The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest themselves in His providence, that it extends itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels and men; and that not by a bare permission, but such as has joined with it a most wise and powerful bounding, and otherwise ordering, and governing of them, in a manifold dispensation, to His own holy ends; yet so, as the sinfulness thereof proceeds only from the creature, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin.
The Confession discusses sin in greater detail in chapter VI but here explores the relationship between sin and a sovereign God. I sometimes think I must sound like a broken record, but I will once again emphasize keeping in mind the character of God we established in the discussion of chapter II as we go through this.
God's providence includes sin and evil. Because God is sovereign over all he is necessarily sovereign over sin and evil. Otherwise he may be opposed and thwarted in his plans and purposes. If God has no control over evil, evil may win or prove impossible to overcome. Furthermore, God has not just chosen to permit sin and evil but has ordained them--he has positively declared that they should be. God has a purpose in so doing, just as he has a purpose in everything he does.
Yet the origin of sin is to be found in the creature, not God. He created the creature good, but mutably so (as we will discover in chapter VI). Therefore it can change. The creature that does evil is himself responsible for it.
God neither creates sin nor approves sin. Evil is not good. Yet it must be good that evil exists or it would not exist. This brings us to the concept of concurrence. God has many times ordained an evil thing to take place that good may result. Two examples: The actions of Joseph's brothers and the action of Judas Iscariot. In both cases, God used the evil intents and actions of sinful men to accomplish a great good (in the latter case, the greatest good ever experienced by men). But this in neither case excuses the sinners or relieves them of culpability or responsibility. Judas gets no credit for helping to bring about the redemption of mankind. Indeed, our Lord remarked it would have been better for Judas if he had never been born.
Tomorrow: Four objections.
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