As with the question immediately above, this difficult question is difficult to answer, and, again, it is easier to articulate what the answer is not than to articulate what it is. Any answer to this question that denies divine sovereignty on the one hand or his holiness on the other is an invalid answer. Note the following, inviolable statements that must be here harmonized:
All that occurs in this universe is decreed by God (Eph 1:11; Isa 46:10), including the evil in this universe (see above).
God cannot cause, coerce, or engage in sin (Job 34:10, 12; Jas 1:13).
It is inappropriate to speak, thus, of God as sin’s creator or cause, but also inappropriate to speak of Satan/man as independent forces in the universe to whom God has granted sin-sovereignty. It is probably best to speak in terms of primary and secondary causation (Feinberg’s efficient and ultimate causation, respectively), i.e., God’s decree makes sin certain, but does make sin compulsory.
Stand Firm! 