A classic objection to the sovereignty of God is the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” First of all, “There is none that doeth good…” (Psalm 14:1, Psalm 14:3, Psalm 53:1, Psalm 53:3, & Romans 3:12) so when bad things happen, they happen to bad people, no matter who we are (John MacArthur calls this “Absolute Inability.”) Second, how can we define something as “bad” unless there is a standard to which to compare it?

Here is our standard (thanks to Todd Friel on the June 18 “Way Of The Master Radio” program for stating this argument):

1. God is good (Leviticus 19:2b “…for I the LORD your God am holy.”)

2. God is all powerful (Zephaniah 3:17a “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty…)

3. There is evil in the world (Romans 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”)

Therefore:

4. God has a morally sufficient reason for the existence of evil.

So, if someone says that something God has allowed is not good, then he is taking the place of God as the judge of what is good. In order to make that kind of moral judgement, one would have to claim to have ALL knowledge about everything. Since we do know that this is a physical impossibility for us as finite human beings, there is no possible way that we can make any kind of moral judgement in and of ourselves. There HAS to be a standard bearer outside of ourselves that does possess all knowledge and all power in order to determine that moral standard.

Am I saying that all atheists and agnostics are totally immoral? Certainly not! Some of them do live by some kind of moral standard. My contention is that this is totally inconsistent with their presuppositions and their worldview has no foundation on which to build a moral ethic. The fact that anyone has a moral standard of any kind only shows that in their hearts, they acknowledge, at least by their actions, that there is an infinite standard bearer that has determined what is right and wrong (Romans 2, particularly verse 14 & 15.)

Now, if God has a morally sufficient reason for the existense of evil, what could that possibly be? It can only be for His glory (Romans 11:36 “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”) When we see ourselves in the proper relationship to God, we can only conclude that ANY good things that happen in our lives can only be attributed to the amazing grace of God.

So what is our responsibility? The Apostle Paul goes on in Romans 12 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (verses 1-3) God has created all things only for HIS glory. The only reasonable course that we can take is to give Him total and complete control of all of our lives, now and for always.