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DISCIPLESHIP CLASS—LESSON FIVE PREDESTINATION
PREDESTINATION ISSUE: The big debate in regards to predestination is whether God has chosen who will be saved and who will not be saved, thus erasing true free will of man in regards to the issue of repentance from sin. Calvinists traditionally believe that the issue of salvation is not up to man, as God has chosen those who will be saved and who will not. General Baptist distinctives teach against this doctrine, saying that anyone who wants to be saved can be.
STARTING POINT: The first verses in the Bible that deal with this issue are Romans 8:28-30:
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
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.
Verses 29 and 30 are the only verses in the King James Bible with the word ‘predestinate’ in them.
Verse 29 starts the progression sequence with God foreknowing those to be saved (implied). Foreknowing comes from the Greek word proginosko, which means ‘to know before’, not to determine before.
-those that God foreknew, He predestinated (proorizo—determined) TO (what?)
-to be conformed (summorphos—have the same form as) to the image of Christ.
-WHY? So Christ would be the firstborn among many brethren (SEE I Cor. 15:42-54).
-whom He predestinated, He called (kaleo—called to partake blessings of redemption).
-Verse 30 DOES NOT say God only called those people that get saved. This verse follows and emphasizes the progression that God first calls, then justifies, then glorifies.
-Best example of God calling someone to salvation and being rejected is the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-25 (See also Mark 10 and Matthew 19).
Calvinist argument: Those that accept predestination argue that if we believe we decide on our salvation as opposed to God determining the issue, He is powerless and we are all-powerful as to our salvation.
COUNTERARGUMENT: If we accept the validity of the Calvinist argument, then Adam and Eve must have ‘rendered God powerless’ by committing the first sin. This is because we know God temps no man to evil (See James 1:13). Thus, God did not cause Adam and Eve to sin, and since we know from Genesis chapter 3 that His reaction to the sin was displeasure, Adam and Eve obviously acted out of their own free will. We avoid the foolish ‘rendering God powerless’ argument by accepting the fact that God has voluntarily permitted us the free will to make the decision in regards to our repentant salvation, much like Adam and Eve had the free will to sin and fall from grace.
Harmonizing Scriptures—we must harmonize Scriptures on any doctrinal issue in order to validly accept the Bible as the infallible Word of God, authoritative in all matters. We can not hold to any doctrinal position that appears to be supported in one Bible section and contradicted in another. Predestination, as defined by the Calvinist position, does not stand to this test. First, predestination does not harmonize with I Timothy 2:4:
4 Who (God) will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Second, predestination does not harmonize with II Peter 3:9:
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Finally, predestination does not harmonize with the precepts of John 3:16:
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
-Support verses for predestination and counter arguments. Ephesians 1:3-5:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According 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:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
These verses talks to us about Jesus blessing us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Him (Christ). According as he hast chosen us IN HIM (positional) before the foundation of the world, (NOT chosen to salvation) but that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. We are chosen to be righteous in our behavior in these verses, not chosen to be redeemed. Verse 5 tells us we have been predestined (word used here and verse 11 as well) UNTO the adoption of children. This predestination refers to status. In other words, our status, or final destination, as adopted children is what was predestined, not the fact that any person as an individual has been predestined to salvation. The same goes for verse 11, which tells us we were predestined to a specific end—i.e. to obtain the inheritance, not that any individual was pre-selected to become a saved Christian.
This is immediately supported by Ephesians 1:12-13, which says:
12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.
Verses 12 and 13 show our affirmative duty to first trust (active verb) in Christ after we hear the Word, and that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit after we believe (active verb). If we were prechosen to salvation, we would have already been sealed before our very birth, or else salvation would be a matter of free will and not a predetermined certainty.
-II Thessalonians 2:13:
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.
The concept of being chosen to salvation in verse 13 does not refer to who is being chosen, but to how (the methodology) we were chosen. We are chosen to salvation BY the sanctification (or calling to God) of the Holy Spirit (God’s part) AND the belief of the truth (our active part). If we were prechosen to salvation with no free will, there would be no ‘our part’. God’s Spirit can call us, and we can reject and not be saved by refusing to believe.
-I Peter 1:1-2:1 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.
It is easy to support predestination with these verses, but incorrect. In the interlinear Greek text of the Bible, the word ‘elect’ is found in verse 1 before the word ‘strangers’. Thus, Peter would be writing to the chosen strangers scattered throughout Pontus, etc. Picking verse 2 up with the word ‘according’ would render a doctrinal understanding that harmonizes with Romans 8:28-30, and the doctrine that all people have a free will to decide whether or not they will be saved by their belief in Christ and His atoning work.
-Importance of the debate:
The whole issue of predestination as opposed to free will is very important to us as individual Christians because our belief on this issue shapes how we serve God. Matthew 28; Mark 16; and Luke 24 all tell us to preach, teach and lead others to repentance. If we accept a Calvinist view of ‘predestination’, why should we obey the commandments in these three chapters? If God has chosen the saved before their very birth, they must be saved eventually, even if we ignore these commands and fail to witness to them. Why preach the gospel or witness? If they are destined to be saved, they will be.
But we know that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Therefore, if we reject the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, we will obey these three chapters due to an urgency to lead as many people out of hell as possible, since we know God’s will is that all be saved and come to the knowledge of truth. It is possible for any person to know God and be saved; it becomes our job to take the gospel to them so they can choose to accept or reject it.