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Is God Responsible for Sin?

I love having conversations with people who disagree with me. It forces me to think. It forces me to understand why I think or believe the way I do. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with a Pentecostal friend of mine. We were discussing how sin entered the world. My friend believes that sin entered the world through the agency of free moral agents and there was nothing that God could do to stop it. The way I understand what he was saying, sending Jesus was God’s reaction to sin and his way of fixing something that went horribly wrong.

Let’s take a closer look at the argument. First, we both agree that sin is in the world. Second, we both agree that sin is offensive to God. The question then is, how did something offensive to God enter the world. I see two possibilities. (1) God was unable to prevent sin from entering the world because of either a lack of knowledge or a lack of power. (2) God was able to prevent sin from entering the world but chose not to prevent it.

The problem with option 1 is that it denies God’s omniscience, omnipotence, or both. The problem with 2 is that it makes God, at least secondarily, responsible for sin entering the world by allowing sin to enter the world. Now, I know some of you are going to balk at the second problem but pause and think about it for a moment. If my dog bites my neighbor, who is responsible? Me. If I know that my neighbor is going to rob a bank and I don’t call the police, am I responsible. In a secondary sense I am and the law hold me responsible. If God had the knowledge that sin would enter the world and the power to stop it and he chose not to he is, at least secondarily, responsible for sin entering the world.

So either God could not prevent sin or God is partially responsible for sin. For my friend, he is more comfortable with saying that God could not stop sin than saying that God is partially responsible for sin. I can’t accept that. I can’t sleep at night thinking that there is something outside of God’s ability to control. Outside of God’s sovereignty. How can I trust that God will fulfill all his promises if he sin was able to enter the world against God’s will. To me this makes sin in a sense more powerful than God. That not only gives me fits philosophically but it is not biblical. Therefore, I accept that God is secondarily responsible for sin entering the world because he could have stopped it. But, I trust that since God is all good and all loving his choice to allow sin is the good loving choice. I don’t understand it. But God has always been faithful and good to me so I trust him in spite of my lack of understanding.

Now, I know that someone reading this post is going to argue that I am making God responsible for the fact that they sin. Well, that’s not what I believe but this post has already gotten too long so come back Thursday and I’ll explain what I believe about that. Please leave you comments below. Like I said, I like to talk to people who disagree with me. That’s how we all learn and grow. It’s how we love God with all our minds.

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 8:01 pm and is filed under Bible & Theology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • bob burnside

    Your question,Is God Responsible For Sin ? I can only speak for myself,no, I am,it is a conscious decision I make prior to the sin.I know when I sin (which is quite often)I’m guilt ridden and feel disconnected from Him.I feel the only ONE that would understand my nature would be His Son Jesus,perfect in every way, God put Jesus and human beings together in order for us to get a better understanding of Him, our creator, the one who knows EVERYTHING and expects people like myself to sin in order for us to get closer to Him.I want and need this sinful way.. from my Father/creator/God ,when He gave us His only Son, the one I’ve always recognized as the only tangible entity that would accept me unconditionally…Jesus ,I understood what sin is, now when you factor in the Holy Spirit,It’s a no brainer…SIN =CHOICE option(3).

  • Sherry

    Bob, I am concerned about your statement. Sin causes separation from God, period. The more that we allow sin into our lives and spirit the more our lives become that of sinful nature/way. Sinful nature/way not just sin is less than pleasing to God, dishonors Him and causes guilt and shame, continuing the cycle of sin. To want and need sinful way is not what God intended when he offered us choice. Life challenges, brokenness, moments of sin, humility and Gods love is what brings us closer to God, not sinful nature/way.

  • Kerri

    The way I see it is that God could have prevented sin from entering this world, could have prevented the fall, but he didn’t because he gave humans free will. He didn’t want autotrons, he wanted living, breathing souls who choose to worship Him. He created Adam & Eve & gave them a choice, they made the wrong one & since then God has been making it right, through the law in the OT & through Christ since the NT.

  • http://bryonharvey.com BryonHarvey

    I’m not denying human responsibility. I’ll get into that in the next post. Here the issue goes farther back. When God created he didn’t have to create the potentiality of sin. Therefore he either created the potentiality for sin or sin entered the world against his will. If sin is able to enter the world against God’s will then sin is more powerful than God which denies his omniscience.

    Now, most people that are uncomfortable with the view I have presented are concerned that it denies God’s goodness. That’s a fair critique. I’ve thought this myself but ultimately I’ve come to the conclusion that God allowed sin because it ultimately leads to something better. This is my theology at this point not Scripture, but I believe that the redeemed relationship with God is in some way better than the pre-fall relationship that Adam and Eve had. I obviously can’t prove that definitively. But for me, it explains how God can be infinitely good and still allow sin in the world.

