Introduction
The doctrine of predestination is a difficult, complex, and outright offensive truth put forward in the Bible. It challenges some of the most basic and seemingly self evident truths of the nature of our reality, and yet is essential to understanding how our fallen race might be saved and how God is working to glorify Himself in His creation.To anyone reading or listening to this, I have to ask that you put aside your presuppositions about the doctrine of predestination, and listen only to the arguments and the Biblical foundations for them. I hesitate to even use the term "predestination," since it is used as a pejorative in so many Christian circles. It is, however, used directly in the Bible multiple times, and the word considered to be a good english translation of the original words that God inspired the authors to write in the new and old testaments of the Bible. As for me, I am but a sinful man, trying to follow 1 Peter 3:15 in giving a "reasoned defense" for my faith.
First, we must define what we're talking about. "Predestination" is defined in many places in the Bible, and a good example is Romans 8:29-30:
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."
This provides an example of God's "foreknowledge," which is part of His omniscience. God Himself, before the foundation of the world, CHOOSES ("predestines") who will be in Christ and who will not (Ephesians 1:4). Additionally, God's omniscience extends beyond matters of eternal salvation, and to all elements of creation. This is known as "God's Eternal Decree," which states God uses His own Holy and free will to unchangeably ordain whatever happens in history.
OK, now on to the proof.
1. Indirect Proof
Question: IS it possible for us to have absolute free will and at the same time for God to be in control (omnipotent). I claim this is not possible, since this is a contradiction. If God wants me to eat broccoli, and I instead choose to eat ice cream, then my free will has overridden God's will and God is not in control. Even if God can somehow see down the channel of time and know that I will choose ice cream, if His will is for me to eat broccoli and I do not, then there exists something in the universe (my will) that God does not control, therefore God is not omnipotent. Either we have absolute free will, or God is omnipotent. Not both.So what if God is not omnipotent? If God needs to relinquish control in order to make a creation of liberated minds, what's the problem with that? We obviously have free will so God must NOT be in complete control of all things. So what?
The problem with that is a weak, non-omnipotent God means our faith is in vain. We would have faith in a God for the salvation of our eternal soul, a God who is so frail he can't even direct the course of his own creation. How can we possibly be sure, when it comes to the final judgement, that something won't come up and God will say, "well, I didn't think of that." How can we know that through the innumerable undirected free will choices throughout all humans in history, that God won't be trapped into some contradiction, especially considering there is a very interested party pushing the pieces in that very direction? And if God can become a contradiction, the very foundation of logic is destroyed and the forces of the universe can decide to go any which way they please. You can see how that might be a Bad Thing.
Therefore, ANY denial of predestination means God is not sovereign and omnipotent, and thus, we are lost.
"OK," the denier says, "perhaps God IS in control, but this idea of some list somewhere, existing before time itself, of people within God's favor, before those people even come into existence, is just pure nonsense."
It has already been proven that God must be omnipotent in order for us to exist. And God, as an omnipotent being, can therefore control the very human will. But what of salvation? I, as a Christian, have faith in Jesus' sacrifice, which paid the debt for my sin, and allows me to approach God blameless, and my soul will be saved from eternal suffering. The set of those whom God has and will save is known in the Bible as "the elect." If Jesus didn't die to cover only the sins of the elect, but rather covered the sins for EVERYONE THROUGHOUT TIME (the only other option), then we have two choices: a) everyone is saved or b) there exists those who Jesus died for, who did not repent and come to faith, and were therefore condemned to eternal suffering.
In option "a," the unrepentant sinner is never punished, and Pharaoh, Herod, Judas, Hitler, and even Satan himself will not receive justice. This is impossible, because God is just and righteous.
In option "b," Christ attempted the salvation of at least one eternal soul, but that soul remained permanently unregenerate and the sinner NEVER repented of his ways. The sinner remained dead in sin, and was lost for eternity. This proves that Jesus has failed at least once in attempting salvation. If he can fail once, how can I have confidence that he won't fail with me? Again, and our hope for salvation is completely in vain.
Therefore ANY denial of the elect means Jesus has failed, and we are lost.
"BUT!" the denier says, "free will is obvious and self evident!" This is also true. Our free will obviously exists, and is not an illusion. The real question is: is our free will primary, or secondary? If it is primary and absolute, then existence is nonsense, as I have already proven. But if it is secondary, then the world falls into place and the sinner can be regenerated! Our will exists, but it BOWS DOWN to God's sovereign will. This is also known as the difference between God's "perfect" will and his "permissive" will.
