Predestination. This word puts fear into many Christians' hearts. However, predestination is a commom Bible concept. There is nothing to fear regarding this doctrine. Because God is the sovereign creator and sustainer of the universe, He has the right to predestinate what He wants to predestinate. ICARE Ministries encourages you to study this topic with the idea that God can help you understand it. Here, guest writer Jonathan Narwold discusses this important doctrine.
The Doctrine of Predestination
By Jonathan Narwold
God’s Mysteries
Whenever we have a discussion regarding anything having to do with God, we need to first realize that our understanding of the issue is going to be automatically flawed. God has chosen to reveal Himself to us in the Bible in words that we can understand, but this understanding is still limited. There are certain things that we will only fully understand when we live with Him for all eternity. Here just a couple of verses that discuss the limits on our ability to know about God:
Romans 11:33 - O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable
are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Deuteronomy 29:29 - The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are
revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
That being said, I think it’s also important to point out that we don’t go around looking for mysteries in
God’s word. Some people go overboard a little bit and say that God is so far beyond us that we can’t
know very much about Him at all. I believe that He has given us incredible insight into His nature and His plan for us, and we ought to be constantly searching His word to know more. We should only declare something a “mystery” when the Bible clearly states two things that appear contradictory.
There obviously are no contradictions in God’s word, but often our minds have difficulty reconciling one thing with another. I do believe that God’s eternal plan is one such mystery. Thus, I have done my best to study and understand it and portray it here as best I can. However, I do not claim to have all the answers, and there are certain aspects of what I believe that I still struggle with. It’s obvious to me that anyone who thinks that they know everything there is to know about this topic hasn’t really studied it in its entirety.
My intention here is to propose what I propose with modesty, acknowledging that I do not (nor will I ever) know all. If someone can show me how I’m wrong in what I lay out here and offer adequate scriptural proof, I will be all too willing to listen.
The Doctrine of Predestination
I’ll start this discussion with something on which I think most Christians can agree: that God “foreknows” everything that will happen. For evidence of this fact, you need look no further than the many, many prophesies that have come directly from God as well as from His prophets. However, just for the sake of being thorough (and to persuade anyone who would doubt this fact), you’ll see some passages that demonstrate this sprinkled throughout what I’ve included in other areas.
Now, assuming we’ve established God’s foreknowledge of future events, I believe that we’ve come a great way toward accepting the claims of predestination. When I first put the beginnings of this paper together over a year ago, I set out to show where scripture explicitly stated God’s “fore-ordination” (predestination). However, after hearing a favorite theologian of mine (Dr. Greg Bahnsen) teach, I realized that logically speaking, God’s foreknowledge necessarily implies His fore-ordination. Think about it… if he knew what I would do ahead of time, then it was predetermined – if not by Him, then by someone or something else. Of course, the former must be the case, because it would be heretical to believe that anything acts sovereignly on God’s world outside of His power and authority. To restate the same thing… if God knew what someone was going to do, and then they didn’t do it because that person decided to choose something else, then God didn’t really know it would happen after all.
I’ll offer up more arguments later, but in the mean time I’ll simply state my belief and offer the biblical evidence that I’ve found. I believe that God predestines everything that comes to pass, including who will and will not be saved. This does no violence to man’s will, because due to our fallen nature, man has no desire to be saved or to walk with God. God simply chooses to change the will of some men, while in some cases He actively “hardens” men’s hearts, both to fit His purpose. Below are numerous scripture references that demonstrate both God’s foreknowledge and his predestination. Note that I am intermingling God’s predetermination of both people and events, because scripture uses them interchangeably. I believe He does both, and many events would not occur if the character of the individuals involved was not also predetermined. So here goes…
Romans 9
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
God’s fore-ordination – the “purpose of God according to election… of him that calleth”
12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
12, 13 - God’s foreknowledge - God said that Esau would be wicked and would serve Jacob, who
would be righteous
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Addresses accusation from opponents of predestination that God is the author of sin – more on this later.
15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
15, 16 – God’s fore-ordination - God will choose who to have mercy on - man does not have the ultimate prerogative. It is not of “him that willeth… but of God…” This is not to say that man has no choice, but I’ll address elsewhere.
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might
shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
17, 18 – God’s fore-ordination - God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, because he created him and put him in power for a specific purpose.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Doesn’t really explain how it is that man still has free will, but warns against those that will say “it’s not my fault – God predestined that I would do it”.
