Predestination is one of the most hotly debated topics within Christianity. Churches, families, denominations and friendships have been split up and ruined because people cannot seem to agree on whether we choose God or God chooses us. So I am going to start by saying that you can TOTALLY disagree with me on what I am about to say and still be my friend. Please still be my friend! Having said that, you may ask, "Well if this is such a touchy topic, then why write on it at all, Nick?" Well here are my reasons for writing on this particular subject. There are at least 3:
1. I believe that the FULL glory of God is at stake within this doctrine. More on that later.
2. I think that many Christians are hostile towards this doctrine because it is misunderstood and often misrepresented. I do not necessarily aim to change your mind if you disagree. However, I do aim to give a clear, fair, and accurate presentation of predestination and election.
3. I find that this doctrine of predestination/election (pretty much the same thing, just different words) gives me so much hope, joy, peace and courage. This is such an amazing, glorious truth (I believe) that I can't help but share it with you!
First, a definition so that we understand what is being talked about. The doctrine of predestination states that before the foundation of the world was laid, before time ever existed, before anything, God chose those who would be His children. He planned in advance those whom he would save from hell, those who would become Christians.
I want to start by showing that this is a biblical doctrine. This is not something that people just made up to get everyone all riled up. It is in the bible.
"And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed." ~ Acts 13:48
"To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints." ~ Romans 1:7 (Notice that not everyone is called to be a Saint.)
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in oder that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. An those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." ~ Romans 8:28-30
"What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy." ~ Romans 9:14-16 (All of Romans 9 is very helpful.)
"Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In LOVE he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved." ~ Ephesians 1:4-6
"In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will..." ~ Ephesians 1:11
"And all who dwell on earth will worship it (the beast), everyone whose name has not been written BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain." ~ Revelation 13:8
This is just a sampling of verses. There are many more, but I don't have room. But, I think that we can gather from these verses that God does in fact predestine people to be His children.
Now, some people have said to me, "But that just isn't fair. How can God still be a loving God and then go and chose some people to save and not others?" Here is my answer to that. The fact is, folks, that absolutely none of us deserve to be saved from hell anyway. We all deserve hell for eternity! (Rom. 3:23; 6:23) In fact, if God was going to be totally fair, he would just let us all go to hell and get what we deserved. That would be absolutely fair! But he doesn't! He lovingly chooses some of us to save from eternal punishment. Why? I don't know, but he does!
But someone else will say to me, "But then God is playing favorites!" No he isn't. Just because God chooses someone does not mean that he has to chose anyone else. Once again, we are all equally wicked and equally deserving of eternal punishment. But God decides who he will save. Ephesians 1 says this when it says that, "... he chose us according to the purpose of HIS will." You see, we live in a democracy where all people have equal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And it's good! But if you take that love of democracy and try to apply it to our relationship with God, then you will ruin Christianity. Why? Because no one has ANY RIGHTS with God. We don't have any! And so no one can say, "I deserve to be saved!" No one does!
"But what about my free will to choose God?" someone may say. But I would say to that person that they do not have a biblical view of free will. The bible says that our nature is so sinful and wicked that it is IMPOSSIBLE for us to choose God. The fact is that our will is actually in complete bondage to our sinful nature. (Rom. 3:9-18; 8:7-8) Paul wants us to see it like this: We are spiritually dead. (Eph. 2:1) Sure, we are physically alive but spiritually, before we trust Christ, we are spiritually dead. Dead people can't choose to become alive! All they can do is continue in there deadness. Paul also says that we are spiritually blind. Blind people can't choose to follow a light they can't see. So really, before Christ, our will is not free at all. But then, 2 Corinthians 4:6 happens to us. And O, how glorious it is! "For God, who said, 'Let light shine our of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus christ." So God chooses to remove our blindness and suddenly, we see Jesus! We see the most glorious light in the world, and we can't help but to FREELY choose it! When God chooses us, he is predestining us to freedom. Only when 2 Corinthians 4:6 happens are we finally free to choose God. And just like Jesus said in John, "Lazarus, come out!" to the dead man, so he says to our dead souls, "Become alive!" to make us spiritually alive in Him.
You see, this is where the FULL glory of God comes in. In saying that we choose God, then we are taking his power away from Him and saying, "You didn't choose me, I chose you!" But this simply isn't true! We can't choose God, and saying that we can is taking the credit away from him. But when we say, "Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for choosing me! I don't deserve salvation but you gave it to me, not because of who I am but because of who you are!" If we don't say that, then we are not giving God the full glory that he deserves.
Now, in my experience, a lot of people do not like this doctrine because they have a loved one that is not following Jesus and they are scared for them. They think, "Well if my loved one isn't predestined to be a Christian, then there is no hope for them!" But, this is reverse thinking. Predestination gives us WAY more hope for lost loved ones than if it were up to them to choose God. Why? Because it is completely up to God to save! Therefore, it doesn't matter how messed up or bad or far from God someone is. God can save anyone! So everyone has the exact same chance of getting saved as anyone does. Think of the person that you know who is the furthest from God; further than anyone you know. They hate Him, reject Him, don't want anything to do with Him. You might think that there is no way that they will come to know Jesus. But guess what? It isn't up to them; it's up to God! They have the same hope of salvation as you and I do! Predestination levels the playing field. No one is beyond Hope! No one is beyond the reach of God! No matter how far your loved one seems to be from God, He can still make them alive and remove their blindness! How great is that? This is what happened to Paul on the road to Damascus. He wasn't searching for God, He wasn't even close! In fact, He was killing Christians. And then God said, "POW!" And he was changed! That should give us immense hope!
This is really long already and there is a lot more I could say. But let me finish by giving you two great resources for further study.
The sermon, "The Called Of Christ and the Loved Of God, Part 1" by John Piper is the best sermon I have ever heard on this subject. Please listen to this! www.desiringgod.org
The sermon, "Predestination" by Mark Driscoll is the second best sermon I have ever heard on this subject. www.marshillchurch.org
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