Hello Friends!
Welcome Back! Let’s continue our journey through the book of Romans – “The Romans Road to Righteousness.”
Welcome Back! Let’s continue our journey through the book of Romans – “The Romans Road to Righteousness.”
The Roman’s Road to Righteousness (Doctrine of Concurrence)
This week we will
take a slight “detour” from our regularly scheduled tour of Romans to discuss the important – and often
times misunderstood – Doctrine of Concurrence
found throughout the Scriptures as we consider the Sovereignty of God and Man’s Responsibility…
The
Bible clearly teaches throughout the Old and New Testaments the “partnership”
of the Sovereignty of God (Omniscience)
and Man’s Responsibility (Human
will). This is known as the Doctrine of
Concurrence (Compatibility). As we’ve diligently
discovered and discussed in Romans chapters 9-11,
the Apostle Paul has indeed laid for us a firm foundation for the establishment
of this important doctrine!
Here
are a few points of Truth to consider in our discussion of the Doctrine of Concurrence:
Point One: The regenerated man’s free
will/responsibility and God’s total Sovereignty is not at
all a contradiction!
Point Two: God’s moral and providential
will explains how He uses sinful man to accomplish His divine purposes!
Point Three: God is not the author of sin or evil!
This is the doctrine know as Theodicy
– The origination of “sin”
and why God allowed it.
While
we might not fully understand these points in our human minds, they are
indeed Biblical truths from the “mind of the
Lord.”
Let's consider the following two Scripture
passages from both the Old and New Testaments to assist us in understanding this critical doctrine found in God's Word:
Isaiah Chapter 10
God
is completely Sovereign! In the tenth chapter of Isaiah we see that “woe” is upon “Assyria” and yet this nation is simultaneously
the “rod” of God’s “anger” and “staff”
of His “indignation”:
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation – Isaiah 10:5
Then
Israel is called an “ungodly
nation” and the people of God’s “wrath”:
I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets – Isaiah 10:6
God
uses “Assyria” and basically
says “you will be My instrument of fury against the “ungodly nation” of My “wrath” who have rejected Me.” Yet “Assyria” does not “mean” to or even “think” to act as the agent of God’s wrath:
Yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off not a few nations – Isaiah 10:7
But,
it is “in his heart to
destroy” to cut off many “nations.”
In other words, for “Assyria” this
is another opportunity for them to grab more power by beating up on an
unsuspecting” Jerusalem”:
For he says, ‘Are not my princes altogether kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols? – Isaiah 10:8-11
God
then turns on “Assyria”
to “punish” them for their “arrogant heart”
and “haughty looks”:
Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks. For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I am prudent; also I have removed the boundaries of the people, and have robbed their treasuries; so I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man – Isaiah 10:12-13
However,
God uses an analogy of an “ax,”
a “saw,” a “rod” and a “staff”
to make His point clear:
Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood! – Isaiah 10:15
In
this passage of Isaiah, we clearly
see the Doctrine of Concurrence! God
will hold every person accountable for the evil acts they commit. And yet, God
is Sovereign over those
evil acts – Amazing!
John Chapter 3
Jesus
knew what Nicodemus was really thinking (see John
2:23-25), so He answers the true question of Nicodemus’ heart – “how
is one “born again?”:
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” – John 3:3
Jesus’
point is that just as we could do nothing to produce our own physical
birth; we are also unable to produce spiritual life
– “the kingdom of God.”
Sinful flesh can only produce flesh and only Spirit produces spirit!
Next
Nicodemus wants to know how he can affect this “second”
birth:
How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he? – John 3:4
Jesus’
point here is that being “born
again” is a miraculous
miracle of God! There is no
way Nicodemus can do this! Therefore, we are absolutely
dependent on a divine work of the Holy Spirit. One must plead for
God to give new life – “God, be merciful to
me, a sinner!” This is God’s saving choice!
Later,
John confirms his understanding that we “receive nothing” unless it is “given” to us
by God from “heaven”:
John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven… – John 3:27
And
yet, we see also here in this passage that there is a human being commanded
to “believe”:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God – John 3:14-18
In
this passage reminiscent of the Old Testament book of Numbers
chapter 21, we find the Doctrine of
Concurrence. Those who “believe”
escape judgment – Man’s Responsibility.
On the other hand, those who “do
not believe” are “condemned already” – The Sovereignty of God. While we might not fully
understand this doctrine in our human minds, they are indeed Biblical truths
directly from the “mind of the Lord.”
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? – Romans 11:33-34
Therefore,
does God owe us anything, as if He is in our debt? No!
WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? – Romans 11:35
Does
God owe us a full explanation? No! We’re not fully capable of
understanding it anyway! Therefore, at the end of the eleventh
chapter of Romans we are left with a
sweet doxology:
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things To Him be the glory forever. Amen – Romans 11:36
Dear
friends, only by understanding The Doctrine of
Concurrence can we “know”
that “all things” do indeed “work” together “for good” to “those” who “love
God” and are divinely “called according to His purpose”:
We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com
I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!
Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><
Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"Lighthouse Publications <><
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