OUR UNACCOUNTABLE GOD

by Milburn Cockrell

            "Behold, in this thou art not just: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man.  Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters" (Job 33:12-13).

            These are the words of Elihu to Job.  They are solemn and serious words.  John Mason rendered verse 13: "Why doest thou dispute with him, because he will not account for all his ways" (The Book of Job, 1812 edition).  Some basic truths are stated here.  God is greater than man.  This great God is in no way accountable to any of His creatures.  Submission and not contention is the wise and proper course on our part.

GOD REPORTS TO NO OTHER BEING

            The only moral intelligence in existence that is unaccountable is God.  He does not have to report to any being in the entire universe.  He does not have to justify Himself to great theologians or seminary professors.  God is absolutely independent, and He is under no obligation to any being in the world.  He does as He pleases, to whomsoever He pleases, and whenever He pleases.  God is God.

            In Psalm 115:3 it is written: "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased."  The Almighty dwells in the highest heavens.  He overlooks and overrules all persons and things in the heavens and on earth.  He has made all creatures for His pleasure and according to His sovereign will.  God has absolute power and absolute freedom.  He has no equals and no superiors.  He is superior to the limitations, which belong to earth and time.  Even when His enemies rage and rave against Him, they unwittingly carry out His designs.  God's decrees are fulfilled and His counsel stands fast.  He is bound by no law outside of Himself.

            Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, said: "...I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" (Dan. 4:34-35).  Here we see that God is an eternal being who knows no change or period of time.  His kingdom is forever, and His authority cannot be questioned.  In comparison to God, popes, priests, presidents, and potentates are mere nonentities.  Both angels and men are accountable to Him, but he is accountable to none.  What He wills, He does; whatever He pleases, He performs; whatever He appoints, He brings to pass.  "...For I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth  my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it" (Isa. 46:9-11).  None can resist His will or hinder Him.  None can question His proceedings, enquire into the meaning of them, nor demand a reason for them. Job said: "Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?"(Job 9:12).

THERE IS NO REASON HE SHOULD GIVE AN ACCOUNT

            The power and dominion of God is absolute.  The Most High owes no man anything, for He has received nothing from us.  When we give Him anything we are in fact merely returning it to its rightful Owner: "Thine, O LORD, is the greatest, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.  Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over  all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all....But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee" (I Chron. 29:11-12,14).  We have nothing that we did not receive from God (I Cor. 4:7).

            The God of the Bible is infinitely just and holy in all His ways: "The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works " (Ps. 145:17).  Why should One who can do no wrong be required to account for any of His matters?  No angel or man has any authority to call God to explain His conduct.  If God were accountable to us, then He would be under our power and not God in any sense.  Against whom is it possible for God to sin?  Is He amenable to any law above Himself?  If so, by what law can He be indicted, and in what court can He be tried and convicted?

PROOF OF THIS TRUTH

            God is unaccountable to any creature for what He did in creation, providence, or redemption.  He is absolutely sovereign in material things.  He bestows riches on some and withholds them from others.  On this the Scripture gives no uncertain sound.  "The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up" (I Sam. 2:7). "The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all" (Prov. 22:2). Prosperity and adversity alike are received from God, and the changes from one to the other are beneficial (Ps. 55:19; Jer. 48:11; Jas. 1:9-10).

            The Most High in His sovereign pleasure decides how long each man shall live and when he shall die.  "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.  For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever" (Deut. 32:39-40).  "Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us: he hath smitten, and he will bind us up" (Hos. 6:1).  In His sovereign good pleasure He takes some in infancy, others in youth, and still others in their old age.  Why He gives some a short time on earth and others a long time on earth is something hid in His own heart.

            God is pleased to save some to manifest His glorious grace and to leave others to their just condemnation to the praise of His glorious justice. "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?  Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" (Rom. 9:18-20).

            Men do not like to hear about election and reprobation by God.  When they do they offer the objection mentioned by Paul, more or less.  The objection offered is essentially this: If God bestows grace on some and withholds it from others, how can the sinner be held responsible for his sins against God?  This objection suggests that God is inconsistent and unjust.  Under the pretence of human reasoning, men bring forward this objection to God's activities, claiming they are competent to judge what God may or may not do.  This is a very evil and blasphemous act on the part of objectors.

            It is preposterous for any man to question the actions of God.  He is absolutely sovereign, and He is under no obligation to give a reason for any thing He does.  If God must give man a reason for His proceedings, He would no longer be higher than the Highest.  God makes no mistakes, and He is in no way accountable to man.  He does not have to explain His conduct to His friends or His enemies.  No man or angel has a right to bring God to trial.

