If man wasn’t ‘left in the counsel of his own will’ then he never could’ve sinned in the garden. Otherwise we’d be saying that God willed or “authored” sin and few denominations allow for that.
This is a very delicate matter, but I’m glad you bring it up because it’s worth exploring.
It is, however, very complex, so I doubt just one simple post will suffice, but here goes. Let’s call this, ‘the role of sin, in the plan of God.’
There are many examples we can point out from the Scriptures which demonstrate that God uses the sinful behavior of men in order to carry out His purposes.
For instance, the experience of Joseph in Genesis. His brothers practically murdered him out of envy. But years later, when Joseph meets up with his brothers, note his response to them regarding their injustice toward him:
Gen 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
God used the evil intentions of Joseph’s brothers in order to carry out His good intentions. That’s quite a profound statement coming from a man who suffered for years at the hands of many sinners.
The early church fully understood the role of evil in the plan of God. Consider the book of Acts chapter 4. In verse23 we read of how Peter and John were released from imprisonment and reported to the church how that the Gentiles persecuted them for preaching the Gospel. Now, carefully consider the prayer that follows:
Acts 4:24 "And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’–”
Here the church is quoting from Psalm 2, a Messianic Psalm, and they are going to apply it to their situation:
verse 4:27 “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,”
Basically they are telling God that they recognized Jesus trial and crucifixion as a fulfillment of that Psalm. Now note their God-centered interpretation of how it thus came to pass:
Acts 4:28 “to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.”
They are telling God that His hand and His plan was the reason those evil men killed Jesus. But they also understood God’s good intention for causing that to happen. Therefore, they continue in their prayer asking God that just as He moved those evil men to carry out the crucifixion of Jesus, that He would now exercise His restraining power over them:
Acts 4:29 “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Lastly, notice how God responded to their acknowledgment that He is behind everything mentioned in their prayer:
Act 4:31 “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”
God shook that place, as if to say, “AMEN!”
