Question: Predestination--a horrible decree, or God's omniscience?
Answer: The discussion of predestination usually generates a lot of mysticism. Admittedly, men teach many nuances and varying types of predestination. Addressing every flavor of predestination advanced by the various religions would extend beyond the space allotted for this material. Therefore, I shall focus on the core issues of predestination.
Many, based on their misunderstanding of predestination, have charged God with being a respecter of persons. However, the Bible plainly asserts and affirms that God is not a respecter of persons. "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said," we are told, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34; see also Romans 2:6-11, Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 3:25, James 2:1). Any doctrine, then, that places God in the position of being an arbitrary respecter of persons is patently false. Not only did Peter declare that God is no respecter of persons, he went on to show, unmistakably, those whom God accepts. "But in every nation, he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." Some who are confused equate Divine foreknowledge with foreordination:
1. Calvin's definition. Reprobation was, for Calvin, involved in election; and Divine foreknowledge and foreordination were considered to be identical. Calvin's mode of defining predestination was as God's eternal decree, by which He has decided within Himself what is to become of each and every individual. For all, he maintains, are not created in like condition; but eternal life is foreordained for some, eternal condemnation for others. Calvin confesses that this is a horrible decree (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 4, pg. 2436).
However, God can know a matter before hand without predetermining the matter to the point that the people (in this case) are excluded, as far as their will and participation are concerned (see more later). Some religionists, nonetheless, maintain such a radical view of predestination that in stressing God's sovereignty, they have totally eliminated man's will and role.
Our English word "predestinate" is from the Greek proonzo. "Pro, beforehand," W.E. Vine comments, "and honzo, denotes to mark out beforehand, foreordain." Indeed, predestination is a biblical subject: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son..." (Romans 8:29). Again, "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).
The Bible does teach predestination. The scriptures teach about the foreknowledge of God. God is able to "declare the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things are not yet done..." (Isaiah 46:10). Since God's scheme of redemption was planned and in place from the original creation, it is obvious that God knew Adam and Eve would sin, etc. "He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. "(1 Peter 1:20) {Also read Ephesians 1:4,5, cf. Matthew 25:34} "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." {Revelation 13:8} "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." {Revelation 14:8}
God did know that Adam and Eve would sin, but He did not force or program them to sin. As free moral agents, Adam and Eve chose to commit sin (Genesis 3). Man's will, not God's irresistible coercion, is involved in his salvation (John 3:16; Matthew 11:28-30). Nonetheless, God knew some would accept, before they accepted (Acts 18:9-11). Hence, some were "ordained to eternal life" because God knew they would obey the gospel when they heard it (Acts 13:48, cp. Romans 10:16).
2. Predestination as taught by man. "God hath decreed in himself from all eternity by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeable, all things whatsoever come to pass," writes man (Philadelphia Confession of Faith, ch.6, para. 2-4). Calvinism teaches that man is so depraved he cannot accept God's grace without a special, irresistible working of the Holy Spirit, independent of his own will. In this vein, man often teaches that before creation, God decided who would be saved and who would be lost and that this decision was arbitrary on God's part (not involving man). Hear John Calvin:
"In conformity, therefore, to the clear doctrine of the Scripture, we assert, that by an eternal and immutable counsel, God has once for all determined, both whom he would admit to salvation, and whom he would condemn to destruction. We affirm that this counsel, as far as concerns the elect, is founded on his gratuitous mercy, totally irrespective of human merit; but that to those whom he devotes to condemnation, the gate of life is closed by a just and irreprehensible, but incomprehensible, judgment. In the elect, we consider calling as an evidence of election, and justification as another token of its manifestation, till they arrive in glory, which constitutes its completion. As God seals his elect by vocation and justification, so by excluding the reprobate from the knowledge of his name and the sanctification of his Spirit, he affords an indication of the judgment that awaits them." (Institutes of the Christian Religion, translated by John Allen.)
