Chronicles of a Watchman by Dr. James P. Norman Jr.

Divine Wisdom It is the part of wisdom to proceed in every undertaking according to a plan.  The greater the undertaking, the more needful a plan.  I am working on this every day of my life, I find it pops up in the strangest times and places.  I find listening to the Spirit of God in all things is as necessary as breathing.  So I must write this to let you know I am growing in wisdom.  I must say wisdom, moreover, shows itself in a careful provision for all possible circumstances and emergencies that can arise in the execution of its plan.  Many such circumstances and emergencies are not contemplated and not provided for in the plan of men, is due only to the limitations of human wisdom.  It belongs to infinite wisdom, therefore, not only to have a plan, but to embrace all, even the minutest details, in the plan of the universe. From the divine immutability, what God does, He always purposed to do.  Unlike us, with Him there is no incr...

Proof of the Doctrine of Decrees The Scriptures declare that all things are included in the divine decrees. The declare that special things and events are decreed; as , for example, the stability of the physical universe; the outward circumstances of nations, the length of human life; the mode of our death; the free acts of men, both good acts and evil acts. They declare that God has decreed the salvation of believers; the establishment of Christ’s Kingdom; the work of Christ and of his people in establishing His works. Decreeing creation implies decreeing the foreseen results of creation. To meet the objection that God might have foreseen the events of the universe, not because He had decreed each one, but only because He had decreed to create the universe and institute its laws. In eternity, God foresaw that the creation of the world and the institution of its laws would make creation its actual history even to the most insignificant details. But God decreed to creat...

As I mentioned before, I'd like to touch on the nature of God's decrees as they relate to our freewill. The decrees do not lay compulsion or obligation upon the will of man. You still have the will and right to change your original direction by repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit as outlined in Acts 2:38. By doing so, you concede to putting the established decrees into motion. God cannot cause sin, or decree to cause it. He simply decrees to create, and himself to act that you will, of your own free choice, commit sin. God determines upon His own acts, foreseeing what the results will be in the free acts of His creature and so he determines those results. This permissive decree is the only decree of God with respect to sin. Man of himself is capable of producing sin. Of himself man is not capable of producing holiness. For example look at the denominations that stared out standing for a form of human holiness and look at where they are today. Doctri...