Thank you for your question. I am happy to address it. First, let’s look at the passages you asked about. Luke 12:47-48 (LSB) says,
47 “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many beatings,
48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a beating, will receive but a few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
This passage is an excerpt from a larger passage extending from Luke 12:35-48 and is known as the Parable of the Faithful and Unfaithful Servants that addresses things like faithfulness and stewardship along with judgment, accountability, Christ’s return, and God’s righteous wrath. Jesus uses this parable to explain that the severity of God’s judgment is based on a person’s knowledge and actions. Thus, the one who knows the master’s will but does not obey receives a severe punishment where the one who does not know the master’s will but acts wrongly will receive a lesser punishment. That is the meaning of the statement in verse 48 that says, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required…”
In this, we see God’s sovereignty in holding his creation accountable based on the knowledge they have and how this results in varying degrees of punishment. We have a sovereign God who rules all things including knowledge, gifts, etc. while maintaining human responsibility to respond to God’s revealed will. In this passage, we see the perfect harmony of the sovereignty of God and the moral responsibility of man in what we Calvinists refer to as Compatible Determinism or Compatibilism.
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