The Sovereignty of God

Sovereign Power

God has absolute and unquestionable power and authority over the whole of his creation. As Psalm 100 v 3 says,

Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture

and Psalm 24 states,

The earth is the LORD'S, and everything in it,
The world, and all who live in it.

Thus it is evident that the whole of creation, from the world itself, the plants, animals and people of the earth and even the institutions of the world, all come under the sovereign rule of God. He has complete right, power and authority to deal with the whole of creation as he pleases.

Sovereignty and Omnipotence

God's sovereignty and his omnipotence are very closely linked. Omnipotence means that God has all power, (dunamis), and Sovereignty means he has all authority (exousia). There is nothing that God cannot do (other than those things he himself has declared impossible for him - he cannot lie, sin or deny himself.)

Sovereignty and Free Will

There are those who take the truth of the sovereignty of God to extremes. J. G. Vos says:

He actually determines and controls all that ever comes to pass, in matters both great and small, throughout the entire created universe.

This must mean that God actually determines and controls sinful acts - that mass murder and torture are determined by him. That is plainly and evidently wrong for to determine sin would be sin in itself and God cannot sin.

God has made people to be free agents with the ability to chose to obey or disobey God or the dictates of their own consciences (which is not the same thing!) It is evident, then, that while God has authority to determine all things, he also has the freedom not always to exercise that authority.

In the same way, because of mankind's inclination to sin "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23), God has the authority and the power to destroy all mankind for "the wages of sin is death". (Rom 6:23a) He chooses, however, not to exercise that authority because, through the work of Jesus on the cross, "The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 6:23b)

The offer of salvation, the gift of eternal life, is available because God tempers his sovereign authority with his sovereign grace and mercy. His authority is not in any way lessened by his grace and mercy but is, indeed, strengthened because it is part of the nature of God to love.