The Righteousness of God Rescued from Arminian Cavils

"Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding:
     far be it from God that He should do wickedness,
     and from the Almighty that He should do wrong.
For according to the work of a man He will repay him,
     and according to his ways He will make it befall him.
Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, 
     and the Almighty will not pervert justice."
- Job 34:10-12 

One of the favorite arguments of Arminians against Calvinists is their claim that the Calvinist makes God the author of sin. In fact, they consider the argument extremely clever. However, I know from experience that they never listen to the counter-arguments from Calvinists. An argument will always seem clever if the maker of the argument avoids dealing with answers. 

Here is the Arminian argument: 1) according to the Calvinist, everything happens according to the plans of God; 2) people sin; therefore, 3) God causes sin. However, there is an unstated premise here: when people sin, their attitude is the same as God's attitude in decreeing the act of sin. And that premise is false, making the conclusion false. 

Whatever God does or decrees, He always does or decrees for His own glory: "For My own sake, for My own sake, I do it, for how should My name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another" (Isaiah 48:11). So the question for the Arminian is this: Is it ever sinful to seek the glory of God? And he must answer that it is not. 

Therefore, the argument now goes like this: 1) everything happens according to the purposes of God; 2) everything God does or decrees is for the sake of His own glory; 3) in contrast, the wicked sin, never seeking God's glory; therefore, 4) God is not the author of sin according to Calvinist principles. Hereby, the reputation of the biblical God is preserved from the wicked aspersions of Arminians. The quote from Job above states the singular righteousness of all that God does.