God Did Not Decree All Evil

The question of how God relates to human sin and evil has long challenged theologians and believers alike. Many assume that God, in His sovereignty, must meticulously determine (ordain or decree) every event, including sinful acts. Some even argue that if God foreknows all things, then He must causally or effectually determine evil. But Scripture paints a very different picture: God is holy, good, and wholly opposed to sin, and human moral responsibility is real and meaningful.

God’s Nature and the Origin of Sin

The Bible consistently affirms that God is not the author of evil. James 1:13–15 states, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin.” Sin originates in human desire, not in God’s actions or decrees.

1 John 1:5 reinforces this truth: “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” Darkness represents evil, and God’s nature is completely opposed to it. Likewise, 1 John 2:15–16 distinguishes human sin from God’s will: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—does not come from the Father but from the world.”

Scripture repeatedly shows that sin originates in human rebellion. Psalm 5:4 declares, “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil dwells with You.” Micah 2:1 pronounces woe on those who scheme iniquity, and Proverbs 6:16–18 calls a heart that devises evil an abomination. If God decreed every sinful act, He would essentially be condemning Himself, since He would be the one who devised all evil from all eternity, which would contradict His holiness.

Moreover, Scripture emphasizes that God grieves over human sin, showing us that sin is contrary to His will and that He does not take pleasure in human rebellion (Genesis 6:6; Ezekiel 18:23; Psalm 78:40; Matthew 23:37). Even passages describing extreme human sin demonstrate God’s distancing himself from evil. Jeremiah condemns child sacrifice in Jeremiah 19:5, stating it was never commanded by God and was never in His mind. Jeremiah 32:35 similarly condemns idolatry and human sacrifices, emphasizing that such deeds were not from God’s command or intention. The ESV even emphasizes this by noting that God did not decree these evil acts, highlighting that He neither commanded nor had them in mind. These verses demonstrate that God neither desires nor decrees human wickedness.

Misused Passages and the Fallacy of Determinism

Some passages are often misused and frequently cited to suggest that God decrees or causes all evil, but under closer examination I believe they present a different picture.

For example, Genesis 50:20 is often cited as evidence that God decrees evil, but the text does not support such a conclusion. Joseph contrasts the intentions of his brothers with the intention of God: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” His brothers freely chose evil, acting out of jealousy and pride; their sinful motives were entirely their own, not instilled by God. The Hebrew word chashab (“meant, planned, intended”) refers to purpose, not causation. Thus, Joseph is not saying that God caused or decreed their sin but that God, in His sovereignty, repurposed their wicked actions for a good outcome, the preservation of many lives. If one interprets this text through the Calvinistic lens that God ordained all things, every thought, desire, action, word, outcome, and will, then God is the one who ordained the brothers’ wickedness only to then turn around and “fix” what He Himself decreed. This not only collapses the contrast Joseph makes between human intention and divine intention but also makes God appear divided against Himself, which Jesus said cannot stand (Mark 3:24–25; Matt 12:25). Genesis 50:20, therefore, is not a declaration of divine determinism but a testimony to God’s providence, His ability to take genuine human evil and work it toward His good purposes without being the one that decreed or authored sin.

Another common passage that is frequently misused on this topic is Acts 2:23 that describes Jesus being handed over “by God’s plan and foreknowledge.” This does not mean God decreed the evil motives or actions of those who crucified Christ. It was men, acting freely with sinful intent, who nailed Jesus to the cross, and Scripture places the guilt squarely upon them. Christ laying down His life was the greatest act of love, while those who put Him to death were acting out of their own desires, not sinful desires God decreed for them to have. God’s foreknowledge allowed Him to incorporate their rebellion into His redemptive plan without being the cause of their sin. The rulers acted out of hardness of heart, yet Paul writes, “if [the rulers] had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor 2:8). This shows their actions were not irresistibly predetermined but arose from their own blindness and pride. While the intent of the rulers was wicked, God used it to reveal His greatest act of love in Christ’s sacrifice for the world. Acts 2:23, therefore, demonstrates God’s ability to accomplish redemption through His foreknowledge and providence, not that He unconditionally decrees all evil or caused those who put Christ to death to sin.

Isaiah 45:7 is often misinterpreted: “I form light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity.” The Hebrew word ra’ here refers to calamity, disaster, or judgment, not moral evil. The context shows God’s authority over the nations, affirming that He can bring times of blessing or discipline according to His righteous purposes. Reading this verse as teaching that God decrees or authors sin would contradict the consistent witness of Scripture that God is holy and without darkness (1 John 1:5) and does not tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13).