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed
it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
20-24 – God’s fore-ordination – He makes “vessels of honor” and “vessels of dishonor” to “make
his power known” and to fulfill His purposes (pointed out elsewhere).
Ephesians 1
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful
in Christ Jesus:
Note who the audience is in this first verse.
2Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ:
4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love.
Now I suppose one might argue that He “chose” his elect in a generic sense and didn’t really know or predetermine who that would be, but if that were the case He wouldn’t have really “chosen” them. In addition, consider the fact that since all men are not “holy and without blame before him in love”, he must be speaking here of only his audience (pointed out in verse 1).
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will,
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
John 6
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip,
Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
God’s fore-knowledge
27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that
believeth on me shall never thirst.
36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
35, 36 - Man’s choice
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
If ALL that the Father giveth Him will come to Him, then evidently God did not give Him all to be saved, or else all would be saved. Since the giving of this particular subset of people occurs as a prerequisite for them “coming to Him”, this would indicate that He chose ahead of time who that would be.
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day.
Here it is again – Of the subset of people that God has given His Son, He will lose NOTHING.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may
have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Once again, man’s choice
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the
last day.
We are dead in our sins and cannot choose Him unless He “draws” us.
45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard,
and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
God’s foreknowledge
65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
God’s fore-ordination – more of same
70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the
twelve.
70, 71 - God’s foreknowledge
John 15:16 - Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and
bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name,
he may give it you.
John 17
1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy
Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
him.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and
thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have
known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Romans 8
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Gen 45
4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am
Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me
before you to preserve life.
6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there
shall neither be earing nor harvest.
7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great
deliverance.
8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord
of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
Exodus 9
13 And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto
him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people;
that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.
15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt
be cut off from the earth.
16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name
may be declared throughout all the earth.
2 Timothy 2
19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are
his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and
some to honour, and some to dishonour.
2 Timothy 1
8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2 Thessalonians 2:13 - But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth:
Acts 13:48 - And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
1 Peter 1:2 - Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit,
unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
Proverbs 16:4 - The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Joshua 11
18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings.
19 There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of
Gibeon: all other they took in battle.
20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he
might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the
LORD commanded Moses.
John 13
17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth
bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.
Jude 4
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Misc verses showing God’s foreknowledge
Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 1SA 23:11 Will the men
of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of
Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He will come down. 12 Then said David, Will the
men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up.
Matthew 11:21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done
in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty
works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
God predetermined the judgement of angels as well as men.
1Titus 5:21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe
these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. MAT 25:41 Then shall he
say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels.
God Hides Himself
I’ve already covered this in several passages above, but it bears repeating that in some cases the Lord purposely hides His truth from all those except those that He chooses to fully reveal it to:
Matthew 11:25 - At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.
Matthew 13
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven, but to them it is not given.
12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not,
from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither
do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not
understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have
closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand
with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which
ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Man’s “Free Will”
One of the questions that people ask all the time when presented with the scriptures above is “God says more than once in scripture that all that come to Him will in no wise be cast out – so what if someone that God did not choose, acting upon his free will, really wants to be saved?” The answer is that this would never happen. Scripture makes it clear that we are utterly depraved and “dead in our sins” without Him, and dead men cannot raise themselves. It’s not that we cannot choose Him – He gives us the the mental and physical capacity to do so. He also gives us ample evidence of His existence, so we are without excuse. However, we do not have the desire to follow Him. In fact, our nature is utterly opposed to the idea. Given the choice of accepting Him, our only natural response is to refuse. Think about it this way: I’m guessing that a lot of people that have trouble with predestination would still agree that once we are saved, we still have a hard time doing anything good without the work of the Holy Spirit within us (it’s hard to completely escape the scripture verses that talk about this). However, what makes us think that we are any more able to make an initial decision for Christ on our own strength than we would be to obey Him after we are saved?
That being said, bear in mind as you read the passages below that our choice not to follow God is still a choice. We were not coerced in any way to do the things that we do.
Matthew 17:12 - But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done
unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
God’s enemies were offered a witness to truth, and they rejected him – and here, He foretold that
they would do it again.
Deuteronomy 30:19 - I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life
and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.
Man’s choice
Romans 5:6 - For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 8:7 - Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.
John 15:5 - I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Romans 3:10 - As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. 12 They are all gone out of the way,
they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Colossians 2:13 - And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he
quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.
John 6
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the
last day.
65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him
of my Father.
