For reasons that, frankly, elude me somewhat, the topic of predestination is often a hot one, and not in terms of popularity. It is often a point of heated contention. I'm not at all sure why. Perhaps it's the suggestion that it eliminates free will (which it does not). I would prefer to think that it wasn't simply from the old "I will be like the Most High" problem that all sinners face. I don't think it is. But the principle is undeniably biblical. Jeremiah said he was appointed as a prophet "from the womb" (Jer 1:5). Jesus said, "Many are called, but few are chosen" (Matt 22:14). Paul assured us that God causes all things to work together for good according to His purpose that "those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom 8:28-30). Paul assured the Ephesians that "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world" (Eph 1:4) and "He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ" (Eph 1:5). According to Peter, Jesus was "delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23) and the early Christians understood that Herod and Pilate, the Gentiles and the Jews were acting according to "whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place" when they crucified Jesus (Acts 4:27-28). It is an unavoidable, recurring biblical theme. Even the word that we translate "the church" -- ekklēsia -- means literally "the called out ones" because we are the called and chosen.
It isn't popular among Christians and I'm not at all sure why. Perhaps it's because we're not sure why we are predestined. The popular position is that it's speaking of salvation, and that is clearly a part of it, but not the only part. Scripture is clear that predestination is the beginning, the middle, and the end. The plan "before the ages began" (Titus 1:1-3) (predestination) was for Christ to live a perfect life, be betrayed by Judas Iscariot (Luke 22:22), and be executed for our sins (Acts 4:27-28) so that those whose names were written in the book before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8) could be reconciled to Him through adoption to the praise of His glorious grace (Eph 1:5-6). His work is to conform us to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29), where our being "predestined" is the forerunner to our eventually being glorified (Rom 8:29-30).
This is too magnificent for me to minimize. In this scenario God plans from before time that He will save, chooses in advance who that will be, provides the ways and means to accomplish it, and finally justifies and glorifies those whom He chose from before the foundation of the world. Where's the boasting? Where's the room for pride? Where's the possibility of "Look what I did!"? It doesn't exist. No place for "I'm someone special." All we have is "I'm someone chosen" through nothing in ourselves. And what He chose us for! To be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29). To be holy and blameless (Eph 1:4). To be adopted as sons (Eph 1:5). To be to the praise of His glorious grace (Eph 1:5)! "We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us" (2 Cor 4:7). We have been predestined for greatness not because of anything in us, but because of Him who calls and Him who saves and Him who transforms and keeps us. Why would that not be a popular Christian topic?
11 comments:
the thing i done understand is how Christians can rejoice knowing that Jesus is predestined to return, but have a problem about God predestining their very own salvation. they forget that the free will of man is vile thing, that wages war against the spirit. the free wiil of man is a dead thing to spiritual things of God. what value does it really have? what is this freewill that we esteem so highly? we may claim that God does not want robots, but that we may love of our own free will. this is a false argument, because the freewill of man, never has and never will, love God. free will of Man is nothing more than Sin with a life support system..
now that should start a good fight...
I’ve always found it interesting that people don’t seem to mind predestination in the OT, just look at how many people were predestined to certain roles, but find it so difficult in the NT.
If one accepts God as sovereign, it’s really the only option that makes sense.
Bob, I've heard Christians say, "God doesn't make robots." Maybe, but I'd love to be God's robot. My free will is not my favorite asset.
Craig, they seem to have no problem praying with a predestination mindset. "Lord, save so-and-so", as if God would do that over against their free will. I cannot fathom a God who is sovereign who is not sovereign, but that is the common position Christians hold. Just last week someone told me, "God sovereignly limits His sovereignty in the case of Man's free will." Well, okay ... but that's not sovereignty.
Stan, I agree. You either have a sovereign God, or you don't If you don't, then you simply want a God that will agree with you. It's interesting that no one questions the whole Jacob and Esau story and how God predestined Jacob to be the person through whom He chose to work, yet is adamant that God can't save someone without that person's help.
Even if the Jacob/Esau story is myth, the point still holds.
Yes, or the whole "Israel, the chosen race" concept. It was okay for them; just not for us.
Does accepting predestination pretty much force one to take punishment in hell to be finite in duration?
The idea here is that if God chooses some ahead of time to be destined for hell, He surely would not put them through an eternity of torment for something that is, in the final analysis, His choice, not theirs.
Having discussed predestination with a former Christian, their problem with predestination wasn't our salvation, but non-believers condemnation. Since we are predestined to salvation, then, necessarily, those not chosen are predestined for damnation. And from our limited perspective I can see how that would be troubling. But predestination, and the necessary outcome of double predestination, is only misunderstood due to failure to truly grasp the chasm that lay between us and God. They seem to see it as a gap that simply needs help getting across, one you can see, that is even tempting to try to cross on your own. They fail to see as you repeatedly say, we are dead. The gap is the insurmountable space between life and death. A dead person cannot bring themselves to life, only another can bring them back. We aren't capable of seeing the other side of the canyon. Without acknowledging that gap, we can justify our .0000001% effort, and predestination becomes a bad word. Double predestination feels bad. And in our world, if it feels bad, it can't be true.
In no way does it require limited punishment. We are still fully responsible for our actions.
Anonymous, the logic doesn't follow. God doesn't send anyone to hell for not choosing Him. Nor is anyone prevented from choosing Him. Hell isn't eternal because of the duration of the sin, but because of the magnitude.
And I think, coincidentally, David actually addresses this.
Here's the issue of predestination, and especially double predestination, that strikes me as uncomfortable: God created the not-chosen for the purpose of suffering an eternity in Hell. It would have cost Him nothing to redeem them that He wasn't paying already, and it would have cost Him nothing to not even create them in the first place. It certainly would have been more merciful; Jesus Himself said that Judas would have been better off never having been born, for example.
"God created the not-chosen for the purpose of suffering an eternity in Hell."
Well, that is certainly a truth-claim, but is it true? I've never read it in my Bible. I have never found it to be a necessary conclusion. And the assumption is that God owes His creation -- at least, the human beings of His creation -- something "nice".
The biblical text I find that explains why God allows "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction" is "to show His wrath and to make known His power" (Rom 9:22). I don't doubt that many will deny God's rightness in doing so, but it does not say that He created them with the purpose of suffering an eternity in Hell. On the other hand, according to that stated purpose, if no one paid for their own sin, there would be no satisfactory display of His wrath against sin or His power. It would cost Him. You (generic -- not necessarily you) might argue that God has no right or would be, in fact, immoral for having such a purpose; according to the text (Rom 9:20-21), that's just clay arguing with a potter.
But since most (nay, all ... including me) human beings begin with the "I will be God" position, this won't likely be convincing for you.
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