You hear the phrase “God’s in control” bandied about frequently throughout the body of Christ and it is the question that I pose to you my brothers and sisters. “Is God in control?” Maybe it’s just semantics but the misinterpretation of Scripture is how bad teaching disseminates. For one, and mainly, the phrase, “God is in control” is not even scriptural and is a false doctrine. God gave up his control in the Garden of Eden [1].

What God is, however, is sovereign [2]. The clincher is if God is in control, we do not have free will. Our actions would be irrelevant, and our efforts meaningless. The fall of Adam proves that God is not in control. God created man in His image, which is in his spiritual, intellectual, and moral nature, in righteousness and true holiness, giving man the capacity to choose. In Genesis 1:26, 28, He gave us dominion and affirmed it by giving us free will.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. [Deuteronomy 30:19 KJV]

As stated above, God gave us dominion and choice, which is free will. God’s sovereign plan revolves around our decisions and He then uses those decisions to carry out His plan for mankind, which He has already done [3]. Every call to repent is a call to choose.

God goes ‘to and fro’ looking for a righteous man to take part in His righteous and sovereign plan [4]. God also declares that we have not because we ask not [5]. If God is in control, why are we even asking God for anything? God will not interfere with our decisions. It is not that He couldn’t interfere if He was in control, but His Word says that He WILL NOT interfere [6]. God the Father never even intervened in the death of His Son. He could have sent 10,000 angels to take care of business.

God created Man with His spoken word and it is why He waited 4000 years to send Christ. However, God is not in control because man has dominion. According to Psalms 89:34 God could not create Jesus unilaterally. Therefore, God created Christ through the spoken and inspired words of the prophets of old. The prophets gave God permission to create Christ through the Virgin Birth of the Holy Spirit.

Like so many verses, blogs, and teachings, you could write a book on each of those verses. The statement “God is in control” is no different and that false doctrine has infected the whole church, led many astray, and has chased many a believer into passivity and a deteriorating faith. It also leads to a cheap grace, “grace without discipleship,” whereas costly grace cost us our life. There is a huge difference between control and sovereign [7]. So be careful of the words that you speak. Remember that the enemy listens to us as well. All he needs is a foothold [8]. With our choice we can resist the devil and he will flee from us [9]. To say that God is in control or say, it is God’s will or to say What will be will be, insults God after everything that He has given us. Que sera sera is not actively resisting the devil.
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[1] Genesis 1:26, 28
[2] Colossians 1:17; Psalms 90:2; Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 1:3 and many more. Like Psalms 8:1; Psalms 97:9; Psalms 147:5 plus more.
[3] Romans 8:27-29
[4] 2 Chronicles16:9
[5] James 4:2
[6] Psalms 89:34
[7] Control: Someone who has complete and total control over every aspect of life. Sovereign: Someone who regulates a self-governing body.
[8] Ephesians 4:27
[9] James 4:7