WHY PRAY IF GOD HAS ALREADY DECIDED THE OUTCOME OF ALL CIRCUMSTANCES?

Contents

Prolegomenon.. 1

PRAYER IS COMMANDED.. 2

PRAYERS ARE ORDAINED.. 3

PRAYER CHANGES US. 4

FINAL THOUGHTS. 7

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Prolegomenon

Consider the following situation:

A man’s young wife, the mother of their two small children, has been diagnosed with advanced cancer. As someone who believes in God, will he not pray for her healing? Why would anyone think that since God has a good and providential plan for all, that this husband would not pray for his wife to be healed? Certainly, he'd pray for her to experience healing, either directly by God or by divine providence through medical treatment. Even when he realizes that only God knows the eventual outcome of their situation, he'll seek God, asking for Him to spare his wife. I can’t imagine any other response.

Still, we believe that God is sovereign. As the psalmist said, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (Ps. 115:3). This may cause an issue for some. How do we pray in light of God’s sovereignty? This is another example of an antinomy, an apparent contradiction that God fully understands but we, in our human understanding, cannot. So, even though we serve a sovereign God who ordains all that comes to pass, we should still pray. Here are three reasons to bring everything to God in prayer.

PRAYER IS COMMANDED

To begin, we are commanded to pray. When the Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray, using His model prayer, He said, “Pray, then, in this way. . ” (Matt. 6:9). The verb “pray” is a command, not an option. Before the parable of the persistent widow, Luke says Jesus’ purpose was “to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1), indicating that prayer was not an option but an expectation God has for us.

Paul commanded, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) and “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). The verbs in both these verses are imperatives, showing that prayer isn't a choice but a requirement for us.

Yet these are just general commands to pray; there are also commands to pray for specific requests. Some of these include, for example, praying for workers in God's harvest (Matt. 9:38), for governmental leaders (1 Tim. 2:1-2), for fellow believers (Eph. 6:18), for deliverance from temptation (Matt. 26:41), even for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps. 122:6). The Bible does not say “pray if you understand how it works.” Scripture just commands us to pray.

PRAYERS ARE ORDAINED

A second reason to pray is that the sovereign God has ordained all things, including our prayers. There are numerous biblical examples of God answering prayer. He gave water to Israel in answer to the prayers of Moses (Ex. 15:22-25; 17:4-7); the Lord gave Hannah a child in answer to her prayers (1 Sam. 1); God caused a drought and then sent rain in answer to the prayers of Elijah (1 Kings 18-19); God opened the eyes of a servant to see the Lord's army in answer to the prayer of Elisha (2 Kings 6:17).

There are many more examples in Scripture. Our presumption too often is that God only ordained these results. But we must also presume that God, who knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10), also ordained these prayers. Of course, we believe in a God who determines all things but we are not fatalists. God not only determines the end result, He also determines every step on the way to the end, including prayer.

So, if God chose to heal through medical treatment the cancer-stricken wife of the man mentioned above, we can also say that God determined to have her husband and others pray for her as well. God also, before time, ordained the training and development of her surgeon and oncologist. God's providence works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).

PRAYER CHANGES US

Yet another reason to pray is that prayer changes us for the better. Unfortunately, people are overly concerned that somehow prayer changes God, or perhaps the mind of God. That can't be true because God is unchangeable. He declares, “For I, the Lord, do not change” (Mal. 3:6). Unlike people, God adheres to His plans: “God is not a man who lies, or a son of man who changes His mind. Does He speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?” (Num. 23:19 HCSB). It’s not God who changes when we pray—the big transformation actually comes about in us when we pray.

Some people like to object that God does indeed change His mind. They point to biblical examples where it seems God changed His mind in response to prayer, such as when God said He would destroy Israel and begin a new chosen nation through the descendants of Moses. Moses prayed, asking God to relent and “the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Ex. 32:14).

Since God, in His sovereignty, had already determined this outcome, it is better to understand this phrase as an anthropomorphism, helping us to grasp the infinitely difficult concept of God’s sovereign response to human prayer. The Lord accommodates our inability to grasp this by using this figure of speech which attributes human attributes, like changing one’s mind, to God.

