1647) by Matt Slick | Nov 25, 2008 ... yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin; nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. Not only this, but God has determined every action in advance. Then, with another breath, they say that God is holy, righteous, and is not responsible for sin. THE WESTMINSTER STANDARDS ON SIN. . First, they insisted that God is holy and righteous while decreeing sin. Of Free Will. Unfortunately, even though they say and write such blatant contradictions in the space of only a few sentences, most of these contradictions are ignored or missed. I. Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus Through the Spiritual Disciplines. The Westminster Confession of Faith provides us with a beautiful example of the contradiction inherent in the theology and writings of Calvinists. With one breath they say that nothing happens outside of God’s will, that God is in control of all things, that He alone is sovereign, and that He, according to His almighty power, wisdom, and goodness, has bound or compelled man to sin. But I am not conflating the two (nor does the Westminster Confession of Faith). Ch3 of the W.C.of F. says "neither is God the author of sin". God does harden hearts, and through his prophets he predicts sinful human actions long in advance, indicating that he is in control of human free decisions. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. That man is responsible for his wicked actions is made so plain from the beginning of the Bible to the end that it is quite useless to cite individual proof texts. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that is neither forced nor by … To support this claim, they rely upon the argument of second causes. How can we be expected to accept this? Both cannot be true. The We stminster Confession of Faith Chapter I Of the Holy Scripture I. The Westminster Assembly requested the English civil Parliament to suppress this blasphemous book. God does bring sins about, but always for his own good purposes. The confession affirms both because the Bible teaches both, but it does not attempt to reconcile them completely, only to declare what the Bible declares without diminishing one truth in favor of another. The second way we might overturn the Westminster statement, is addressing the Greek word they are renderin in the Westminster Confession as “Heaven.” While it may not preclude the understanding of Westminster, Jesus actual statement is that the thief will be with him in Paradise. Secondly, a typical mind will instantly link man’s being unchangeably bound by God’s almighty power to act in a sinful way with God’s being responsible for sin. 1 So the [Westminster Confession] says that God “neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin” (5:4). God from all eternity did by the most and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin; nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. Of the Holy Scripture; Of God, and of the Holy Trinity ... yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. Despite this denial in a major Reformed confession, Arminians regularly charge that Reformed theology makes God the author of sin. He is not the author of evil and does no malevolence, for this would be contrary to His holy nature. God foreknows and foreordains everything, including evil; nevertheless, he is not the author of sin. I. 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