I Must Be a Deist

Well, not all the way I guess. A pure deist believes that God created the universe and then abandoned it. I don't believe He has totally abandoned it; it just seems that way most of the time. Maybe I'm just … part deist … about 90%.

The historical Christian view is that God created the universe to operate in the laws of nature that He predetermined. But I also believe there is more to it than that. I believe God is in control over everything that happens in the world either by direct cause from His hand or by the secondary causes that He has already put in nature.

The Bible states in both the Old and New Testament that God works all things …

(Ecclesiastes 11:5) "… you know not the work of God, Who does all."

(Ephesians 1:11) "… according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will."

Worketh means … "to be active" and involved in all things. All means … "all, any, every, the whole thing" … with nothing left out.

Part of being God, is that He must be in total control of everything He created … everything. If there is even one molecule that is not under His control, one tiny little speck running around in God's created universe that He is not in control of … just one … then that means that God is not in total control of what He made. Do you know what that is alluding to? God is not God. If anything is outside of His authority, outside of His control … then He is no longer God over all things … and that can not be.

If God made it, then He owns it. And if He owns it, then He is in charge of it. It's just that simple. (Psalm 24:1) … "The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."

The only exception to that rule is … man's will. God gave us a "free will of choice." Good or bad, right or wrong … it's our choice.

Even knowing and accepting the fact that God made the world, owns the world, and can control the world … it sure seems as if many times God must be "on a break."

The deistic view of all this is … God created time, and like the master watch maker He is, created the world as if it was a clock; and then He wound it up and set all things in motion with built-in secondary movements and causes of action; one movement causing a different motion, each with its own effects on the natural scheme of things.

I do agree that like a clock that has been wound up and starts ticking away time, the earth and all of mankind will someday run out of time when God's clock runs down and no longer ticks.

Now here is where I differ from the pure deist. The true deist believes everything works automatically … just as God intended when He spoke all things into existence. The deistic view states that all God did was to set the earth's natural laws in motion like a clock and then … God steps out of the picture … and simply observes and watches everything that takes place in the world. He never intervenes; He never intrudes in man's affairs because God is only an onlooker.

With this view of God, He is absolved of any blame for the catastrophes that happen in life. He leaves man to operate by the dictates of his own heart, with his own free will whether it is good or evil. If the deistic view was 100% accurate, then God would never have sent Jesus … "to seek and save that which was lost."

There are some people who believe just the exact opposite; that God determines everything; that He actually causes wars, accidents, floods, storms and brings sickness and disease … God does it all. They say anything and everything that happens is a direct result from the hand of God as He directs and dictates all movement, both good and bad.

Well … is that all we see; is all this bad stuff the only evidence of what a loving God would do or has already done for us, if for no other reason, to keep man from destroying himself and the world God made for us to inhabit. I don't think so. So … maybe I'm not a full 90% deist after all. I'm now thinking maybe it's more like a 50% deist.

I'm beginning to think God is only an onlooker 50% of the time even yet today; that He steps back a little distance from us, folds His arms and only watches as we struggle seemingly on our own as He observes our walk of faith. The other 50% of the time it looks as if He directs everything that happens to us to fulfill His plan and purpose He has chosen for our lives. I'm speaking about His followers, not the rest of the world.

But the truth lies somewhere in between not doing anything and doing everything.

The biblical view …

1.) As with the deistic view, God has stepped back somewhat, just not all the way to the role of only an observer. God observes, but will intrude into the affairs of man if and when He so chooses … and does He not have the authority and the right to do so?

2.) Many times He is the cause of how things work, directly intervening in our lives unknown to us. He can keep us from the storm or He can send us out into the storm. God may for a season lead His own children into various trials to test the integrity and honesty of their own hearts; and to help them discover any strongholds of sin hidden in their hearts.

3.) At other times the decisions we make may be the result of His indirect influence at work on our lives to bring about His sovereign will. But usually God will let each man, because of free will, make his own decisions … good and bad.

4.) God has endued the will of man with a natural liberty and freedom of choice that is not predisposed to good or evil. Basically … it's our choice.

So … what have I decided about how much control God has on our lives? Let me say it this way …

God, working out all things in His providence … makes use of various means; yet is free to work within those means, outside those means or against those means … at His pleasure. He has a right to give whatever He so chooses, in whatever proportions, at whatever times, and with whatever conditions He pleases, to who ever He pleases. He may therefore give or withhold any or all of His blessings, as He pleases.

My view is this …

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" … more than He gives me.


Comments welcome.