Instrumentality(agency)
“The quality or condition of serving as an instrument or means; from Latin instrumentum, a tool or implement”
Summary
The biblical principle that God works through human agents to accomplish His purposes, both in the salvation of men and in the execution of His judgments.
☩Definition
Throughout Scripture, God accomplishes His purposes not by acting alone but by appointing and employing human agents. This principle of instrumentality operates in two primary spheres: the salvation of men and the execution of divine judgment. In both cases, the human agent is subordinate—it is God who saves and God who judges, though He chooses to work through hands, voices, and even nations to do so.
☩In Salvation
Israel's whole history was a history of salvation through human instruments. Though the judges, prophets, and kings were constantly used as saviors, the people were always taught that it was God who saved by their hand. Christ himself appointed human agency as the primary means of extending His kingdom, ordaining twelve disciples 'that he might send them forth to preach,' and crowning His earthly mission with the command to 'go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.' Paul described believers as 'workers together with God,' entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation, and declared that 'it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.'
☩In Judgment
God equally employs nations and individuals as instruments of His justice. He called Assyria 'the rod of my anger' and 'the staff in whose hand is my indignation,' sending it against a godless nation to execute His decree—though Assyria itself did not intend or understand this purpose. Babylon He named 'my battle axe and weapons of war,' using it to shatter nations and kingdoms. Even Saul was commissioned to execute judgment against the Amalekites, and Jehu was anointed to carry out God's sentence on the house of Ahab.
☩The Limits of the Instrument
Scripture consistently teaches that the instrument must not mistake itself for the one who wields it. Assyria boasted of its own power and was judged for its arrogance: 'Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith?' God's sovereignty over His instruments is absolute—He raises them up and sets them aside according to His purposes, and the glory belongs to Him alone.
Related Verses18 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Salvation," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.John McClintock and James Strong, "Preaching," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 3.George Morrish, "Preaching," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).