            Man is not competent to sit in judgment over God.  The Lord is infinite, and a finite man cannot grasp the infinity of God.  There is always a point at which the power of the finite understanding of the communication of the infinite must cease, for man is not all wise.  At that point Divine revelation becomes a mystery.  Since man cannot fully understand the Divine Being he is not qualified to sit in judgment over God.  Hence there is in truth no way God ever could or would be accountable to man.  There are many secrets about God man can never know being a finite creature (Deut. 29:29).  Well did Isaiah say: "Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour" (Isa. 45:15).

            Can anything be more presumptuous than for the creature to pretend greater wisdom than the Creator?  Does a feeble sinful worm of the earth dare to set himself up as competent to judge the Judge of all the earth?  Any man who would dare to do so is both a fool and a criminal before the Most High.  How can one whose righteousnesses are as filthy rags dare to assert there is unrighteousness in God?  The will of the Lord is free, and His will is His law.  A finite man cannot judge an infinite God.  God is not accountable to man.  The Most High does not submit His plans or government to man for review or revision.

            When a person complains about God's sovereign right to elect one and reprobate another, he is saying, "There ought not to be such a God with unlimited power."  This idea is both impious and blasphemous.  Such a person exalts himself above God.  He is saying He does not want God to be God.  To attempt to sit in judgment on the actions of God's sovereign will is as foolish as it is wicked.  Such a critic has made himself a god of his own fancy, who hardens nobody, condemns nobody, and pities everybody.

            The idea that God is in some measure accountable to man is all wrong.  It is not God's hardening that deprives a man of salvation.  Nevertheless, the critic is saying this is the case.  He is suggesting that if God did not interpose with election and take some and leave others to be hardened, all men without exception would have an equal chance to be saved.  This is unscriptural.  If God did not elect some to be saved, none would be saved, for there is "none that seeketh after God" (Rom. 3:11).  Men are not lost because they are hardened.  They are hardened because they are lost, and they are lost because they are sinners before God.

            God is not the Author of sin.  Being sovereign, He is under no obligation to a single sinner upon this earth.  If God saves any person, it is out of His sovereign grace and the good pleasure of His will.  Obligation and sovereignty are incompatible.  One excludes the other.  God has a perfect right to do what He will with His own.  The Supreme Being is incomprehensible to man in His person and actions.  "How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Rom. 11:33).  Zophar asked Job: "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?  It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea" (Job 11:7-9).

DARE A MAN TO STRIVE WITH GOD?

            I read in Isaiah 45:9: "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.  Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?"  It is absurd for a puny man to sit in judgment over God.  How stupid to engage in an irreverent equalizing of a man with God.  To do such is to strive against your Maker.

            "To strive against" means "to refuse to submit, to call in question, to contend with."  Gamaliel well said regarding the work of the apostles before the council: "Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God" (Acts 5:38-39).  Men may strive with other men over many matters, but let them never dare to contend with God who is infinitely above them.  How idiotic!  A creature waging a fight against the Creator!  A feeble man attempting to overthrow his Maker!  Can the clay dictate to the Potter? Can nothing expect to put down something (Isa. 40:17)?  Can weakness put to flight Strength?  What is folly when up against wisdom?  No one would ever think of doing this unless he was a blooming idiot!

            How can a man strive with God?  First, there is disobedience to God's commandments.  Some reject the Bible and boast that nature teaches us all virtue and religion. This is daring wickedness.  It is to strive against God's holiness.

            Second, there is distrusting His written Word.  In Romans 9:17 Paul ascribed to the Scriptures what was said by God (Ex. 9:16).  Hence the words of the Scriptures are the words of God.  This is to question the truthfulness of God (Num. 20:12-13).

            Third, there is resisting God's providential dealings with us.  This is the questioning of His sovereignty.  Those who do such strive against their Maker.

            Fourth, to fail to yield to the overtures of the gospel is to strive with God.  The gospel proclaims amnesty to rebels against God's moral government.  But this amnesty is only for those who throw down their weapons and cease to strive and rebel.  Those who persist in unbelief are fighting against the wisdom of God (I Cor. 1:24).

THE EVIL OF STRIVING AGAINST GOD

            First, to strive with your Maker is unreasonable.  It is a sign the mind is blinded by the wicked one.  There can be no greater madness, or more complete folly, than to fight against God.  "...yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead" (Eccl. 9:3).  "...but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.  The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness" (Eccl. 10:12-13).

