The Character of God: Love, Justice, Holiness, and Wrath
30 min read
No question in theology is more difficult than the relationship between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. If God is truly sovereign over salvation, how can He hold humans accountable for rejecting Him? If humans are truly responsible, how can God be sovereign? The Bible affirms both without fully explaining how they fit together. Our task is to hold both truths firmly and humbly.
This mystery is not unique to the doctrine of hell. It runs through the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. God hardened Pharaoh's heart, yet Pharaoh was responsible for his rebellion. God chose Israel, yet Israel was accountable for disobedience. God ordains all things, yet He commands all people everywhere to repent.
Scripture repeatedly emphasizes God's sovereignty in salvation. Romans 9:11 says that God's purpose of election stands not because of works but because of His call. Ephesians 1:4-5 says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. John 6:37, 44 says that all the Father gives to the Son will come, and that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him. Jesus says that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him Matthew 11:27.
At the same time, Scripture commands repentance and warns that those who refuse are responsible for their refusal. Ezekiel 18 calls on the wicked to turn and live. Jesus says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" Matthew 4:17. Paul tells the Athenians that God now commands all people everywhere to repent Acts 17:30. John 3:18 says that whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. The condemned are condemned because of their unbelief.
We are not required to resolve the tension. We are required to preach both sides. We proclaim the sovereignty of God in grace, giving Him all glory for salvation. We also plead with sinners to repent and believe, treating their choice as real and weighty. The person who uses sovereignty to excuse evangelism misunderstands the doctrine. The person who preaches responsibility as if God were not sovereign underestimates the God of the Bible.
Hell, in this framework, is the just destination of those who refuse the gospel. It is also the backdrop against which the grace of election shines. We do not know why one person repents and another does not. We know that both are under God's sovereign hand and that the one who rejects Christ is responsible for that rejection.
Common student mistake: Using either God's sovereignty or human responsibility to deny the other, rather than holding both as the Bible does.
Practice assignment: Read Romans 9:14-24 and Acts 17:30-31. Write a paragraph on how these two passages fit together in your own understanding.
Worksheet idea: "Sovereignty and Responsibility" — list passages that emphasize each, then write a one-sentence summary of how the two work together in evangelism.
Completion requirement: Student can affirm both God's sovereignty and human responsibility and explain why neither negates the other.
ANSWER: How God's sovereignty and human responsibility fit together in salvation and judgment.
ANSWER: God commands all people everywhere to repent.
ANSWER: We should preach both truths faithfully, giving God glory for salvation and urgently calling sinners to repent.