Building Christians Up From The Foundation & Unto Perfection
Hebrews 6:1-3
Hebrews 6:1-3
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One subject that many people stumble over is the idea of predestination. Do we have any power over our own fate? If God has predestined us to Hell, then who can stop us from going there? On the other hand, if we are predestined for Heaven, what can stop us then as well?
Romans 8:29-30
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.
Ephesians 1:4-5
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,
Matthew 22:13-14
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
These verses cause some to stumble because they are often misunderstood. Take note that the Bible tells us a few things here. First, that God already knew the choices we would make before we made them. It does not say He made the choices for us.
Second, these verses tell us that He also made a choice. But here is where people trip. They read this and think, “God has chosen who will and won’t come to Him to be saved.” But this is not what these verses say. It says those He already knew would follow Him are the ones He made it possible for to reach their destination. The process began with our own free will.
Instead of saying, “God has chosen people to be saved and not to be saved,” we should understand it as, “God has already known our choices and chooses those who would choose Him to receive salvation.”
And so, with the knowledge of our choices, God made a way for us to reach the goal (destination). Therefore our destiny was set BY OUR FREE WILL CHOICE and made POSSIBLE by the grace of God.
Matthew 22:14
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
Lest anyone should say that God is unfair because He only called certain people, the Bible tells us MANY are called, but few are chosen. To say that another way, God is not willing that ANY should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
God calls EVERYONE. But the free will choice they will make is already known. Yet He calls even those who will not answer. Why?
It isn’t His will. So He calls them anyway.
I’ve had conversations with people knowing what they will say. I’ve told people “You will say” such and such next. And then I will tell them why they will be wrong. But what often happens is they say exactly what I told them they would (even though I had already answered them).
Did I force them to say what they did? Could they have said something else? It was their choice, but I knew what it would be before they had to make it. So I provided them with the destination of arguing a point that was already shot down.
Because I knew their choice before they made it, I set them up to display their foolishness. I “predestined” them for it. If a simple human like myself can provide the destination before the choice is even made and still give the person a free will choice to go that way, how much more can God do that?
Some may say that God is the one that set everything in motion. So He is the one that conditioned us to make the choices we do. But since when does conditioning remove free will?
You got out of bed this morning and put on your clothes. Let’s say it’s raining, so you put on a rain jacket. Did you lose your ability to make a different choice? Could you have gone with an umbrella instead? Could you have not worried about the rain? No matter the conditioning, you still have your own free will to make a different choice.
Exodus 4:21
21 And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
Romans 9:17-19
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Romans 9:22-23
22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Verse 19 is the same as what I said earlier “So He is the one that conditioned us to make the choices we do.” I’ve already explained how this did not take away free will through conditioning. Yet it says here that God would harden the heart of Pharaoh so that he would not obey.
Remember I told you earlier that I had set them up to display their foolishness? This is what God did with Pharaoh. Ten times Pharaoh was given the choice to obey or not. Ten times he made his choice to disobey. With each choice came a consequence which made him more and more angry. This is how his heart was hardened. By him making his choices to reject God every single time.
God knew what he would choose. So God gave him the opportunity to choose it. Each time God wanted him to choose obedience. But God knew his heart. God knew it was evil. So God used him as an example.
Why doesn’t God just remove our free will? Why would He make us if He knew what we would do? Some would say this is cruel.
But, the only way to remove free will is to remove your soul. It’s your soul that makes choices. So the only way to stop us from having free will is to not make us in the first place. It’s your soul that empowers you to make choices.
Yes, there is suffering because of us. But there is also joy. There is love.
I’m sure you’ve seen movies that have the hero wonder if they should even bother to save humanity. Knowing our ways of death and destruction, it seems pointless. But then someone reminds them that there is still some good in us. That good is what makes the hero believe it is worth it.
I’m telling you that God created us because of LOVE! It’s because of love that He made us exist. It’s because of the good that would be in us. He was willing, like the hero, to let us live because even though there would be suffering, there would be so much more joy!
No one has to suffer forever in Hell. But if they do, it’s because it was their choice. They had options. They chose Hell over Heaven. Some of them even proclaim in their self-righteousness that they would rather suffer than spend eternity with God. They think they are the judge of God.
The Bible says woe to those that call good evil and evil good. If God is the one that decides what good is (and He does) who can judge Him? What some call evil is actually good. Often they just don’t comprehend it though. Just as the darkness doesn’t comprehend the light.
God knew the kind of person we would be. He knew our choices. So He created our destinies to match our choices. And no, just because God knew what choice you would make it doesn’t mean you were forced to make it. This is what the Bible says predestination is about. Its about our choices, not Gods tyranny.
February 22, 2024 at 9:54 pm | | No comment
