God, from eternity, after the counsel of his own will, and for the manifestation and exaltation of his glorious attributes, decreed all that he would do in time and to eternity, in creation, in the government of his creatures, and in the salvation of sinners of the human race; yet so that he is not the author of sin nor constrains the will of his creature in its actions.1 The decree of God depends not in the least upon the creature nor upon the foreknowledge of God himself; on the contrary, God knows that certain things will be, because he has decreed that they should be.2 God’s decree is infinitely wise3 and perfectly just;4 eternal,5 free,6 comprehensive,7 secret,8 gracious,9 holy,10 good,11 unchangeable,12 and effectual.13
1 Eph. 1:11; Isa. 14:24-27; Isa. 46:10,11; Job 14:5; Job 38:10,11; Psa. 148:6; Prov. 8:29; Jer. 5:22; Deut. 32:8; Dan. 4:35; Matt. 10:29,30; Acts 4:28; Acts 15:18; Acts 17:26. 2 Prov.16:33; Jer. 18:4-10; Matt. 11:26; Isa. 46:10; Rom. 9:19-21. 3 Rom.11:33. 4 Psa. 145:17. 5 Eph. 3:11. 6 Rom. 9:15,16. 7 Eph. 1:11. 8 Deut. 29:29. 9 2 Tim. 1:9. 10 Eph. 1:4. 11 Rom. 8:28- 30. 12 Job 23:13,14; Rom. 9:11. 13 Isa. 46:10.
