Earlier this week I was asked if God was actively involved in fulfilling his prophecies or was it just a matter of foreknowledge?
I thought this was an excellent topic to discuss so I decided to dive right into the subject. This subject crosses several theological debates so trying to answer it in a blog section will be difficult. I will give my opinion and present Scripture with it. I am not very dogmatic on these issues but I will present what I believe. I will give a brief answer in what I believe.
The problem verse presented to me is as follows:
Acts 4:27-28 (NASB): Herod & Pilate, along with the Gentiles & the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your purpose predestined
This verse read at face value presents a problem. It appears that God forced people into doing evil. Is this true? Is God the author of evil? So we need to do a little research of the Bible to build a case. If God causes evil then we have a whole bunch of problems in which to deal with.
Isaiah 55:9
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
We can never obtain to God's standard that's why we need a Savior. We have fallen short of God’s standard.
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The hardest thing to say is I'm sorry I was wrong. We are all sinners. Sin is doing what God does not want you to do or not doing what God wants you to do.
Pilate had a choice. He did not have to let Christ be crucified. He could have said no. Would that have been the easy decision? Of course it would not. Would there have been consequences to Pilate had he said no? You betcha.
Colossians 2:15
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
You see Satan does not know the mind of God. He did not know that Christ would die and rise again. He was at work trying to get Christ crucified. Satan is the author of evil not God. Did God withdraw some grace from Pilate that day? Perhaps! We don’t know. But we do know that God is not the author of evil.
See God knew that we would sin against Him. He is outside of time. He knows the end from the beginning. We chose to do wrong. He knew we would that’s why he predetermined to put into place a plan for our salvation. There is no sin in God. All of us would have buckled in Pilates’ shoes and had Christ crucified. Pilate was more interested in his political gain then doing what was right.
How many of us everyday do something against God’s will to try and further our own careers or finances or whatever?
