The story of Paul’s shipwreck in Acts 27 involves the same sort of dual explanation [of both God's sovereignty and man's choice]. In verses 22-25, God promised categorically through Paul that no one on the ship was going to be lost. Yet later when some of the sailors were secretly trying to jump ship, Paul declared to his centurion guard and his soldiers, “Unless these [sailors] stay in the ship, you cannot be saved” (see vv. 30-32). This led the soldiers to act in a way that kept the sailors aboard. And thus everyone was saved, as God had ordained. Since God had previously promised that no one would be lost, we can conclude that the soldiers’ acting to keep the sailors on board was among the events that God had foreordained.
–Mark Talbot
Suffering and the Sovereignty of God (2006, p.64-65)
read on 7-31-08
