Westminster Project 5.4

The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God do so far manifest themselves in his providence, that it extends even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and people. Such do not happen by a bare permission, but are joined with a most wise and powerful bounding, ordering and governing of them, in various dispensations, for his own holy purposes, yet so that the sinfulness of them comes only from the creature, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, is not nor can be the author or approver of sin. 
(WCF 5.4)

For me growing up, one of the biggest stumbling blocks to believing the theistic worldview was actually a philosophical question: If God is good and wants good to happen, why does He allow bad things to happen? 

This morning, the confession presents to us the building blocks to help us understand an answer to this age-old and very difficult question.

First, we have to understand that evil, sin, and death are not over and above God’s sovereignty. It’s not as if God finished creating on day six, and then suddenly something appeared that He had no control over. If that were the case, God would cease to be sovereign, and evil would truly be a force that He might or might not be able to overcome—it would be anyone’s guess what would happen. The confession (drawing on Romans 11 here) doesn’t attempt to delve into all the nitty-gritty details, but it does point us to the mystery of God’s almighty power and unsearchable wisdom. This mystery is somehow manifested in God allowing not just the fall of Adam, but also all other sins of angels and people. To put it plainly, God’s infinite goodness is ultimately shown in His providence over these things.

Second, we understand that God is sovereign over evil, but it’s not as if He leaves it up to “chance” for His will to come about through evil. No, He actually uses all things—both good and evil, in all places, with both spiritual and physical beings—to accomplish His purposes and good will (Rom 11:32-34; Acts 2:23; cf. WCF 5.3-4). To put it simply, it’s an absolute mystery how God uses these things, yet He does, and He does so for the ultimate good of His divine sovereign will and for His own holy purposes (Gen 50:20; also see 2 Sam 24:1 with 1 Chron 21:1).

Third, though God is sovereign over sin and uses evil for the manifestation of His own goodness, the confession is clear that the actual sinfulness of people does not come from God but only from the creature. Scripture is clear: God is not the author of sin, nor will He ever approve the evil actions of His creatures (Jam 1:13-14, 17; 1 Jn 2:16; Ps 50:21).
So, if God is good and wants good to happen, why does He allow bad things to happen? He does so for the manifestation of His glory and for His own holy purposes. I’d like to say, “The mystery is solved,” but I would be dishonest—what we have seen here remains somewhat mysterious. God is good, all that He does is good. We are not good, and we do evil things, yet God somehow holds these tensions together and uses it all for the glory of His name!

Let me end with this final thought. For some reason, God allowed our first parents to be tested by our first enemy, Satan, which led to sin and death. Yet, in the deep, dark ashes that evil has thrust upon us, God provided His only Son to take on flesh, bear our sin, and suffer our punishment. When we consider the providence of God within the context of the gospel, I think it is then that the almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God are truly shown.