God needs no defenders. He needs nothing to justify His sovereign acts in this world. He is the Creator, the Shaper, and the Molder. He is the Almighty. Being the Almighty, He has absolute control over all that He has created. There is nothing He can do that is unrighteous - all of His acts are Righteous acts. There is no law that can judge Him as unrighteous as He is the law giver. He has declared the end from the beginning and has done, is doing, and will continue to do all His pleasure (Isa 46:10). All the events of this world come to pass only because the Lord has decreed them according to His pleasure. Those who admire the Sovereign right and Genius of the Lord to rule all of His creation as He pleases see no need to defend this proposition. But there are some who claim to rejoice in God's absolute sovereignty yet perceive the need to defend Him and justify Him before the world.

     The Lord is Sovereign in Salvation. Before the foundation of the world, He elected some to salvation and others to damnation not because He foresaw that some would do good or bad, but because it pleased Him (Rom 9:11). Some modern day religionists see no reason to defend the things they perceive to be "good" such as Sovereign election in Christ. But while they may pay lip service to the election of men unto salvation, they often attempt to justify God's decree concerning reprobation or simply deny it altogether. Why are men ultimately damned to hell? The obvious answer to this question given to us in His Word is because the Lord determined it according His pleasure. There is no need to justify this answer! It is true that men are sinful and deserving of eternal condemnation. But why are they sinful? Why were they made to be sinful? Was it not because it pleased the Lord that He would be glorified in the reprobation of men? This is not a hard question to answer, and any attempt to qualify it is to dishonor the Creator in His Sovereign Rule over all that exists.

Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Rom 9:21-24)

     Let us tremble in reverence before the Lord.  Let us not fail to speak the whole truth - even those things that may make us uncomfortable.

     Grace and Peace,
     Brandan