Parallel Tracks

Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter, an English theologian who now resides in heaven, stated that the sovereignty of God and the free will of man are like parallel tracks that only have their resolution in eternity.

Until then, God’s sovereignty and man’s free will may be considered independently of each other, but to cross them, confuse them, narrow them, mix them, or twist them will result in either bad theology or a misjudged humanity. Because we have a blight of questionable theology and confused humanity, we should explore Dr. Baxter’s counsel.

After all: If you get God wrong and humanity wrong, not much in life works well, certainly not as intended.

What is meant by God’s sovereignty?

To say God is sovereign means there is nothing in the universe—whether micro or macro—that is outside God’s authority. God has no limitations. He is not opposed and His will is supreme. He is omniscient: knows all. He is omnipotent: all-powerful. He is omnipresent: everywhere all the time. In short, God is in absolute control.

What is meant by man’s free will?

No one makes you do anything. As an independent human being, the freedom to choose is what Viktor Frankl called the last freedom, the freedom to choose one’s own way. Scripture puts it like this: “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you… not everything is beneficial” (1 Cor. 10:23 NLT).

You see the conflict immediately: If God is in control, then you are not. If you have freedom to choose as you see fit, then not even God can negate your choice.

So, which is it?

Is God sovereign or is your freedom to choose inviolable?

According to the rules of logic, the law of noncontradiction states that contradictory propositions cannot both be true in the same sense at the same time. Thus, either God is sovereign and you do not possess free will or you possess free will and God is not truly sovereign.

However, note the definition says “in the same sense at the same time.” Does this change our perceived contradiction?

The same sense…

Scripture states that God does not change—and of course, human beings are constantly changing.

The Greek philosophers thought about this extensively, especially Plato and Heraclitus. Plato believed the law of non-contradiction cannot be true for things that change. In the case of humanity, we are constantly becoming, progressing from what we are today to what we will be tomorrow. Thus, the philosophy of becoming is not possible without change. So, for the sake of our discussion, when it comes to humanity, as far as Heraclitus and Plato believed, we must simultaneously, in some sense, be both what we are now and have the dynamic potential for what we might become. However, this is not true of God. He is not becoming. As He puts it of Himself: I AM.

In short, God stays the same. Humans change. Therefore, God and humans do not exist in the same sense.

Thus, the law of noncontradiction doesn’t apply because we are not talking about equals that are contradictory. Whatever a human may think, and even if a human being adopts the attitude of thinking himself like god, no human being is sovereign and unchanging. God and man do not exist in the same sense.

The same time…

God is eternal and omnipresent. Meaning, during your lifetime, you and God exist simultaneously, i.e., at the same time during your days on Earth. God’s existence is timeless. Your existence is time-dictated, moment-to-moment.

What are the implications of this?

This means you either deny God’s sovereignty or you pray.

When you pray fervently you freely express your will to God, hoping, believing, claiming, declaring, even demanding that God do what you desire. It’s the classic contest of wills: yours to hold an opinion versus His anchored in sovereignty.

At the most basic level, God’s sovereign desire is that you and all humanity come to know Him, love Him, submit your life to Him, and enjoy eternity with Him. And at the most basic level, every human being possessed of sufficient self-awareness is faced with a fundamental question: Will I renounce my godlike, self-declared status and accept God’s invitation to be Sovereign Lord of my life or will I reject God’s sovereignty and be my own god?

Now, we are back to the fundamental question: How is it possible for God to be sovereign, humans to retain a viable, self-determining will, and for both to maintain autonomous viability?

Returning to Dr. Baxter’s parallel tracks: If the sovereignty of God is one track, and the free will of man is the other track, it is reasonable to explore each track. But this must be done independently, not simultaneously, while honoring the unique sense and time of each track. God must remain sovereign and man must retain a freedom of choice that is viable.

Think about one track, then think about the other. Leap back and forth between the tracks. But blend the tracks, cross the tracks, confuse the tracks, diminish one track and elevate the other, and you will have a theological and human wreck.

Some spend a great deal of time considering the sovereignty of God. This isn’t wrong, per se, but by definition, it’s not possible for a human being of limited capability to fully comprehend God’s sovereignty or explain it fully. As Aquinas said, God is utterly unknowable. Stay too long on this track and man’s free will becomes questionable or even negated, subsumed in the sovereignty of God. When this occurs, it’s called hyper-Calvinism, i.e., God does what He wants, chooses whom He wills, and man’s choice is negated. By the way, this also means humanity has no responsibility. Everyone is victimized by a whimsical, preferential God who chooses one and rejects another, running slipshod over the final freedom in both instances.

