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There is no Plan B
The Doctrine of God leads us to a study of God's attributes. A. W. Pink has written the classic book, The Attributes of God. It is in this small book that he covers the infinite attributes of God's foreknowledge and the decrees of God.
Before going into Pink's writing let me demonstrate an unfortunate error (heresy) that is growing in the evangelical church today. It is the Openness of God controversy - or Open Theism. I find this thinking occasionally creeping in, as I am in conversation with other dear Christians.
Lignon Duncan has written about this controversy - and demonstrates one compelling example of the error - read and think!
In his book, (Greg Boyd - The God of the Possible) Boyd tells the story goes that a young woman raised in a Christian home, from a very young age a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ, longed in her early years to be a missionary and longed to marry a godly man who would share a similar goal, and they would go to Taiwan and minister for the rest of the days of their life. That was the desire of her heart. And, lo and behold, at Bible College she met this young man who shared her vision for Taiwan. He was godly, he was committed, and they fell in love. And for three and a half years they courted one another, they prayed together, they went to church together, they prepared themselves for the mission field, and during their senior year, this man proposed to her. Not surprisingly, this young woman named Suzanne immediately said yes. And so for several months they fasted and they prayed over the matter, and they concluded that this marriage was God’s will, and that gave her a sense of confirmation that this is what God would have her do. And so with a sense of joy and peace, they marched into life. But shortly after college, the newly married couple went away to missionary school, and two years into this training, Suzanne learned that her husband was an adulterer. He was cheating on her, involved in an adulterous affair with a fellow student at the missionary college. He repented initially, but then he went right back to the affair, and despite Christian counseling, that pattern repeated itself over and over and over during the next years. As you can imagine, their dream for the mission field was immediately shattered, and eventually, their marriage broke up. And so Suzanne came to Mr. Boyd for counsel. “How do I interpret this? I was trying to do God’s will, and look at what has happened to my life.” Here’s the pastoral counsel, here’s the wise pastoral advice that open theism is ultimately able to offer: “Suzanne, take comfort. God didn’t know this was going to happen. This caught him just as off guard as it caught you. But here’s the good news, Suzanne, sometimes God’s plan B can be just as good as his plan A.” So much for the pastoral counsel of open theism.
Does God have a Plan B?
Let's go to A. W. Pink:
"Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite" (Psa. 146:5). God not only knows whatsoever has happened in the past in every part of His vast domains, and He is not only thoroughly acquainted with everything that is now transpiring throughout the entire universe, but He is also perfectly cognizant of every event, from the least to the greatest, that ever will happen in the ages to come. God's knowledge of the future is as complete as is His knowledge of the past and the present, and that, because the future depends entirely upon Himself. Were it in anywise possible for something to occur apart from either the direct agency or permission of God, then that something would be independent of Him, and He would at once cease to be Supreme. Now the Divine knowledge of the future is not a mere abstraction, but something which is inseparably connected with and accompanied by His purpose.... The wisdom and power of God being alike infinite, the accomplishment of whatever He hath purposed is absolutely guaranteed. It is no more possible for the Divine counsels to fail in their execution than it would be for the thrice holy God to lie. Nothing relating to the future is in anywise uncertain so far as the actualization of God's counsels are concerned. None of His decrees are left contingent either on creatures or secondary causes. There is no future event which is only a mere possibility, that is, something which may or may not come to pass: "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning" (Acts 15:18).
God does not have a Plan B? NO! - we are living God's decreed Plan A. Praise God!
Posted by Christine at November 21, 2005 12:17 PM
