Who directs your steps?
an Article By Rev Earl Jackson
Jeremiah 10:23 "I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps".
Non-Christians are committed to their false ideologies, and their ingrained atheism. For them God is unnecessary because they imagine that they possess freedom and that freedom is all that they need. Unfortunately what they have is self-delusion and blindness. Freedom is a myth. All men serve something, and all men are subject to forces outside of themselves which they do not and cannot control. The blind lead the blind right into the ditch, all the while thinking that they are directing their own steps, and thinking, that they are acting without any compulsion from some God whom they deny.
The Bible is crystal clear about this. Man does not direct his own steps or determine his own way. He is absolutely incapable of doing such a thing because He exists by God and for God, and not by himself or for himself. "All things were created by Him, and For Him" (Col. 1:16). "For of Him. and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36). "The LORD hath made all things for Himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Prov. 16:4). This applies to all humans of all time. The wicked are here specifically mentioned, because it is particularly they who imagine their own autonomy. They are the ones who pretend to be independent from God. Christians, know of their own election, and understand that God directs all their ways, but the unbelievers, they imagine and pretend to the ridiculous and absurd. So God is clear to tell us that even they are directed by the Lord. He created them for the evil in which they walk, and for the destruction which they will face. God made all the vessels of wrath which are "fitted for destruction" (Rom. 9:22), just as He made all the vessels of mercy. It is the potter who has the power over the clay, and not the clay the power over itself (Rom. 9:21). "They disobey the word of God, because they were destined to disobey it" (1Pet. 2:8). They were appointed to be Christ-rejector's. But God has not destined believers for wrath, like He has them (1Thess. 5:9). They were long ago designated by God for condemnation (Jude 1:4), while we were designated by Him for Eternal Life (Acts 13:48).
It has been said that these doctrines of the absolute Sovereignty of God in all things, and of the utter inability of man to direct his own paths, makes God into some kind of vicious tyrant, and turns Him into something which is beneath His dignity and is inconsistent with His infinite love. But it is the denial of the truths of Scripture which warp and pervert men's ideas of God. The affirmation and declarations from Scripture about who God is and about what He does, does not turn God into a monster. It is the denial of those things found in scripture about Him which produces a warped and twisted view of God. God is who He is, and He does what He wants, regardless of what we think of it. If you fashion your doctrines out of your own conceptions of what you want God to be, then you will always be worshiping a false God. God is not what you imagine Him to be, He is who He is, and He is who He says He is. God is self-revealing in the Bible. That means He does what He says that He does, and not what you imagine that He can or cannot do. "Who art thou that repliests against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?" Rom. 9:20). We are required to think, believe and teach all that God has revealed about Himself in the Bible, not just those parts which please our humanistic appetites. God is the one who directs all men's steps. The ways of man are not within himself, they are with God. That is what the Bible says, and if men do not believe it, it is because they are lost atheists.
an Article By Rev Earl Jackson
Jeremiah 10:23 "I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps".
Non-Christians are committed to their false ideologies, and their ingrained atheism. For them God is unnecessary because they imagine that they possess freedom and that freedom is all that they need. Unfortunately what they have is self-delusion and blindness. Freedom is a myth. All men serve something, and all men are subject to forces outside of themselves which they do not and cannot control. The blind lead the blind right into the ditch, all the while thinking that they are directing their own steps, and thinking, that they are acting without any compulsion from some God whom they deny.
The Bible is crystal clear about this. Man does not direct his own steps or determine his own way. He is absolutely incapable of doing such a thing because He exists by God and for God, and not by himself or for himself. "All things were created by Him, and For Him" (Col. 1:16). "For of Him. and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36). "The LORD hath made all things for Himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil" (Prov. 16:4). This applies to all humans of all time. The wicked are here specifically mentioned, because it is particularly they who imagine their own autonomy. They are the ones who pretend to be independent from God. Christians, know of their own election, and understand that God directs all their ways, but the unbelievers, they imagine and pretend to the ridiculous and absurd. So God is clear to tell us that even they are directed by the Lord. He created them for the evil in which they walk, and for the destruction which they will face. God made all the vessels of wrath which are "fitted for destruction" (Rom. 9:22), just as He made all the vessels of mercy. It is the potter who has the power over the clay, and not the clay the power over itself (Rom. 9:21). "They disobey the word of God, because they were destined to disobey it" (1Pet. 2:8). They were appointed to be Christ-rejector's. But God has not destined believers for wrath, like He has them (1Thess. 5:9). They were long ago designated by God for condemnation (Jude 1:4), while we were designated by Him for Eternal Life (Acts 13:48).
It has been said that these doctrines of the absolute Sovereignty of God in all things, and of the utter inability of man to direct his own paths, makes God into some kind of vicious tyrant, and turns Him into something which is beneath His dignity and is inconsistent with His infinite love. But it is the denial of the truths of Scripture which warp and pervert men's ideas of God. The affirmation and declarations from Scripture about who God is and about what He does, does not turn God into a monster. It is the denial of those things found in scripture about Him which produces a warped and twisted view of God. God is who He is, and He does what He wants, regardless of what we think of it. If you fashion your doctrines out of your own conceptions of what you want God to be, then you will always be worshiping a false God. God is not what you imagine Him to be, He is who He is, and He is who He says He is. God is self-revealing in the Bible. That means He does what He says that He does, and not what you imagine that He can or cannot do. "Who art thou that repliests against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus?" Rom. 9:20). We are required to think, believe and teach all that God has revealed about Himself in the Bible, not just those parts which please our humanistic appetites. God is the one who directs all men's steps. The ways of man are not within himself, they are with God. That is what the Bible says, and if men do not believe it, it is because they are lost atheists.
©2012 E H Jackson all rights reserved.
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PERMISSION IS GRANTED to post this article on any website or blog, or other electronic media, provided it is posted in it's entirety without alteration, and a clear link is included back to this website. No permission for hard copy, print, or other use is hereby granted. This article may not be sold or used on for profit websites or projects. CLICK HERE to send us any links to the places where you put this article.