Leaping back to the human track to consider the far reaches of human free will: Go too far this direction and God’s sovereignty is diminished, even disregarded, and man’s free will is elevated to the extent he dictates to God. This is called hyper-Arminianism. Man is powerful, God is weak. Man is central, God is distant. Over-emphasize this track and now who’s God?

Misjudge the track of God’s sovereignty and you create a God who is capricious, whimsical, biased, petulant, abusive of His power and a human devoid of choice, a passive pawn in the divine agenda.

Misjudge the track of man’s freedom to choose, and you create a powerful man assuming control to live according to his own devices and an impotent, milquetoast God who is distant at best, unremarkable or nonexistent at worst.

But maintain the two tracks in parallel, God sovereign and on His throne, man free to choose how he will live his life, and you have the potential for God and man in relationship.

The story of Scripture is a sovereign God submitting Himself to humankind’s sense and time in order to fully and completely understand and identify with all our concerns. From this place, He says to us, “I understand. Given this, I’ve made a way for us—you and Me—to live together now, in your lifetime, and for all eternity in heaven. Will you accept my offer and declare me sovereign in your life?”

The story of humanity is that each of us embark on life’s journey independent of God, just as our ancestors did, and most notably, just as Adam the progenitor of the human race did. We are free to maintain independence from God and conduct our lives as gods of our realm. We are also free to take note of God’s invitation for relationship and right-standing with Him, renounce independence by the force of our freedom of choice, and declare God our sovereign.

As long as the two tracks remain parallel, God is God and man is fully man, both endowed by the other with mutual respect.

Herein is the essence of God and man in relationship: God valuing our declaration of allegiance to Him and taking us into His life, we offering up awe, praise, and adoration for His divine humility to redeem us into sainthood though irretrievably useless to Him.

Being sovereign, is there anything God does not know? Is He ever surprised or caught off guard? No, this can’t be or He is not sovereign.

Being sovereign and timeless, is there anything surprising or unknown to God? Nope. This is why God told Moses His name is, I AM. God is the constant noun and verb.

Being sovereign and good, is it possible a sparrow dies unjustly? Is it possible for God to abuse His sovereignty or neglect His goodness? No, such can’t be the case; it’s inconceivable.

Is it possible that you, living in your time dimension, with limited awareness, can fully comprehend the knowledge, sovereignty, and goodness of God? Not a chance. As a finite being, the best you can do is gain an inkling of the infinite God.

This means it’s highly probable many things in your life will appear less than good, and no matter how hard you pray, how much counsel you seek, or how long you live, there will be swaths of earthly life that escape your ability to understand, justify, and resolve as good.

So, what do you do?

While God’s sovereignty is incomprehensible, He has revealed enough of Himself through Scripture and Jesus Christ to inspire us, bond with us, and satisfy our longing to know Him in this life, be known by Him for eternity, and enjoy Him forever. In this life, we are both overwhelmed by the knowledge we apprehend of Him while humbly aware that what we are able to comprehend of Him is a thimble-full of the infinite ocean of God.  

It is clear from Scripture: God is good, loving, faithful, and true. What’s often not discernable is God’s sense of how He works His goodness or the time frame He uses. While this leaves Him in control, the mystery of His sovereignty leaves you to trust Him by faith. You do this by exercise of your free will: “Father God, I don’t understand, but I choose to trust you. Amen.”

As Babbie Mason sang, “When you can’t see His hand, / trust His heart.”

The alternative is to seize control yourself. This deism, agnosticism, atheism is your freedom, and it’s a decision God will respect.

However, think about it: Being a human, with limited sense of God’s sovereignty, limited sense of omniscience, and living in a time dimension with limited awareness, is it possible for you to know everything God knows and all that makes His actions good? Clearly, not.

But you as a responsible human being, in possession of a sense of freedom of choice, can use your last freedom—choice—to offer up your most powerful declaration in real time: “Father God, even though I don’t understand and can’t see, I trust you and declare you sovereign. Amen.”

In this way, God is sovereign and man is free. It’s not one track or the other. It’s both with mutual respect attending each.

This means God speaks to you and you speak to God. Because you are secure with each other, open and candid conversation can occur. After all, God left His track and came to yours in order to open a clear line of communication through Jesus Christ.

Two parallel tracks. Two essences, one unchanging, one growing; both living, one timeless, the other time dimensional; both possessed of being and eternal viability, one divine, and if in relationship with the divine, the other endowed with a divine likeness, sharing in the divine nature; both sharing the same heartfelt dreams and desires, both possessed of the same Spirit.

Endowed as such, there is now the ability for humans to walk with God, holding hands and binding spirits across the space between the two tracks separating them until the distance is fully resolved in eternity.