Christian
Community Church
of
Franklin, Indiana
A Study in Predestination vs. Foreknowledge
NOTE: All Scriptures used here are from The New International Version of the Bible.
Also see Election: A Work of God and God's Foreknowledge and the Origin of Evil
Definition: God is sovereign, no one can defeat God's will. Thus God's will is always enforced in the course of human events.
Difficulty: If God's sovereignty always requires His will to be enforced, then humans do not have free choice. Thus everything is forced to conform to God's sovereign will. Example: A person might say, "It was God's will for an accident to occur on the Interstate. If I stop to administer first aide and thus keep a victim from bleeding to death, I have interfered with God's will for that person to die."
This conclusion is both illogical and not Biblical.
Example: Another person might say, "God has predestined me to hell. Therefore, it is no use for me to pray, attend church, read my Bible, et cetera, because no matter how much I love and obey God, I can never achieve/receive salvation against His will."
This conclusion is also illogical and not Biblical. It requires God to create evil, sin, and sinners, and arbitrarily force them to do His will. This is contrary to the Bible (see study on God's Foreknowledge). In addition, John 3:16 states: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." The text does not say that "whoever is predestined to believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life." The ability to freely choose to believe in Christ, or to freely choose not to believe in Christ, is absolutely required by John 3:16.
Defining the Terms:
Predestined, Predestination - The word "predestination" does not occur in the Bible. The compound Greek word "prohorizo" (derived from "pro" meaning "before" and "horizo" meaning "a boundary, limit") means "to limit or set boundaries beforehand." It does not mean to force against one's will. This word occurs only four times in two passages. Thus the entire doctrine of "Predestination" is built on four texts.
Do the Texts Say God Predestines Some to be Saved and Others to be Lost?
"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." -- Romans 8:29 (NIV)
"And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." -- Rom 8:30 (NIV)
Consider the key phrases in these texts:
"Those he (God) foreknew" - In the study on God's Foreknowledge, we learned that God knows beforehand what each person will freely choose to do. God's foreknowledge does not cause us or force us to make choices against our free will. When the text speaks about those God foreknew, it is telling us God knew beforehand some people would exercise their free choice, accept Jesus Christ, and become Christians. God did not force them, He simply knew beforehand what they would freely chose to do.
"He also predestined" - God predestined, set certain boundaries and limits beforehand, for everyone who chooses to be saved through Jesus Christ. What were these boundaries, or limits that God predestined? Read the next phrase.
"To be conformed to the likeness of His son" - God did not predestine (limit beforehand) who would be saved. God did not arbitrarily choose some people beforehand to be saved against their own choice. But God did set certain boundaries or limits beforehand for everyone who has freely chosen to be saved: everyone must be "conformed to the likeness of His Son" Jesus Christ. God has predetermined that Jesus would be our example. Everyone who chooses to follow Jesus is required to become "like" Him in all we do.
"Firstborn among many brothers" - The result of our being "conformed to the likeness of His Son" Jesus Christ is that He becomes pre-eminent over all of us as His "brothers." Just as we sinners can only become like Him in the sense of our new character but not in our being, so the sinless Jesus can only be our "brother" in the sense of our humanity (through the Incarnation), but he cannot become our "brother" in sin.
"Those He predestined" - This refers back to the people mentioned previously: every person who has chosen to accept Jesus Christ, and who now has the requirement to "be conformed to the likeness of His son."
"He also called" - Every person who ever chose to accept Jesus Christ has been called ("invited") to "be conformed to the likeness of His son."
"He also justified" - Every person who ever chose to accept Jesus Christ has not only been invited to "be conformed to the likeness of His son," but God has also declared that person to be conformed to the likeness of His son. In other words, God has made each Christian into the "likeness of His son." If we have chosen Jesus as our Savior and Lord, then we have been "called" to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. More than that, God legally declares us to have been conformed into that likeness. Thus, once a person accepts Christ, the result (conforming to the likeness of Christ) is certain (predetermined).
"He also glorified" - The final result of our free choice to accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord is that we are "called," "justified," and finally "glorified" (meaning: "rendered glorious, worthy of glory/praise").
