1. God governs all creation according to his eternal and unchangeable sovereign decree which he decreed in Himself, before the world was, concerning all things, whether necessary, accidental or voluntary, with all the circumstances of them, to work, dispose, and bring about all things according to the counsel of His own will, to His glory.  God disposes all things to the end for which they were created, that neither good nor evil befalls any by chance or without His providence, and that whatsoever befalls the elect is by His appointment, for His glory, and for their good (The First London Confession of Faith, section V, p. 2,3).

2. God who, in infinite power and wisdom, has created all things, upholds, directs, controls, and governs them, both animate and inanimate, great and small, by a providence supremely wise and holy, and in accordance with His infallible foreknowledge and the free and immutable decision of His will.  He fulfills the purposes for which He created them, so that His wisdom, power and justice, together with His infinite goodness and mercy, might be praised and glorified (The Second London Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, section 1).

3. Nothing happens by chance or outside the sphere of God's providence.  As God is the First Cause of all events, they happen immutably and infallibly according to His foreknowledge and decree, to which they stand related.  Yet by His providence God so controls them, that second causes, operating either as fixed laws, or freely, or in dependence upon other causes, play their part in bringing them about (The Second London Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, section 2).

4. Ordinarily, in His providence, God makes use of means; yet He is free to work without them, to give them efficacy above what they normally possess, and even to work contrary to them, at His pleasure (The Second London Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, section 3).

5. God's almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness are so far-reaching and all-pervading, that both the fall of the first man into sin, and all other sinful actions of angels and men, proceed according to His sovereign purposes.  It is not that He gives His bare permission, for in a variety or ways He wisely and powerfully limits, orders and governs sinful actions, so that they effect His holy designs.  Yet the sinfulness involved in the actions proceeds only from angels and men and not from God who, being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin  (The Second London Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, section 4).

6. God, who is most wise, righteous and gracious, frequently allows His own people to fall for a time into a variety of temptations, in order to chastise them for sins which they have committed, or to teach them humility by revealing to them the hidden strength of evil and deceitfulness remaining in their hearts.   His purpose is also to cause them to realize their need to depend fully and at all times upon Himself, and to help them to guard against sin in the future.  In these and other ways His just and holy purposes are worked out, so that all that happens to His elect ones is by His appointment, for His glory, and for their good  (The Second London Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, section 5).

7. God, as a righteous judge, deals otherwise with wicked and ungodly men.  He awards them blindness and hardness of heart for their sins.  He withholds from them the grace which might have enlightened their minds and exercised their hearts, and in some cases recalls the gifts He had bestowed upon them.   Also, He sets them in situations which their evil hearts seize upon as opportunities for sin.  In other words, He abandons them to their own innate corruptions, to the temptations of the world, and to the power of Satan, with the consequence that they harden themselves by the use of the very means which God employs for softening the hearts of others  (The Second London Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, section 6).

8. God's general providence reaches out to all creatures, but in a very special way it is directed to the care of His church.  All things are controlled providentially for the good of the church  (The Second London Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, section 7).

Navigate through the Statements of Faith:
God	The Bible

[Back to Unity's Beliefs Menu]