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Turning the page…
Glory · Suffering & God's Will
Yes, and more than they would if God were not in control. Scripture holds God's sovereign plan and our real choices together without embarrassment: His plan undergirds our freedom rather than erasing it. He ordains the end, yet He calls us to choose, repent, and obey, and our choices have real consequences.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/do-my-choices-matter · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Acts 2:22-41
As you read: Peter holds both in one sentence: delivered up by God's determined plan, yet killed by the hand of lawless men.
22“Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in your midst, even as you yourselves know,
23him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;
24whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
25For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before my face, For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
26Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;
27because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
28You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29“Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
31he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.
32This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses.
33Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.
34For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand,
35until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
36“Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
40With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”
41Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.
Acts 4:23-31
As you read: The church's prayer: Herod, Pilate, and the nations did whatever God's hand and counsel had foreordained.
23Being let go, they came to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
24When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;
25who by the mouth of your servant, David, said, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
26The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take council together, against the Lord, and against his Christ.’
27“For truly, in this city against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
28to do whatever your hand and your council foreordained to happen.
29Now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness,
30while you stretch out your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy Servant Jesus.”
31When they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were gathered together. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Genesis 50:14-21
As you read: Joseph's brothers acted freely and wrongly, and God overruled their choice for good.
14Joseph returned into Egypt—he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him.”
16They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying,
17‘You shall tell Joseph, “Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.”
19Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.
21Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.
Joshua 24:1-28
As you read: God's people are summoned to a real, consequential choice, with no hint that it is a formality.
1Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.
2Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods.
3I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
4I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
5“‘I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in its midst: and afterward I brought you out.
6I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea.
7When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt: and you lived in the wilderness many days.
8“‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before you.
9Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you;
10but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand.
11“‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.
12I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow.
13I gave you a land whereon you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’
14“Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve Yahweh.
15If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”
16The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods;
17for it is Yahweh our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed.
18Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God.”
19Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh; for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins.
20If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.”
21The people said to Joshua, “No; but we will serve Yahweh.”
22Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are witnesses.”
23“Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel.”
24The people said to Joshua, “We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice.”
25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.
26Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh.
27Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all Yahweh’s words which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God.”
28So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.
Philippians 2:12-13
As you read: Paul joins the urgency of our effort with the reality of God's working, in the same sentence.
12So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.
Peter states it in a single verse: Jesus was 'delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God,' and yet was 'taken by the hand of lawless men,' crucified and killed. The church's prayer says the same: Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and Israel gathered together to do whatever God's hand and counsel had foreordained. Scripture does not see a conflict; it affirms both.
“him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;”Acts 2:23
““For truly, in this city against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your council foreordained to happen.”Acts 4:27-28
The worst act ever done, the murder of the Son of God, was at once foreordained by God and freely committed by responsible men who were held accountable. And God wove that evil into the very salvation of the world. Joseph said it of his brothers' betrayal: 'You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.' If God can do that with the worst free choice, your choices under His care are far from meaningless.
“him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;”Acts 2:23
““For truly, in this city against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your council foreordained to happen.”Acts 4:27-28
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.”Genesis 50:20
Joshua did not tell Israel their decision was predetermined but irrelevant; he commanded them: 'Choose this day whom you will serve.' Moses set life and death before the people and urged, 'choose life.' Peter's sermon at Pentecost did not say no one could decide; it called on them to repent and be baptized. The urgency of such calls only makes sense if our decisions are real and matter.
“If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.””Joshua 24:15
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants;”Deuteronomy 30:19
“Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”Acts 2:38
“The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”2 Peter 3:9
The farmer who sows to his flesh will reap corruption; the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, crying that He had longed to gather her children 'and you would not!' Ezekiel pleads with the wicked: 'turn yourselves, and live,' for God takes no pleasure in their death. Judgment and blessing treat our decisions as significant rather than as theater.
“Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”Galatians 6:7-8
““Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!”Matthew 23:37
“Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord Yahweh. Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the Lord Yahweh: therefore turn yourselves, and live.”Ezekiel 18:30-32
“For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”2 Corinthians 5:10
Paul puts our responsibility and God's work in the closest possible relationship: 'work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.' God's working is not the reason to slacken; it is the ground of our confidence and the power behind every good choice. He works all things for good for those who are called, even conforming them to Christ.
“So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.”Philippians 2:12-13
“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.”Romans 8:28
“For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.”Romans 8:29-30