Is God’s Sovereignty Limited by Human Freedom?

Is the sovereignty of God limited by our free will? Today, R.C. Sproul shows that this notion is not only wrong but it also poses great danger to our spiritual well-being.

I have heard this statement uttered again and again with respect to the touchy and difficult question of predestination. And I’m not going to open up that right now, but to use it just for a means of illustration. When people debate that very difficult, excruciatingly painful concept of predestination, so often people will make statements like this: God’s sovereignty can never overrule man’s freedom. Have you ever heard that? Maybe you’ve even said it, OK? If you have said it, I trust that God knows you didn’t mean it or that you didn’t understand what you were saying when you said, “God’s sovereignty can never overrule your freedom.” Because if that is true, then who is sovereign? You are. And if you really believe that, you are no Christian.

I mean, it’s not just a theological error, if you really understand what you’re saying and really believe what you’re saying. I’m not saying that if you say it, you’re not a Christian. I’m saying, if you understand the implications of what you’re saying and still insist on it, you are no Christian. Because you have never submitted to the authority either of God or of Jesus Christ. You are still in a posture of cosmic treason and rebellion against your Creator if you think for one second that your will controls or limits the will of God.

A sovereign God exercises sovereignty over all of His creation, and the better way to say it is, man has free will. Yes. We’re certainly not denying that man has free will, God forbid. And God has free will. God is free and man is free. But the better way to say it is this: that man’s free will never overcomes or limits God’s free will because God is sovereign and we are not.

So I ask you to think about the implications of this concept. And I ask you, when you come to church to worship, do you really believe that God is the One who is the Lord of all? If you believe that, then you’re on your face, never making demands to God, only making requests. Because you recognize that it is He who has made you and not you yourself.