How can people have free will if God's purposes always come to pass?
God's purposes always come to pass because He predetermined a plan for the ages in His foreknowledge, yet He leaves men and nations with free will. They do as they think they want, but the end result brings everybody and everything to the end of God's purposes.
Les explains that from the beginning of time until the end of God's plan for the ages, everything falls exactly as God has predetermined it. Yet God leaves men and nations with a free will; they do pretty much as they think they want to do, and the end result still brings everybody and everything to the end of God's purposes. Les points to Acts 2:23, where Peter preaches on the Day of Pentecost that Jesus of Nazareth was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, yet they took Him and crucified Him. Les teaches that in eternity past the Triune God in counsel determined a plan for the ages, and in His foreknowledge He could see every detail coming down through history.
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
More Questions
How can God be sovereign and still allow human free will?
Everything is under God's sovereignty, yet men and nations still have seemingly free wills; nonetheless everything comes to pass exactly as God originally foreordained, as Acts 2:22-23 perfectly illustrates.
What historical event best shows God's sovereignty working through human free will?
World War II is the greatest period in human history where God's sovereignty is evident while leaders seemingly make free decisions, yet God's sovereign will comes through.