Ephesians 2
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;).
1 Corinthians 2:14 - But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Titus 3
3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the
washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
One somewhat inadequate analogy that I thought of a while back is the area of space that mankind is able to roam. Man is free to travel anywhere… down the street, around the world, to the moon, and – who knows – maybe to Mars some day. Therefore, we could say that man has complete freedom when it comes to where he can travel. However, he is not able to travel beyond where his technology will take him, and I think we can be pretty confident that if what God refers to as “heaven” were reachable through space, man could never reach it with any rocket ever invented. It’s only through God’s grace that we are allowed to live there after death if we belong to Him. Now this analogy is imperfect because it deals with our lack of physical ability rather than our lack of desire. However, it does show that free will can exist while guaranteeing that no man will make that choice. Applying this to the discussion at hand, the fact that we are physically able to choose God and don’t want do so is the best possible argument against the “man is naturally good” argument that philosophers are so fond of.
As a result of our fallen nature, God has to work in us and change our hearts before we can accept Him. A man who has a desire to serve God only has this desire because God has given him the gift of faith. God must work in us “to WILL and to do of His good pleasure”:
Phil 2
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in
my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Ephesians 2
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us
through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them.
Colossians 2:13 - And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he
quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Colossians 1:13 - Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the
kingdom of his dear Son.
John 8:34 - Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant
of sin. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Romans 6
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and
the end everlasting life.
Note the language here – we were MADE free from sin. We did not free ourselves.
For further proof of this, look back at John 6 (shown earlier). This is one of those chapters that could be used as an argument against predestination, but not if you look closely enough. For example, it says in the second half of verse 37 that “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”. However, if you look at the first half, it says “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me.” In verse 44, Jesus confirms what I just said in the previous paragraph: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” The whole chapter is modeled around this type of conditional scenario. He who believes will be saved, but no one can believe without the working of Christ within him.
Now, couple what I just said with Phil 1:6, which says that “He which hath begun a work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”. If our choice isn’t possible without His “quickening” or “drawing”, then there are only two possibilities: He 1) “quickens” all of us or 2) chooses whom He will “quicken”. It’s obvious that the former is not the case, because then we would all be saved (per Phil 1:6); therefore, it must be the latter.
After salvation, God gives us a new nature that is enabled to do good. However, even after this happens, we still continue to prove why we needed His intervention in the first place. The next few passages are excellent, because they really help us see the war that goes on within us. You see our “free will” in play in Rom 7:18, where he says that “to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not”.
Galatians 5:17 - For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Romans 7
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
18 For I know that in me(that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but
how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into
Captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Now, should anyone still have trouble understanding how God can predetermine what we would do and yet we still make the choice to do it, let me point out first of all that I don’t fully understand it either. When it comes right down to it, this is where part of the mystery exists in this particular discussion. I don’t know how He does this… just like I don’t understand how someone can have a virgin birth or how God can be three persons but only one God. Yet He tells me that these things are true, and He is not limited by my ability to understand.
That being said, I’ll offer another analogy in hopes of making things just a little easier. God prophesied that Jesus’ bones would not be broken. Does this mean that Jesus had bones of steel that were unbreakable? No. In other words, the fact that God predestined that Jesus’ bones would not be broken does not take away the reality that they could have been. Jesus’ bones were real – and so are our choices.
God’s Will
As scripture shows over and over again, God has an eternal plan for what will occur throughout history (see the scriptures that we’ve mentioned thus far, as well as the many prophesies of the Old Testament.) Based on this plan, He also gives us numerous promises throughout scripture: (These are just a few of many promises in God’s word. There are in fact entire web sites devoted to listing
God’s promises to His people.)
Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to his purpose.
Long life, prosperity, provision:
Proverbs 9:11 - For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.
Psalm 121
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for
evermore.
Joshua 1:8 - This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein
day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou
shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Mark 11:24 - Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them.
Ephesians 6
2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise;
3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Specific results (prophesy)
Genesis 25:23 - And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of
people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other
people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Genesis 9:27 - God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall
be his servant.
Now, how could we possibly believe His promises, and how can He guarantee the course of history if human beings can change their minds about what they were supposed to do? What kind of all-powerful God would He be if His plans were contingent upon our actions? Does He have an eternal plan that is uncertain and might change if certain key individuals are or aren’t saved? What kind of confidence does that give me as a believer that God has all things under control? I mentioned this at the beginning in another form – how can God know everything that will happen if it hasn’t yet been set in stone? And yet we believe from scripture that God’s will cannot be thwarted.
