Positive and the lack of a Positive Decree from God: A summary…My statements: “We are entering into the area of positive and permissive decree. God positively decrees the election of some. He also permits the reprobation of others… not by positive decree to damnation, but by the lack of a positive decree unto election. He has not changed them, but has left them in their sin – which we were all in anyway. This lack of a positive decree does not charge God with sin or evil. As for the will of men and angels, God does not do violence to the will of the creature in this matter. God either has changed their will or left them to their own sin. For the elect whom have a new will, God will perfectly keep them unto glorification at death: this is the perseverance of the saints, where we will enjoy God forever in His presence. The reprobate and angels who left their first estate were permitted to do so because God withdrew His presence (lack of a positive decree), and they naturally fell – not because God made them fall, but because God did not prevent it via His withdraw. This is a divine mystery Deuteronomy 29:29: God is always wise, and has purposes we cannot understand – but the elect can rest in His goodness and safety.”“In reading Ezekiel 28 for a while yesterday concerning the king of Tyrus: verse 13 shows where the covering cherub went after he was cast from heaven. Jesus said in Luke 10:18 He “Beheld satan cast from heaven like lightning”, which agrees with Eze 28:16. When he was cast from heaven, he enters Eden in his appearance detailed in verses 12 &13. It is only in Genesis 3:14 he loses his luster and is cursed by God. Of note, the language used in Gen 3:7 “the eyes of them both were opened” is the exact same language used in Luke 24:31 when Christ is revealed in the breaking of bread with the Emmaus travelers in the Septuagint. In our communion with Jesus Christ, our eyes are opened, and we can see His love and goodnesses toward us, and our curse is removed: we enter into life eternal.”
The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 5 (Anchor Text) First, the controlling statement:
“God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least…” (WCF 5.1). Note: creatures, actions, and things, not merely outcomes, not merely “big picture history,” but everything down to the smallest motion. And yet: “Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first Cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly: yet, by the same providence, He ordereth them to fall out, according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.” (WCF 5.2).
Here is the answer in base form: God permits no autonomous sphere that escapes His decree,
but He does permit real secondary causation, including voluntary human action.
Macro Level: No Autonomy Whatsoever. At the macro level, history, kingdoms, outcomes, ends, there is zero autonomy. Scripture to support this: “He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand.” (Daniel 4:35). “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD… he turneth it whithersoever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1).
Empires rise, wars occur, Christ is crucified, all by determinate counsel: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken…” (Acts 2:23)
No “autonomy” here unless you mean illusory self-confidence.
Providence at the Micro Level: Real Secondary Causes, Not Independent Ones: Does God permit autonomy at the micro level? No, if by autonomy you mean independence from God. Yes, if by autonomy you mean real, willing, morally responsible action. The WCF Confession is explicit: “God… is not the author of sin; nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures.” (WCF 5.4). This is not philosophical gymnastics; it is biblical realism. Joseph’s brothers freely sinned: “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.” (Genesis 50:20). Same act. Two intentions. One sovereign God.
Calvin: In Institutes Book I, Chapter 16, Calvin wrote: “Nothing takes place without His deliberation… yet God so regulates all things that He does not suffer the will of men to be compelled.” (Institutes I.xvi.3).
With more precision from Calvin: “Men do nothing save at the secret instigation of God, and do not discuss or deliberate on anything but what He has previously decreed.” (Institutes I.xvi.9) “The will of man is not forced, but disposed.” God does not drag the will like a corpse. He inclines it, orders it, limits it, and judges it. That is not autonomy. That is accountability under sovereignty.
The London Baptist Confession (1689) “God… doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures and things… yet so as the sinfulness of their acts proceedeth only from the creatures.” (LBCF 5.1, 5.4). And: “The liberty or contingency of second causes is not taken away, but rather established.”
(LBCF 5.2). Notice: “liberty of second causes”, not liberty from God.
God permits no autonomy in: Decree, Outcome, History, Providence, Final ends, or Moral accountability. God permits real, creaturely freedom in: Voluntary human choices, Moral deliberation, Secondary causes acting according to their nature. But this freedom is: Derivative, not independent, Bounded, not absolute, Accountable, not autonomous.