14 After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father.
15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?"
16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died:
17 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said.
19 But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God?
20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Even though their intention was evil, God’s intention was good - for the same deed! Please don’t overlook that important piece of information - “God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done...” God INTENDED it to occur.
For God to “intend” something to occur, He involves Himself in the process. This is clearly an example where God, as He always does, worked in a situation to cause man to do what He wants him to do. Some will say that the brothers exercised their “free will.” Sorry, God worked in their minds to make them want to sell Joseph into slavery. Their intention was evil, it was to rid themselves of the hated Joseph, it was to finally put an end to their torment. “Who does he think he is? Almost the youngest of us all claiming that we will bow down to him?”
Did God cause the brothers to desire to sell Joseph into slavery? Yes. God’s intention was GOOD - to put Joseph in Egypt to rise to a level of authority equal to Pharaoh to eventually save Jacob and his entire family from starvation years later. Did God cause Joseph’s brothers to sin? No. Their intention was evil and that was the sin, the condition of their heart, not the deed.
God works the same way today. He is working IN us to will and to do according to His good pleasure, not ours (Philippians 2:13). Those He wants to save, He steps into their lives uninvited (uninvited because a lost man hates Christ and will never “invite” Jesus into his heart - John 3:20), and quickens his dead spirit through faith, the faith that God gives him (Romans 12:3; Ephesians 2:8). God simultaneously gives him belief (John 6:29; Philippians 1:29), repentance (2 Timothy 2:25), and understanding (Luke 24:45, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 2 Timothy 2:7).
God works all things after the counsel of His own will, not ours (Ephesians 1:11), and that passage in Ephesians is directly related to salvation. That is WHY: TO those who love God, TO those whom God has called according to His purpose, all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). As a side note, if you don’t remember the important difference between “to those who love God...” and “for those who love God...” please go back and read Bible Truth #61.
So while many think that man has a free will, it is simply God working in them to make them think they have a free will. God is working in us without our request or permission. We become children of God NOT by human decision (John 1:13).
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