Furthermore, many of the things that God has planned/knew about someone ahead of time would not have been possible without the predetermination of that individual’s choice for or against salvation. Countless times throughout scripture, you see examples of God predetermining the lives of individuals before their births. Genesis 16 tells us about what kind of man Ishmael would be. Scripture also
prophesied the coming of John and the work that he would do, none of which he could have accomplished without salvation. As you’ll see later, God loved Jacob and hated Esau before birth. God would not have hated someone whose choice for/against salvation was not yet clear.
Our Assurance
When we apply what we just said to our personal salvation, we have another problem to deal with. God promises that once we are truly saved, we cannot be lost:
Philippians 1:6 - Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
1 Peter 1:5 - Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the
last time.
John 10:29 - My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand.
Now I don’t know about you, but my will is fickle. How I feel about life (my attitudes) and the decisions I make change daily. If my salvation depends entirely on my choice to accept God, how can there be this rock-solid assurance that I will always remain with Him? How can I be sure that I won’t change my mind? Quite frankly, a part of me is thankful that my salvation is not up to me. If it were, I would have been long since lost. Now that may sound lazy somehow, like I’m saying that I won’t bother trying because God has done it all for me, but that is not at all the case (I’ll address this a bit later). I’m simply acknowledging my inability to do anything good (even making a simple choice) without the work of Christ. Even after we are saved, we must “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”, because it’s easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that God has chosen us based on our upbringing, frequent prayers and studying of the Bible, or something else. It is pointed out frequently in scripture that when someone “falls away” from their faith, they only demonstrate that they never knew God in the first place. They were not chosen of Him, and they never truly committed their life to Him:
I John 2
18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there
many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have
continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
2 Peter 1:10 - Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if
ye do these things, ye shall never fall.
I think it’s also important here to point out a concept many Christians misunderstand in the New Testament, which is the function of God’s law. I won’t delve too deeply into it, because that’s not the focus of this paper, but I will assert it in a way that most people would in theory agree. While the law is not necessary for our salvation, it is most definitely not something that should be cast from us as if it is
our enemy. On the contrary, Paul makes it clear in Romans that we are still to strive for righteousness. Now some will argue as to how much of the law is applicable, and some will go to the extreme that only what is repeated in the New Testament is valid. However, the fact remains that God expects a certain standard of obedience out of us as human beings.
The reason why this is important here is that a great part of the assurance of our salvation is our obedience. We said earlier that when we are saved, we no longer are slaves to sin, and we are enabled to act righteously. Thus, if we are truly saved, we (and others who watch us) will see fruits of that transformation. We will still sin grievously, but God will continually give us a desire to be rid of those sins. This process of gradual “sanctification” continues all throughout our lives, but we can be assured of God’s work within us through the progress that He enables us to make over time. Once again, we acknowledge that these works are not the basis of our salvation, but they are a result of it. If we see no change in character after our “salvation experience”, it typically means that we have not truly committed ourselves to Christ.
We see this “perseverance of the saints”, as it has been called by many, in the following passages:
These first two passages speak more generically about “keeping the faith”:
Matthew 24
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
2 Timothy 4
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall
give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
…and here are a couple of examples of what is meant by “keeping the faith”…
I Peter 1
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia,
2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto
obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath
begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with
fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory:
9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace
that should come unto you:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which
are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be
brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work,
pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your
vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times
for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith
and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the
brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and
abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the
flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto
you.
Revelation 3
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God,
and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy
works perfect before God.
Obviously, we know that our works can never be perfect through God, but by imputation of our sins to Christ and through His death on the cross, our feeble attempts can be made of some effect. We know that this is not referring to ultimate perfection (which is impossible on this
earth), because it says in verse 4 that some “have not defiled their garments”. However, this is most definitely referring to the works of the individuals in question.
3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou
shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with
me in white: for they are worthy.
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of
the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Obviously, our efforts per the verses above do not prove anything to God. As far as He’s concerned, when we put forth that extra effort to study His word, pray, and obey Him as best we can, it’s simply an acknowledgement of a foregone conclusion – but it certainly gives us greater assurance that our faith is genuine. I also don’t believe the warnings at the beginning of this section (or our constant failures throughout life) were designed to tell us that we can never be sure about our salvation. We just need to constantly examine ourselves to make sure that we’re not simply “going through the motions” but are genuinely seeking His will in our lives.
