Walking Through Westminster, WCF 5.4-7

Westminster Confession of Faith 5.4-7

IV. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest themselves in His providence, that it extends itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men; and that not by a bare permission, but such as has 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 proceeds 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.

V. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God does oftentimes leave, for a season, His own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon Himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.

VI. As for those wicked and ungodly men whom God, as a righteous Judge, for former sins, does blind and harden, from them He not only withholds His grace whereby they might have been enlightened in their understandings, and wrought upon in their hearts; but sometimes also withdraws the gifts which they had, and exposes them to such objects as their corruption makes occasion of sin; and, withal, gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan, whereby it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those means which God uses for the softening of others.

VII. As the providence of God does, in general, reach to all creatures; so, after a most special manner, it takes care of His Church, and disposes all things to the good thereof.

Summary

God's providence is so all-encompassing over every event that takes place that it even extends to the fall of man, and all subsequent sins of men and angels. He is sovereign evens over these wicked actions, and not just in that He allows them to happen, but in such a way that He can rightly be said to "order" them to His own holy ends. However, He orders these events in perfect holiness and righteousness, such that He can never be said to be the cause of sin, nor approving of sin. He did not create sin, nor does He force ungodliness upon men, as if we were helpless victims. Yet, He is sovereign, even over the sins of men, and uses sin (without ever sinning Himself) to accomplish His good purposes. 

The best place we see this reality in the Bible is in the crucifixion of Jesus. During his sermon in Acts 2, the apostle Peter says to the Jews, "Him [Christ], being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death". Note the two things we have in that verse: we have the "determined purpose and foreknowledge of God" and we have the sins of the people in putting Christ to death by lawless hands. Christ was crucified because of the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, and the instrument God used to accomplish His purpose was the sinful actions of the Jews, and He used the sinfulness of the Jews in such manner that they retain all culpability for their sins and He in no way is unrighteous. 

In His sovereignty, God sometimes gives men over to sins and temptations. He does not tempt men, nor cause anyone to sin, but He may, for a time, remove His hand from holding the sinner back from their sins. A parent's desire is to never see their child hurt, and so will often prevent a child from a foolish action that would hurt them. But there are times when a parent must step back and allow the child to do that foolish thing and hurt themselves. In order to learn the dangers and grow as a child, they must be allowed to experience some pain as a consequence of their folly.

In the same way, God sometimes gives His children over to their temptations. He never sends temptations, but may remove His hand from restraining us. When He does this, His aim is not to hurt, but to heal. He desires that we would see the true nature of our sin and all of its wickedness; that we would see its ugliness and not be deceived. Through this He humbles His children, revealing our own weakness in ourselves and showing our need for His grace and strength. 

God also gives ungodly men over to their sins. Like Pharaoh in the Exodus, God does not force these people into ungodliness, but removes His restraint from them. When God removes His restraining hand, the wicked rush headlong into destruction and sin, because that is what our sinful souls desire most. He never forces anyone to sin, but may give the ungodly over to sin that He might demonstrate His justice in their destruction. For more on that, see Romans 9:14-24.

This is, admittedly, a difficult issue. The most important things to remember when we consider the sovereignty of God over sin are: that He Himself is perfect, righteous, and holy, and completely without sin; that He never forces anyone to sin against their will; that He uses sin to accomplish His own purposes, which must be holy, righteous, and good for His Church. God is good and all things are disposed for the good of His beloved bride, the Church. Whatever else we might say, we must say that, if you are a living member of Christ's Church through faith, then God works all things together for your good, even the most wicked thing ever done: the crucifixion of Jesus.

+ Blessings in Christ +