Yes — God is absolutely sovereign, and He still gives human beings and nations genuine free will.
Les Feldick teaches that God laid out the whole course of human history ahead of time and remains in control of everything, but He never took away the free will of individuals or nations. How God does this is beyond our ability to comprehend, yet Scripture and 6,000 years of history confirm that it is so.
Acts 2:23 — This verse shows God's determinate counsel operating alongside the free actions of those who crucified Jesus, which is the heart of the question.
Romans 11:2 — It reveals that God's foreknowledge of Israel did not remove their responsibility or national free will.
The Scriptural record presents God as the sovereign Creator and the One who has spoken to humanity through the prophets. Genesis 1:1 opens with God creating the heavens and the earth. Hebrews 1:1 declares that God spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Romans 11:2 says God has not cast away His people which He foreknew, indicating that His plans are established in His own foreknowledge. In Acts 2:23, the crucifixion of Christ is described as being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, while the men of Israel took Him and by wicked hands crucified and slew Him. Scripture therefore presents God's predetermined plan and human action side by side without saying that human beings were robotic or without a will.
Les Feldick regularly describes the relationship between God's sovereignty and human free will as one of the hardest things to put together. He says he no longer tries to fully explain it; he simply accepts that God is absolutely sovereign, omniscient, and in control of everything, while never taking away the free will of individuals or nations. According to Les, before anything was created, the triune God blueprinted all of human history. Through His foreknowledge, the Godhead could look down through the eons of time and know exactly what every person and nation would do. God then planned for every contingency without making people into robots. Even after nearly 6,000 years of human history, everything is still falling into place according to God's timetable.
Les says God has never made human beings or governments just robots. From the Garden onward, God turned over to human choice and gave individuals and nations their free exercise. Yet after nearly 6,000 years of human history — through wars, famines, insurrections, and revolutions — the world is right where God intended it to be.
Les teaches that before anything was created, the Godhead could look down through the eons of time and knew exactly what every person in every nation would do. This is called foreknowledge, and it allowed God to plan for any contingency without taking away human free will. Scripture connects this truth with Israel in Romans 11:2 and with the crucifixion in Acts 2:23.
Les says Israel had absolute freedom to accept the Messiah and the kingdom, but they also had the free will to reject it. Their rejection did not throw God a curve, because He already knew what they would do. The same principle applies to nations and governments making decisions under an apparent free will — God's sovereign purpose still comes through.
Les openly calls this one of the hardest things to put together and says he does not even try anymore. He concludes that God is sovereign, omniscient, and absolutely in control of everything, and that He is the same God who died the death we should have died and rose from the dead to extend eternal life.
The Sovereign God of the Universe
Les ties God's absolute sovereignty to the fact that the same God is the Creator and the One who died for our sin and rose again.
Sovereign Control Without Removing Free Will
Les teaches that God gave men and nations free will while everything they do still moves according to His plan, because He is sovereign and omniscient.
The Fine Line Between Sovereignty and Free Will
Les acknowledges a fine line between God's sovereignty and human free will, but says God is never caught by surprise and human history was preordained.
People Are Not Robots
Les says God lets men and nations exercise free will and has never made anyone a robot, yet everything has fallen into place according to His timetable.
Foreknowledge and Contingency Planning
Before creation, the Godhead knew exactly what every person and nation would do, so God could plan for any contingency without taking away free will.
Six Thousand Years Right on Schedule
From the Garden, God turned over human choice and national free will, yet after 6,000 years the world is still exactly where God intended it to be.
Nations Operating Under Free Will
Les reminds listeners that governments make decisions, invade nations, and raise military forces under a free will, yet God has stayed on His blueprint.
God Is Sovereign
Les states plainly that God is sovereign, preparing the listener for the specific illustrations that follow.
Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
This establishes God as the sovereign Creator over everything that exists.
Hebrews 1:1: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
This shows God sovereignly revealing His message to humanity through the prophets.
Romans 11:2: God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
God's foreknowledge of Israel shows that their choices and history did not catch Him by surprise.
Acts 2:23: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
This verse pairs God's predetermined counsel with the free actions of the men who crucified Jesus.
No. Les Feldick emphasizes that God has never made men, governments, or nations robots. He has given them free will and lets them exercise it, yet human history still unfolds according to His timetable.
Through His divine foreknowledge. Before creation, the Godhead already knew exactly what every person and nation would do, so God could plan for any contingency without removing human free will.
No. Les teaches that Israel had absolute free will to accept or reject Him, but because God foreknew what they would do, their rejection did not throw God a curve.
Les admits it is one of the hardest things to comprehend and says he does not even try anymore. He simply rests on the truth that God is sovereign, omniscient, and absolutely in control of everything.
Watch the Teaching: Who Really Created the Universe? (Genesis 1:1 Explained)