God’s freedom, our freedom, and spiritual confidence in a changing world.

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Overview

In recent years, the openness of God has been a hot topic in theological circles. At stake is God’s sovereignty. Does God fully know all that will happen in the future? If so, can he change his mind along the way in response to our prayers and actions? While this conversation between theologians may seem somewhat irrelevant to most of us, it has profound implications. If the future is entirely determined by God, what need is there for our prayer or actions to bring about spiritual and social change? On the other hand, if God’s activity is indeed altered by both our prayers and continuously unfolding world happenings, then what security do we have against other powers that might threaten our lives in the uncharted future? John Sanders and Chris Hall explore these matters in the dialogue recorded in Christianity Today.

Table of Contents

LEADER'S GUIDE

    • Identify the Current Issue

    • Discover the Eternal Principles

—Teaching point one: God created all things and is sovereign over all, though we are responsible for the choices we make.

—Teaching point two: God knows the past, present, and future.

—Teaching point three: God grieves over some of our actions, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t know what we’d do or regrets having given us the freedom to do it.

—Teaching point four: Though God tells us much about his plans, many of his ways are beyond our understanding.

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