God As The “Author of Sin”
Another common objection that people raise is that if God predestines not only the righteous but also the wicked for the day of judgment, then this makes Him the “author of sin” (like somehow He is forcing us to sin). This really corresponds to a very difficult problem that all Christians face, which has resulted in the coining of the phrase “the problem of evil”. This is pointed out by Loraine Boettner in the book “The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination”:
“To begin with, we readily admit that the existence of sin in a universe which is under the control of a God who is infinite in His wisdom, power, holiness, and justice, is an inscrutable mystery which we in our present state of knowledge cannot fully explain. As yet we only see through a glass darkly. Sin can never be explained on the grounds of logic, or reason, for it is essentially illogical and unreasonable. The mere
fact that sin exists has often been urged by atheists and skeptics as an argument not merely against Calvinism but against theism in general.” (Boettner)
Echoing what Boettner said, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never really fully understood the answer to this question, but again – I must bow to God’s understanding and take Him at His word that He is a righteous God, especially since our whole concept of righteousness is based on His nature alone. Note also that regardless of the answer that we find for this “problem”, it is not a problem for God – only for us in our limited understanding.
First of all, I must point out that our minds can only take us in two different directions in response to this dilemma: 1) to admit that God has foreordained evil for some unforeseen purpose or at least to say that He has allowed it in some way or 2) to say that He is not the all-powerful God that I see portrayed in scripture and was not able to stop evil from entering into the world. As far as I can tell, there is really no way around this choice. Assuming that we admit to #1 based on the scriptures that I listed earlier in this discussion, I’ll offer some suggestions as to how in some small measure we might explain that this does not make God evil: Perhaps the simplest task at hand is to explain why evil has occurred after the fall of Adam. To do this, I need do no more than to restate what I said earlier – that God does not need to force anyone to sin or work into them a depraved nature. That nature is already there since the fall, so much so that no man wants to do righteousness according to God’s word. The wicked may do what they perceive as “good works”, but they do so in rebellion to God and usually only because they desire the approval of other men. God simply chooses at times to harden men’s already rebellious hearts.
James 1
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempteth he any man.
Now how can this be if He hardens men’s hearts and predestines some as “vessels of
destruction”?
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with
whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
1 John 1:5 - This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all.
Ecclesiastes 7:29 - Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out
many inventions.
This is an area of theology where we should tread carefully. In one sense, we want to avoid as much as possible the indication that God could be responsible for the evil in this world, and yet to say that He has nothing to do with it is to take something away from the power that scripture attributes to Him. Very few Christians would deny that God can do anything He chooses, but when we speak about evil many people seem to think that God has only limited control. One of the things my dad always used to tell me is that when Jesus came to the earth, He chose those that He would heal (both physically and spiritually). He is so powerful that He could have simply gone through the entire phone book
(figuratively speaking of course) and healed everyone. If He could have done this, why didn’t He? The answer is that He does things according to His own will, and He has a reason for everything that He does.
Some would explain it in the following way (this is from Boettner’s book, but he is in turn quoting Bennett Tyler):
“A ruler may forbid treason; but his command does not oblige him to do all in his power to prevent his obedience to it. It may promote the good of his kingdom to suffer the treason to be committed, and the traitor to be punished according to law. That in view of this resulting good he chooses not to prevent the treason, does not imply any contradiction or opposition of it in the monarch.” (Tyler)
This explanation is perhaps inadequate for a couple different reasons, but it is perhaps one of the better analogies that we might offer in human terms. But what of the events that led up to the fall of Adam? How did this nature come into being? Two of the books that I referenced answered this question in a very similar way. Boettner says the following:
“But why did God create a being capable of sinning? Only so could He create a being capable of obeying. The ability to do good implies the capability of doing evil. The engine can neither obey nor disobey, and the creature who was without this double capacity might be a machine, but could be no child. Moral perfection can be attained, but cannot be created; God can make a being capable of moral action, but not
a being with all the fruits of moral action garnered within him.”