For example: If God did not want tens of thousands of Japanese to die when the U.S. bombed Hiroshima, then it positively would not have happened. But God did "permit" it to happen. And every person, from the President Truman to the pilots to the technician who actually pushed the button, did, of their own free will, choose to drop that bomb. Therefore, while the death of so many resulting from a nuclear explosion might not have been part of God's perfect will, the fact is, it DID happen, and God allowed it to happen.
2. Direct Proof
Having used reasonable arguments to establish that predestination must exist in order for the universe to exist, the question now becomes: do the words of scripture support it? Did the authors of the Bible understand this theological construct, or is it more like the concept of the trinity, something which MUST exist but is never directly mentioned in scripture?First, I present three quick examples from the Biblical narrative, demonstrating God's sovereign will in His creation:
1) Genesis 25:23 (Speaking of Jacob and Esau): And the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger." (Repeated in NT in Romans 9:10-13.)
What could Esau possibly have done to merit such hatred from God? And I do mean hatred (Malachi 1:3 "but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert"). It was God's sovereign choice to condemn Esau before Esau was even born. He did this, in order that He (God) might be glorified through the line of Esau's brother Jacob.
2) Exodus 9:12: But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.
Examination of the text in original language does show that the subject of the verb "hardened" is indeed "The LORD," that is, Yahweh the God of Abraham. We can only take that to mean what it says: that God directed the heart of Pharaoh to deny the Israelites' request, and continue their enslavement. Could Pharaoh have chosen differently? Almost certainly not, for the will of God had already been enforced through judicial hardening, to achieve His own glory.
3) Mark 4:39-41 (Also in Luke 8): And [Jesus] awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
The commandment of God is so great, that even the very atoms and molecules and forces that combine to make the forces of a great storm will obey His sovereign command. How can one believe this is possible, yet it is impossible for God to command similar atoms and molecules within our own finite and biologically enslaved minds, so to bring about the actions He desires? It is a contradiction.
Next, let us consider for a moment the sticky issue of the eternal souls of the unborn, the infants, and the incompetent. These people cannot form cognitive thought enough to even choose the direction of motion for their own limbs, let alone have enough self-awareness to comprehend their own state of sin and need for salvation. Do the advocates of free will simply say all these image-bearers of God are summarily condemned?
The Westminster Confession of Faith addresses this directly in Chapter X part III, saying that "Elect infants" are indeed saved, as it says in Acts 2:39 "For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." See here, it is the "Lord our God" who calls, and that set of people includes those too young to consciously make their own choices. It provides comfort to believing parents whose children are called home as infants. It also provides hope that not all of the unborn souls who have suffered at the hands of participants in this modern day holocaust of abortion will be condemned to hell. How great is the saving love of our Lord God!
Following this, we have the Biblical truth that we are not at all saved by our own free will. In fact the opposite is true! Without saving grace given to use by the will of God, we have NO free will AT ALL! Ephesians 2:1 says we were "dead" in our trespasses and sins. How can the dead have the free will to make themselves alive? Isaiah 64:6 says of the unregenerate sinner, "all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" or filthy rags. Therefore, apart from Christ, we can not even have the free will to choose to DO good works! God does not deny us free will, it is only through Christ that we can even realize WE HAVE free will!
Lastly, no proof of predestination is complete without proper references to Ephesians and Romans, as well as the Biblically grounded Chapter III of the Westminster Confession of Faith.
Here's just a few references:
* 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 as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. (Ephesians 1:4-5)
* 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)
* This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. (Romans 9:8)
* Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad - in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls she (Rebekah) was told, "The older will serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." (Romans 9:11-13)
* So then he (God) has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. (Romans 9:18)
* But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity." (2 Timothy 2:19)
* I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. (Isaiah 46:10-11)
And from the WCF, Chapter 3, "Of God's Eternal Decree":
* God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.
This text uses in-context passages from Ephesians, Romans, Acts, and Proverbs to lay out the three independent and foundational points on God's Eternal Decree:
1. God knows all, including what will happen, and who will and won't be saved.
2. God is NOT the author of sin, but only of free will.
3. God established "second causes," or free will, through which He allows His creation to choose their actions, when it suits Him.
Lastly, we look at Proverbs 16:33. In this Old Testament passage, God provides a good example of his establishment and control over free will, when he says "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord." In other words, we can choose to roll the dice, but it is God who controls the game.
