Sovereignty Scriptures

Recently, a local pastor gave a sermon that declared God absolutely sovereign over everything except man's will. Man's will was more powerful than God's will. This is the conclusion most of the church has taken. Most denominations of Christianity have followed the Arminian view on this subject. Few who embrace Arminianism realize that by doing so, they have actually made themselves the absolute Sovereign, therefore making themselves god. While there are many Scriptures declaring that our Father will hold us accountable for certain things, they declare the absolute sovereignty of God in so many places that only spiritual blindness could make a person like this pastor not see the abundant proof in the Scriptures that our Father is absolutely sovereign over all things including man's so-called "free will." David Sprenger has begun a list of Scriptures declaring God's sovereignty. So far it is 17 pages long. We will be happy to provide copies of this list which writes out the reference and passage. This list can be very helpful for someone bound up in their own futility. Listed below are a few of the scriptures that declare that our Father is in complete control even when we think He isn't.

• Luke 18:27 The things impossible with men are possible with God.
• Jn. 1:12,13 Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the will of God.
• Jn. 3:27 A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.
• Jn. 5:21 The Son also gives life to whom He wishes. (Greek: wills)
• Jn.6:37 All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me.
• Jn.6:39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I will lose nothing.
• Jn.6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.
• Jn.8:36 If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
• Jn.10:27-28 And I give eternal life to them (my sheep), and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.
• Jn.12:39,40 For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, "He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart; lest they see with their eyes and perceive with their ear, and be converted, and I heal them."
• Jn.19:11 You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given to you from above.

These are just some of the Scriptures in the Gospel of John. This should give one a clear understanding that the Bible is full of the declaration that He is Lord over all. Below are a few key sovereignty scriptures taken from various parts of the Bible.

• 1Cor.15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God in me.
• Eph.1:4 Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world...
• Eph.1:5,6 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace...
• Eph.1:9,10 Making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him . . .with a view to . . .the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth . . .
• Phil.1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
• Phil.2:12,13 Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
• Col.1:13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son of His love.
• Col.1:15 And He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of (Greek, protokos: prior to and sovereign over) all creation.
• 1 Thess.5:24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
• 1 Tim.2:4 Who desires (Greek\KJV: who will have) all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
• Ex.4:11 And the Lord said to him (Moses), "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?"
• Deut.2:30 For the Lord your God hardened his (Pharaoh's) spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today.
• Deut.32:39 See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; it is I who puts to death and gives life. I have wounded, and it is I who heals; and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
• 1Sam.2:6,7 The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and rich; He brings low, and He also exalts.
• 2Chron.20:6 Power and might are in Thy hand so that no one can stand against Thee.
• Job 42:2 I know that Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted.
• Ps. 22:27,28 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before Thee. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he rules over the nations.
• Prov. 16:9 The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
• Prov. 19:21 Many are the plans of a man's heart, but the counsel of the Lord will be established.

Well, as we can see, while our minds may be full of all sorts of plans, fears, schemes, etc., our loving Father knows us much better than we know ourselves. And His purposes for our lives here on earth and beyond will stand whether we believe it or not.

We wanted to put some articles in this edition dealing further with the subject of sovereignty but felt there just wasn't enough room. For those of you who want to study this subject further, feel free to write and we will send some material which may be helpful. It is a vital subject. Without a proper understanding of His absolute control of His universe, we cannot really enter into a perfect trust. Without complete trust in Him, we rely on ourselves and man-made systems of religion, both falling short of the glory of the Most High.