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Of all the doctrines of our Christian faith, one of the most difficult and least understood is the doctrine of predestination. The fact that it is a 1difficult and obscure doctrine does not excuse us from the necessity of intensive study and reflection to determine the truth of the matter. Before we can intelligently discuss the doctrine of predestination, we must first look at free will. Not Uninfluenced Will Free will is not uninfluenced will. When we make a choice, whether for or against someone or something, it is because of some influence upon us. We are always free to choose, but we are never free from influences to make a particular choice.
God’s foreknowledge goes beyond the idea of simply knowing beforehand. Foreknowledge suggests an intimate knowledge of who or what is known and is used of sexual intercourse. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying, Romans 11:2 In this verse foreknowledge must mean something more than advanced knowledge. God’s choice could not be made on a favorable knowledge of how Israel would respond to God. The following verses speak of Israel’s unfaithfulness. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 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. Romans 8:28-29 God’s purpose in verse 28 is that we might be conformed to the image of his Son. Again, foreknowledge must mean something more than advanced knowledge. One problem of free will is that if God knows what men are going to do before they do it, how can man be said to have a free will? A key to this problem of free will is the distinction between rendering something certain and rendering it necessary. Certainty Certainty is based upon God’s decision that something will happen. Certainty asserts that a human being will not act contrary to the course of action which God has chosen. Necessity Necessity is based upon God’s decree that something must happen. Necessity asserts that a human being cannot act contrary to the course of action which God has chosen. God renders it certain that a person who could act (or could have acted) differently does in fact act in a particular way. That is God’s foreknowledge. Who I Am My free will is limited to who and what I am. Any possibility of choice contrary to who and what I am is excluded. Therefore, my freedom must be understood as my ability to choose among options in light of who and what I am, and not in light of who and what I am not. Free will is the power of self-determination in view of motives or:
Because man acts according to previously dominant motives, we may, by knowing his motives, predict his action, and our certainty what that action will be in no way affects his freedom.
There is a subset of human actions by which character is changed rather than expressed, and in which the man acts according to a motive different from that which has previously been dominant. Logical Priority Again, before we may begin to delve into the murky waters of predestination, we must decide whether God’s plan or human action is logically prior. Nearly everyone agrees that human actions are a part of God’s plan, but disagreement arises as to which is the cause and which the result. God know what each of us is going to do. He therefore wills what he foresees will happen. Since human action and its effects are not a result of God’s decision, the human action is logically prior. It is man, alone, who renders his actions certain; God simply acquiesces. Predestination Predestination naturally comes before the doctrine of salvation. The means comes before the end.
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Acts 2:23 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. 1 Peter 1:2
Which denotes God’s will Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 1 Peter 1:20 Predestination is God’s decision for some to be saved and others to be damned or lost. 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. 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. Romans 8:29-30 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: Ephesians 1:5, 11 Throughout church history there have been two viewpoints which have prevailed: Calvinism and Arminianism. John Calvin’s Calvinists think of the whole human race as lost in sin, and unable to extricate themselves from it. Those whom God knows will believe (the elect) are chosen for salvation. All others are chosen for damnation. Those whom God has chosen (the elect) will most certainly believe in him. This choice (predestination) was made from eternity, before anyone but God existed. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. Exodus 33:14 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: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Ephesians 1:4-5 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:44 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48 James Arminius’ View Arminians think of the whole human race as lost in sin, and unable to extricate themselves from it. God desires all persons to be saved. Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Ezekiel 33:11 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. 2 Peter 3:9 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Acts 17:30-31 All persons are able to believe or meet the conditions of salvation. All men have received Prevenient Grace. Those whom God knows will believe (the elect) are chosen for salvation. All others are merely passed by. Predestination is not from eternity. A Modern Viewpoint Because of the difficulty in understanding the doctrine of predestination, various attempts to formulate a less troublesome position have emerged, one of the most interesting having been developed by a twentieth century reformed theologian, Karl Barth. Barth maintains that any doctrine of predestination must be formulated in light of God’s work of revelation and atonement. Barth points out that Jesus Christ came to save men, and reveals an intricate connection between the fact that Christ is at the center of God’s work within time and the eternal foreordaining of that work in the divine election. If this is the case, God’s will was to elect men, not reject them. The incarnation is proof that God is for men, not against them Who is Chosen? Instead of the fixed, static, and absolute decree found in Calvinism, Barth substitutes the person of Christ. Thus the eternal will of God is the election of Jesus Christ. Barth sees the traditional views as an unchangeable decree, formed from eternity. Barth’s view is more dynamic: God, like a king, is free to correct, suspend, or replace his decree. God is not a prisoner of his own decree. The unchanging element is not, in Barth’s view, an eternal choice for some and a rejection of others. It is the constancy of God in his triune being as freely chosen love. In Christ, the entire human race has been chosen (elected) for salvation while God, himself, has been chosen for rejection.
Yet Christ is not merely the chosen man, he is also the electing God. Although all are elect, not all live as elect. From God’s perspective there is no absolute difference between the elect and the rejected, the believers and the unbelievers, because all have been elected. In the ultimate sense, there is no rejection of man by God, only the rejection of God by man. |
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