Nevertheless, it is we who are truly changed by prayer. When the Lord Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,’ (Matt. 6:11), His purpose was to teach us dependence on the Lord for our sustenance. Also, when He taught us to persist in prayer (Matt. 7:7-11), He reminded us that no earthly father would give a stone to a child who asks for bread or a snake to one who asked for fish. “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matt. 7:11). The Lord Jesus is making the point that through prayer we can learn to trust God to do what is good and best for us. Similarly, the psalmist cried to the Lord in distress (Ps. 18:6), and when God answered and delivered him (Ps. 18:48), he was transformed. His experience in prayer moved him from fear and dread to a person of thankfulness and praise, saying, “Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord, and I will sing praises to Your name” (Ps.18:49).

God has a good plan ordained for us but He wants us to learn to ask of Him, and in that way, we learn to depend on the kindness and love of our heavenly Father. Prayer transforms us into people who depend on our Lord for all that we need in life.

FINAL THOUGHTS

What we should know about prayer is that we should stop trying to figure out how it works and instead trust that God hears us and wants what’s best for us.

When we suffered a life-threatening situation. We cried out to God and begged for the Lord to intervene. We prayed for a doctor and for the medicines. In this circumstance, God answered by sending the right physician and the right treatment.

The providence of God is visible many ways. He was sovereign over life and death. Just as the psalmist said, “In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me” (Ps. 120:1 HCSB).

This is the truth about prayer. God doesn't want us to engage in philosophical inquiry, speculating about what He has already ordained or to ask why we should even bother praying since God already knew the outcome.

We're to pray to our Father as His distressed children, knowing, meanwhile, that He is in control and with the assurance that He will work everything for good. We'll never truly understand the dynamic of prayer, but we do know that God asks us to cry out to Him. We rest assured that He always accomplishes His purposes.

Even though we'll never really comprehend it, we can agree with Charles Spurgeon who said, “Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscles of Omnipotence.”

Simple explanation of the Trinity?

Contents

Prolegomenon.. 1

1.     THE SIMPLE DEFINITION.. 2

2.     THE BIBLICAL DATA.. 2

       2.1.      God’s Oneness. 2

       2.2.      God’s Threeness. 3

       2.3.      Old Testament Evidence. 3

3.     New Testament Evidence. 5

4.     THE THEOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS. 7

4.1.      The Mistaken Explanations. 7

4.2.      The Orthodox Explanation.. 8

5.     FINAL THOUGHTS. 9

 

Prolegomenon

Unfortunately, there is no simple or easy expla-nation of the Trinity. This theological concept is what Ken Boa calls an antinomy. Although “antinomy” literally means a conflict between two equally valid principles, the term is used theologically to refer to God’s revelation in Scripture going beyond “the level of human reasoning and comprehension by stating as fact two things which [human beings] cannot reconcile.’

The basis of biblical antinomies is found in Isaiah 55:8-9, * your ways My ways, declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” It’s not that the Trinity is contrary to logic and reason, but rather it’s beyond the human ability to comprehend fully. God understands the Trinity just fine; we human beings dont.

Nevertheless, the Trinity is clearly expressed as a fact in Scripture; it just doesn't explain exactly how it works. Later theologians have developed explanations that have come to us as the accepted understanding of this biblical teaching. We'll examine what the Bible and theologians have said and hopefully get a better grip on the Trinity.

1.   THE SIMPLE DEFINITION

You may be surprised to hear that the word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible. This is a fact frequently pointed out by people who don't believe in it. The absence of the word is actually irrelevant since the concept of the Trinity is certainly found in Scripture. The word refers to God being three in one, with the “tri” indicating His threeness and the “nity” indicating His unity or oneness. I actually prefer to use the term “triunity” of God because it seems so much clearer. But where does the Bible teach that God is three in one?

2.  THE BIBLICAL DATA

2.1.       God’s Oneness

The Old Testament clearly teaches monotheism (the belief that there is only one God), indicating that God alone is the one and only true God. The most foundational verse supporting God’s oneness is called the Shema (the Hebrew word meaning “hear”), the basis of monotheism in Judaism: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (Deut. 6:4).

