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| The Will of God is Never Defeated, Though Much is Done that is Contrary to His Will.
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Chapter
100.—The Will of God is Never Defeated, Though Much is Done that
is Contrary to His Will.
These are the great works of the
Lord, sought out according to all His pleasure,1291
| 1291 Ps. cxi. 2 (LXX.):
“The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that
have pleasure therein.” (A.V.) | and so wisely sought out, that
when the intelligent creation, both angelic and human, sinned,
doing not His will but their own, He used the very will of the
creature which was working in opposition to the Creator’s will as
an instrument for carrying out His will, the supremely Good thus
turning to good account even what is evil, to the condemnation of
those whom in His justice He has predestined to punishment, and to
the salvation of those whom in His mercy He has predestined to
grace. For, as far as relates to their own consciousness, these
creatures did what God wished not to be done: but in view of
God’s omnipotence, they could in no wise effect their purpose.
For in the very fact that they acted in opposition to His will, His
will concerning them was fulfilled. And hence it is that “the
works of the Lord are great, sought out according to all His
pleasure,” because in a way unspeakably strange and wonderful,
even what is done in opposition to His will does not defeat His
will. For it would not be done did He not permit it (and of course
His permission is not unwilling, but willing); nor would a Good
Being permit evil to be done only that in His omnipotence He can
turn evil into good.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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