We say God is not the author of sin, but we do not say that God has not foreordained sin. And we are not even saying that God has simply allowed sin. No, we need to understand that when God, in his providence, brings us into trials, testing, and circumstances when we are being exposed to enticements that that is part of the remarkable mystery of his providence. We find a wonderful explanation of God's providence in sin in the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 5, paragraph 4:
The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom and infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves in His providence, that it extended itself even to the first fall and all other sins of angels and men—so the first thing we have to remember is that God has foreordained it—and that not by a bare commission, but such as have 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 preceded 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.Now that is a remarkable statement for its biblical balance, as it sets before us something of this mystery. We can summarize it under four headings:
1) First, God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. We see this in the murder of the Lord Jesus Christ; the most heinous act ever committed by men. And yet, Peter preaches that by the foreknowledge and predetermined plan of God, you took him and put him to death at the hands of sinful men. It was God's intention, as we know, because Christ was crucified from before the foundation of the world.
2) A second thing to keep in mind is that with respect to the sinful act itself and the enticement to that act, God's decree is permissive. He is not the One who in any way is actively in the person's heart stirring up lust, or coming through the person from the world or in the world or from Satan or demons. In that respect God's decree is permissive. So he is not an active agent in the enticement unto sin.
3) Third, he is practising what is called a concurrence, and that is what the Confession means when it says that
such as have joined with it a most wise and powerful bounding and otherwise ordering and governing of them in a manifold dispensation.Without the concurring providence of God, no one could do anything. In him we live and move and have our being. We could not think, we could not tempt, we could not do anything whatsoever. And so God is holding all things together, yes, even the devil in his first rebellion, Adam in his first fall with the temptation from the devil, and every other tempter and temptation since then. God's holy promise is what causes this world to hold together and individuals to act in ways that are consistent with who and what they are.4) The fourth thing is, it is always for holy purposes. As is said so quaintly:
the rays of the sun on the dung heap, does not make the sun responsible for the stink of the dung heap.And the rays of God's providence directing order in lives does not make God responsible for the stench of our sin.So it is a great mystery that exults God. In the pastoring, in counselling, in dealing with people, in teaching, the best place to go is to the crucifixion, and there God shows us so much insight into his workings [with sin]. But in such a way, that he is not the author or the originator of sin.1
Joseph A. Pipa
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.