AUGUST 8

GOD ONLY IS GOD

“Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know Mine hand and My might; and they shall know that My name is the LORD.” (Jer. 16:20-21)

Christendom has long supported the idea if man being a “ free moral agent,” even though the Word of God exposes this as being utterly false in every degree. “The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope.” (Rom. 8:20). But let us examine these three words:

1) An AGENT is one who acts or performs an act.

2) A FREE agent is one who can act as he pleases without any restraint of any kind placed upon him.

3) A free MORAL agent would be one who is free to act upon all moral issues, that is, all questions involving the qualities of right and wrong.

If in any degree we are MADE SUBJECT to bondage of vanity, then we are not free to act, to perform our own will. But man is under even more restraint than that general coverage of Romans 8:20, for Psalm 76:10 reads, “The wrath of man shall praise Thee; the remainder of wrath shalt Thou RESTRAIN.” If there be any “restraint” at all, any “subjection” at all, it is self-evident that we are not entirely free to “do our own thing,” in the full exercise of our own will. And restrain HE DOSE, anything which God does not purpose to use, to work into good, to further His own plan of the ages, He restrains. He is in total control at all times. Omnipotently, soverignly, He says, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.” (Isa. 46:10).

For man is so finite, deceiving himself,
Unable to conquer this world and its pelf,
O, holy Creator, our eyes are on Thee,
In Thy great salvation is reality.

Ray Prinzing