Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 99:396 (Oct 1942)
Article: The Sovereignty of Grace as Seen in Romans 8:28-30
Author: Alfred Martin

BSac 99:396 (Oct 42) p. 453

The Sovereignty of Grace as Seen in Romans 8:28-30

Alfred Martin

Nowhere is the sovereign grace of God seen more clearly than in the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, verses twenty-eight, twenty-nine, and thirty. In these three verses there is given in one majestic sweep the whole plan of God in redemption from the counsels of the past eternity into the never-ending future. The language is breath-taking in its import, giving to the Christian the fullest assurance of both his present welfare and his eternal salvation.

God is absolutely sovereign in the exercise of His grace. He is dependent upon nothing outside Himself and is responsible to no one. A God who was not sovereign would be no God at all. Were He limited in His purpose and actions by sin or by the free will of man or by any other cause, He would be impotent in His own universe, vainly trying to bring to pass plans which could never be accomplished-or at best only might be. In short He would be the finite God advocated by J. S. Mill, William James, H. G. Wells, and other philosophers. Arminian theology, with its doctrine of absolute free will and its practical denial of the sovereignty of God, leads in this dangerous direction; it is only a step from Arminianism to finite-godism.

The problem of sin is really not a problem with God. Nor does the human will stand as a barrier to the carrying out of His purposes. In His own holy and infinitely wise plan He has been pleased to permit sin, overruling it for His own glory. The will of man is likewise a part of His all-inclusive decree.

In the passage of Scripture which is being considered

BSac 99:396 (Oct 42) p. 454

nothing is said concerning the human responsibility in salvation. In fact, nothing at all is said of the human attitude except in the brief phrase, “to them that love God.” This is immediately explained as being coextensive with the phrase, “to them who are the called according to his purpose.” The apostle John expresses the thought similarly: “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

It is God’s purpose which is under consideration; hence the almost complete lack of reference to the human element. Many other passages of Scripture combine to show that there is a human element-the element of faith, but that does not enter into the present study. Salvation is here being considered from the divine side, and is shown to be entirely a work of God for man.

The statement of verse twenty-eight would be absolutely impossible if God were not sovereign. If there were the slightest element of chance in the universe, or if any creature could commit the sma...