04/07/2019
BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE – ABUJA
THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF PREDESTINATION
BY
INOBEME, Jonathan
BVA/2019/002
BID 015: GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION
(THE SCHEME OF REDEMPTION)
15TH JUNE, 2019
` THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF PREDESTINATION
1. INTRODUCTION
The term Predestination has been subjected to some erroneous interpretations in Christiandom. However, God is not the author of confusion. Accordingly, the aim of this write-up is to examine the right scriptural interpretation of the concept of Predestination. This paper is structured into four sections. The first section is the introduction, the second examines the Calvinism interpretation of Predestination, the third section focuses on the scriptural interpretation of Predestination while the fourth section is the conclusion. The words translated “predestined” in the Scriptures referenced above are from the Greek word proorizo, which carries the meaning of “determining beforehand,” “ordaining,” “deciding ahead of time.” So, predestination is God determining certain things to occur ahead of time. What did God determine ahead of time? According to Romans 8:29-30, God predetermined that certain individuals would be conformed to the likeness of His Son, be called, justified, and glorified. Essentially, God predetermines that certain individuals will be saved. Numerous scriptures refer to believers in Christ being chosen (Matthew 24:22,31; Mark 13:20, 27; Romans 8:33, 9:11, 11:5-7, 28; Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 1 Timothy 5:21; 2 Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 2:9: 2 Peter 1:10)(Got Questions Ministry, 2019).
2. CALVANISM INTERPRETATION OF THE CONCEPT OF PREDESTINAITON
The doctrine of predestination is a part of the teaching of John Calvin. John Calvin has had a profound influence on the religious world as most denominations today embrace part, if not all, of Calvinism. The doctrine of predestination is the notion that God predetermines certain individuals to be saved and go to heaven and others to be lost and go to hell even before they are born into this world. The eternal destiny of every individual is, therefore, sealed and cannot be changed. The ramifications of this doctrine are considerable. For instance, there would be no need for the Scriptures to give us instruction in righteousness because our behaviour would have no impact upon our salvation. There would have been no reason for Jesus to give the Great Commission for preaching the gospel could have no effect on the hearers. The lost couldn't go to heaven if they wanted to and those predestined by God to salvation are going to go whether they want to or not. The fact is, this doctrine makes God a respecter of persons, which He is not (Acts 10:34). Not only so, this doctrine destroys the free moral agency of man.
God has always given man free will the ability to choose to receive or reject Him and His will. For instance, Joshua said, “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 2415). Notice that Elijah gave the people a similar choice, And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word (1 Kings 18:21). We still have the same choice to make today to follow and serve the Lord, or not. But the decision to follow and serve the Lord is not a one-time thing. In fact, it involves resolve and determination to continue daily to follow and serve Him. Every day we must choose to be faithful to the Lord. The problem with some is that they have not ever truly made that commitment to the Lord. Their choice is not clear for they have not fully made up their minds to serve the Lord daily. Consequently, they continue to be willing to compromise when it gets difficult to follow and serve the Lord. Or they may attempt to evade the choice that must ultimately be made. Such is an exercise in futility, for Jesus said, He who is not with Me is against Me (Matt. 121:30). If man is not a free moral agent, there is no need for a Judgment Day, for man cannot and will not be held accountable for his actions. And yet Paul clearly states, We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether it is good or bad ( 2 Cor. 5:10). If the doctrine of predestination is true, man has no choices to make relevant to his salvation, for God has already decided for him (Timberland Church of Christ, 2019). Calvinism or predeterminism wrongly teaches that God chose or elected ONLY certain select individuals before the foundation of the world to be saved based solely on his ELECTION and, therefore, we do NOT CHOOSE HIM. But the Bible itself teaches us that it is WHEN a person CHOOSES to receive God’s gift of salvation, is the WHEN that a person BECOMES one of God’s ELECT. It is AFTER a person hears the gospel of salvation, and then receives the truth of God’s word into their heart to be born again by the word of God, that a person BECOMES one of God’s ELECT (Pritchard, 2018).