3. Refutation of Arguments
a. God is not glorified if He choses us and we do not chose Him.The simple answer is, "says who?" Romans 9:21 reminds us that the molder has the complete right over the clay, to make what he wants. If God chooses to be glorified in predestined actions, so be it. But more than that, how does it bring glory to God if he is a weak heavenly being, sitting alone at his birthday party wondering why no one responded to all the billions of invitations he sent out? That is not the God of the Bible! That God hung the stars in the sky and sent the planets along their orbits! Realizing that his eternal power and sovereign decrees are IRRESISTIBLE serves only to magnify God's glory!
b. God would not make rules (The Law) if He already controls the outcome of our choices.
It is within our human nature to resist authority, especially ultimate authority. In our rebellion, we can often take God's revealed truths and twist them, so that our options are limited. The fact is: free will exists, as secondary causes of action. While it is true we are free from the law through Christ (Romans 8:1-2), it is only BY the law that we know WHAT SIN IS (Romans 7:7). It would be a cruel joke indeed if God set us on this earth, command we live righteously, and then didn't give us any indication of what that righteousness looks like. In fact God wrote this law on our hearts, so that none would have any excuse (Jeremiah 31:33). We actively and freely choose sin, constantly and continually, and the payment for that sin, is death (Romans 6:23).
c. It is possible for God to grant us free will and know the outcome of our future choices.
This gets into Molinism, or the heresy of "middle knowledge." A true refutation is beyond the scope of this discussion. In short, it limits God to the confines of logic (which is impossible, because God created logic). The Molinist declares that God cannot know the future, because that is impossible. One cannot say "Tomorrow, the sun will rise" and have that be true with 100% certainty. Therefore God does not know the future, but only the near infinite possibilities of choices within the present time, and can rearrange the pieces on the board (so to speak) so as to bring about what He desires.
This is heretical because a) it is completely without Biblical evidence, direct or indirect, and b) it limits God to time, space, and logic, which is most definitely anti-Biblical (Revelation 22:13).
d. If God is sovereign, we have no role in our own fate.
This fatalism flies in the face of Biblical truth. In the very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible, we read "And let man have dominion... over all the earth." (Genesis 1:26). Over and over again we are told to CHOOSE life (Deuteronomy 30:19), and to CHOOSE righteousness (Ezekiel 45:9). Once we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit, our constant struggle is to exercise our free will to live in holiness and within the law of God.
But perhaps the question is more on salvation: can someone destined for damnation choose to be saved? The answer is, obviously, no. But the very question is almost entirely academic. It is impossible for anyone except God Himself to know who are the LORD's elect. We are commanded to follow the instructions God gave in the Bible, which include evangelizing, and carrying the good news to the lost. And while it is true that regenerate sinners can be confident that their salvation will endure to the end (Philippians 1:6), we are to constantly reexamine ourselves for sin that might exist within us. It is impossible for me to look at you and say "you cannot be saved," nor is it possible for you to look at yourself and say the same.
So yes, we are very much in control of our own fate.
e. If God chooses who will be saved, then God's command to evangelize is a contradiction.
This was addressed in the previous question. We evangelize primarily because God commanded us to. However, the simply fact that God knows who will be saved does not divorce us from the possibility that we are the agent through which God bring that salvation. With the exception of one's own heart, we humans cannot possibly know who are the LORD's elect.
f. God cannot choose because some people appear to be highly devout & believing Christians, and then fall away from the faith.
This is usually an argument from Roman Catholicism, which maintains a more works-based salvation. They believe the Christian is first saved by faith, then through their works of baptism, receiving confirmation from the church, taking the eucharist, going to confession, and receiving last rights, is their salvation completed. The protestant (and Biblical) idea of predestination is offensive to the Romanist. This idea suggests God can choose someone for salvation who has never spoken to a priest, never partaken of the "body of Christ," never been blessed by the pope, etc. It is to them likewise offensive to suggest that a Christian can be regenerated, but then fall away and remain a saved soul with continued right to be called a child of God. The Romanist reserves for this soul the extra-Biblical idea of "purgatory," where they will physically pay for their sins before they can regain that right.
This is obviously heresy. The Bible says that the work of Christ is finished and completed, therefore the punishment for sin is (for the elect) paid IN FULL. The fact is, God MAY choose, in his infinite wisdom and sovereign will, to save the soul of the rabid atheist as he lay on his deathbed. It is theoretically possible -- though not probable -- that a man could have a true regenerative experience, and then fall into previous sin via deception, illness, or tragedy, and live even to his death saying he no longer cares about the law of God, and yet he could remain a saved soul. The Bible says such a man will endure great hardship in this life (see the Biblical references for WCF Ch 17 pt 3), and God's discipline would be harsh on him, but nevertheless, the saved soul cannot be "plucked out of God's hand" (John 10:28).
