In this post, I simply provide a list of helpful verses for demonstrating God’s absolute sovereignty. These might be handy if you stumble onto an Arminian Bible study and want to start a fight.

God’s Absolute Sovereignty

Indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. (Exo 9:16)

And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” (Exo 33:19)

For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses. (Josh 11:20)

Then Job answered the Lord, and said, / “I know that Thou canst do all things, / and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted.” (Job 42:1–2)

Our God is in the heavens; / He does whatever He pleases. (Psa 115:3)

Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, / In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. (Psa 135:6)

The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. (Prov 16:4 KJV)

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. (Prov 16:9)

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Predestination Made Easy
(by Ken Gentry)
A thoroughly biblical, extremely practical, and impressively clear presentation of
the doctrine of absolute predestination.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

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The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, for the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” (Isa 14:24, 27)

And who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; / Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, / From the time that I established the ancient nation. / And let them declare to them the things that are coming / And the events that are going to take place. (Isa 44:7)

Declaring the end from the beginning / And from ancient times things which have not been done, / Saying, “My purpose will be established, / And I will accomplish all My good pleasure; / Calling a bird of prey from the east, / The man of My purpose from a far country. / Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. / I have planned it, surely I will do it.” (Isa 46:10–11)

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, / Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, / And before you were born I consecrated you; / I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. (Jer 1:4–5)

If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? / If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it? (Amos 3:6)

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” (Matt 11:25–26)

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matt 25:34)

And he said, “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.” (Luke 8:10)

Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. (Acts 2:23)

For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur. (Acts 4:27–28)

And [God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. (Acts 17:26)
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace. . . . (Gal 1:15)

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ for good works, which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:10)

Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. (1 Pet 1:20)

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Sovereignty of God
(7 mp3 Gentry downloadable sermons)
In these seven sermons will be found a practical demonstration of God’s absolute sovereignty.
This series serves as an excellent introduction to this difficult doctrine.
See more study materials at: KennethGentry.com

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God’s Sovereign Calling

And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. (Gen 21:12–13)

For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deut 7:6–8)

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, / The people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Psa 33:12)

How blessed is the one whom Thou dost choose, and bring near to Thee, / To dwell in Thy courts. / We will be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, / Thy holy temple. (Psa 65:4)

All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. (Matt 11:27)

So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. (Matt 20:16)
Shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? (Luke 18:7)
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. (John 6:37)

And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (John 6:39)

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44)

I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. (John 13:18)

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit. (John 15:16a)

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (John 15:19)

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. (John 17:1–2)

I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. . . . I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. (John 17:6, 9)

For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:39)

Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)

And he said, “The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.” (Acts 22:14)

(For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory. (Rom 9:11–23)

What then? That which Israel is seeking for, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened. (Rom 11:7)

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Cor 1:26–29)

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory. (1 Cor 2:7)

For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. (Phil 1:29)

It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Phil 2:13)

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering. (Col 3:12)

Knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. (1 Thess 1:4–5)

That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. (1 Thess 2:12)

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess 5:9)

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thess 2:13, 14)

Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. (2 Tim 1:9)

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Rev 13:8)

The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Rev 17:8)

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Revelation, God and Man
(24 mp3 lectures by Ken Gentry)
Formal Christ College course on the doctrines of revelation, God, and man. Opens with introduction to the study of systematic theology. Excellent material for personal study or group Bible study. Strongly Reformed and covenantal in orientation.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

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God’s Predestinating Counsel

Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; / And in Thy book they were all written, / The days that were ordained for me, / When as yet there was not one of them. (Psa 139:16)

Remember the former things long past, / For I am God, and there is no other; / I am God, and there is no one like Me, / Declaring the end from the beginning / And from ancient times things which have not been done, / Saying, “My purpose will be established, / And I will accomplish all My good pleasure.” (Isa 46:9–10)

For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. (Acts 4:28)

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)

We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory. (1 Cor 2:7)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. (Eph 1:3–5)

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. (Eph 1:12)

According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Eph 3:11)

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Rom 8:29–30)

He has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. (2 Tim 1:9)

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and deny–ing the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 4)

God’s Choosing for Salvation

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ (Matt 25:34)

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. (Rom 8:33)

For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. (Rom 9:11)

Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. . . . What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (according as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear) unto this day. (Rom 11:5, 7–8)

Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. (1 Thess 1:4)

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. (2 Thess 2:13)

I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. (1 Tim 5:2)

Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. (Tit 1:1–2)

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. (1 Pet 1:20)

