~ A place to find answers to gnawing spiritual questions ~
Question: What do you think about Predestination?Answer: The question you ask contains two issues: The first is the doctrinal subject of predestination, the second is your allegation that, quote, "You people are too afraid to accept anything as interpreted one way or another . . . that you seem to be biased to the side of upholding your beliefs and not changing them for anyone no matter how strong the proof," etc. Allow me to address the latter first.
Speaking for myself, let me say very clearly that the bottom line for me is not what others think, nor what do I think, but what does the Lord say. The ideal for every believer should be the Bereans.
The Apostle Paul says of them in Acts 17:11 that they "were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether things were so."
What God asks of each of us is that we approach His word with an open mind and heart that we may "receive with meekness the engrafted word that is able to save our souls." With all my heart that is what I am seeking to do as I trust you are as well.
Now, regarding predestination, to reiterate, the important thing is not what I think about predestination, but what does the Word of the Lord say? The word "predestination" is not in scripture. The word "predestinate" is found only twice (Romans 8:29, 30) and the word, "predestinated" is found twice as well (Ephesians 1:5, 11).
One must ask, "What is the context of Romans 8:29, 30? What is the real subject being dealt with in these verses?" It is this: That we pattern our lives after Christ - that we become like Him. Christ is the prototype and we are copies of Him. In verse 32 it says that Christ was delivered up for us all. That is all-inclusive. It does not say that He was delivered up for only a select group - for those who were "predestined."
Paul wrote in Romans 1: 16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek." In I Timothy 2:4, the Scriptures declare: "Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." God desires and extends salvation to everyone We are all free moral agents, however, and can either accept or reject God's offered salvation.
Is it inconsistent with the nature of God to picture Him, for example, sitting in Heaven and saying, "I want Bob over there to be saved; but not Bill here!"
Jesus said in the Great Commission, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." He did not instruct His disciples to preach to the select few who were foreordained to be saved.
Clearly, in the New Testament (and its new covenant) God extends salvation to everyone. "For God so loved the *world* that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
There are numerous other scriptures that deal with this matter and support this position, but let me close with II Peter 3:9 - "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as come men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
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This page was last updated January 13, 2009.
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