Mar 24
24
Baptist Catechism 10
Q. 10. What are the decrees of God?
A. The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory, He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. (Eph. 1:11; Rom. 11:36; Dan. 4:35)
*****
Introduction
If you remember, our catechism has three major sections to it. Questions 1-6 establish first principles. Question 6 is pivotal. It asks, “ What things are chiefly contained in the Holy Scriptures?” Answer: “The Holy Scriptures chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requireth of man.”The rest of the catechism is divided into these two parts. Questions 7 through 43 summarize what the Scriptures teach concerning God (and all things in relation to him). Questions 44 through 114 summarize what the Scriptures say concerning our duty before God. So we have been learning about God, haven’t we? In particular, questions 7 through 9 of our catechism teach us about God’s nature and his persons. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in all his perfections (BC 7). The is only one living and true God (BC 8). And within the one true God, there are three persons, or subsistences, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (BC 9).
Now we are going to move on from talking about the nature and persons of God to talking about his actions or works. God exists infinitely, eternaly, and unchangeably in eternity, and this same God acts. In due time, we are going to talk about God’s work of creation, his works of providence. It is under the category of God’s providence that we will also consider God’s work of redemption. But before we get to God’s work of creation and his works of providence, we must talk about something that happened in eternity, that is, before the creation of the heavens and earth, and that is God’s decree. Before God created, God decreed.
So what is a decree? Well, a decree is an order, an edict, or a proclamation. If I say to my children, thou shalt clean your room, that is a decree. I decided in my mind and heart that the room needed to be cleaned, that my child should do it, and that they should do it at such a time, and so I declared it. The declaration is the decree. The cleaning of the room is the action that flows from the decree.
Fathers and mothers issue decrees, and so do kings. Decrees are made by people who have some kind of authority. Those who have authority over some realm may issue decrees regarding what is to happen in that realm. Parents can decree that chores be done, and kings can command that armies move about, that things be built, and that money be collected, etc. These are decrees.
When we speak of the decrees of God, we are saying that God has done something similar. Before he created and began to providentially uphold and govern his creation, he issued a decree. His works of creation and providence are the result of his eternal decree.
*****
His Eternal Purpose
So what are the decrees of God? Our catechism begins by saying that “the decrees of God are His eternal purpose…” The decrees of God are the purposes or plans of God. The word “eternal” is significant. It teaches us that God made his decree in eternity, or “before the foundation of the world”, to use the language of scripture.
Ephesians 1 speaks of God’s decree as it pertains to the salvation of God’s elect. Listen to verses 3 and 4. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” (Ephesians 1:3–4, ESV). When did God choose the elect? When did God decree that his elect would be in Christ? “Before the foundation of the world”, that is to say, before creation and in eternity.
*****
According To The Counsel Of His Will
What are the decrees of God? They are his plans and purposes. When did he issue his decree? Not in time – not over and over again as human history unfolds – but in eternity, before the foundation of the world. And what moved God to decree what he decreed? Our catechism is right to say that God made his decree “according to the counsel of His will.” In other words, no one and nothing external to God offered counsel to God to move him to decree what he decreed.
This is so significant. Many falsely believe that God made his decree based upon the insights that he gained from his creatures as he considered what they would eventually do. The idea is that, because God can see the future, his decree was based upon the choices and actions of his creatures, which he foresaw. For example, some will claim that God elected or predestinated some to salvation based upon their faith which he foresaw. But the Scriptures nowhere teach this. In fact, the Scriptures tell us what “moved” God to decree what he decreed. He decreed what he decreed according to the counsel of his own will, that is to say, from within himself, and without being moved by anything external to himself.
Ephesians 1 also speaks to this. Listen to verse 5: “…he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will…” To decree is to predestine. And here Paul says that God predestined his elect “for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ…” According to what? What “moved” God to predestine those he predestined? “According to the purpose of his will…”. In other words, no one offered counsel to God. Nothing external to God moved him to choose as he chose. He predestinated from within himself, according to his free and gracious will.
Paul also speaks to this in Romans 11:33ff where he exclaims, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? [the implied answer is, no one!] Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” The words, for “from him and through him and to him are all things”, pretty much say it all.
*****
For His Own Glory
So, we know that the decree of God is his eternal purpose. We also know that God decreed what he decreed from within himself, according to the counsel of his own will. The next question we might ask is, what is God’s goal? What is his objective? When men and women (parents and kings) make decrees, they have goals or objectives. What is the goal or objective of God’s decree? Answer: God has decreed what he has decreed, “for His own glory.”
Both the Ephesian 1 and Romans 11 passages that I have read teach this. Ephesians 1:5-6 says, “he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” The words “to the” indicate the end-goal or objective. God has predestinated some to salvation in Christ to the praise of his glorious grace. And at the end of that beautiful doxology of Romans 11:33-36, Paul says, “To him be glory forever. Amen.” Why has God decreed what he has decreed? So much remains a mystery to us, but this we know: it will be for God’s glory. Romans 9 teaches this too, but we do not have time to go there.
If it sounds strange to you that God is most concerned with glorifying himself, then consider this. It is wrong for you and me to live for our own glory. Why? Because we are creatures. But it is right for God to seek his own glory. Indeed, it would be wrong for him not to! Why? Because he is God. If God were to seek the glory of any other, then God himself would violate the first commandment. But please hear this: when God seeks his own glory, he does at the same time seek our good. For what is our greatest good except to have God as our God, to know him, and to worship and adore him?
*****
He Has Foreordained Whatsoever Comes To Pass
Lastly, what has God decreed? Answer: “He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.”
To foreordain is to order or determine something ahead of time. And the Scriptures teach that God’s foreordination reaches, not just to the salvation of his elect, but to all things.
Ephesians 1 speaks to this too. Listen to verse 11: “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will…”
Isaiah 46:9-10 also teaches this. There God says, “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’”.
And consider the words of Jesus himself: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29–31, ESV). God’s decree, and his providential upholding and governing of the world he has made, extends even to lives of sparrows and to the hairs on our heads.
*****
Conclusion
I’m out of time. There is a danger in presenting such a difficult subject in such a limited timeframe. There are many questions that I have left unaddressed and unanswered. Lord willing, we will have an opportunity to address them later. For now, may I encourage you to read chapter 3 of our confession? There you will find a more full treatment of this subject.
I will conclude by saying that the doctrine of God’s decree should be a comfort to us. It should be comforting to know that the events of our lives are not random and out of control (as they often seem). They are not meaningless or without purpose. No, God is in them somehow. He has determined to work all things – the good and the bad – for his glory and for the good of his people (see Romans 8:28-30). How can this be? Well, there is much that is mysterious to us. But we know it is true. God is holy and just. He does no evil, nor does he tempt men to do evil. Men, by their free will, do choose to rebel against their Maker, and God in his wisdom does permit it. But hear this: this permission that I speak of is not bear, meaningless, or purposeless permission. No, all things that come to pass in time are the outworking of God who is “infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth” (BC, 7). All things will, in the end, glorify God’s infinite, eternal, and unchangeable being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth (see Romans 9).
