If God is Sovereign and Omniscient, am I still Responsible for my Sin?

• Well, didn’t God Create Sin, since He Created Everything? - Absolutely not! God is not the author of sin. God can never Sin and God can never initiate Sin. The Bible says that when God created the Universe and the first man and woman (Adam and Eve), He commanded them not to eat of one tree in the Garden of Eden. He told them that if they did, they would die. They were tempted by Satan, the Devil, and did disobey and ate of the fruit of that tree. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom 5:12). Their disobedience brought forth death for the whole human race. They began to die physically, and immediately died spiritually, and, unless saved, would experience eternal damnation on Judgment Day. James 1:13-15 informs us man is enticed by his own lust, and it is lust that “bringeth forth” sin, and sin “bringeth forth” death, which means, that in the final analysis, one has to pay for one’s sins in Hell. In Jam 1:18, it is indeed interesting that this same word bringeth forth, or begat, is the only hope that the human race has of being rescued from an inevitable rendezvous with the Judge of this universe. This of course is speaking about the will of God in causing us to be born from above. The bottom line of all sin results in destruction and ultimately, everlasting death in Hell. “Man's will or freewill” brings forth sin and everlasting death, where as “God's will” brings forth life everlasting. The Bible is crystal-clear: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”, as we are reminded of in Rom 6:23.

Jam 1:13-15 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

Jam 1:18 “Of his own will begat [bringeth forth] he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”

• God is absolutely Sovereign and Righteous - Three words starting with “omni-” (from a Latin word meaning “all”) describe some of the characteristics of Eternal and Infinite God – Omniscient (having infinite knowledge – all knowing); Omnipotent (having unlimited power); Omnipresent (being everywhere present). It is important for us to understand that God is absolutely sovereign and righteous. God’s counsel from eternity past is immutable – unchangeable. That is, He is the Absolute Ruler over everything, and everything He does is without sin. He answers to no one and is in total control of everything – including His salvation program for mankind – in order to accomplish His will for His honor and glory. God uses man's sinful intentions for His greater good. We see how God worked in the life of Joseph in order to save Jacob and his family and all of Israel, as well as all the land of Egypt. Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. They intended evil; they thought evil. They had no good intentions as they violently threw him into a pit. But God turned it to good. “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose,” it says in Rom 8:28. Joseph did not know what was going to happen when those Midianite traders just carried him in their caravan into Egypt. Joseph had to be in the dungeon to interpret his fellow prisoner’s dreams in order for God to trouble Pharaoh one night with a dream so that the butler who was released could then remember Joseph in prison. Then Joseph could be called unto Pharaoh, and then we see how God exalted him and elevated him. There was bread in Egypt all because Joseph had been taken through these circumstances. Jospeh has come to the realization that it was not his brethren that sent him hither, but God and that God had a purpose. Notice how this helps him to forgive his brethren, how it enables him to forgive them.

Isa 46:9-10 “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”

Gen 45:4-8 “And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. 5Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. 6For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. 7And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.”

Gen 50:20“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

• If God is Sovereign and Omniscient, am I still Responsible for my Sin? - Because God uses sinful intentions of man for His good, does not in any way diminish the fact that He hates sin and punishes sin, though good comes out of that sin. He absolutely will judge and punish all who are not His children in Hell. God never causes anyone to sin to achieve his purpose. For example, it was God's Will to lay the sin of His Elect on His Son Lord Jesus Christ and he used sinful intentions of Jews and Judas to carry out His Will, yet the Jews and Judas are accountable for their own sin in crucifying Christ. It is important to remember that sin has to be punished, and that man is completely accountable to God for his sin, since he was created in the image of God. As a just Ruler or Judge, God must punish sin, which the Bible defines as “transgression of the law” in 1 John 3:4. One of the chief characteristics of God is His perfect justice. This means that He is an altogether holy and righteous judge, as quoted in Acts 17:31: “... he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man [Jesus Christ] whom he hath ordained;...”. For all His Children, he has provided a substitute as quoted in 2 Cor 5:21, “For he [God the Father] hath made him [God the Son] to be sin for us [the elect], who [Christ] knew no sin; that we [the elect] might be made the righteousness of God in him [Christ]”. Simply put, God is indisputably in control of life and death, Heaven and Hell, and is in control of this universe which he brought into existence by His Word.

Isa 53:10 “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him [Jesus Christ]; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11He [God the Father] shall see of the travail of his [God the Son] soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many [his Elect]; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

Acts 2:22-24 “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”

John 6:70-71 “Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.”

John 13:2 “And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;”

Luke 22:21-22 “But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. 22And truly the Son of man [Lord Jesus Christ] goeth, as it was determined: but woe [eternally damned] unto that man by whom he is betrayed!”

Acts 1:16-18 “Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. 17For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 18Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.”