There have been many religious discussions relative to the role of God and man in man's salvation. It seems that man is determined to pervert God's simple plan for his salvation, either by teaching that man earns his salvation (God's grace is not needed), or by asserting that salvation is all about God (man's obedience is not involved). The scriptures consistently teach and exemplify both parts--God's and man's--in man's salvation. Man must believe, repent, confess Christ's deity, and be baptized in order to be saved. Since he is not sinless, God provides the necessary grace whereby obedient man can be saved. However, God's grace is not "grace alone," as the Calvinists contend (see addendum).
One early debate, conducted between Augustine of Hippo and Pelagius, involved the matter of predestination. In fact, Augustine originally taught John Calvin's five-point system of predestination. Augustine taught that man has nothing to do with his own salvation. He further contended that man has inherited, to the extent that he is spiritually incapable of availing himself of God's grace, the totally depraved nature of Adam and Eve. As a result of inheriting the depraved Adamic nature, babies are born in sin and with a sinful nature. Augustine argued that the only way any are saved is by God's intervening and choosing some, whom he calls his elect, to be saved. This choosing is totally arbitrary and independent of those chosen. Those thus chosen cannot ever be lost or fall from grace. To the converse, those not arbitrarily chosen before the foundation of the world to everlasting life are irrevocably doomed to hell, having absolutely no hope of salvation, regardless of what they do or do not do. Such a doctrine, as formulated by Augustine, constitutes today's true "Calvinism."
Pelagius, on the other hand, taught that every man is created with freedom of choice, just as Adam was, and that each man must choose whether to serve God or the devil. All men, contended Pelagius, are not sinners because Adam sinned, but because each man, himself, violates God's law. Pelagius argued that God extended the plan of salvation to all who will obey, not to just a few whom He arbitrarily chose, totally independent of anything they do or do not do. Each man, by cooperating with God, can be saved by having faith in, and obeying God's will.
It is tragic that most who "ruled" on the results of the debate before the ecumenical Council of Ephesus (AD 431) favored Augustine's views. It is equally sad that many today, under the guise of Calvinism, continue to embrace Augustine's godless doctrine.
God is a God of love and ultimate equity. His grace, which brings salvation, is accessible to all (Titus 2:11-14). God's elect are those who appropriate His grace in simple submission to His will. Election is begun, continued, and climaxed when man exercises his free moral agency and chooses to accept the grace extended by God (1 Peter 1:2; I Thessalonians 1:4-8; 2 Peter 1:5-11).
I close by emphasizing that biblical predestination is proof of God's omniscience. Furthermore, biblical prophecy is predicated on God's foreknowledge and predestination (a marking out beforehand). Moreover, the fact that God knew that only a few would accept Jesus is also indicative of the love He showed by sending Him. "The few" who will be saved are not a group whom God arbitrarily, and totally without any participation on their part, choose to be saved. They are those who "enter in at the strait gate" and follow "the narrow way" (Matthew 7:13, 14).
Addendum: The Christian stands in grace (1 Peter 5:12), grows in grace (2 Peter 3:18), and is to be strong in grace (2 Timothy 2:1). Grace (charis) is God's favor. We are called by grace (Galatians 1:15), justified by grace (Titus 3:7), and established by grace (Hebrews 13:9). The Bible also says we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:5,8). But are we saved by grace alone? Beloved, Paul said God's grace "bringeth salvation," but he also affirmed that God's grace "hath appeared to all men" (Titus 2:11). By universally extending grace, God has certainly done His job. If it were a matter of salvation by grace alone, everyone would be saved. However, only a few will be saved (Matthew 7:13-14). Hence, there is more involved than grace alone. Man must appropriate God's grace.
It is true that grace is God's gift, and that man cannot earn it (cf. Romans 11:6, Ephesians 2:8-10). Some confuse earning with accepting. Man can, and does, receive God's grace in vain (2 Corinthians 6:1). Christians can also "fall from grace" (Galatians 5:4). In the wonderful text of Ephesians 2, we have two elements--grace and faith--and, if you will, two players--God and man. Paul wrote, "For by grace are ye saved through faith..." (vs. 8). Grace emanated from God, but faith is man's responsibility. No, grace alone does not save. Man seems determined to attach "alone" to grace, belief, and baptism. Man participates in his own salvation-from the beginning (accepting grace) to the end (continuing in grace, Acts 13:43). Grace reigns through righteousness, man's humble obedience (Romans 5:21).