The Sovereign Heresy

Sovereign (adj.): Superlative in quality, of the most exalted kind; possessed of supreme power, absolute, enjoying autonomy. 

Until the NIV bible was published, the word sovereign was never used in the bible.  However, because of the misuse of this word, the notion of God controlling everything is one of the worst heresies taught and propagated by the church today.

Let me start by saying that not everything which happens on this earth goes according to God's will. I know that this is a tough idea to swallow; especially if you've been raised in today's church. Yet, nowhere in the new testament will you find this idea taught. In fact, there are many places in the bible where you find God's perfect will not coming to pass.

"The notion of God controlling everything is one of the worst heresies taught and propagated by the church today."

For example, when God led the nation of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land. God was going to take them directly to their new home. However, the people rebelled against God and were stuck wandering the desert for 40 years(Numbers 14).  Or how about the passage in scripture which says, "...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."(2 Peter 3:9) And yet Jesus said that wide is gate which leads to destruction and narrow is the gate to salvation. He goes on to say that few will enter into salvation.( Matt. 7:13-14) This happens regardless of the fact that God wants everyone to be saved.

So why, if there are multiple scriptures showing that God's perfect will doesn't come to pass, embrace this teaching? The reason is simple, it's a convenient theology. It allows people to take no responsibility for their actions and places all the blame for things going wrong on God.

There's just one problem; anyone who professes this way of thinking doesn't really believe it. One example of this is believers who are sick who will comfort themselves with the notion that God made them sick to teach them a lesson. This allows them to not face the fact that they are directly responsible for their health. However, if they really believed that God gave them or gave permission for their sickness, they wouldn't go to the doctor to get well. If they really did believe that God gave them their illness, then they would embrace the sickness because it was God ordained. No one, however, really believes this because they don't truly practice this.

This religious teaching of a "sovereign" God is not found in the bible. It is a tradition of man which makes God's word void in people's lives. And it is teaching like this I aim to destroy; for it does more harm than good.