These examples demonstrate that God can bring good from human evil without being its author. As we already covered, Scripture makes this clear: He does not tempt anyone (James 1:13), there is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5), and the lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life do not come from Him (1 John 2:16). He takes no pleasure in wickedness (Psalm 5:4), while those who scheme iniquity are warned against (Micah 2:1), and a heart that devises evil is an abomination (Proverbs 6:16–18). Elevating particular narratives to a universal doctrine, as some deterministic frameworks do, obscures the vital distinction between God’s redemptive purposes and the sinful motives of human actors.

Foreknowledge Does Not Mean Causation

A common misunderstanding is that God’s foreknowledge necessitates determinism. Some theological systems, particularly within Calvinism, argue that because God knows everything from all eternity, everything that happens must be the result of His eternal decree. In this view, God’s knowledge is not merely awareness of what will happen but is based on His determination to bring about every event.

However, knowing something does not mean causing it. Foreknowledge simply means God sees all events perfectly and infallibly. According to the Dependence Theory of Truth, truth is contingent on reality, not the other way around. The truth of future events depends on what actually happens. God’s perfect knowledge of the future reflects reality rather than causally determining it.

Also, it is important to distinguish between God permitting evil and God decreeing evil. Scripture shows that God often allows human sin to occur within the framework of His sovereign plan, yet He does not instigate or ordain those sinful choices. For example, God permitted Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery, but He did not decree their jealousy or pride. Similarly, God permitted humanity to crucify Jesus, yet He did not decree the rulers’ sinful intentions. Permitting evil allows God to work through it for good without compromising His holiness or moral perfection.

Scripture consistently illustrates the reality of genuine human choice. In Deuteronomy 30:19, God says, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.” Genuine choice is only meaningful if people have the real ability to choose. If God had irresistibly decreed every action, the call to choose life or death would be meaningless.

In 1 Samuel 23:9–13, David asks God whether the people of Keilah will surrender him to Saul. God replies that they will. Yet David’s actions prevent the betrayal from occurring. God’s knowledge reflected what would happen under certain circumstances, not what He irresistibly caused.

1 Corinthians 10:13 also supports the reality of genuine choice: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. … He will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” If every action were predetermined by an eternal decree, the way of escape would be meaningless. God provides opportunity and ability, enabling people to make genuine choices. For those interested in a more in-depth look at how this verse challenges Calvinistic determinism, see my article, “1 Corinthians 10:13 vs. Calvinism.”

Human Moral Responsibility

I believe that true responsibility requires both the intrinsic ability to choose otherwise and the external opportunity to act on that choice in a morally significant situation.

Consider these illustrations:

• A trained lifeguard is locked behind a fence while someone drowns. They have the ability but no opportunity. Are they responsible for not saving the person? No.
• Another person stands by the pool with no barriers but cannot swim. They have opportunity but no ability. Are they responsible? No.

The Bible repeatedly reflects this principle. In Genesis 4:6–7, God tells Cain, “Why are you angry? … If you do well, will you not be accepted? … you must rule over it.” God gave Cain both the ability and opportunity not to kill his brother. John 9:41 also demonstrates that guilt presupposes awareness: “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” Deuteronomy 1:39 excludes children from accountability due to their lack of moral knowledge. 1 Corinthians 10:13 ensures that temptation never exceeds our capacity to endure. These passages confirm that humans are genuinely responsible for their choices.

In the account of David and Uriah, we find a clear example of how God views responsibility. Although the Ammonites physically killed Uriah, David is the one God held accountable. In 2 Samuel 12:9, the prophet Nathan confronts David, saying, “You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword… you have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.”

David, however, wasn’t even on the battlefield. Joab orchestrated the plan, and the Ammonites carried it out. Yet God declared that David was the one who killed Uriah. Why? Because David decreed the outcome. He gave the order that led to Uriah’s death. Joab and the Ammonites were the means, what some might call “secondary causes.” But responsibility did not ultimately rest on them. It fell on David, because the one who decrees the evil is the one held responsible for it.

From this passage, we see that God holds the one who decrees or commands evil guilty, even if others are the instruments through which it is carried out. If that is how responsibility works before God, then it follows that God Himself could not be the one decreeing evil. Otherwise, by His own standards, He would be morally responsible for the very evil He decreed.

This raises a serious problem for divine determinism. The Westminster Confession asserts that God “freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass” (3.1) while also claiming that He is “not the author of sin.” Some attempt to resolve this tension by appealing to secondary causes or by appealing to mystery. Yet the case of David and Uriah exposes the flaw in this reasoning: secondary causes do not remove the guilt of the one who decrees the evil. God Himself judged David responsible, not Joab or the Ammonites. If decreeing evil made David guilty, then by God’s own standard, if He effectually and meticulously decrees every evil act, responsibility would fall on Him.

