Bible Students

Providence is very important to the theology of God. First, it is important because it is who God says He is. God is provident over creation, He is sovereign, and this matters because He claims to be. If He is not, then not only is He not in control, but He is also wrong about who He is. Additionally, God’s power is dependent on His providence. The Christian’s dependance on God today is dependent on the sovereignty of God. Lastly, the Christian’s eternity is dependent on this. 

First, this is who God says He is. God claims to be sovereign. If the Lord is not sovereign, then He is a liar as well. This is because God claims to be sovereign and is in control of all things. The subtraction of sovereignty from His being would make Him out to be not only not in control, but also not who He says He is. 

Second, God’s power is dependent on His sovereignty and providence. The Lord’s power depends on His control over everything. If He is not in control over everything, then He is not all powerful. This does not mean He could not give power to someone else for a time (such as the livelihood of Job being given to the satan), but it does mean that ultimately reality answers to His power above all else. 

Third, the Christian’s dependance on God today depends on this doctrine. If the Lord is not in control of all things, how can the Lord bring goodness out of a bad situation? How could the Lord make all things to be good for those who love Him if He does not have the power over creation to do so? This is not to say that the Lord necessarily commands the wills of people, making it so that people do not have free will, but that ultimately He could control all things, but chooses to allow other agents, and works around them. 

Finally, the Christian’s eternity is dependent on this. If the Lord does not have power over creation and creation does not answer to Him, who is to say that the Lord can hold Christians forever? If there is a power outside of God’s control, who is to say that power could never enter the realm of the saved? In other words, if the Lord is not all powerful and in control of all things, He could lose those who are chosen by Him.  The sovereignty and providence of the Lord is an often debated subject, but it should be quite simple. There are some aspects of it which are important, and some which are matters of disagreement that do not need to be resolved. God will forever keep those who He has chosen for Himself. He is in control over all creation, finally, even if people have free will. If the providence of God was not true, and these were not true, this would be a great danger for Christian theology and life.