The other book that I ran across (“The Existence and Attributes of God” by Stephen Charnock) presents a similar argument in much greater detail. He says the following: “God’s wisdom appears, in the government of men, as fallen and sinful; or, in the government of sin. After the law of God was broke, and sin invaded and conquered the world, divine wisdom had another scene to\ act in, and other methods of government were necessary. The wisdom of God is then seen in ordering those jarring discords, drawing good out of evil, and honour to himself out of that which is in its own nature tended to the supplanting of His glory. God being a sovereign good, would not suffer so great an evil to enter, but to serve himself of it for some greater end, for all his thoughts are full of goodness and wisdom. Now, though the permission of sin be an act of his sovereignty, and the punishment of sin be an act of his justice, yet the ordination of sin to good, is an act of his wisdom, whereby he doth dispose the evil, overrules the malice, and orders the events of it to his own purposes...
As a dark shadow is not delightful and pleasant in itself, nor is drawn by a painter for any amiableness there is in the main design of his art, so the glorious effects which arise from the entrance of sin into the world, are not from the creatures evil, but the depths of divine wisdom. Particularly,God’s wisdom is seen in the bounding of sin; as it is said of the wrath of man, it shall praise him, and the remainder of wrath God doth restrain (Psalm 76: 10). He sets limits to the boiling corruption of the heart, as he doth to the boisterous waves of the sea; “Hitherto shalt thou go, and no further.” As God is the rector of the world, he doth so restrain sin, so temper and direct it, as that human society is preserved,
which else would be overflown with a deluge of wickedness, and ruin would be brought upon all
communities...
‘…every thought of the heart of man is only evil, and that continually.’ (Genesis 6:5). If the wisdom of God did not stop these floodgates of evil in the hearts of men, it would overflow the world, and frustrate all the gracious designs he carries on among the sons of men.
…
The following is the part that’s particularly interesting: "Out of sin itself. God erects the trophies of honor upon that which is a natural means to hinder and deface it. His glorious attributes are drawn out to our view, upon the occasion of sin, which otherwise had lain hid in his own Being. Sin is altogether black and abominable; but by the admirable wisdom of God, he hath drawn out of the dreadful darkness of sin the saving beams of his mercy, and displayed his grace in the incarnation and passion of his Son for the atonement of sin. Thus he permitted Adam’s fall, and wisely ordered it, for a fuller discovery of his own nature, and a higher elevation of man’s good, that “as sin reigned to death, so might grace reign through righteousness to eternal life, by Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:21). The unbounded goodness of God could not have appeared without it. His goodness in rewarding innocent obedience would have been manifested; but not his mercy, in pardoning rebellious crimes. An
innocent creature is the object of the rewards of grace, as the standing angels are under the beams of grace; but not under the beams of mercy, because they were never sinful, and consequently, never miserable. Without sin the creature had not been miserable; had man remained innocent, he had not been the subject of punishment; and without the creature’s misery, God’s mercy in sending his Son to
save his enemies, could not have appeared...
To make things serviceable contrary to their own nature, is a wisdom peculiar to the Creator of Nature. God’s making use of devils, for the glory of his name, and the good of his people, is a more amazing piece of wisdom than his goodness in employing the blessed angels in his work.…
The redemption of man in so excellent a way, was drawn from the occasion of sin. The greatest blessing that ever the world was blessed with, was ushered in by contrarieties, by the lust and irregular affection of man; the first promise of the Redeemer by the fall of Adam (Genesis 3:15), and the bruising the heel of that promised Seed, by the blackest tragedy acted by wicked rebels, the treachery of Judas, and the rage of the Jews; the highest good hath been brought forth by the greatest wickedness. (Charnock)
I’m sure that there has been much more written on this topic (and indeed Charnock goes on for quite some time in a continuation of this discussion), but we will end here in the interest of keeping this to something less than a book in itself. Suffice it to say that these words bring new meaning to Romans 8:28, which says that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
But Doesn’t This Mean That We Can Sin Freely?
Yet another temptation in the mind of sinful man (and question in the mind of those that are seeking the truth on this issue) is this: If God has chosen me to eternal life, then can’t I do anything I want and still be saved? There are several parts to my answer, but I’ll start with an obvious answer to a slightly different question: “MAY we do unrighteousness?” There are more verses than I can count in both the Old Testament and the New that clearly state God’s command that we obey His law, but when it comes to our post-salvation responsibility, Paul summarizes this the best:
Romans 6
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Now we’ll get to our other question: CAN we “do anything we want” since God has guaranteed our
salvation? Well, the answer again is no – this time because of a change that occurred in us when God
brought us to Himself. We no longer are slaves to sin. I wouldn’t say that we no longer have the same
desire to sin, because our old nature is still within us, warring with the new (see Romans 7, which we
went over earlier). However, we now have the Holy Spirit within us as well, and we are able to overcome those old wicked desires gradually through His power. To show this in scripture, we’ll finish out our section in Romans 6:
Romans 6 (continued)
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead
by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his
resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto
God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey;
whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of
doctrine which was delivered you.
