the sovereignty of God

The fact that God is sovereign over His creation means that He is glorified both in salvation and damnation, although in very different ways. This is not to say, however, that some persons are chosen to glorify God by receiving His mercy whereas others are chosen to glorify Him by receiving His wrath. Rather, God loves all persons with perfect love. And given the fact that He has created us in His image, a relationship of perfect love with Him is the only possible source of ultimate satisfaction and fulfillment for us.

Those who accept His love experience joy and flourish under His care, and God is glorified in their flourishing. By sharp contrast, those who reject His love will inevitably be unhappy and fail to flourish in the long run. Their very unhappiness is an eloquent, although ironic, testimony to God's greatness and glory.

- Walls and Dongell, Why I Am Not A Calvinist

In the fallen and partially redeemed universe we may distinguish (1) the simple good descending from God, (2) the simple evil produced by rebellious creatures, and (3) the exploitation of that evil by God for His redemptive purpose, which produces (4) the complex good to which accepted suffering and repented sin contribute.

Now the fact that God can make complex good out of simple evil does not excuse - though by mercy it may save - those who do the simple evil. And this distinction is central. Offences must come, but woe to those by whom they come; sins do cause grace to abound, but we must not make that an excuse for continuing to sin. The crucifixion itself is the best, as well as the worst, of all historical events, but the role of Judas remains simply evil.

We may apply this first to the problem of other people's suffering. A merciful man aims at his neighbour's good and so does 'God's will', consciously co-operating with 'the simple good'. A cruel man oppresses his neighbour, and so does simple evil. But in doing such evil, he is used by God, without his own knowledge or consent, to produce the complex good - so that the first man serves God as a son, and the second as a tool.

For you will certainly carry out God's purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John.

- C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain