The Decrees of God

Q. 7. What are the decrees of God?
A. 7. The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.(1)

(1) Eph. 1:4, 11; Rom. 9:22-23.

How many times have you heard that things happen by chance? You received a job offer here, but not there; your car breaks down on the way to your first day of work; you get sick at the beginning of a vacation. There are many such real life situations in which people will attribute the "inconvenient" things that occur to this thing some call chance. However, chance is really nothing more than a mathematical or statistical calculation; it cannot do or cause anything to happen.

Sadly, Christians fall into this mindset of attributing things to chance, especially when seemingly bad things happen. When seemingly good things happen, many Christians are right when they attribute those to our God in heaven, but will often say people in the midst difficult situations that this was not God's plan or something similar. To be honest, when facing some of difficulties of life, it is hard to understand how it is that such a statement is supposed to bring one comfort.

This question and answer from the Shorter Catechism states the biblical reality over against any idea that things happen by chance. All things happen because God has decreed them to happen. It is rather interesting that there's a shift from the plural "decrees" to the singular "eternal purpose." All of God's decrees are a part of His one overarching eternal purpose. These decrees never conflict with one another due to some shortsightedness or limitation on God's part. There is an eternal purpose for all of His decrees and His decrees ARE His eternal purpose. This purpose, these decrees are a result (as it were) of the counsel of His will. Thus, there is an omniscient wisdom behind everything that takes place. Even the fall of man through Adam was ordained by God that He might manifest His grace in the second Adam - the Lord Jesus Christ, thus bringing all glory to Himself. Everything that comes to pass is for His glory; everything that comes to pass does so because God has foreordained it to come to pass.

It must be admitted that sometimes this is a hard teaching for us to swallow. We see much suffering in the world and the "easy" way to look at the evils we see is to say something to the effect that God did not plan that or God did not bring that to pass. The question or the doctrine of God's decrees is sometimes a difficult one especially when the effects of sin in this world come to bear on us. There are certainly times when God's ways confuse us and leave us asking "Why?" One thing to remember through such difficult circumstances is who and what God is. Remember from question #3 that God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His goodness. He cannot but do good. While you may have difficulty understanding how good can come of our hardships, while you struggle with such a mystery, God does not. Since He is all wise and all things are ultimately for His glory, let that be enough. He will certainly give you the strength in Christ to see it through. Remember as well that God ordained Christ’s suffering and death for you (Acts 4:28). Keep in mind that God does nothing capriciously, but decrees all things for His glory and the good of His people.