Quotes About Sovereignty

Rather than being offended over the Bible's assertion of God's sovereignty in both good and calamity, believers should be comforted by it.

The sovereignty of God is asserted, either expressly or implicitly, on almost every page of the Bible.

Yet the Scriptures teach that God does move a person's will, but in such a way that the person acts freely and voluntarily. Furthermore, sovereignty on a human plane suggests force and coercion, people doing things against their wills as in the subjection of slaves to masters, but the Scriptures never portray God's sovereignty in this manner.

Adversity is difficult even when we know God is in control of our circumstances.

God does not exercise His sovereignty capriciously but only in such a way as His infinite love deems best for us.

it is the ability of God to so arrange diverse human actions to fulfill His purpose that makes His sovereignty marvelous and yet mysterious.

uses to carry out His purpose. This truth is taught in such passages as Isaiah 10:5-16 (we will look at this passage in another chapter).

no plan of God's can be thwarted. God does as He pleases, and only as He pleases, and no one can frustrate His plans or hinder His purposes.

the choices people make are moral choices; that is, people are held accountable by God for the choices they make. The actions of Judas, Herod, and Pilate were wicked acts even though done under the sovereign appointment of God.

Second, we should not allow the doctrine of God's sovereignty to cause us to respond passively to the actions of other people that affect us. We should take all reasonable steps within the will of God to protect and advance our situation.

The Bible teaches both the sovereignty of God and the free moral choices of men with equal emphasis.

But in the light of Scripture, it is decisive that this creaturely freedom poses no threat or limitation to the sovereign and almighty Divine enterprise….

Third, we must never use the doctrine of God's sovereignty to excuse our own sinful actions or decisions that hurt another person.

There is no authority except that which God has established.

He (God) permits, for reasons known only to Himself, people to act contrary to and in defiance of His revealed will. But He never permits them to act contrary to His sovereign will.

Because we know God is directing our lives to an ultimate end and because we know He is sovereignly able to orchestrate the events of our lives toward that end, we can trust Him. We can commit to Him not only the ultimate outcome of our lives, but also all the intermediate events and circumstances that will bring us to that outcome.

He will direct it according to His sovereign purpose for His glory and our good.

one of the most frequent references to it concerns His sovereignty over nations and governments.

In terms of our trusting God, the sovereignty of God over the nations can at first glance seem theoretical and remote from our daily lives.

God owes me no explanation. He has the right to do what He wants, when He wants, and how He wants. Why? Because He's God. . .

But the reverent reader of Scripture cannot fail to see the sovereign hand of God arranging those ordinary circumstances to accomplish His purpose.

As God's rule is invincible, so it is incomprehensible. His ways are higher than our ways (see Isaiah 55:9). His judgments are unsearchable, and His paths are beyond tracing out (see Romans 11:33). The sovereignty of God is often questioned because man does not understand what God is doing. Because He does not act as we think He should, we conclude He cannot act as we think He would.

But what about when the story does not have a happy ending? Is God sovereign then also? This is the crucial question. It's easy to trust God when a process of events turns out as we would desire, though even here our faith often falters during the process until we know the outcome.

God can and does work in the hearts and minds of rulers and officials of government to accomplish His sovereign purpose.