J.I. Packer—A man who helped Christians reconcile the sovereignty of God, prayer and evangelism

Packer was a man of the times. He seemed to always have his thumb on the issues of the day. This is one of the reasons why he was profoundly influential in the 20^th century.

This quote gives the reader some insight into Packer’s “thumbprint”.

“Packer’s views on predestination and election were strongly Reformed, stressing the sovereignty of God in creation and redemption. Not all students at Tyndale Hall were entirely sympathetic to Packer’s views in this area, particularly in relation to predestination. One issue which emerged as particularly important in the late 1950’s concerned a tension between the sovereignty of God and the need to evangelize. If God was sovereign, why bother to evangelize? It was an issue which had emerged as important at several points in church history. For example, when the Baptist missionary William Carey announced his intention to found a Mission Society, he met with the following response from one of those whose advice he asked, ‘When God is pleased to convert the heathen, He will do so without your aid or mine’” (p. 90).

 Here are a few things J.I. Packer helped us with:

Prayer makes sense if God is sovereign.

Why do we pray? Well, for a lot of reasons. But the main reason is this: To ask God to bend our will to His will. Scripture is clear that God’s way is the best way, because He is good and sovereign.

James 1:17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Packer is helpful here. He states:

“When we are on our knees, we know that it is not we who control the world; it is not in our power, therefore, to supply our needs by our own independent efforts; every good thing that we desire for ourselves and for others must be sought from God, and will come, if it comes at all, as a gift from His hands.”

Maybe the question you want to ask is this: ‘Why pray if everything is ordained and known by God?” Admittedly, I struggled with this early in my Christian walk. It seemed to me that God couldn’t truly respond to my request because everything was “etched in stone”. Yet as I studied God’s word more, I realized that He promises that He will respond to prayer. James says:

James 5:17-18 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. ¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

The narrative is clear that God responded to the prayers of Elijah. He does act. He does care for His creation.

So what are we to conclude? This simple fact: God is sovereign and God responds to prayer. In other words, this is a mystery. The funny thing is humans don’t like mystery. It assumes something beyond us, something we can’t understand. Also, it attacks our thirst for autonomy and self-sufficiency. This verse below has always been a help to me.

Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.

Evangelism is NOT incompatible with the sovereignty of God.

The bible is very clear about what Christians are supposed to be doing while Jesus is away: We are to share the good news of salvation with everyone (Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). Yet many Christians, as they grow in their understanding of scripture, find it difficult to reconcile evangelism and the sovereignty of God in salvation. Notice how these verses show both elements.

Acts 16:14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

Acts 18:9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people."

In Acts 16, Paul is preaching the good news to a group of ladies at the river. Then God opens the eyes of Lydia and she responded to the gospel. Clearly, Paul spoke and God opens her eyes. Is this synergism? No, it is NOT. Only God can breathe life into a dead heart (John 3:7-8; Eph. 2:8-9).

In Acts 18, God is encouraging Paul, who is struggling with the fear of man (this is a comfort to me…knowing the apostle Paul struggled with this), promising that He will be with him. Then we read a fascinating phrase “for I have many in this city who are my people.". This means that God has already ordained the people (in the city of Corinth) that will respond to the gospel (spoken from the mouth of Paul). Packer, in his reflection on this profound truth, states:

“It is God who brings men and women under the sound of the gospel, and it is God who brings them to faith in Christ. Our evangelistic work is the instrument that He uses for this purpose, but the power that saves is not in the instrument: it is in the hand of the One who uses the instrument”.

I imagine Paul’s renewed vigor to proclaim the gospel, since he knows that God is working in the hearts of the citizens of Corinth. You may ask, “Who was Paul supposed to share the gospel with?” The answer…..EVERYONE!! Paul didn’t know who God was working on, but he believed in the power of the gospel, which caused him to simply sow the seeds of the gospel.

It is no different for the Christian today. Sow the seed of the gospel. Pray fervently. Live in humility under the magnificent incomprehensibility of the Eternal God. I leave you with the profound words of J.I. Packer.

“The knowledge, then, that God is sovereign in grace, and that we are impotent to win souls, should make us pray, and keep us praying. What should be the burden of our prayers? We should pray for those whom we seek to win, that the Holy Spirit will open their hearts; and we should pray for ourselves in our own witness, and for all who preach the gospel, that the power and authority of the Holy Spirit may rest upon them.”