“8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel,” (Matthew 8:8-10 NLT).

If a person claims to be an expert in mathematics, but only succeeds in applying math 2% of the time, would you accept their claim? It would be irrelevant to me if a person went to school and has the approval of other men saying he is an expert in math, if he cannot apply it correctly.

In our passage above the centurion is talking about the sovereignty of God by speaking of Jesus’ power and authority over reality. To cure someone of sickness we are dealing with reality. The centurion says the same way officers and servants obey him, is the same way reality obeys Jesus. The same way an officer goes and comes at his word, is the same way physical tissue and sickness reacts to Jesus’ words. The same way he has authority over people, he implies Jesus has the same authority over reality itself. Jesus reacts to this with astonishment. He praises the centurion for his great faith.

The issue is not if the centurion had a perfect understanding of who Jesus was. He concluded Jesus had authority over reality itself. He understood that reality obeyed Jesus. This is fantastic theology. It is a good understanding of God’s sovereignty. I am not saying it is complete. But as it is, it is a correct theology about God’s sovereignty.

How did the centurion apply this correct doctrine of God’s sovereignty? He applied it with faith to get a miracle. In fact, he was already getting a miracle. He applied God’s sovereignty to upgrade a miracle that was coming in the future to make the miracle happen immediately. Or in modern terms, Jesus promised him an iPhone, and after he applied an argument of faith based on God’s sovereignty, Jesus upgraded it to an iPhone max pro. Also, his argument of faith, based on God’s sovereignty, made time obey the centurion, the way his servants obey him.

Jesus approved the centurion’s understanding of God’s sovereignty and his application of it with faith to receive an upgraded miracle.

Thanks be to God we have examples for how to apply God’s sovereignty in faith for miracles. Therefore, those who claim to understand God’s sovereignty but do not apply it to receive miracles and healing, are liars and frauds. They have no idea what God’s sovereignty is. They have no idea what they are doing or talking about.

Peter

Peter’s application of election is the baptism of the Spirit.

Peter also believed and understood the doctrine of God’s absolute sovereignty. He spoke about predestination in the first apostolic sermon in Acts 2.

“Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. THEN you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all those who are far away, as many as the Lord our God calls to himself,”
(Acts 2:38-39. 38-NLT, 39-LEB).

The crowed said, “what do we do,” in response to seeing the baptism of the Spirit and Peter’s sermon describing why the Spirit is being poured out.  Peter’s response is about the predestination (and reprobation by implication) of God by saying, “as many as the Lord our God calls to Himself.” The interesting thing about his statement of predestination is that it is directly about the baptism of the Spirit and not directly about forgiveness of sins. Peter uses the forgiveness of sins as a stepping stone to get the promised baptism of the Spirit, purchased by Jesus and promised by the Father. Peter says to repent and be forgiven so that “then” you can receive the Holy Spirit of power. It is specifically about receiving this baptism of power that Peter says, “as many as God calls to Himself.” This includes forgiveness because Peter says you need to be forgiven and then you will be received this baptism of power.

And so Peter’s understanding of predestination and election is about the baptism of the Spirit with forgiveness being presupposed. If God has predestined you, then you will be baptized in the Spirit for power. Baptism of the Spirit is proof of your election and disproves you are a reprobate. This is how Peter applies God’s sovereignty. Peter says, “to those whom God has called TO HIMSELF.” If God has called you “to Himself,” then you will be baptized it the Spirit. How can you be called “to God” and you not be with God at the same time?

When God calls someone to Himself, He predestines them to be baptized in the Spirit. This is Peter’s doctrine of election in application.

It is a good thing the bible shows us how to apply the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. It shows us that election and predestination is applied for baptism of the Spirit and this confirms that God has sovereignly called us to be “with Him.”

Therefore, those who claim to understand predestination and do not apply it with the power of the Spirit are lairs and frauds. They say they understand God’s sovereignty, but they cannot apply it at the most basic level.

Jesus

We have seen a gentile and an apostle, but what about Jesus. How did Jesus apply the doctrine of God’s sovereignty?

“You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name” (John 15:16 NIV).