    Let’s look at a parallel in the ministry of Jesus, the healing of the man born blind in John 9. Most would agree that blindness is not the best circumstances in which a man can live. God allowed something bad to occur. Why? Was it because he chose to sin? No. Was it because his parents had chosen to sin? No. It was so that God’s glory could be revealed.

    In a similar way God allowed sin to enter the world, which then affected human ability to choose. Why? I believe because the redeemed relationship, eternal life, resurrection, the Kingdom of God, being like Him when we see Him, is a better circumstance in which to live than the pre-fall relationship.

    But remember, this is theology not Scripture. There is no inspired theology. There is inspired Scripture but no inspired theology.

  • http://bryonharvey.com BryonHarvey

    Sherry – could you please elaborate? I think I missed something in your statement.

  • Sherry

    Bryon, I guess my perspective is that God knew and knows we are all sinners, that is why He offered us Christ. He knew the potentiality for sin to enter the world. He,because of all of his power and his knowingness of the potentiality of sin entering the world, gave us CHOICE. However, in my opinion there is a difference between sin and sinful nature/way. When someone “wants and needs”, and even welcomes a sinful way in order to grow, it makes me question whether they are trying to justify their sin. We all sin, but when we take on sinful nature and even challenge sin we are tampering with our walk with God.

  • bob burnside

    Bryon,If i could respond,this is not personal.Sherry,I don’t know you, however,you’re correct “welcoming a sinful nature/way in order to grow”would not be smart, especially knowing the pain it causes.I just want to say there are spiritual maladies that manifest in some human being that at times cannot be kept in check.

  • http://bryonharvey.com BryonHarvey

    First, why do we sin? Why do we have a sinful nature? Why do we choose sin? Because God allowed the potentiality of sin when he gave us the ability to choose.

    Second, sin is not only the wrong acts we commit. Sin is also a force in the world that affects us to such a degree that without Christ our natural tendency is to sin.

    Now, according to Paul in Galatians we all have a sinful nature. The question is do we serve our sinful nature or the spirit. In Christ we have the ability to overcome our sinful nature through the Holy Spirit. When believers choose not to live by the Spirit they are spitting in Christ’s face and dishonoring his sacrifice for us.

  • http://bryonharvey.com BryonHarvey

    With regard to spiritual maladies, I believe that they do exist, but can be overcome through the power of Christ. To say otherwise would deny his omnipotence. As to the practical application of this I don’t feel qualified to address it. That is an area for Counseling professionals and scholars that focus on hamartiology and angelology.

  • Sherry

    I agree that spiritual maladies, (which a I believe are synonynous with sins of the flesh) exist. I struggle daily with mine. However, I also believe that at some point we have to stop making excuses for sin (however we choose to label it). I agree with you Bryon, that if we deny the power of Christ through the Holy Spirit we are spitting in His face.

  • http://bryonharvey.com BryonHarvey

    Another thing that must be considered in the area of spiritual maladies is the impact of demons on the individual.

  • Asking Questions

    For all,

    Byron has pointed out that God has allowed the possibility for Sin to come into the world, but how does Lucifer play into all this? And what about God’s foreknowledge. It is either perfect or not.

    God created Lucifer and the other fallen angels. Lucifer (post-fall) was the agent who ushered in doubt. Is God, therefore, responsible for ushering in doubt and, therefore, Sin — especially if He knew what would happen? It blows the mind even more when you consider that the rebellion of Lucifer happened (it appears) before the created order came to be.

    We need to look deeper and farther back (in a sense) than just the Fall. There are other things at play in the created order and in God’s nature than what is being considered in this discussion.

    What do you think, Byron?

  • http://bryonharvey.com BryonHarvey

    Brian,

    I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to respond. Things have been quite hectic.

    You make a good point regarding Lucifer. His enticement did lead to the fall of humanity. There is a fall before the fall in Genesis 3. (Although I don’t think it happened before Genesis 1, but that’s an entirely different issue.) Whether we’re looking at the fall of Lucifer or the fall of humanity, the issue at hand remains the same. God was either unable to prevent the fall or chose not to. I still maintain that in his sovereign wisdom, God chose not to prevent either fall. I can see and accept how both falls lead to a greater good which is entirely in God’s nature and character. To affirm that God was unable to prevent the fall imposes limits on his omnipotence. If God is limited in this way, can we trust that he has the ability to save us from sin? I argue no. If God is not powerful enough to prevent sin then he is not powerful enough to redeem us from it.