Lately I have been thinking a great deal about the argument between free will vs. the soveriegnty of God.
It's odd, a few years ago I was writing papers defending our supposed "free will" in my systematic theology class, but now it is though a veil has been lifted from my eyes. The scriptures that once seemed to conflict now fit together perfectly, painting the most beautiful picture of our Creator and His wonderful plan for all humanity!
As I have meditated on this subject I came to what I feel as though is a break through for my understanding of God and I just wished to share it with you all.
I have come to realize that every action of the creation is actually a reaction to something else in creation and ultimately to God. More specifically, all of mankind's actions are actually reactions to God's actions. (I hope that makes sense.)
Now, the mainstream church and all other pagan religions teach that God is forced into action or He must react to our actions with either punishment or reward. If my actions are good, God reacts with reward or "heaven." If my actions are bad, God reacts with punishment or "hell." Besides being unscriptural, this assumes that God has handicapped himself into reacting to man's action. This is egocentric! It places us as god (antichrist or the beat) and demotes God into a form of slavery, reacting to our actions.
God acts. He does not react. He is the initial action... His actions are not based on anyone but Himself. We the creation react to what He "causes" with His actions. Therefore He does not sin through us, nor does he tempt others through us, but instead we choose to do those things as reactions to the action of God's sovereign hand.
This has been a real break through for my understanding! I hope that this is an help to others struggling to understand the mysteries of God and also an encouragement to those who have already come to these wonderful understandings.
God's Peace.
Josh