I will quote Vincent Cheung at large on this verse, because he says it so well and by this helped me understand the doctrine of predestination is for those who live by the Spirit and faith for miracles. It is from his essay, “Predestination and Miracles.”

“Jesus said to his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). The Bible teaches a doctrine of election, or predestination. Before we became Christians, we were sinners, wicked to the core, so that in ourselves it was impossible for us to turn toward righteousness. It was impossible for us to choose any spiritual good. If we were to turn from evil to good, some other force outside of ourselves would have had to change us. When we accepted the gospel and decided to follow Christ, it was because God had first chosen us before the creation of the world. If you think that you indeed made a choice to follow Christ, you are correct, but your choice was an effect of God’s prior choice….

This is not the end of it. Predestination is for more than bare salvation, or to say it more correctly, salvation involves more than the mere forgiveness of sins and the promise of heaven. Salvation in Christ is a whole package of blessings and responsibilities. I do not mean that you need to achieve these blessings and responsibilities in order to attain salvation. No, I mean that when you receive salvation, these blessings and responsibilities also come with it. Thus it is not that you need to reach heaven in order to be saved, but that because you are saved by faith in Christ, you will reach heaven.

God has chosen us, and predestined us. Predestined for what? There was more to what Jesus said: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” God predestined us to bear fruit. What is this fruit?

Even in the same verse, we can see that Jesus had in mind not only works of preaching and charity, because he said his followers would produce fruit and that “the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” Gospel life and ministry is characterized by answers to prayers. What kinds of prayers? Wait, this is weaker than the way Jesus said it. The doctrine of prayer in historic unbelief is that “God will answer your prayers if it is his will (regardless of what he promised). Or, you can say that he always answers your prayers — sometimes he says yes, sometimes no, sometimes maybe, sometimes later. Or, when you ask for egg, he will give you a scorpion, so that when you ask for spiritual growth, he will give you cancer to teach you a lesson.” Among us, we have never accepted this view of prayer. We recognize it as satanic deception. But Jesus did not even say, “God will answer your prayers” or “God will always answer your prayers.” He said, “God will give you whatever you ask.” This is how God wants us to think about our relationship with him. This is how he wants us to think about discipleship. This is how he wants us to think about faith and prayer. God will give me whatever I ask when I approach him in the name of Jesus. No hiding behind a thousand qualifications. No excuses for me or for him.

God will give me whatever I ask. I will have whatever I ask. What I ask, I get. And I am predestined for this. So I am chosen to get whatever I ask. I am predestined to get whatever I ask. It is my foreordained destiny to receive whatever I ask God in the name of Jesus. If you have never heard this, then you have never heard the Bible’s doctrine of predestination, you have never heard the Bible’s doctrine of prayer, you have never heard the Bible’s doctrine of the name of Jesus, and you have never heard the Bible’s doctrine of discipleship. Just several verses earlier, Jesus said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (15:7-8). Getting whatever we ask from God is intertwined throughout his discourse with the notions of bearing fruit, being his disciples, and loving one another. Thus getting whatever we ask from God is as pervasive as the gospel itself. It cannot be taken out and thrown away without tearing apart the entire gospel, and thus also our salvation. Here bearing fruit is almost the same thing as getting whatever we ask from God, and by getting what we ask from God, we show ourselves to be true disciples of Christ.”

James

James has something to say about God’s sovereignty and prayer.

“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”  As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.  If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them,” (James 4:13-17 NIV)

James affirms God’s absolute sovereignty over all things. Considering his affirmation of God’s sovereignty what are his commands for us, when we are faced with circumstances like sickness? When tomorrow looks like sickness for us, when seen from our observations, what does James command us to do? Does he say, “you don’t know what will happen, so do not boast about being healed tomorrow, even if you asked God to heal you?” He obviously does not say this, and yet this is how many would abuse James’ teaching on God’s sovereignty.

James chapter 5 says, if you are sick ask for the elders to pray for you, and the prayer of faith will make that person get well. Verse 15 says, “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven (NKJV).” The command from James is not commanding us to only pray, but is commanding the result of healing. This is like a commanding officer saying to his subordinate, “Call a restaurant and order us some sandwiches for lunch.” The commander is not merely asking you to call, but to get the result of sandwiches for lunch.  Why do I need to explain this to adults?

