How sovereign is God?

Given the countless volumes of books and two millennia of debate on the issue I have no illusions of resolving the fight here on blogspot, but I’ll at least try to let you know where I stand.

The word itself is often misunderstood. Nations are sovereign. Kings are sovereign. Sovereignty has to do with autonomous authority. Therefore, to say that God is sovereign is to say that he has absolute authority in and of himself. Though unintentional we usually think of his sovereignty in conjunction with his omnipotence. Not only does he have absolute authority, but absolute power to act on it. Those who get angry at the notion of his sovereignty are often unwittingly thinking in terms of omnipotence while ignoring the real issue – is God just in exercising absolute authority? One would have to deny the body of Scripture in its entirety to answer this question negatively. Colossians 1:16 is one of many passages that teach that everything was created by God, here specifically referencing the second person of the Godhead. Not only does it say all things but specifically addresses the world systems – thrones, rulers, etc. Christ, being the creator has authority over these things, as the verse declares this creation was not only through Christ, but for Christ. Even you and I were created through him and for him … so yes of course he is just in exercising absolute authority over us. But, some may say, just because he is justified in doing so, does he actually carry through with it to the violation of my will? The next verse tells us that “in him all things consist,” or, “are held together.” If all things means all things then we must conclude that not only is he just in exercising authority, and not only does he follow through in enacting his authority, but without it everything would cease to exist– even your will.

Rather than trying to figure out how free or bound our wills are maybe we should just tremble in the knowledge of how fragile we are and rejoice in the sustaining sovereignty and omnipotence of God!