HOW THE CHURCH DETHRONES GOD

[This article originally published here:  Wild Boar Issue #2 - July 1996 ]

This issue of The Wild Boar focuses on the sovereignty of God. Most Protestants have historically affirmed the words of the Westminster Confession: "God from all eternity did, by the most wise and Holy counsel of His own free will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass. This statement is a confession of belief in God's sovereign control of all things and all events. But this doctrine is much neglected in the contemporary church. Indeed, God's sovereignty is even denied by Christians today. In this issue of the newsletter, we will look briefly at a few of the ways in which God is "dethroned" in evangelical circles today.

First of all, the so-called the "Health and Wealth Gospel" clearly undermines the sovereignty of God. We are told by TV preachers that if we manipulate the spiritual power God has provided us, we will always be healthy, wealthy, and wise. Affliction and suffering are no part of the Christian life, we are told. The bad things in our lives are a result of sin or negligence. I wonder what these people would think if the United States were invaded by a military dictatorship. Would we believe, as Isaiah did, that it was by the hand of God? Would we believe that the terrible times brought by such a dictatorship could indeed be the answer to our prayers for reformation and revival? As God Himself declares, "I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD do all these things" (Is. 45:7). All affliction is not punishment. Job is a supreme example of this truth. Job's affliction was not punishment at all. It was an opportunity that a sovereign God gave to Job to bring glory to Him. Our Father sometimes teaches us though affliction, not because of wrong action, but because of a need for growth in Him. Job knew with certainty the depth of the truth of God's sovereignty in human suffering when he asked, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? (Job 2:10). To do otherwise is to deny the sovereignty of God.

Another way in which God is dethroned in the church is reflected in current trends in spiritual warfare. Encouraged by books like Frank Perretti's This Present Darkness, many Christians have fallen victim to the heresy of spiritual dualism, the view that good and evil, God and Satan, are two equal and opposite forces. But an important biblical truth is that God has a definite plan and purpose for the world (Job 23:13; Eph. 1:8-12; Psalm 115:3; Psalm 135:6; Isa. 46:10 and Acts 15:18), and He carries out that plan. God is always in total control of all things and is constantly at work in accomplishing His plan. (Hab. 1:1-11; Isa. 10:5,6). But, how often have you heard someone blame bad events on Satan and say that God had nothing to do with the event? How often have you heard people pray for Satan to be "bound" as if he had the power to thwart God's purposes? Everyone, even the devil, serves God's purposes. It is true that the servant may serve through gritted teeth and hate his servitude, but he is still a servant. The devil hates God and does every thing he can to work against God and still ends up serving His eternal purpose. The devil is the hardest working servant that God has! Yet to think of Satan as being able to hinder the plans and purposes of God is to deny God's sovereignty.

A third way God's sovereignty is denied today can be seen in the Church Growth Movement. Church leaders employ modern marketing techniques to "sell" the gospel as if it were a consumer product. An underlying assumption behind this practice is that bringing a person to salvation is just a matter of human skill and ingenuity. The Holy Spirit is unnecessary. It is no longer the case that God sovereignly has mercy on whom he has mercy, nor that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Rather, the marketing skills of the church are the power that brings people to Christ.

The church prays for revival today. But, unless we reaffirm the sovereignty of God both in word and practice, that revival will not come. True revival is preceded by reformation, and one of the things that needs reforming is how we understand the sovereignty of God.