The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 125

Vera. 17, 18.-Man's ruling and God's overruling. St. Peter admits that the rejection of Christ was done through ignorance, but he does not allow that this is a sufficient excuse. Ignorance bas many degrees, and may arise from many causes. It may be wilful. It may be a consequence of cherished prejudices, and then it is guilty ignorance, "'!'be Jewish multitude were ignorant from want of teaching, their rulers from mental perverseness in looking only on one part of the prophecies con- cerning the Messiah." For the treatment of the relation of "ignorance" to "guilt," compare St. Paul's teachings in eh. xvii. 30 ; l Tim. vi. 13. 'l'be point which St. Peter dwells on in these verses is, that in the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, men appeared to act on their own will and to carry out their own plans ; bnt the deeper fact was that they accomplished the Divine purposes and fulfille,l the divinely given prophecies, Scripture writers do not discuss the harmony between Divine sovereignty and man's free-will; but they show us man acting f,eely, and then draw aside the veil, and show us God's purpose accomplished by that very action that seemed to be so free, And the explanation is this-that all God's plans are formed upon perfect consideration of all that will occur; and this includes the Divine kno\vledge of how men will act, in their free will, in particular circumstances, To him who knows man altogether, the precise way in which every man will act, under every set of possible circumstances, m:.ist be fully anticipated. On this we may further dwell, and gain some apprehension of the Divine order. I. MAN IS FREE TO ACT ON VARIOUS :MOTIVES, He does act by motive. He may be moved by differing motives. He will act upon that which seems to be str011gest. The strength of a motive greatly depends on the disposition and character which it urgefl. '!'here appear to be a vast multitude of motives. Probably they could be greatly reduced by classification. The complexity and difficulty of knowing how a man will act in given circumstances does not arise from our inability to estimate his motive~, but from our inability to judge how particular motives will influence him. We can tell by what considerations the Sadducees, Pharisees, and priests were moved to secure the death of Jesus. It is this acting of men on motive that gives moral character to their acts, and so brings on them the possibility of guilt. II. ALL HUMAN MOTIVES, CIRCUMSTANCES, AND CHARACTERS ARE KNOWN TO Goo. The circle of motives that can possibly appeal to man's moral nature God completely spans. '!'be precise circumstances under which motives urge in any given case, he fully knows and accurately weighs. The force which, under every set of circum- stances, every motive will gain on every pnrticular character and disposition, he perfectly estimates. And, though it is an almost impossible conception, we must conceive of God as looking down the long" stream of time," leaving his creature~ fr~e to act in all situations, and yet knowing beforehand the decision of every free w1ll m every conceivable case. 'fhis is the marvel of the Divine foreknowledge. III. ALL DIVINE PLANS ARE FORMED UPON TffiS PEl\FECT ESTIMATE. Especially apply to the redemptive plan. In view of what would happen, and what men_ woul~ do, the plan of redemption in the slain Lamb was formed before the fo~ndat1on ol the world. Man worked out bis own prejudice and passion in the crucifix~on of_ J~sus of Nazareth, and God worked out bis plan of saving tbo race by the s:i.cn~ce ot his 01;1ly bc 00 otton Son. 'fhat we n,;,,·ht know of this 011er1·uling, the prophecies of Messiah we~·e o-ivon. So we see ho,; mai,'s guilt remains in his freedom to act on motive; and y;t God's purposes remain unchanged by all men's wilfulness, since the wilfulness was all foreknown and estimated.-R. 'l'. 120 THE .ACTS OF THE .APOSTLES. (011. nt. 1-26.