More and more I am hearing preachers on radio addressing their audience with statements such as: “God is trying to do this or that” or “Won’t you let God do this or that.” I saw a tract in a bookstore some time ago entitled, “God’s Simple Plan of Salvation.” On the back side of that little tract were the words, “Please let God save you this very moment!” I really don’t understand how anyone who has given any serious time and attention to the word of God could make such a statement!
Consider the implications of such a statement. Is God honored and glorified by such statements? Do such statements exalt and magnify God in the mind of the hearers or readers? But even more, do such statements have any Biblical support, either by precept or example? The answer is NO, absolutely not! The whole word of God is open rebuke to those who make such statements.
To me such statements are belittling and dishonoring to God. Does the puny, sinful creature give his Almighty Creator, Sustainer, and Benefactor permission to act? Isaiah 40: 15-23 says: “(15) Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. (16) And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, Nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. (17) All nations before Him are as nothing, And they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless. (18) To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? (19) The workman molds an image, The goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains. (20) Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter. (21) Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? (22) It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. (23) He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless.”
If I were to tell you to let the sun shine, you would probably think I was insane, but that would be far more reasonable than telling you to let God Almighty do something! Look at these verses.
The Psalmist says: Psalm. 115:3 “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” And again, He said in Psalm 135:6 “Whatever the LORD pleases He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places.”
Daniel 4:35 "All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, What have You done?"
Ephesians 1:11 "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will"
Isaiah 46:10 "Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,"
The God of the Bible, the only True and Living God is absolutely sovereign, absolutely independent, and absolutely free. He is GOD! He lives above all need, above all constraint, and above all restraint. The only FREE BEING in the universe, He does as He pleases, always as He pleases, and Only as He pleases because He is God. He never does anything which He does not desire to do and never desires to do anything which He does not do.
Now, what about those words in the little tract, “Please let God save you this very moment”? Who is in need, God or man? Who is the dependent one, God or man? Who is the beggar, God or man? That statement presents the idea that God Almighty’s saving grace is like water shut up in a pipe and can only drip or flow if some puny sinner is pleased to turn the faucet.
John says this, John 5:21 "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.” John 17:2 “as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.”
Do you think of God as a water faucet, which men can turn on or off at will? The Apostle Paul would cry out against such a God-dishonoring thought. Read the following verses:
Acts 9:1-6 "Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest (2) and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. (3) As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. (4) Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (5) And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” (6) So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
Galatians 1:11-16 "But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood"
2 Corinthians 4:3-6 "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, (4) whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. (5) For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. (6) For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
God is the sovereign ruler of the Universe
He is the one who saves.
Romans 8:28-30 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (30) Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
GOD Foreknew – WHO would be saved
GOD Predestinated – to be CONFORMED to the image of His Son
GOD Called – to LIFE and Salvation
GOD Justified – Changed our POSITION BEFORE HIM
GOD Glorifies – Carries us to our final ETERNAL STATE.
Who did it? God or Man? GOD!