Yet Calvinistic determinism and compatibilism fail to provide this kind of responsibility. In Calvinism, free will is often defined as the ability to act according to one’s strongest desires. Many Calvinists argue that people still exercise “free will” because they act in line with what they want most at any given moment. However, these desires are entirely determined by God’s eternal decree. The agent cannot desire otherwise, and therefore cannot genuinely act otherwise. If we do what we want and what we want is determined then what we do is determined, meaning people could never have done otherwise unless God decreed otherwise.

This deterministic framework undermines moral responsibility because it denies both the intrinsic ability and the external opportunity to choose differently. If God causally determines every inclination and outcome, then the agent has no viable opportunity or capacity to diverge from God’s predetermined will. Real alternatives are removed from the equation. In this way, Calvinistic determinism and compatibilism fail to provide the genuine freedom required for moral accountability, since the choice is neither grounded in the agent’s own intrinsic capacity nor supported by actual external opportunities to act otherwise.

God’s Sovereignty and Human Freedom

It is crucial to distinguish the biblical concept of sovereignty from deterministic interpretations. Many Calvinists assume sovereignty means divine determinism, where God causally ordains every detail. However, I would argue that the biblical view affirms that God, as the supreme ruler, holds ultimate authority and knows all things, yet He does not meticulously determine (ordain or decree) all things.

Psalm 115:3 gives us a great working definition of God’s sovereignty: “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” However, we can’t assume that it pleases God to meticulously control every detail of all of His creation. If we look at verse 16 of the same chapter the author even says, “The heavens are the LORD's heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.” This seems to demonstrate that God, in His sovereignty, has entrusted a measure of genuine freedom and responsibility to humanity.

I agree with what A.W. Tozer wrote in his book The Knowledge of the Holy: 

            “God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make but that he should be free to make it. If in His absolute freedom God has willed to give man limited freedom, who is there to stay His hand or say, 'What doest thou?' Man’s will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so.”

            - Aiden Wilson Tozer. The Knowledge of the Holy. James Clarke & Co., 1965.

God’s sovereignty includes allowing human freedom as part of His plan. He remains fully in control, accomplishing His purposes regardless of human decisions. As we’ve already covered, God can bring good out of evil, redeeming sinful actions without being their source.

To illustrate this point, consider this imperfect example. Imagine a skilled chess player observing an opponent planning to execute a strategy aimed at winning the match. The opponent intends to exploit what they believe is a weak position, but the skilled player anticipates this move and uses it to execute their own superior strategy, leading to victory. The opponent’s intention was to exploit a weakness for their own gain, but the skilled player’s greater understanding of the game allowed them to incorporate the opponent's move into their own plan for good.

In this scenario, the skilled chess player does not determine the opponent’s motives or actions. They neither cause the opponent to choose their particular strategy nor dictate the reasoning behind it. However, through their foresight and superior skill, the player uses the opponent’s free decision to achieve their own goal. Likewise, God can work through human decisions, even sinful ones, without causally determining them. His sovereignty is not diminished by human freedom but is magnified by His ability to accomplish His purposes despite it.

Conclusion

Again dear reader I want to remind you that Scripture makes this clear: God does not tempt anyone (James 1:13), there is no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5), and the lust of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life do not come from Him (1 John 2:16). He takes no pleasure in wickedness (Psalm 5:4), while those who scheme iniquity are warned against (Micah 2:1), and a heart that devises evil is an abomination (Proverbs 6:16–18). God is supremely sovereign, yet He is not the author of evil. Human sin originates from rebellion and worldly corruption, not God’s decrees. Foreknowledge does not equal causation; God knows what will happen because He sees it, not because He irresistibly causes it. Humans have genuine moral responsibility, with both the ability and opportunity to choose differently.

Since Scripture distances God from sin and evil, from showing that the sources of them do not come from the Father to declaring that those who devise evil are an abomination, when faced with a passage that seems to implicate Him, we should pause and consider whether there is a better way to understand its context rather than make God the cause of all evil.

God’s sovereignty is magnified, not diminished, by human freedom. He can redeem evil, bring good from sinful actions, and accomplish His purposes without being the source of sin. The holiness of God and the responsibility of humanity are both preserved in this biblical framework. Understanding God’s sovereignty this way upholds His goodness, honors human accountability, and helps to resolve the apparent tension between foreknowledge and freedom.

From this understanding, we can also draw practical encouragement. We are not trapped under a deterministic system in which God orchestrates evil; rather, He invites us to respond faithfully, knowing our choices matter. This provides hope that God’s plans are trustworthy, that He can bring good out of difficult circumstances, and that our obedience and love are genuine and meaningful. Recognizing that God does not cause evil allows us to approach Him with confidence, trusting in His perfect character, His justice, and His goodness. It reminds us that even when sin and suffering occur, God is neither the author nor the pleasure-taker in it, but is able to bring redemption, healing, and hope.