God Does Many Things Through Means
It becomes more and more apparent to me Calvinists ignore the fact God does many things through means. For example, they accept the several passages that say God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and reject the several passages that say Pharaoh hardened his own heart. The former fit their system of theology while the latter do not. Most believers do that – accept what fits their theology and disregard what doesn’t. What we should do instead is figure out a way both sets of passages can be true. And in this case that answer is found in the fact that many things are done through means as opposed to force. For example, God gives faith and repentance through means (leading/persuasion via the gospel Rom 2:4, II Cor 5:11, John 6:44-45, II Thess 2:14, I Pet 1:23, Eph 6:17) not by force. Consider this old debate chart …
Acts 16:14 – How Did God Open Lydia’s Heart?
Does God Miraculously Force people to convert, or does He use Means/Agency to influence them toward that end?:
God gives us our daily bread (Matt 6:11), but is that done via a manna miracle or thru means (our jobs)?
I Kings 11:4 says Solomon’s wives “turned away his heart.” Did Solomon’s wives turn away his heart by miraculous force, or was it through influence – still leaving Solomon with a choice?
II Kings 13:2 says Jeroboam “made Israel to sin.” Did Jeroboam force them to sin, or did he lead them to sin by placing idols in Bethel and Dan – I Kings 12:28ff? Baasha did the same thing – I Kings 16:2
II Kings 23:29 says Josiah was slain by the king of Egypt, but II Chron 35:23 says archers killed Josiah. Which was it? The answer is the king killed Josiah through “agents” (his soldiers).
John 4:1-2 Jesus baptized or didn’t he? He did it through agents – his disciples.
John 6:44-45 the Father draws sinners to Jesus, not thru miraculous force, but thru the teaching and learning His word
Nehemiah 8:1 God commanded Israel … through an agent / by Moses (verse 14)
Matt 8:5 the centurion made a request of Jesus, but it was made thru agents, i.e., the elders of the Jews – Luke 7:3
I Cor 4:15 Paul had “begotten” the Corinthians thru the gospel – thru means, right?
Acts 26:18 God sent Paul to preach to the Gentiles to “open their eyes.” But Paul obviously didn’t do that thru miraculous force. In the same way, God opens/enlightens hearts/minds/eyes thru divine persuasion (Acts 28:23, II Cor 5:11) of his word (Psalms 19:8b), not thru miraculous force. Bible preaching pricks/opens hearts Acts 2:37.
The same is true for the opposite: God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exod 7:13, 9:12, 10:1), but Pharaoh hardened his own heart “also” (Exod 8:32, 8:15, 9:34). So obviously God didn’t do it thru force, but through circumstances. The choice was still Pharaoh’s. The same is true for us. God hardens hearts and blinds eyes (John 12:40), but also people harden their own hearts (Prov 28:14) and close their own eyes (Matt 13:15). There is no contradiction. It is done thru means, not force.
A young man “opens” a girl’s heart, but he does it thru actions of love, persuasion, conduct, careful attention, etc., not through force. He doesn’t take away her free will, but he does open her heart nonetheless. Similarly, the gospel opened Lydia’s heart to obey God – not by force, but by inspired persuasion.
God’s goodness leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4); He does not force us.