The oneness of God is presented throughout the Old Testament, not just in this verse. For example, God declared through Isaiah, “For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me’ (Isa. 46:9, cf. Ex. 20:3; Deut. 4:35; 5:7; 32:39; Ps. 83:18; Isa. 43:10-11).

The New Testament also affirms monotheism. For example, Paul states explicitly, “For there is one God” (1 Tim. 2:5) and again, “There is... one Lord... one God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:4-6; cf. 1 Cor. 8:6). James also says, “You believe that God is one. You do well” (James 2:19). Of course, in Mark 12:29, the Lord Jesus affirmed the oneness of God, declaring that the foremost commandment was Deuteronomy 6:4 (cited above). There is no doubt that both the Old and New Testaments teach monotheism.

2.2.      God’s Threeness

Although there is no one specific verse explicitly declaring that God is triune, both Testaments provide evidence of this fact. The Old Testament implies that there is a plurality in the one God, while the New Testament speaks of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit more explicitly.

2.3.      Old Testament Evidence

The very first Old Testament hint of God’s plurality is when God says, “Let Us make man in Our image, accord-ing to Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Some believe this is a mere use of the plural pronoun to express God's majesty (the royal “We’), which is possible. Others say that this is God speaking to the angels; however, humanity was not made in the image of angels. Yet, it most likely refers to the mysterious plural-ity in the Godhead because of the verse that follows. It states that God “created man in His own image... male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:27).

This shows that one aspect of human likeness to their Creator is that, just as God is one and also has plurality in His nature, so humanity has one essence (humanity) but also has plurality, both male and female. The Old Testament also points to the deity of the future Messiah in several ways. It has a unique figure, called the Angel of the Lord, who is identified as the Lord and yet distinct from the Lord (e.g., Gen. 22:15-16; Ex. 3:2-9), describing the pre-incarnate appearances of the Lord Jesus.

Also, David calls the Messiah his Lord, declaring, “The Lorp says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand...” (Ps. 110:1). Isaiah gave four throne titles indicating the deity of the future Messiah: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). The Old Testament also describes the Holy Spirit as possessing certain attributes that belong to God alone, such as omnipresence (Ps. 139:7) and omnipotence (Job 33:4).

Additionally, the Old Testament identifies the Holy Spirit’s deity by revealing His divine work in creation (Gen. 1:2). Perhaps the clearest Old Testament passage indicating plurality in the Godhead is Isaiah 48:12-16. At the beginning of the paragraph, God clearly identifies Himself, saying, “I am the first, I am also the last. Surely My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens” (Isa. 48:12-13).

Then, at the end of the paragraph, God says, “And now the Lord Gop has sent Me, and His Spirit” (Isa. 48:16, italics added). This verse presents the mysterious threeness within the oneness of God.

Some might object that the Old Testament teaching of plurality in the Godhead somehow contradicts Deuteronomy 6:4, which says that “the Lord is one.” However, the Hebrew word for one is echad and can carry the meaning of a “composite unity.”

For example, when God established marriage, He declared that when married, a man and a woman “shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24), indicating a composite unity. Although the use of echad in Deuteronomy 6:4 does not demand this meaning, it does permit it, allowing for these hints of plurality in God’s oneness in the Old Testament.

3.  New Testament Evidence

The New Testament does not have one verse that says “God is triune” but it does explicitly identify the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as deity. To begin, the Father is plainly called God. For example, the Gospel of John speaks of the Son, on whom “the Father, God, has set His seal” (John 6:27).

Paul also recognizes the deity of the Father, calling Him “one God and Father of all who is over all” (Eph. 4:6). In addition to the Father, the Son, the Lord Jesus the Messiah, is called God in the New Testament.

For instance, when Thomas finally believed that Jesus has been raised from the dead, Thomas called Him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Paul described the Second Coming as “the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” (Titus 2:13). He also declared that in the Lord Jesus, “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 2:9) and that Jesus is “the Messiah, who is God over all, praised forever” (Rom. 9:5 HcsB).

The New Testament describes Jesus with attributes that only belong to God, such as omniscience (John 2:24—25; Matt. 9:4), omnipotence (Matt. 28:18; Heb. 1:3), and eternality (John 17:5). It also attributes the divine work of creation to Him (John 1:3; Col. 1:16). The deity of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, God the Son, is one of the clearest teachings of the New Testament. Also, the New Testament identifies the Holy Spirit as God.

