* Please leave a comment on what you think. If you read anything you disagree with, please don't hesitate to let me know!

Written for: Prison Epistles
Date Written: 10/02/2009

Predestination
Ryan Watters
God’s Bible School and College
Predestination

This paper will deal briefly with four topics concerning predestination. We will first define what the term “predestination” means. Second, we will look at the Calvinistic interpretation of doctrine, as well as an Arminian rebuttal. Third, we will probe the key differences between the Calvinistic and Arminian interpretations. And finally, we will conclude with a brief examination of the five key texts regarding predestination.

Predestination carries the idea of deciding ahead of time. It can be defined as, “God the Father’s (Acts 4:28) act of determining from eternity (Eph. 1:4-5), according to the good pleasure of His will (Eph. 1:5), (1) his plan of salvation (1 Cor. 2:7), including the death of Christ on the cross (Acts 4:27), (2) that all those who believe the gospel would be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:5), (3) that the “called,” whom He foreknew, would be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:28), and (4) that all those who hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory (Eph. 1:11). God has decided from eternity what believers will be. He has not decided from eternity who will be believers.”

Forster and Marston point out that, “the most important point to grasp about predestination is that it concerns man’s future destiny. It does not concern who should, or should not, become Christians, but rather their destiny as Christians.” Predestination involves the what, not the who. “It is not that we are predestined to be Christians, it is rather that as Christians we receive a glorious future destiny.”

Calvinists view predestination quite differently. They believe that predestination is the sovereign act of God whereby he decrees every future action that has ever occurred, and will ever occur. Calvin defined what he meant by the term “predestination” in his Institutes. He stated, “By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he determined with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every man. All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and, accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been predestined to life or to death.” He later stated, “All things come to pass by his ordination and decree.”

It is here that Calvinists and Arminians strongly disagree. Arminians are quick to point out that by saying, “All things come to pass by his [God’s] ordination and decree,” you necessarily make God the originator of evil. As Foster states, Calvinism “renders the conclusion inevitable that God is the author of sin.” Calvinists argue back, “God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, feely 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 creature.”

However, the Calvinist assertion that God is not the author of sin remains largely unsupported, and no further argument is made to that end. Foster shows the dangerous outcome when the Calvinists’ doctrine of predestination is followed to its necessary end. “God’s decrees are the cause of all things that come to pass in time; but sin comes to pass in time; therefore, God’s decrees are the cause of sin.”

The argument can be summed up thus: If it is true that God predestines every single action that has ever occurred according to His sovereign will, then sin must have been one of those actions that He predestined would happen. This makes God the author of sin. Further, if the Calvinists are correct in their assertion that God controls every will and motive of man, then whenever a person sins, he is doing the will of God.

A further schism between the Calvinist and Arminian views occurs over the difference between election and predestination. The Calvinist makes no distinction. To him they are one and the same. Arminians, however, point out that the Bible itself draws some distinction between the two (e.g. Eph. 1:5).

One possibility for this distinction is the use of the aorist participle {INSERT PTC} in Eph. 1:5. If the participle is taken as an aorist of means, this would imply that we are elected by means of our predestination as children of God. The distinction is fine, to be sure, but still exists. Predestination then would refer to our position as sons (Eph. 1:5) and the transformation of our character to be conformed to that of Christ (Rom. 8:29). Election, however, involves our privileges and responsibilities. Based on our predestination, we are privileged through election in Christ to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4; Col. 1:22), as well as to be sprinkled with His blood (1 Pet. 1:1-2).

However, when all is said and done, it really all comes down to the Word. What does the Bible really say? We will now briefly look at the key passages involving the Greek verb proori,zw, which is often translated “predestinate” in English translations.

Acts 4:28 “to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.”
God has predestinated “certain events in relation to His Son.” Specifically, the events surrounding the death of His Son in the plan of redemption. This verse also supports the assertion that predestination is an act of God the Father. The antecedent of “Your” in this passage is clearly that of the Father in light of the context (especially 4:27).

Wesley’s notes are also helpful in understanding this verse. He states, “The sense is, but they could do no more than thou wast pleased to permit, according to thy determinate counsel, to save mankind by the sufferings of thy Son. And what was needful for this end, thou didst before determine to permit to be done.” It is not that God predetermined every act surrounding the events, but rather He formulated the plan, and the boundaries within which it could be enacted.

1 Corinthians 2:7 “…the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory.” Acts 4:28 ties in closely with this passage. God decided from eternity what the plan of salvation would be, and how it would be enacted. He did not predetermine every action, but, again, God simply set up the boundaries within which it could be enacted. It’s a fine distinction, but a crucial one.

Romans 8:29-30 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son … and these whom He predestined, He also called.” Here is where divine foreknowledge comes into play. God knew with certainty from all eternity who would, through grace-enabled will, accept His gift of salvation, and thus become elect. Therefore, He predetermined that these believers would have a holy character by being conformed to the image of His Son (8:29). Also, while predestination determines the ultimate goal (Christlikeness), the means by which we arrive at that goal are “through calling, justification, and glorification.”

Ephesians 1:5 “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” God has predetermined the position in Christ for those who respond to His grace. In his mercy He has chosen to bring them right into His royal family and deem them “sons.” So predestination in this verse then refers to the position that God predetermined the elect (those who are in Christ as a result of their response to grace-enabled will) would hold the position of son in His Kingdom. The basis on which He does all of this is simply “the kind intention of His will.”

Ephesians 1:11-12 “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.” Another purpose of predestination is that all those who hope in Christ “would be to the praise of His glory.” Wesley also adds of verse 12, “Here is another branch of the true gospel predestination: he that believes is not only elected to salvation, (if he endures to the end,) but is fore - appointed of God to walk in holiness, to the praise of his glory.”

In conclusion, we have seen that predestination carries the idea of deciding ahead of time, and is an act of God the Father. We looked briefly at the major contentions between the Calvinistic and Arminian views of this key doctrine, and finally at the key passages related to predestination. From all of this we have determined that predestination is not an arbitrary act of God that determines the eternal destinies of men, but rather that God determined the position and character of those who choose to respond to His grace to the praise of His glory.