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your
members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants
to righteousness unto holiness.
20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is
death.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and
the end everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But what of the person that claims to be saved but always seems to sin without remorse? Well, only God knows men’s hearts beyond the shadow of a doubt – but from our perspective, our rightly-formed assumption will be after a certain period of time that that person is most likely lying to us and perhaps to himself as well (see my previous comment on self-deception). If a man does not have the Holy Spirit working within him the inevitable process of sanctification, then God never knew him in the first place.
Our Responsibility To Others
As kind of a partner question to the last one we asked, we might also ask (as many do) the following: If all men are predestined to be saved or lost, why should I evangelize? What difference will it make?
The fact is that if God has predestined everything that comes to pass, then He has also predestined the means to His purposed ends. He predetermined all the great evangelists throughout history would live and would do the things that they did, and so the results that were gleaned were secured through them.
God even predestines those chance meetings between two individuals that might have never met otherwise, the little things that one person might have said that convicted the other person of his sins, and all other factors contributing thereunto. As a result of this, we can say that if we do not respond to God’s call to perform a particular task, then we are not thwarting His efforts. He has already predetermined our response, and He has also predetermined either that the given task will never be accomplished or that someone else will accomplish it. However, this does not in any way relieve us of our responsibility. If God calls us to preach the gospel to someone and we do not, that person’s blood is still on our hands – even though He predetermined that we would make that choice. This providence of God (and His judgment) is shown in the following passage:
Esther 4
10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;
11 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man
or women, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put
him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have
not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
12 And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.
13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's
house, more than all the Jews.
14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise
to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth
whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
This ought to offer both sides (the person who planted the seed and the person who responded to it) much greater assurance. In some cases, we might have been saved by the efforts of someone that was fumbling through his words but just happened (by the grace of God) to strike the right chord. What chance would we have had of being saved if God hadn’t planned it that way? For those of us who desire to do our best to help others, it’s comforting to know that God will take our best efforts (feeble as they are) and use them powerfully in the lives of others. We must try our hardest, but when it comes right down to it, we cannot force anyone to come to Christ. God, however, can change their hearts and bring about such a change, using us as His means to that end.
This also ought to be viewed as an incredible privilege. God could have chosen to bring about the events of history by any available means, even continual divine revelation. However, He chose not to do so. He chose to use the weakness of men to glorify Him. As a result, we should embrace our calling and perform it with the same eagerness as might a son that a father has just given the privilege of driving his brand new car.
Now let’s look at the reverse side of this argument: if God must wait on someone else’s response for them to be saved, then we might feel that we have to continually try harder to break through when someone initially refuses to respond to our call. They seem like they’ll never change, but maybe if we just try this or that, the result might be different. It puts the entire responsibility on us, and we might feel as a result that we have failed someone if they don’t change. Once again, this is not God’s way of doing things:
I Corinthians 3
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to
every man?
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Thus God commands only that we obey Him and put in the effort that He requires. The result will be entirely up to Him. So we should evangelize - but does His working through what we do mean that we don’t need to try that hard? Yet again, the answer is no – for the same two reasons. First of all, God demands that we be good stewards of the talents, abilities, and economic resources that He’s given us (I’d have to go no further to prove this than the parable of the talents). In addition, God may choose to use our newfound abilities or increased efforts as the means to bring someone else to Christ. Our responsibility is to make ourselves the best “vessel” that we can possibly be and then allow God to use us however He chooses. Here are some examples of the various means that God used to accomplish His ends:
Acts 2:23 - Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God [observe the eternal plan…], ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain [...and the means to that end].
Acts 4
27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
John 19:11 - Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee
from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
Proverbs 16:33 - The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.
Not Of Works, Lest Any Man Should Boast
In addition to all the other reasons why I believe God has foreordained our salvation, one of the most important is that to say that we have chosen Him is to establish a “works-based” salvation. If I choose to follow God, what special characteristic do I have that someone else doesn’t that caused me to do so and someone else not to. I can only assume that that makes me smarter than the next person, just like investing for the future (like the ant in Proverbs) makes me wiser than the fool that wastes his money on current fleeting pleasures. Regardless of the reasons why I chose God, there must be something about me that’s special.