3. SCRIPTURAL INTERPRETATION OF THE CONCEPT OF PREDESTINATION
There are three basic positions that people say about God and predestination. (i) God has not predetermined anything. (ii) God had predetermined some things. (iii) God has predetermined all things. Anyone who reads the Bible will quickly find out that the first position cannot be true because it will not take you long to see that God predetermine some things. For example: Revelation 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 1 Peter 1:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. From these Scriptures, we learn that God had a predetermined plan to save mankind through His Son before the earth was formed because He knew that mankind would fall into sin and would need a plan to be saved. We have eliminated the position that God has not predetermined anything. Now we must choose between him predetermining some things and predetermining all things. Those who hold the Calvinistic view of predestination would say that God has predetermined everything, which is why they teach that some are predestined to be saved, whether they want to be or not, and some predestined to be lost. If this is true, it would mean that we have no choice in being saved or lost because our destiny has been predetermined. If we kill someone, get a sickness, or have a bad car wreck, none of it will be our fault because it is our destiny if God predetermines everything. Joshua said: Joshua 24:15 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." If God predestined everything then Joshua was out his mind because he could not possibly expect these Jews to choose whom they served. If this position is true, we need understand that we are wasting our time at inviting people to obey the gospel, but what did Jesus say: Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Did Jesus say come to me those of you who have been predetermined to be saved. No, He said, come to Me, all you. Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires let him take the water of life freely. Does the verse limit who can take of the water of life? No, it doesn’t, because whoever desires it, can have it. What did Jesus tell His disciples to do in the great commission: Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ”teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; If God predetermines everything what would be the point it teaching everyone about the Word. It would not matter what you say to them because they are already saved or lost. Those who hold the Calvinistic view of predestination think that Paul teaches their position, yet we find Paul saying: 2 Corinthians 5:11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; Romans 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. If Paul believed that God predestined everything, then why did Paul bother with persuading men? Why would he pray for Israel that they might be saved? Paul answers these questions in: Colossians 1:28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labour, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. Notice he warned and taught every man he came in contact with so that he might present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. If Paul believed in the Calvinistic predestination position then he must have been confused when he wrote this letter. Another big problem with this view is that it would mean that God is showing partiality and there no way around that. How could a person say that He is not be partial when He makes one person saved and one lost. Not only does this view violate our free will, it would also cause the Scriptures to be wrong because Peter said: Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. "But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. Paul agrees with Peter because he writes two times that God does not show partiality in Romans 2:11 and Ephesians 6:9. As far as I can tell, it not possible for this view to work without God showing partiality. Let us take a look at two verses by Paul and Peter: 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 1 Timothy 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. How in the world can Peter and Paul say that God wants all to come to repentance and wants all men to be saved if salvation is only limited to those who have been predestined to be saved? Verses like these prove that God has not predestined all things and that every person has the choice to be saved or to be lost. Another major problem with this view is that if you are predestined to be saved, then there is no way for you to be lost. One of the favourite verses that people like to use to prove predestination and that you cannot be lost one you are saved is: John 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. In this verse, we see that Father gives Jesus those that will come to Him, but the question becomes, how does the Father give people to Jesus? Is by force or by irresistible grace? Later in this chapter, Jesus tells us how the Father does this: John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Jesus is teaching us that Father gives people to Him by them hearing the Word of God. That is how they are drawn by the Father because the truth will set you free and as Paul said: Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Notice, salvation is available for everyone who believes. In the second part of our verse, Jesus said, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. From this, people will teach that once your saved you cannot be lost, but that is not what Jesus is saying. When Jesus says He will not cast out those who come to Him, He is talking about those who have become His disciples and who choose to stay with Him. No one can force away from Jesus, but we can choose to separate ourselves from Him. This idea is illustrated in Romans 11 where Paul teaches that the unbelieving Jew was cut off from the root, which is referring to Jesus, and the Gentile was allowed to be grafted into that root. However, Paul warns them not to boast about this and warns them that God can remove them from the root once they have been grafted in. Paul says: For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off (Rom. 11:21-22). Also, Jesus compares Himself to a vine in John 15 and specifically says: If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (Jn. 15:6).While we should take great comfort in knowing that Jesus will not cast us out or cut us off while we faithfully follow Him, we should not be fooled into believing the false doctrine once saved always saved. In fact, throughout the New Testament, we are warned about turning away from God and falling from His grace. For example: 1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. Hebrews 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; 2 Peter 3:17 beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; Galatians 5:4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. Verses like these prove that once you are saved that you can become lost because you can choose to stop following God and your sins will separate you from Him. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have only examined a few of the verses that prove that once saved always saved is false, but for times sake I want to show one more that will drive the point home. Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. The writer is talking about those who were Christians, and he lets us know that if they fall away, which means that they can fall away, it’s like they are putting Jesus back on that cross and putting Him in open shame. So, don’t let anyone ever convince you that God has predetermined everything because if that is true, we might as well through our Bibles away and just wait and see if we are going to be lost or saved. We have ruled out two of the positions that people hold when it comes predestination and God. It is not true that God has not predetermined anything or that He has predetermined everything. That leaves us with the position that God has predetermined some things. As you will see, this is the Biblical view of predestination. For example, we read in: 1 Peter 1:20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. This teaches us that God predetermined before the foundation of the world who He would use to redeem mankind, and as you read through the OT and the NT you can see how that God help bring about His plan in various ways. Sometimes he accomplished this through His providence as with Joseph becoming 2nd in command to save the lineage of Christ from starvation. Other times He might use miracles to bring about something He has predetermine like the plagues and parting of the red sea, which allowed the children of Israel to escape their Egyptians bo***ge. Sometimes God reveals the future because He knows what going to happen. For example, a man of God went to Northern kingdom and told King Jeroboam: 1 Kings 13:2 Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's bones shall be burned on you.' About 200 years later this prophecy came to pass in: 2 Kings 23:15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image. 16 As Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. Nothing in Scripture mentions that God told anyone to name this king Josiah. In fact, his father had not followed God and was an unrighteous king, but since God is omniscient he knew that Josiah would be the man that fulfilled this prophecy. While it is hard sometimes for us to discern between what God predetermined to happen, and what He knows is going to happen, we do know that Jesus was predestined to be our Saviour and God knew the events that would take place surrounding His birth, life, and death on the cross, but God in no way has caused anyone to be good or bad, or to be lost or saved. He has however, used His foreknowledge of people and how they would react to certain circumstances to bring about His predetermined plans. For example: He knew how Pharaoh would react to the ten plagues. He did not cause Pharaoh to act the way He did, but He knew that the plagues would harden his heart. Pharaoh had the freedom to act in a more rational way, but his arrogance would not allow him to, so God played off his pride. The same thing could be said about Judas. No one forced Judas to betray Jesus, but Jesus knew before it every happened that he would betray Him. While Judas fulfilled the Scripture about Jesus being betrayed, this was accomplished by God’s foreknowledge of Judas’s actions and not by overriding Judas’s free will. Unlike some today, Judas did not blame Satan for his mistake. Instead, he said: Matthew 27:4 "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." He sinned by his own free will, yet what he did was prophesied. The same idea can be seen when Peter was preaching to those that was gathered on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; God knew beforehand how the Jews would react to Jesus and His message, and He knew that these wicked men would have Jesus arrested, tried, and put to death. Even though God predestined Jesus to die for us, He did force the men to do what they did, but He knew that they would. More examples could be given, but these are enough to give us a better understanding of what the Bible teaches about predestination. We have learned that God does predestine some things, but He does not predestine everything. Those things He does predestine, He does not violate our free will, but He does use His foreknowledge of events and people to bring about His predetermined plans. As we close out this lesson, I want you to understand that God has predetermined before the foundation our world that we could be saved through His Son, but it is up to you to choose to accept what God has made possible for you through His son. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and you are ready to repent and confess Jesus as your Lord, then why not come forward and be baptized into Christ for the remission of your sins so that you can become a child of God. In Genesis 4 we read of God talking with Cain, who was upset that his offering was not accepted. God told him, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” If God had already predetermined what Cain would do, it would have been pointless to give Cain the advice to “rule over” sin. God gave Cain this advice and then allowed him to make his own decision. This is free moral agency—the opportunity God gives us to make choices regarding what we will do. In Deuteronomy 30:19, God encouraged the ancient Israelites to “choose life”—that is, choose His way of life so they could receive blessings. Again, if God already knew what choice they would make, this encouragement would have been pointless. In accordance with these passages (and many more throughout the Bible), we realize that God wants us to choose and live His way of life.
4. CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the scriptural interpretation of predestination is only in the sense that God predestines the righteous to be eternally saved and the unrighteous to be eternally lost. The statement of the apostle Peter, “ Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is acceptable unto him” (Acts 10:34-35) is taken as an evidence that God did not predestine individuals to be eternally saved or lost, but that each man determines his own destiny.
REFERENCES:
A Matter of Truth (2019). PREDESTINATION: What Does the Bible Say? – Retrieved 15 June 2019 from www.amatteroftruth.com/predestination Retrieved 17/6/2019
Does Predestination Mean that God Has Already Predestined who will be in His Kingdom? Retrieved 15 June 2019 from http://www.ucg.org/bible../bible/does-predestination-mean-that-god-has-already
Got Question Ministry (2019). What is Predestination? Is Predestination Biblical? Retrieved 15 June 2019 from https://www.gotquestions.org/predestination.html
Pritchard, R. (2018). Straight Talk about Predestination. Retrieved 15 June 2019 from https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/bible-study/straight-talk-about-predestination-part-1.html
Timberland Church of Christ (2019).The Doctrine of Predestination. Retrieved 15 June 2019 from www.timberlandchurch.org/the-doctrine-of-predestination
The purpose of this site is to get to the truth of the matter. Contained in this site are some in depth Bible studies that I have done trough the years on some very controversial doctrines or teachings of different denominations of the church. It is my belief that that these different denominations....
