WCF 3.1 God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.
This chapter takes up right where the last chapter finished. At the end of the last chapter, the Trinity was discussed and I raised the question, "How can an eternal being be begotten?" And now at the very start of this chapter, we see God's eternal nature talked about again. God from all eternity did ordain whatsoever comes to pass. God knows all things, so I can only presume that God has always known everything since he is immutable (unchangeable). And if God has always known everything, there never has been a time when he did not know about this very second and everything that is happening across his creation at this second. But this also means that God, right now and at this very point in time, also knows all other seconds from the beginning of time to the end of time.
WCF 2.2 talked about this and some proof texts of God's nature are:
Hebrews 4:13 - "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
Romans 11:33 - "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out! V34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?"
Psalm 147:5 - "Great is our Lord, and great of power: his understanding is infinite."
Acts 15:18 - "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world."
Ezekiel 11:5 - "And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them."
This is the incredible benefit of systematic theology. Because of what you already know to be true about God, you arrive at certain conclusions when you read other texts.
Ephesians 1:11 says that God worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Because we know that God is infinite in his understanding, that all his works were known from the beginning of the world, and that God is immutable, we can rightly say that God's infinite understanding was known from at least the beginning of the world.
I also want to briefly mention Acts 2:23 which is a proof text for the last part of this section. Acts 2:23 says, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
God is infinite in his understanding, all his works were known from the beginning of the world, God is immutable, and now he also delivered Christ to be crucified and slain. Yet, notice that it says, "ye have taken" and notice that it says "ye ... by wicked hands have crucified and slain"
So in plain and simple language, God ordained for his Son to die and yet the men who killed him are wicked and guilty of this terrible sin.
This chapter takes up right where the last chapter finished. At the end of the last chapter, the Trinity was discussed and I raised the question, "How can an eternal being be begotten?" And now at the very start of this chapter, we see God's eternal nature talked about again. God from all eternity did ordain whatsoever comes to pass. God knows all things, so I can only presume that God has always known everything since he is immutable (unchangeable). And if God has always known everything, there never has been a time when he did not know about this very second and everything that is happening across his creation at this second. But this also means that God, right now and at this very point in time, also knows all other seconds from the beginning of time to the end of time.
WCF 2.2 talked about this and some proof texts of God's nature are:
Hebrews 4:13 - "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
Romans 11:33 - "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out! V34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?"
Psalm 147:5 - "Great is our Lord, and great of power: his understanding is infinite."
Acts 15:18 - "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world."
Ezekiel 11:5 - "And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them."
This is the incredible benefit of systematic theology. Because of what you already know to be true about God, you arrive at certain conclusions when you read other texts.
Ephesians 1:11 says that God worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Because we know that God is infinite in his understanding, that all his works were known from the beginning of the world, and that God is immutable, we can rightly say that God's infinite understanding was known from at least the beginning of the world.
I also want to briefly mention Acts 2:23 which is a proof text for the last part of this section. Acts 2:23 says, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
God is infinite in his understanding, all his works were known from the beginning of the world, God is immutable, and now he also delivered Christ to be crucified and slain. Yet, notice that it says, "ye have taken" and notice that it says "ye ... by wicked hands have crucified and slain"
So in plain and simple language, God ordained for his Son to die and yet the men who killed him are wicked and guilty of this terrible sin.
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