James’ application of God’s absolute sovereign control over each day, is to apply it to get results in our prayers; to get absolute certain results in prayer.  And yet, I have seen those who quote James to teach about God’s sovereignty only to deny healing when we pray or say it is at best a maybe. But this same James who understands God’s sovereignty and is writing by the Holy Spirit does not apply God’s sovereignty that way. His application of God’s sovereignty is that if we ask for healing in faith, we will certainly get healed as certain as we are forgiven if we ask for forgiveness by faith.  According to James, God’s sovereignty ensures the certainty of both forgiveness and healing by faith. To say, when we ask for healing in faith that it does not result in guarantee healing, would be to undermine God’s sovereignty that ensures forgiveness if we ask for it by faith. The same sovereignty ensures both promises are guaranteed.

James also says if you lack wisdom then ask in faith, without doubting, and God will give you wisdom. If you doubt, then don’t expect more wisdom. If you have no doubts, then expect to get it. Not a maybe, but God will give you wisdom. Thus, if I ask to wake up tomorrow with more wisdom, in faith, I will certainly wake up tomorrow with more wisdom. This means I know certain things will happen tomorrow. I know them by the power of faith. This is how James applies God’s sovereignty.

Those who quote James’ teaching on God’s sovereignty over tomorrow, might be inclined to remind us the example of God’s hidden sovereign providence in the story of Nehemiah. And yet, James being led by the Holy Spirit, does not remind us of Nehemiah, but of Elijah. He says “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years,” (ver.16-17).

If we don’t know about tomorrow because of God’s sovereignty, then would not the hidden providence of God in Nehemiah be more appropriate? Apparently not. This is so, because such an understanding is a presupposed basic understanding for Christians. We know God is sovereign and as His children is always working behind the scenes to help, guide and bless us. This gives us joy and strength to always face the future in confidence.

James, who teaches that we do not know what will happen tomorrow, because of God’s sovereignty, skips Nehemiah and commands us to have faith like Elijah. He instructs us to make certain things happen tomorrow, like healing and turning the rain off or on like a faucet. By faith we know certain things will happen today and tomorrow. He is not saying we control every aspect of reality like God, and so there are many things about tomorrow we do not know; however, he also teaches us that with faith we make reality obey us today and tomorrow, and then by this know some things will certainly happen.  Even if we have perfect faith to ask for everything we want tomorrow, we would still be limited by time and everyday life when asking, and by this not be able to ask for an infinite number of things.

Paul is correct in saying that even time itself has been given to us (1 Corin. 3:22). Just as man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man, so to, time was made and given to man. With faith we make today and tomorrow yield to our prayers.

This is how the bible applies its own doctrine of God’s absolute control over reality and tomorrow. It instructs us to make the uncertain tomorrow be certainly known by faith. James shows us to make sickness, troubles, and lack of wisdom to bow to healing, wisdom and miracles by a prayer of faith. He does not remind us to remember Nehemiah, but to remember Elijah when we face troubles. Elijah was a mere human like us. He turned the rain off and on like a faucet. He turned reality off and on, the way I twist my shower nob. James tells us to be like Elijah when we pray.  

James says you don’t know what will happen because of God’s sovereignty, but then applies this by telling us to use faith to make reality obey us today and tomorrow. When we do this, we will know certain things will happen tomorrow.

Let us be like Jesus, Peter, James, and gentiles who apply God’s sovereignty to get results in prayer, healings, miracles and the power of the Spirit.

Anyone who affirms God’s absolute and direct sovereignty over all things, but does not apply it the way Jesus and the apostles do are frauds and liars. They would not know God’s sovereignty if it smacked them in the face. They are blind leading the blind. Never let such people be your teachers. Excommunication is the least they deserve.

We saw if you affirm God’s predestination, His election, His power to command reality is like a man ordering his servant and that His control is so complete we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, that its conclusion is more miracles, more healing, more baptism of the Spirit and more wisdom.

Let God’s sovereignty be a foundation for more and more healings and miracles.