God's Not Guilty

Today I want to share one of the most important things God has ever done in my life. It seems people automatically believe everything that happens to them is from God, that He controls everything. The reason for this is that by definition God is supreme and all-powerful, and they just assume He controls everything that happens in our lives. Even unbelievers believe it. There are many Christians who promote this doctrine, and it has become ingrained in their lives. I believe what Scripture teaches is contrary to this, and it’s very important that you learn this lesson. James 1:13-17 says, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

These verses make it very clear that God is the author of the good things. Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." If it’s good, it’s God; if it’s bad, it’s the devil. That’s very simple theology. The reason this is so critical is because James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." This says we have to submit, or yield control, to God and resist the devil. The word resist means to actively fight against.

When people believe everything that happens in life is totally from God—for example, sickness, failure in business, losing a job, rebellious children, or divorce—that puts them in the position of being passive. If they really believe God is the author of a situation and is using it to punish them or change them, they would be fighting against Him if they resist. Yet, James 4:7 says to resist the devil and he will flee from you. You have to submit yourself to God. This shows that certain things are of God and certain things are of the devil. There is a force of evil in this world, and not everything that happens in your life comes from God. If you don’t understand that, you will end up submitting to the devil, and actually empowering Satan.
I want to bring out a passage in Romans because it is misused so often. I’ve actually been to funerals where people don’t know anything about God, don’t go to church, and know hardly any Scripture, but they know this one. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." This has been interpreted to say that whatever happens in your life, God does it and works it together for good in some way. I actually was at a funeral for a young boy and girl who had been mixing alcohol and drugs, got into a car, drove too fast on a slick road, slid around a corner, hit a telephone pole, and were both killed. The preacher quoted this Scripture, "We know all things work together for good," and said God must have a purpose in doing this. God did not kill those teenagers, and in a sense you can’t even say the devil did it. They did it. I’m sure the devil enticed them to rebel against the standards their parents and others had taught them, but ultimately it was their choice. They’re the ones who did the dope and alcohol; they’re the ones that hit the telephone pole. That was a natural thing, and God wasn’t the source of it.

What does it mean when it says "we know that all things work together for good"? First of all, it didn’t say we know all things come from God and work together for good. It says all things work together for good, but puts qualifications on it: ". . . to them that love God." This Scripture doesn’t work for a person who doesn’t love God. That is so obvious that it should go without saying, but it is amazing how people apply it toward instances like these young people who were doing drugs and alcohol and were in total rebellion against God and His principles, and say God did it. This says it only works together for good to those who love God, and to those that are the called according to his purpose.

In 1 John 3:8 it says, "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." God manifested himself to destroy Satan’s work. That’s His purpose, and it will only work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, that is, those who are walking in this calling, are resisting the devil, and are out to destroy his works. Those who are resisting the devil and living for God can say that regardless of what the devil does in their lives, God can turn it around and use it for good.

In the area of healing, if someone becomes ill with an incurable disease, that’s not God. He didn’t do that to them. But if they truly love Him and resist the devil and his works (which include sickness), and if they fight against it and release their faith, then you can say that even this sickness is going to work together for good. God didn’t cause it, God didn’t ordain it, but it can work together for good when you love God and are the called according to His purpose.

It is imperative that you understand this, because Scripture says Satan loves to come as an angel of light. He loves to disguise himself. He doesn’t come at you with a pitchfork, horns, and a red union suit. Instead, he’ll disguise himself and try to make you think he’s God. If you really believe God is the author of the problems in your life, you’ll submit to them because you don’t want to resist God. If you really believe God is the author of the sickness in your life, it is inconsistent to take medicine, to go to a doctor and have them operate, or to seek some type of treatment. If you really believe God put sickness on you to teach you something, the logical thing to do is submit to it, let it run it’s course, and learn the full lesson you are supposed to learn.

Even in the natural people say, "No, I wouldn’t do that. You’re supposed fight against it, not just lie down and take it," and I agree. I’m saying the same thing in the spiritual realm, as well as the physical realm, that we need to start discerning that God does not control everything in our lives. There is an enemy that comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but Jesus has come to give us life. We have to choose life and willfully recognize that God’s not guilty of everything that comes into our lives.

If God was a physical human being who did the things He is accused of, such as putting cancer, deformities, depression, sorrow, and grief on people, I guarantee there isn’t a government on earth that wouldn’t arrest, imprison, or try to stop Him. Yet we think God, who is much more merciful than any person we’ve met or imagined in our whole life, is going around striking people and doing this. There are some things that are demonic attacks and some that are natural, and not all disasters are God ordained. The insurance companies write in policies, "acts of God, such as earthquakes and pestilence." No, God is not the author of all these things.

Someone might say, "But wait a minute, isn’t God sovereign?" The word sovereign literally means independent. For instance, the United States became a sovereign nation—became independent of Great Britain—and we set our own rules and have our own government. That doesn’t mean we’re a lawless people. Our laws govern our lifestyle, so we are not lawless—we are sovereign, we are independent. In that sense God is certainly independent. Nobody tells Him what to do. People sometimes misuse the word sovereign to mean that you never know what God is going to do, that He can’t be put in a box or contained. Certainly He’s not going to fit in our box—our little doctrines and theologies. God has bound Himself by his Word. Psalm 138:2 says, "for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." He will never violate His word. Heaven and earth are established on the integrity of God’s word, and if He ever violated His Word, they would self-destruct. God can be predicted to do exactly what His word says, so in that sense you can’t say it’s a sovereign act of God, that He just moved independent of everybody else.

God has established laws, and He doesn’t control everything in our lives. He has given us a wide range of choices. Most of the time it is us making the wrong choices, or somebody else who has a free will and causes us grief through their sovereignty. Other times it’s the devil who comes against us, but I want you to know today that God’s not guilty. He’s not the author of bad things in your life. Going back to the first verse we used in James 1:17, it says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights."

Don’t submit yourself to something God doesn’t want in your life, thinking, "Well, God must control everything, because He’s God." No, God created this earth and set down laws, and He gives you and me the choices to make. He said in Deuteronomy 30:19, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." God gave you the choice, and I pray that today you will choose life.

- Romans 10:15

- Romans 10:15