Pink - The Sovereignty of God Part 2

In this blog, I will cover the second half of A.W. Pink's work, The Sovereignty of God. Now that I have finished the book, I would recommend this book to anyone who has any questions about the subject addressed. Pink addresses questions that a most pertinent to the subject and gives an insightful and clear answer. When I was reading this book (from a grammatical standpoint), there were times when I thought I was reading C.S. Lewis. Obviously, there would be some theological distinctions, but my point is that it is a rare thing to find clear and concise writers ( unlike myself!).

I picked up Pink again in chapter 8 where the question of man's will and God's sovereignty are weighed. Pink argues that Man does have free agency, but man's will is bent towards sin and would never choose God. Furthermore, Pink argues that Man's will is not sovereign over the mind. In fact, this type of language is not used in Scripture! Scripture refers to the inner man as the "heart." It is the heart that governs the will and not the other way around. This was very insightful for me because it seemed that this topic was so difficult and beyond understanding, whereas Pink makes a clear and compelling argument. Between the Arminian and myself, it comes down to presuppositions! Overall, I recommend this chapter to whoever is wrestling with this "dilemma."

In the next chapter, Pink balances God's sovereignty with prayer and how they are agreeable with each other. Pink addresses a problem within the church. Many believe that our will is able to trump the will of God! In other words, many Christians will assert that prayer will change the purposes of God and completely undermines Scripture in Ephesians 3:11. In my mind, a God who changes His mind by every whim of a prayer is very disconcerting, nor is it the God of Scripture. Our God does have a plan and it will not be thwarted. Pink points out this may be our misunderstanding of the chief purpose of prayer. He states that the chief purpose of prayer is to honor God. Asking God for our needs is not primary.