day no. 15,299: the problem with our problem

C. H. Spurgeon was once asked how he reconciled the Sovereignty of God with the responsibility of man. “I don't,” he replied; “I never reconcile friends.”

Last night (1/16/20) the Van Voorst family watched episode 1 of Reformed Basics by Doug Wilson on Amazon Prime. 

The quote from Spurgeon helped springboard the conversation about God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. If God is in control and knows a thing from the beginning to the end and chooses what ending He wants to come to pass, how is it that man can be held accountable or responsible for anything that ends up happening?

The question is a natural and normal response to this kind of assertion and we know that because the Bible assumes that will be the natural, normal person's response to it.

Romans 9:19
You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?”

Wilson's explanation of our issue and our predictable response is illustrated by thinking of it as a character in a book and an author of that book. Who is responsible for what the character says? Is he 100% responsible and the author is off the hook? Is the author 100% responsible and the character is off the hook? What about if we divide it up 50/50? Our difficulty with this illustration is that we don't like being thought of as a character in someone else's story and we don't like imagining that all of our words are like a dialogue being penned down by someone else. In short, we imagine ourselves as something more than merely a two-dimensional character, simply parroting whatever words are being piped through our vocal chords from an off-stage ventriloquist. 

But our problem is highlighted by the problem we have with that illustration. We immediately rush to defending ourselves as being more than just a mere character. We see that flaw in the logic immediately and we don't take too kindly to it.

Here is the problem with our problem: we don't have a problem with God being merely an author of stories. We don't rush to explain that He is much more than a two dimensional author writing what sometimes appears to be poorly written dialogue. We don't immediately attempt to elevate His position within that particular allegory. 

But the explanation of God's sovereignty and our responsibility is located not in elevating ourselves within the story, but recognizing that He is outside of all stories and is much more than a two-dimensional story teller. He is an another dimension altogether. A dimension in which He alone lives, moves and has His being. He lives in that world, that plane, that realm and we live in ours. He is outside our space and time and yet able to interact and determine our space and time (Acts 17:26). In fact, not only able, but perfectly so, uniquely so.

So, all that to say, the solution to "the problem" of free will and predestination is not found in freer people but a freer God.