I would say God is the author of sin but not the doer of sin. He is the author in the sense His eternal purpose wrote it sin into His world for a redemptive purpose. He scripted the sin of Lucifer, and Adam and Eve, to overrule for His Glory in Christ Jesus
God is the author of sin," is nowhere found in Scripture. It is a human teaching that contradicts the words of Jesus, the prophets, and the very character of God. The Bible reveals a God who is perfectly holy, righteous, and just. He cannot be the author of the very evil He condemns.
For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You. (Psalm 5:4, NKJV)
The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. (Psalm 145:17, NKJV)
God repeatedly declares that He hates sin.
These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. (Proverbs 6:16-19, NKJV)
If God authored sin, then He would be creating the very things He declares He hates. Such an idea makes God divided against Himself and contradicts His own holiness.
Jesus revealed where sin comes from.
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man. (Mark 7:21-23, NKJV)
Jesus never said these sins were written into people by God. He plainly taught that they come from within the sinner's own heart.
Jesus also taught that a good source cannot produce evil.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. (Matthew 7:18, NKJV)
If God is perfectly good, then according to Jesus' own words He cannot produce evil fruit. To claim that God authored sin directly contradicts Christ's teaching. A holy God cannot produce unholy works any more than a good tree can produce rotten fruit.
God always places people before a real choice.
I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. (Deuteronomy 30:19, NKJV)
Joshua declared the same truth.
Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. (Joshua 24:15, NKJV)
A genuine choice cannot exist if every sin has already been scripted by God before anyone was born.
Even in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given a command and a choice.
Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.(Genesis 2:16-17, NKJV)
God warned them of the consequences. He did not make them sin. The serpent tempted them, and they freely chose to disobey.
Lucifer also was not created sinful.
You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. (Ezekiel 28:15, NKJV)
The Scripture says iniquity was found in him. It does not say God created it in him or scripted his rebellion.
Some argue that because God used sin for His redemptive plan, He must therefore be its author. Scripture teaches exactly the opposite. God is able to bring good out of evil without being the cause of the evil.
Joseph's brothers freely chose to sell him into slavery. Years later Joseph told them,
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good. (Genesis 50:20, NKJV)
Notice the clear distinction. They intended evil. God brought good from their evil. God did not cause their wickedness.
The greatest example is the crucifixion of Jesus. Wicked men freely chose to reject and kill the Son of God.
Jesus said,
Indeed the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed! (Luke 22:22, NKJV)
God's plan of salvation was certain, yet Judas remained completely responsible for his own betrayal. Jesus did not praise Judas for carrying out a script. He pronounced judgment upon him.
Throughout Scripture, whenever people attempted to shift responsibility for sin onto God, they were rebuked. After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam answered,
The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate. (Genesis 3:12, NKJV)
Adam tried to move the blame toward God by pointing to the woman God had given him. God rejected the excuse and judged Adam for his own disobedience. Israel also blamed God for their own sins.
Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not fair." Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? (Ezekiel 18:25, NKJV)
God declared that His ways are just. The fault was with the people, not with Him. The prophet Ezekiel repeatedly emphasizes that every person is accountable for his own actions.
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18:20, NKJV)
Jesus likewise held every sinner personally responsible.
Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.(John 8:24, NKJV)
If God had authored every sin, then holding people responsible for sins He Himself scripted would make His judgments unjust. Yet throughout Scripture God is always declared to be perfectly just. Abraham understood this when he asked,
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25, NKJV). The answer throughout Scripture is always yes.
The Bible also declares,
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5, NKJV) If there is no darkness in God, then darkness cannot originate from Him.
To say that God scripted Lucifer's rebellion, Adam's fall, every lie, every murder, every act of adultery, every theft, every act of idolatry, and every wicked deed ever committed is to accuse God of being the source of the very things He hates and commands us to reject. Such a doctrine overturns God's holiness and makes Him responsible for all evil. Scripture never teaches this.
Instead, the Bible reveals something far more glorious. God created beings capable of genuine love and genuine obedience, and therefore capable of genuine rebellion. Sin entered because created beings freely chose to depart from God's perfect will. Yet God's wisdom is so great and His power so perfect that He can take even the evil choices of rebellious creatures and accomplish His righteous purposes without ever becoming the author of their sin. Evil belongs to the sinner. Judgment belongs to God. Redemption belongs to Christ.
The doctrine that God is the author of sin is not only without biblical support, it strikes at the very heart of God's holy character. Jesus revealed the Father as perfectly good, perfectly righteous, and perfectly just. His words leave no room for the idea that God writes sin into His creation. The Scriptures consistently teach that God warns against sin, hates sin, judges sin, calls sinners to repentance, and sent His Son to save us from sin, not to become its author. That is the testimony of the Scriptures from beginning to end.
@brightfame52 @Cameron143 there is no light in you only darkness, your own words prove it.