            Second, to strive with God is a horrible sin.  It dishonors Him and darkens His glory.  It calls in question His goodness, wisdom, holiness, and faithfulness.  It reveals how much strength that sin has in a person.  It discloses he is like the Devil, who is always striving with God.

            Third, it is fraught with evil to our own soul.  We cannot injure God.  We can't give Him a black eye.  We can do this to potsherds like ourselves, but never to God.  Who can fight against God and win?  There is no way to escape the triumphs of His judgments.  His prevailing will shall be our woe.  "But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile" (Rom. 2:8-9).

WE SHOULD SUBMIT TO GOD

            We must not question God or arraign Him at our bar of judgment.  Instead of striving with our Maker, we should submit to Him: "Submit yourselves therefore to God" (Jas. 4:7).  Job lost his possessions and most of his family, but he did not ask God what He was doing.  Rather, he said: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath take away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).  He went on to lose his health.  Even his wife urged him to curse God and die, but Job retained his integrity.  He said to his wife: "Thou speaketh as one of the foolish women speaketh.  What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?  In all this did not Job sin with his lips" (Job 2:10).

            Eli is another good example of submission to God's will.  The Lord revealed to young Samuel, who was living with Eli, how God would destroy the family of the old priest.  Instead of demanding that God give an account of Himself, the old saint said: "It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good" (I Sam. 3:18).  Eli submitted to the will of God.  He did not question His justice, nor rebel against it, nor seek to have it reversed.  He reverently and humbly surrenders to the will of God (Acts 21:14).  Eli did not fret and murmur and give himself up to despair.

            Here are four characteristics of true submission.  First, there is a distinct recognition of the hand of God in all human events.  "It is the LORD."  Eli did not believe in blind fate; he did not look upon events as the working of some immutable laws.  Eli saw God in all his troubles.  "It is the LORD," whom I have always found to be holy, just, and gracious.  He cannot but be Himself.  God never errs or does anything wrong to any of His creatures.  "It is the LORD," who has pronounced judgment, from whose bar there is no appeal.  His power cannot be resisted nor His sovereignty contested.

            Second, there was an absence of complaint.  "It is the LORD."  That is all that I need to know (Ps. 39:9).  He is too wise to err, too righteous to do wrong.  He is too loving to bring evil upon me and my house without good cause and unless it be for good ends (Rom. 8:28).  He is too good to be suspected and too great to be quarreled with.

            Third, Eli accepted the Divine stroke of judgment: "Let him do."  Eli's back is bent and bound to the rod.  God is holy in all His ways and righteous in all His judgments.  Therefore, let His will be done.  I trust my case to the Judge of all the earth who can do no wrong.  It is a duty as well as a privilege to wish none other than the execution of God's sovereign will (Isa. 39:8).

            Fourth, Eli believed that God could do no wrong: "Let him do what seemeth him good."  If it seems good to God, it must be for my good.  Though He slay my house and me, yet will I trust Him at all times.  Chastisement for our failures in child rearing and punishment for wicked offsprings are in the judgment of God good.  This may not seem good to man, but God always knows what is best for His people.

CONCLUSION

            1. There are many things we are to strive with according to Holy Scripture. We are to strive against the sinful lusts of the flesh (Heb. 12:4; I Pet. 2:11).  We are to do battle with the Devil ((Jas. 4:7).  We are to wrestle with God in prayer (Rom. 15:30).  We must strive for the incorruptible crown (I Cor. 9:25; II Tim. 2:5).  We are to exert ourselves in getting out the truth of the Bible (Phil. 1:27).  Sinners are told to strive to enter into the straight gate (Luke 13:24).  But we are never commanded to strive with our Maker.

            2. God is not accountable to us, but we are all accountable to Him.  "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:11-12).  There are no exceptions.  Each person is answerable to God and not to any other.  Each individual will give an account of his life and works to God.

            3. Great judgment awaits those who strive with God.  "And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.  Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain" (Jer. 50:24-25).

            4. Are you striving with your Maker?  If you are guilty of this, you are fighting a losing battle.  God is greater than man.  If God is against you, no man or angel can come to your aid.  Your case is hopeless.  Why not lay down the weapons of your warfare and cease this striving with God.  Why not say, "I yield, I yield, I can hold out no longer.  O Galilean, Thou hast conquered!"