For example, the Holy Spirit possesses omniscience (1 Cor. 2:10-12), an attribute that belongs exclusively to God. The Spirit also performs divine works such as regeneration (John 3:5-6, 8), conviction (John 16:8), and the inspiration of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). The most obvious passage indicating the deity of the Holy Spirit is Acts 5:3-4, where lying to the Holy Spirit is equated with lying to God (“Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? . . . You have not lied to men but to God.”).

Frequently, the New Testament speaks of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as equals in their work. For example, Paul gives praise for the entire Godhead’s work in salvation: First the Father who chose us (Eph. 1:3-6), then the Son who redeems us (Eph. 1:7-12), and also the Holy Spirit who secures us (Eph. 1:13-14).

Similarly, Peter describes believers as “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood” (1 Peter 1:1-2, italics added; cf. 2 Cor. 13:14). Perhaps the strongest statement of the triune nature of God is found in the command of the Lord Jesus for His followers to baptize “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). While identifying the three persons, indicating the “threeness” of God, the noun “name” is singular where a plural would be expected grammatically, indicating God’s oneness. It is plain to see that the whole Bible supports the idea that God is one and that there is a mysterious threeness or plurality in that oneness. This led many theologians to attempt to explain how this could be.

4.  THE THEOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS

4.1.       The Mistaken Explanations

One erroneous explanation affirms that the Father is fully God but denies or depreciates the deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit. This interpretation contradicts the testimony of Scripture.

Another mistaken approach is a form of Tritheism, affirming the deity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but denying the biblical teaching that there is only one God. A third incorrect explanation, called Modalism, sees the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three forms or modes of the One God.

So, God is the Father in the Old Testament, the Son in the Gospels, and the Holy Spirit after the giving of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. Yet, at the baptism of the Lord Jesus, the Son was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven, and the Father declared His love for the Son (Matt. 3:16-17), showing all three persons present at once. These wrong views led to other theologians providing a better explanation.

4.2.      The Orthodox Explanation

There is an explanation of the trinity that has been considered correct and agreed upon (what we mean by “orthodox”) by the church leaders since ancient times. Certain church fathers affirmed both the oneness and threeness of God and sought to explain how this could be using a Greco- Roman philosophical perspective.

They adopted two terms, essence (ousia) and person (hypostasis), explaining that there is but one essence of God, and that the three distinct persons of the Godhead each fully had the essence of deity. This satisfied the need for an explanation and was accepted as the correct meaning of the triunity of God. Some have objected to using the word “person” because it may imply three separate individuals. It might be better to say that the essence of deity exists in three personal self-distinctions. Once again it gets awfully hard to understand.

The difficulty in understanding led to this helpful (and common) depiction of the triune nature of God.

Although certainly helpful in explaining the triunity of God, it still remains a hard concept to grasp. As a result people have proposed a variety of illustrations. Some say God is like water (H,O), which can be solid (ice), gas (steam), or liquid, and given the right conditions, all three can exist in equilibrium. Others have proposed an egg, with shell, yolk, and albumen (egg white) all being fully egg and yet distinct. These and other illustrations may help but ultimately are not fully adequate for explaining God’s triunity.

5.  FINAL THOUGHTS

At the outset, I wrote that the theological concept of the triunity of God, although biblical, is certainly hard to grasp. It’s why my predecessor as Jewish Studies professor at Moody Bible Institute, Dr. Louis Goldberg, a brilliant philosophical scholar, would always speak of “the mystery nature of God.” He would often tell us in class that God’s plurality in His oneness is the infinite mystery of God’s being.

It’s what Ken Boa meant when he spoke of the triune nature of God as an antinomy, writing, there are “many things about God [which] are mysterious, incomprehensible, and superrational. God in his existence as the three-in-one is beyond the limits of human comprehension.” We can affirm that the Trinity is certainly taught in Scripture but it’s beyond our finite human minds. So, although we may not be able to explain the Trinity completely, we must certainly believe in it absolutely.