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Is God "Self-limiting" In Any Way? No.
by GBC Ministry

Friends,

I was given the following short commentary today (the source was not included) by one of our fellow saints. They saw it as a complement to what was taught recently regarding God having both a determinative will, i.e., a will that will be accomplished "regardless" (i.e., Eze. 18:20; Gal. 6:7-8), and what I termed a "loving and gracious" will as expressed in 1 Tim. 2:4, which will not, necessarily, be accomplished. I am sharing this for your further blessing.

Pastor Dan

"Read Jesus' lament over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37: 'I wanted to gather your children together...but you were not willing!' (NKJV). God is utterly sovereign and therefore fully capable of bringing to pass whatever He desires (see Isaiah 46:10), including the salvation of whomever He chooses (Ephesians. 1: 4, 5). Yet, He sometimes expresses a wish for that which He does not sovereignly bring to pass (see Gen. 6:6; Deut. 5:29; Ps. 81:13; Is. 48:18). Such expressions in no way suggest a limitation on the sovereignty of God or imply any actual change in Him (Num. 23:19). But these statements do reveal essential aspects of the divine character: He is full of compassion, sincerely good to all, desirous of good, not evil, and therefore does not delight in the destruction of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:32; 33:11)."

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Grace Bible Church :-: (217) 200-2232 :-: 3900 N Willow Rd Urbana, P.O. Box 303, IL 61803 :-: pastor (at) gbcurbana.com