Looking at another side of the same coin, we said in the last section that denying that God can savesomeone without their consent puts a lot of extra responsibility on us to persuade the individual inquestion. Now consider this – if the person responds because we say something especially persuasive, to whom does the credit go for that conversion? God clearly tells us that there is nothing in either one of us that brings about salvation without His work:
Reviewing Ephesians 2…
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Here’s a quote from Charles Spurgeon that summarizes this concept particularly well:
"How shall those who are the subjects of divine election sufficiently adore the grace of God? They have no
room for boasting, for sovereignty most effectually excludes it. The Lord's will alone is glorified, and the
very notion of human merit is cast out to everlasting contempt. There is no more humbling doctrine in
Scripture than that of election, none more promotive of gratitude, and, consequently, none more
sanctifying. Believers should not be afraid of it, but adori ngly rejoice in it. "(Spurgeon)
Thus we can see that predestination completely banishes the idea that we are saved through any merit within us. It makes us humble before the all-powerful God to whom we will all bow some day, whether it’s our idea or not.
The Reformers on the Doctrine of Predestination
I might also assert that this is by no means anything new, even to Calvin himself. Obviously, if it is laid out in scripture, then it is as old as this world – and that is why I started with scripture and dared not focus the words of men until later on in this discussion. However, I might still point out that men have struggled with this area throughout all of history, and the only thing that is new is the stunning dogmatism that we see among modern evangelicals that God must acknowledge our right to choose.
As I researched this topic, I found that numerous well-known theologians have defended predestination in one form or another, including Martin Luther, John Calvin (of course), John Wycliffe, St. Augustine, and William Tyndale, as well more recent reformers such as John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, etc. It would seem that Martin Luther may leaned toward a variant of predestination that says somehow that God predestines those that will be saved but not those that will be lost. I say “may” because there is even a debate raging regarding what Luther actually believed.
One description that I found of Luther’s alleged teaching states the following:
Luther expresses this difference by a variant of predestination that is often called "single predestination". He says that God is responsible for the salvation of those that he chooses. Those that he does not choose are responsible for their own damnation. Calvin's language is more symmetrical. He says that God chooses both those he will save and those that will not be saved. He intends both results and is
responsible for both. This is called ‘double predestination.’ However there is still a difference in how he works with those who are saved and those who are not. (author unknown, taken from http://geneva.rutgers.edu/src/christianity/predest.html)
See the following for a discussion of Luther’s beliefs:
http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/double_luther.html
Small disclaimer – I have not studied through this page in its entirety and don’t necessarily endorse it. I’m
just acknowledging the existence of the material.
I believe that both sides of this argument acknowledge similar truths. After all, it is true that men are depraved and in a sense choose their own destruction. However, the “single predestination” teaching in my mind is simply an attempt to escape the hard truths of God’s “reprobation” (His fore-ordination of certain men’s fall). If God “chooses” those who will be righteous, then in my mind the logical conclusion is that those that he has not chosen are “not chosen” (forgive my redundancy here, but hopefully you understand what I’m trying to say) – hence predestined as “vessels of destruction”.
Based on what I’ve heard and read, it would seem that the doctrine of predestination held a much
greater sway than it does now during the protestant reformation, the Great Awakening, and the
formation of our country. Today, the idea that “God is knocking at the door, and [in order for Him to be
able to work within us] we must let Him in” has made huge inroads for a number of decades, but the
tide seems to be turning once again. Modern-day reformers such as Greg Bahnsen, Cornelius Van Til, R. J. Rushdoony, A.W. Pink, and others have consistently defended this area of doctrine, and I hope to see more of the same in the future.
Conclusion
As you can see, this debate is not as simple as many make it out to be. It has been hotly contested throughout all of history, and it will likely not be determined any time soon. It is up to all of us to continue to study to learn the truth. Once again, I challenge anyone to point out to me where I am wrong, and I will take what they have to say into serious consideration.
Works Cited
Charnock, Stephen. The Existence and Attributes of God. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996.
Boettner, Loraine. Reformed Doctrine of Predestination. Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing, 1990.
Author Unknown. Taken from http://geneva.rutgers.edu/src/christianity/predest.html, May 4,
2009.
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. Evening by Evening; Or, Readings at Eventide for the Family or the
Closet. New York: Sheldon and Company, 1869.
Tyler, Bennet. Memoirs and Lectures. Date and publisher unknown.