The Apostle Paul and the Doctrine of Sovereignty

 (Photo courtesy of St Paul's)

¹² I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. ¹⁴ And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

¹⁵ Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. ¹⁶ The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. ¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. 
Philippians 1:12-18 ESV

I recently preached a sermon (a video of this sermon can be viewed here) over the above text. In it, I discussed how the Apostle Paul was in prison when he wrote these words. What, then, is the reason for his great optimism? Paul was convinced that God was sovereign and had a plan of redemption that transcended any trial or circumstance. Moreover, Paul, though his situation was bleak, actively embraced the theological truth of God’s sovereignty and sought to be a willing participant in God’s plan of redemption.

What does sovereignty mean? The dictionary defines it as follows: “having supreme rank, power, or authority.” This seems to be correct with respect to God. Certainly, the Bible (and reason for that matter) teaches that God—the creator of all things, infinite in knowledge and power, eternal in being—is sovereign. God has supreme rank, power and authority. We can also conclude from this truth that this great God is intentional and has a plan. 

The passage listed above is a fine example of this. Paul clearly recognized this truth. This is why he was able to rejoice even though his circumstances were poor by earthly standards. As one writer notes: “Paul had been bound but the word of God could not be bound.” Yet, these poor circumstances were the means by which God furthered His redemptive plan. God is sovereign over all, God was sovereign in Paul’s circumstances, and God is sovereign in your life. 

We want to be careful when we discuss God’s sovereignty. Some, unfortunately, speak of God’s sovereignty as though it were sheer power or omnipotence. We must always remember that God’s sovereignty can never be separate from His moral goodness. Theologians very often organize God’s various attributes into two categories: natural and moral. Natural attributes are things such as omnipotence, omniscience, immutability, etc. God’s moral attributes are things such as his faithfulness, goodness, holiness, etc. Andrew Fuller once said that God’s natural attributes are those that evoke respect and the moral attributes are those that evoke love. In the end, however, we must never compartmentalize God and his attributes. People sometimes think of God as an all-powerful ruler, or, perhaps, only as a loving but impotent deity. Whenever we compartmentalize God in this way, we misunderstand Him altogether. God is a unity and all of His attributes work together in harmony. Everything that God does as the sovereign king of the universe is done from the perspective of perfect moral goodness. If all of this is true, then be a willing participant in God’s sovereign plan of redemption. 

   

View the sermon here.