The Bible doesn’t declare God sovereign with that word, but the verses which speak to his omnipotent majesty leave no doubt that he is sovereign over all things and that excludes all others from any sovereignty. The Hebrew writer tells us: Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. (Hebrews 8:1-2)  Only a sovereign God could do what the Bible tells happened and those acts aren’t possible for mere man who is subject to God and Christ. There is no doubt either that man is subject to the power of God. Paul wrote: For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:11-12)

There are to those (and they are many in number) who are fond of the two words “sentient beings” using them in the sense of a sovereign human being free to run his or her own life unhampered by laws (read that the ones they don’t like). However, such use is wrong in that the words mean a being that uses sensory organs, and is capable of feeling which can be any animal life at every level since animals use sensory organs. A sapient is a better fit since it is defined as having wisdom, possessing judgment, and intelligence. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentience and click the internal links for the meaning of the words sapient, wisdom, judgment, and intellect.) That brings us the human existence or Homo sapiens which means a wise man and a knowing man. With that in mind an individual ought to be able to understand that he or she isn’t sovereign in any regard and can know God.

The word know is used 299 time in 275 verses and primarily refers to the fact that one can know God. When Paul went to Mars Hill he saw an altar inscribed TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Then he said, Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. (Acts 17:23) The word declare means to bring down or announce which implies that the hearer is capable of knowing. Since the men of Athens had altars to unknown gods it stands to reason they knew they weren’t sovereign in any regard.

Two other words, freedom and liberty, are used by those who preach sovereignty. When the founders wrote the Constitution, the word freedom never meant behavior without constraint by a standard and never by a human idea of freedom devoid of a standard. However, those standards or constraints aren’t based on the capricious whims of men who hold public office. Freedom with constraint is found throughout the Constitution with the primary purpose of restraining government power and the capriciousness of politicians, though well meaning in many cases.

Liberty is the other word and means to do as one wishes, but not totally free from constraint of something higher than one’s self and rules made in conformance to that higher standard. Essentially one has the right to do what is right and proper in the sight of God. Peter wrote of liberty as follows: 15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. (I Peter 2:15-16) As James wrote: But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. (James 1:25) If man was truly sovereign and free of God, then the writers of the Bible would not have written the gospel message of freedom in Christ which isn’t a license to do what one pleases. 

It should be plain by now to anyone who wishes to learn the truth, that an individual or group aren’t sovereign and are in fact subject to standards and laws not of their own making. Those who think otherwise are foolish men as Peter wrote.

10-08-2007 DEC