Thoughts on the
Second London Baptist Confession
Chapter 5: Of Divine Providence Part 1
By Brian Pendleton
“Yahweh is righteous in all His ways
And holy in all His works.”
— Psalm 145:17 (LSB)
Read Chapter 5 of the 2LBC Paragraphs 1-5
The first paragraph of chapter 5 tells us seven different matters concerning providence. One, its author. The author of providence is “the good Creator”. The One who created all things is also the one who upholds and governs all things. “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My counsel will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure. . .’” (Isaiah 46:10). Two, its foundation. The foundation of providence is God’s infinite power and wisdom. “who is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. . .” (Hebrews 1:3a). Three, its essence, "uphold, direct, dispose and govern". Providence is God preserving and governing all things. In His preserving God continually upholds His creation in its being. He provides everything needful for His creation's preservation. In His Governing He rules, disposes and directs all of His creation. “... nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things...” (Acts 17:25). Four, its object, “all creatures and things, from the greatest even to the least...” God’s providence has as its object: all natural actions (Acts 17:28), all 'chance' actions (1 Kings 22:34), all good actions (Phil 2:13), and all evil actions (Genesis 45:8). Five, its nature, “by His most wise and holy providence”. Six, its determining causes, “...His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will...” God’s mind and will are what causes providence. “. . .who works all things according to the counsel of His will. . .” (Ephesians 1:11). Its goal, “...to the praise of the glory....”. Paul confirms this when he writes, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36).
What is the relation of providence to the use of means? What difference does it make what I do? These are a few of the questions that paragraphs 2 and 3 address. What will happen is certain - the outcome is never in doubt (as far as God is concerned). “Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly; so that there is not anything befalls any be chance, or without his providence...” We find an example of this in Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, But its every judgment is from Yahweh.” God does use means to accomplish his purposes.
Our Heavenly Father carries out His works of providence according to the nature of secondary causes. For example the earth has day time because God designed the Sun to give off light. The light provides the needed energy for plants to grow, etc. “Thus says Yahweh, Who gives the sun for light by day And the statutes for the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; Yahweh of hosts is His name....” (Jeremiah 31:35).
God will typically use means to accomplish His work (Acts 27:31,34, Isaiah 55:10, 11; Hosea 1:7). Yet God is free to, “work without, above, and against them at His pleasure.” Let us look briefly at an example of each of these from the Scriptures. Sometimes God works without means. A famous example of this is the conception of Jesus. “Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:34-35). Sometimes God works above means. We see this with the conception of Isaac. Isaac’s parents were beyond the age of child bearing but, “And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God. . .” (Romans 4:19-20). Sometimes God works against means. Think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Typically when something (or someone) is thrown into a fire it burns, but God kept that from happening. Not only that, they didn’t even smell like they had been near a fire! “The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s high officials gathered around and saw in regard to these men that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men nor was the hair of their head singed, nor were their trousers damaged, nor had the smell of fire even come upon them.” (Daniel 3:27)