The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son. (1 Pet 5:13)

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. (2 Pet 1:10)

God’s plan is eternal

God’s plan not only exists prior to the creation but is actually eternal, existing in God’s mind forever. He did not create a world in which random forces control its ultimate outcome. He created a world on the basis of his eternal purpose.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, / The plans of His heart from generation to generation. (Psa 33:11)

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ (Matt 25:34)

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. (Eph 1:4)

This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Eph 3:11)

He has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. (2 Tim 1:9)

His works were finished from the foundation of the world. (Heb 4:3b)
In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath. (Heb 6:17)

Those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. (Rev 17:8b)

God’s plan is certain

God’s plan is not merely his good intention or his holy desire that may or may not come to fruition, depending on man’s willingness — or whatever other contingency we may consider. It is absolutely certain to transpire in history exactly as he determined it.

God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Num 23:19)

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, / But the counsel of the Lord, it will stand. (Prov 19:21)

The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, ‘Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand.’ (Isa 14:24)

Remember the former things long past, / For I am God, and there is no other; / I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning / And from ancient times things which have not been done, / Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, / And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; / Calling a bird of prey from the east, /The man of My purpose from a far country. / Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. / I have planned it, surely I will do it. (Isa 46:9–11)

For the vision is yet for the appointed time; / It hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. / Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay. (Hab 2:3)

God’s plan is detailed

God’s eternal, certain plan is not a general scheme concerned with the “big things.” After all, what things are “big” in the eyes of God?

Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, / And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; / Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. / Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, / Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering. / All the nations are as nothing before Him, / They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless. / To whom then will you liken God? / Or what likeness will you compare with Him? (Isa 40:15–18)

Rather, God’s plan determines every detail of history — all the way from the “big” events down to the most trivial matters, including the most mathematically precise atomic actions and the most apparently random events. He controls the farthest flung galaxy and the smallest atomic particle. His plan includes even the free choices of men and their wicked plans and actions.

1. God’s plan includes cosmic issues

Thou alone art the Lord. Thou hast made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. Thou dost give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before Thee. (Neh 9:6)

And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, And knowledge to men of understanding. (Dan 2:21)

And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, / But He does according to His will in the host of heaven / And among the inhabitants of earth; / And no one can ward off His hand / Or say to Him, “What hast Thou done?” (Dan 4:35)

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Col 1:17)

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. (Heb 1:3a)

2. God’s plan includes even random events

He covers His hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark. (Job 36:32)

The steps of a man are established by the Lord; / And He delights in his way. (Psa 37:23)

He sends forth springs in the valleys; / They flow between the mountains; / They give drink to every beast of the field; / The wild donkeys quench their thirst. . . . / He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, / And vegetation for the labor of man, / So that he may bring forth food from the earth, / And wine which makes man’s heart glad, / So that he may make his face glisten with oil, / And food which sustains man’s heart. . . . / The young lions roar after their prey, / And seek their food from God. (Psa 104:10-11, 14–15, 21)

He gives to the beast its food, / And to the young ravens which cry. . . . / He sends forth His command to the earth; / His word runs very swiftly. / He gives snow like wool; / He scatters the frost like ashes. / He casts forth His ice as fragments; / Who can stand before His cold? / He sends forth His word and melts them; / He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow. (Psa 147:9, 15–18)

The mind of man plans his way, / But the Lord directs his steps. (Prov 16:9)

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; / He turns it wherever He wishes. (Prov 21:1)

The lot is cast into the lap, / But its every decision is from the Lord. (Prov 16:33)

In whirlwind and storm is His way, / And clouds are the dust beneath His feet. (Nah 1:3b)

Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. (Matt 10:29–30)

3. God’s plan includes destructive catastrophes

And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. (Exo 14:17; cp. Exo 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17)

But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today. (Deut 2:30)

For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Josh 11:20)

The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them, and his burden removed from their shoulder.” This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back? (Isa 14:24–27)

The One forming light and creating darkness, / Causing well- being and creating calamity; / I am the Lord who does all these. (Isa 45:7)

Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, / Unless the Lord has commanded it? / Is it not from the mouth of the Most High / That both good and ill go forth? (Lam 3:37–38)

If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? / If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it? (Amos 3:6)

4. God’s plan includes the evil actions of men

And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive (Gen 50:20)

The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. (Prov 16:14)

For indeed, the Son of Man is going as it has been determined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed! (Luke 22:22)

This Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. (Acts 2:23)

For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur. (Acts 4:27–28)

Tagged: calling, God's sovereignty, predestination