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And He will not change it, because He is the immutable God and because He is faithful and true.
Job 23:13,14; Ps. 33:11; Isa. 46:10; Luke 22:22; Acts 2:23.
5. IT IS UNCONDITIONAL OR ABSOLUTE.
This means that it is not dependent in any of its
particulars on anything that is not part and parcel of the decree itself. The various elements in
the decree are indeed mutually dependent but nothing in the plan is conditioned by anything
that is not in the decree. The execution of the plan may require means or be dependent on
certain conditions, but then these means or conditions have also been determined in the
decree. God did not simply decree to save sinners without determining the means to effectuate
the decree. The means leading to the pre-determined end were also decreed, Acts 2:23; Eph.
2:8; I Pet. 1:2. The absolute character of the decree follows from its eternity, its immutability,
and its exclusive dependence on the good pleasure of God. It is denied by all Semi-Pelagians
and Arminians.
6. IT IS UNIVERSAL OR ALL-COMPREHENSIVE.
The decree includes whatsoever comes to pass in
the world, whether it be in the physical or in the moral realm, whether it be good or evil, Eph.
1:11. It includes: (a) the good actions of men, Eph. 21:0; (b) their wicked acts, Prov. 16:4; Acts
2:23; 4:27,28; (c) contingent events, Gen. 45:8; 50:20; Prov. 16:33; (d) the means as well as the
end, Ps. 119:89-91; II Thess. 2:13; Eph. 1:4; (e) the duration of man’s life, Job 14:5; Ps. 39:4, and
the place of his habitation, Acts 17:26.
7. WITH REFERENCE TO SIN IT IS PERMISSIVE.
It is customary to speak of the decree of God
respecting moral evil as permissive. By His decree God rendered the sinful actions of man
infallibly certain without deciding to effectuate them by acting immediately upon and in the
finite will. This means that God does not positively work in man “both to will and to do,” when
man goes contrary to His revealed will. It should be carefully noted, however, that this
permissive decree does not imply a passive permission of something which is not under the
control of the divine will. It is a decree which renders the future sinful act absolutely certain,
but in which God determines (a) not to hinder the sinful self-determination of the finite will;
and (b) to regulate and control the result of this sinful self-determination. Ps. 78:29; 106:15;
Acts 14:16; 17:30.
E. Objections to the Doctrine of the Decrees.
As was said in the preceding, only Reformed theology does full justice to the doctrine of the
decrees. Lutheran theologians do not, as a rule, construe it theologically but soteriologically, for
the purpose of showing how believers can derive comfort from it. Pelagians and Socinians
reject it as unscriptural; and Semi-Pelagians and Arminians show it scant favor: some ignoring it
altogether; others stating it only to combat it; and still others maintaining only a decree