by Jack Kinsella
"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)
'Predestination'
suffers from the same malady as do many other controversial doctrinal
issues -- political correctness.
(WHAT?
No, really. It's true. Hear me out.)
There
are two main objections to predestination. One is doctrinal,
the other, political. Let's look at the political objection
first.
If
the doctrine of predestination is true, then it follows that those
who were not predestinated to be conformed to the Image of His Son
were predestinated for hell. That is politically
incorrect; it is hateful and exclusionary.
The
second objection to predestination is that it negates free will.
Of the two objections, this seems to be the one with the least ground
to stand on. Because God knows what your decision is
going to be doesn't mean that you don't have any choice.
I
could offer you a million dollars, tax free, without any strings or a
good swift kick in your behind. I could also predict in
advance what your choice would be.
You
may surprise me and choose the kick in the rear. But my
prediction would not affect your choice.
The
difference is that in my case, I could be wrong on my prediction,
whereas God isn't guessing. He already knows. But YOU
don't know what your choice is until you make it.
Your
free will is unencumbered.
Assessment:
Many
of the same people that just can't seem to get their head around the
concept of predestination have absolutely no problem in believing in
Bible prophecy. How is it that YOU view Bible prophecy?
Consider
the following Scriptures:
"I
am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart
is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is
dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou
hast brought me into the dust of death."
"For
dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed Me:
they pierced My hands and My feet. I may tell all My bones: they look
and stare upon Me. They part My garments among them, and cast lots
upon My vesture." (Psalms 22:14-18)
Did
Psalms 22 predestinate the Crucifixion? Or does it simply
predict it? Is there a difference? In what way?
Did
God foreknow Judas? Did God foreknow Caiaphas? Did God
foreknow the Roman soldiers who scourged Him, spat upon Him, drove
the nails into His hands and feet? Did God foreknow which
of them would gamble for His robe?
Is
this really even a question? Of course God foreknew each of
them -- or He couldn't have foreknown me. Which then means the
Bible cannot be true, since it says that He foreknows us all.
Foreknowledge
is the same thing as predestination in the sense that God's knowledge
is perfect. But since you don't know your own future, how can
your free will decisions be encumbered by the fact that God does?
The
politically correct response to predestination being advanced as a
doctrine is to shout "Calvinist!" at the top of one's
lungs, cover one's ears with one's hands and to run screaming from
the room.
One
needn't be a Calvinist to believe that God is omniscient. One
needn't be a Calvinist to believe that the Old Testament prophets
predicted Christ's First Advent. Isaiah wasn't a Calvinist when
he wrote of the suffering Messiah of Isaiah 53.
"Calvinist"
is a label applied to the five major points of doctrine outlined by
French theologian John Calvin in the mid-14th century.
Calvin's five points are identified by the acronymTULIP.
1. Total
Depravity of Man
2. Unconditional
Election
3. Limited
Atonement
4. Irresistible
Grace
5. Perseverance
of the Saints
Calvinism
teaches that salvation is entirely the work of God; God chose His
elect, the Son died to pay their sin debt, and the Holy Spirit makes
Christ's death effective by bringing the elect to faith and
repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the Gospel.
I
am not a Calvinist, primarily because the general understanding of
Calvinism is that Calvinists need not witness to the lost because
God's irresistible grace nullifies our obligation under the Great
Commission.
So
according to that understanding, I am not a Calvinist. But that
understanding is so totally flawed that it astonishes me that anyone
can actually believe it.
If
prophecy is foreknowledge, why is it not predestination? And if it is
predestination, then what is the argument against predestination?
If prophecy were to fail, what would that mean? That man's free
will trumps God's foreknowledge?
"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." (Romans
8:28)
The
goodness of God in converting and saving sinners encourages others to
hope in His grace and mercy. Our faith, our conversion, and our
eternal salvation, are not of works, lest any man should boast. These
things are not brought to pass by anything done by us, therefore all
boasting is shut out.
"Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of
the Holy Ghost;" (Titus 3:5)
It
is the free gift of God, and the effect of being quickened by His
power. It was His purpose, to which he prepared us, by blessing us
with the knowledge of His will, and His Holy Spirit producing such a
change in us, that we should glorify God by our perseverance to
holiness.
'Holiness'
(Gk hagiasmos) means 'purification' which is a PROCESS, also
accomplished by God through Jesus.
"Being
confident of this very thing, that He which hath BEGUN a good work in
you will PERFORM it UNTIL the day of Jesus Christ:" (Philippians
1:6)
There
are no Christians more deserving than others. Because you have not
yet achieved the state of holiness others have does not mean you are
less favored. We all come to the Cross equally lost, and we all came
away equally saved.
Salvation
is an eternal state for which each of us were called before the world
began, or else the Bible is not telling the truth.
"Who
hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." (2
Timothy 1:9)
"In
hope of eternal life, which God, that CANNOT LIE, PROMISED before the
world began. . ." (Titus 1:2)
Let's
bring it together. Nobody can come to Christ unless they are drawn by
the Father, who provides us with both the extension of the offer of
salvation and the faith necessary to receive it, a calling that was
sealed in heaven before the world began, according to His purpose and
grace.
Our
salvation is immediate and eternal, but our purification is a
process, which, having been begun in us at the moment of salvation,
will be performed in us -- BY CHRIST -- until the day we stand before
Him. Lest anyone should boast.
That's
not my opinion of what the Bible says -- look up the verses in
context and see if you can make them mean something else.
"As
it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none
that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are
all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there
is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Romans 3:10-12)
"For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"
(Romans 3:23-24)
Legalism
runs counter to the clear teaching of Scripture. This is a very
difficult doctrine to both teach and understand. It sounds like a
license to sin. It is not.
"I
do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the
law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2:21)
We
don't think like God does, which is why He inspired the Scriptures.
To provide us with the tiniest bit of insight into the way God sees
things.
Our
relationship to Christ is unique -- that God knows our hearts, and
has already judged us accordingly. So that sin cannot reign supreme
in our mortal body and thereby render us useless to our calling.
If
the enemy can convince us of our own personal unrighteousness (of
which each of us is acutely aware) or cause us to doubt the truth of
Scripture or of our faith (which is a gift from God, lest anyone
should boast) or cause us to doubt our own salvation, then we will
not be able to effectively wield the Sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God.
God
has a plan for each of us, and His plan is to send us to seek out and
introduce others to their Savior. That is our assignment on this
earth. THAT is our 'calling.'
To
spread the Gospel.
As
Christians, we have an awesome responsibility before God. We have
been assigned to seek out the lost and offer them the Gospel. To
accomplish our mission, we need to be fully equipped for the task.
"But
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in
you with meekness and fear:" (1st Peter 3:15)
The
most effective weapon we have in our war with the enemy is the
knowledge that he cannot take away our salvation. We walk in
the light of the Gospel, but we remain human beings and sinners,
washed in the Blood of the Lamb, but still trapped in the "body
of this death".
Consequently,
there is never a time when we are unworthy to tell others of Jesus
Christ.
"But
if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us
from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us." (1st John 1:7-8)
Bible
prophecy isn't Calvinism. Is Bible prophecy predestinated?
Well, it is written down in advance. The choices necessary for
its fulfillment have not yet been made by the participants.
And
God says that Bible prophecy will all be fulfilled to the letter.
What else could it be?
Predestination
plays no role in your free will, or in the free will choices of
anyone else.
Trust
Him. The more hopeless you think you are, the more you have to
rely on Him.
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