Balancing Divine Initiative and Human Response in Theology
The relationship between divine initiative and human response is a recurring theme in theological discourse, exploring how God's sovereign action interacts with human agency. This balance is evident in various biblical narratives and theological interpretations.
Divine initiative is often understood as God's primary and unprompted action in salvation and human affairs. For instance, the prophet Elihu in Job describes God's repeated interventions "twice, thrice with man" to bring souls back from destruction and into the light of life [1]. This highlights God's persistent effort to restore humanity. Similarly, the concept of God determining the way into His presence underscores divine initiative; humanity cannot approach a holy God on its own terms, but God provides the means [6]. Calvin, in his commentary on Exodus, notes that God often motivates obedience by promising a successful outcome, suggesting that divine promises precede and enable human action [3].
However, human response is also presented as a crucial element. Abraham's servant, when seeking a wife for Isaac, prays for divine guidance but also asks for a "natural sign" that indicates desirable human qualities, demonstrating a rational and pious approach to seeking God's will without tempting providence [2]. While Calvin acknowledges that Abraham's servant might have been acting under a "divine impulse," he also notes that God did not condemn the servant's specific stipulations, implying a space for human discernment and action within God's plan [5]. The Psalms express a desire for one's "cry" or "prayer" to "come near before" the Lord, indicating an active human appeal to God [4]. Furthermore, the doing of "justice and judgment" is presented as "more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice," suggesting that ethical human actions are a valued response to God [7].
The interplay between these two aspects is central to understanding salvation and ethical living. God's holiness necessitates His initiative in providing a way for sinful people to live in His presence, but this divine provision also calls for a human response of faith and obedience [6]. The necessity for Christ, as the high priest, to have "somewhat also to offer" for sin illustrates a divine provision that addresses human need [8]. This dynamic ensures that while God is the ultimate superintendent and director, human beings are not passive recipients but active participants in their spiritual journey [2].
Sources
- Job (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Job 33:29: 29 Behold, God doeth all Twice, thrice with man, 30 To bring back his soul from the pit, That it may become light in the light of life. 31 Listen, O Job, hearken to me; Be silent and let me speak on. 32 Yet if thou hast words, answer me; Speak, for I desire thy justification. 33 If not, hearken thou to me; Be silent and I will teach thee wisdom. After having described two prominent modes of divine interposition for the moral restoration and welfare of man, he adds, Job 33:29, that God undertakes (observe the want of parallelism in the distich, Job 33:29) everythi”
- Genesis (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Genesis 24:12: And he said, O Lord God, etc. - "The conduct of this servant," says Dr. Dodd, "appears no less pious than rational. By supplicating for a sign, he acknowledges God to be the great superintendent and director of the universe, and of that event in particular; and at the same time, by asking a natural sign, such as betokened humanity, condescension, and other qualities which promised a discreet and virtuous wife, he puts his prayer upon such a discreet, rational footing, as to be a proper example for all to imitate who would not tempt the providence of God, by expect”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Harmony of the Law, Vol. 1, section 13.2: God sometimes, for the purpose of trying the obedience of his servants, deprives them of hope, and commands them peremptorily to do this or that, still he more often cuts off hesitation by promising a successful issue. Thus, then, he now aroused Moses to perform his commands by setting the hope of the deliverance before him. The copula must be resolved into the illative particle , because the command and vocation undoubtedly depend upon the promise. 11. Who am I? He cannot yet be accused of disobedience, because, conscious of his own weakness, ”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 119:164: TAU.--The Twenty-second and last Part. TAU. Let my cry come near before thee, O Lord,.... Not "my praise", as the Syriac version; but "my prayer", put up in great distress, and with great vehemence and importunity; see Psa 119:145; and when it is desired it might "come near before" the Lord, it does not so much suppose distance of place between the petitioner and the petitioned as earth is from heaven, as Aben Ezra observes, as distance of state and condition; the petitioner being a creature, and a sinful creature, and whose sins had separated between God and him”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 2 (Gen 24-50), section 1.16: to God in what way his prayer should be answered. He might, however, be acting under a divine impulse, and the context would lead to such an inference. But if it was a weakness in this good man to be thus minute in his stipulations, it was one which God neither reproved nor condemned; and therefore it seems harsh to give it the name of divination. Calvin’s object, however, is, in thus strongly stating the case, to meet it as an objection, by a conclusive answer. A method which, the reader will have observed, he frequently adopts.”
- Exodus (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Exodus 28:36: 28:36-38 Like all the other elements of the high priest’s clothing and activities, the medallion worn on the front of the turban was to remind the people that God is holy, and his holiness had implications for their entering his presence. God wished to dwell with his people, but his holiness would destroy them unless he took preventative steps. God determines the way into his presence; we do not. The central question of the Bible is how a sinful people can live in the presence of a holy God so that God can share his holy character with them. Ultimately, the answe”
- Proverbs (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Proverbs 21:3: To do justice and judgment,.... The moral duties of religion, what is holy, just, and good, which the law requires; what is agreeably to both tables, piety towards God, and justice to men; that which is just and right between man and man; which, especially if done from right principles and with right views, is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice; not than any sacrifice; than the sacrifice of a broken heart, or the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, or of acts of goodness and beneficence, or of a man's whole self to the Lord; but than ceremonial sacrifice”
- Hebrews (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Hebrews 8:3: For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices,.... See Gill on Heb 5:1. wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer; or this person; for the word "man" is not in the text, and seems not so proper a word to be supplied, since it was his human nature that it was necessary he should have to offer; he was a person, and existed as a divine person antecedent to his assumption of human nature: as God, he had nothing to offer, or that was capable of being offered; something to offer as a sacrifice was necessary to him as a priest”