Summary of Romans 8:29-30
Rather than telling us that God forces people to be saved or lost, these texts give us the glorious promise that God will carry our free choice right on through to completion: "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -- Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
Free Choice and Progressive Sanctification in
Ephesians 1:4-5
The next text using the word "predestine" is:
"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will." -- Ephesians 1:4-5
Consider the key phrases:
"He chose us in Him before the creation of the world" - Paul is writing to the Christians in Ephesus. These are people who freely chose to become Christians by accepting Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Even before the creation of the world, God made the decision (i.e. "chose") that everyone who is "in Him" (i.e. "in Christ," a Christian) would have certain characteristics. Read on to discover what those characteristics are.
"To be holy and blameless in His sight" - God made a decision before the creation of the world that every saved person would be "in Him" (i.e. "in Christ"), and thus would be "holy and blameless" in God's sight. God did not specifically choose who would be saved, He chose what the result of our choice would be: we would be "holy and blameless in His sight."
"In love" - All of God's activity towards the saved is motivated by love.
"He predestined us" - God predestined (i.e. "set certain boundaries and limits beforehand"), that everyone who chooses to be saved through Jesus Christ will "be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ."
"To be adopted as His sons" - Our adoption is the guarantee that we will receive the inheritance God has provided for us. As God's "sons" we cannot be disinherited.
"Through Jesus Christ" - Our adoption revolves around Jesus Christ. By choosing Him as our Savior and Lord, we enter God's kingdom as "sons." Because Jesus died on the cross our sins are washed away and we are "holy and blameless" in God's sight.
"In accordance with His pleasure and will" - All of the conditions and benefits of salvation, from it's initial conception on through it's final completion, is according to what God has willed and finds pleasurable.
Summary of Ephesians 1:4-5
Rather than telling us God forces some to be saved and some to be lost, these texts give us the glorious promise that our choice to be saved will render us holy and blameless before God. All the results of our choice come through "the riches of God's grace" (Ephesians 1:7).
Our Choice vs. God’s Choice in Ephesians
1:9-14
The last Bible text using the word "predestined" is Ephesians 1:11. Let's read that text in its context:
"And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory." -- Ephesians 1:9-14 (NIV)
Consider the key phrases:
"The mystery of His will" - God has a will and it has been made known to Christians.
"Which He purposed in Christ" - Christ is the central fact and figure in God's will. Nothing of God's will can be accomplished without the active participation of Jesus Christ. The next text tells us what God's will is:
"To bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" - Notice it is not God's will that some be saved and some be lost against their own free will. God's will is that Christ be head over all (also see Philippians 2:9-11).
"In Him we were also chosen" - God's purpose not only involves Jesus Christ, but also those who have made the decision to be "in Him" (i.e. freely chosen to be a Christian). God's choice is explained in Ephesians 1:12 as being on the basis of the Christian having "hoped" in Christ, and in Ephesians 1:13 as having "believed" the Gospel. Thus God's choice of the Christian is the result of the Christian's free choice to be saved.
"Having been predestined" - God's choice of us is in harmony with what His plan has predestined (i.e. the boundaries/limits He set beforehand). Thus what will happen to us will be in "conformity with the purpose of His will."
"We, who were the first to hope in Christ" - Paul and the Apostles were "first to hope in Christ" in the sense they became Christians before the Ephesians did. Subsequently, the Ephesian Christians also put their "hope in Christ." Each chose freely to become a Christian, and thus became eligible for God's plan to bring them into conformity with His will: that they be "holy and blameless in His sight" (Ephesians 1:4), and be "adopted as (God's) sons" (Ephesians 1:5).
"You also were included in Christ when you … believed" - Belief in Christ, and being included in Christ, are the result of free choice. This free choice is the result of hearing and believing the Gospel.
"Having believed" - Everything depends upon our free choice to believe. The result is that our "inheritance" is guaranteed (Ephesians 1:14).
Summary of Ephesians 1:9-14
These texts explain that God's choice for us results from our choice to be saved. His will is put into effect in our lives when we have surrendered our will to Him.
Conclusion
All of this demonstrates that God respects
the free-will of His creatures. He does not predestine some to be saved
against their will, nor does He predestine some to be lost against
their will. Rather, in each instance, we choose our own destiny - and God ratifies
our choice.
© 1998 Sydney Cleveland