“I get so confused when it comes to predestination and freewill. If people are predestined then they have no choice right? Or are they predestined with a choice? Do the two go hand in hand?”
…and the other is from Abi:
“But I do have a question - this came up in a Generation Joshua meeting I was in... What do you guys think about predestination, and what does the Bible have to say about it?”
Predestination vs. Freewill is a very difficult relationship to describe, but we shall take it on nonetheless. The organization of this response will be as follows: (1) we will define predestination, (2) then we will see if man has freewill, (3) then we will see if we as believers were/are predestined to salvation, and (4) finally we will see if predestination and freewill contradict one another.
What is “Predestination”?
I want to first look at the verses that talk about the idea of predestination.
Romans 8:28-31, “28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For 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. 30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”
Ephesians 1:3-6, “3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According 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: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
Acts 4:23-30, “23And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 24And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: 25Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 26The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 29And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 30By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.”
Each of these passages uses the word “προορίζω” which is the Greek word for “predestinate” (Romans 8:29-30), “predestined” (Ephesians 1:5) or “determined before” (Acts 4:28). The word is defined by Strongs Numbers as “From pro and horizo; to limit in advance, i.e. (figuratively) predetermine -- determine before, ordain, predestinate.” The word means definitionally, then, to decide something beforehand or to predetermine something.
Using the 3 passages above, let’s define the word contextually. In Romans 8 the word is used to describe those who are saved. We know this because one of the links in Paul chain of “this leads to that” is “whom he called, them he also justified” (vs. 30) and since we know that only believers are just before God, this passage must be referring to salvation. The word is used here to say that those who are saved are determined beforehand to be made into the image of Christ so that Christ can be a sort of “first Christian” among all the others—meaning Christ was the first of God’s children and is head overall the subsequent children/brethren (believers).
In Ephesians 1:5 it’s the same story. The word is used in context to talk about Christians being foreordained to be saved. Indeed, the word is a re-description of what Paul just had said in vs. 4: “…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:” we see therefore that Paul uses the word the same way as he used it in Romans 8:29-30.
Lastly is Acts 4:23-30. These passage concerns a miracle that Peter had done shortly after Jesus’ ascension. As He and John were going into the temple to pray, a lame man asked them for alms. Peter responded by saying he didn’t have anything material to give him, but he did have one thing to offer: healing in Jesus Christ. He grabbed the man’s right hand and lifted him to his feet. The man was amazed and began praising God. Obviously, the people that saw the now-healed man were quite amazed and began pressing inward toward Peter and John with wonder. Peter then spoke to them and explained that it was no great wonder this man was healed because God had done it. He then proceeded to preach about the Gospel for a few moments—until the “bad guys” arrived. While Peter was still talking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them. They were “grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” (Acts 4:2) They immediately put them into the hold until the next day when they attempted to put them on trial. Unfortunately, since the man had been healed they had no grounds for accusing them legally. They therefore threatened Peter and John, but nonetheless let them go. Peter and John then went to their fellow Christians and reported all that the chief priests and elders had told them. When everyone heard what they had said, “they lifted up their voice to God with one accord” (Acts 4:24) and began praising God, quoting the Old Testament prophecies, and talking about how Jesus had been rejected. When they began talking about Jesus we come to the statement about predestination:
Acts 4:27-28, “27For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.”
“Determined before” in verse 28 is the same Greek word for predestination as used in Romans 8 and Ephesians 1. The word is used here to talk about everyone that was ordained beforehand by God to assist in bringing about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So again we see the word being used to talk about God pre-planning, or pre-ordaining something to happen.
Does Man have freewill?
With the definition of “predestination” out of the way, but before moving on to the predestination vs. freewill debate, let’s look if man even has freewill. If man does not have freewill, then obviously everyone is predestined to either salvation or no salvation and man has no ability to change this. Accordingly, there isn’t even a “predestination vs. freewill” debate because one side is nonexistent.
It is my contention that man does have freewill. The most obvious reason for this is the Fall. Eve ate of the forbidden fruit—a decision God would not have willed Eve to do. Therefore she made the choice of her own freewill. Also, man has the ability to reject God. God cannot reject Himself (2 Timothy 2:13), so therefore man must be the one doing the rejecting.
Also consider Jeremiah 18:5-10 (NIV):
“5 Then the word of the LORD came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.”
God says plainly in this message to Israel that if He was going to destroy a kingdom, and they repent, He will also repent (meaning change His mind) and not destroy the kingdom as He originally had planned. Likewise, if He had planned to establish a kingdom, and the kingdom does evil in His sight, He will again change His mind and reconsider the good He had intended to do to it. This shows that man’s decisions can influence God’s decisions.
Are believers predestined to be saved?
It is my contention that they are. But before you call me a Calvinist, let me explain. God in knowing beforehand the people whom He would create, then accordingly predestined them so that the maximum number of people would be saved. There are two Scriptures supporting this view, both of which come from Romans. They are long passages, but bear with me.
Romans 8:28-30 (NIV), “28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
Romans 9:17-24 (NIV), “17 For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. 19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? 22 What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?”
Romans 8 explains that those people whom God foreknew, He predestined—meaning those things God knew about people before they ever were born he used as the basis for predestining them to salvation. This means people are not straight-up predestined, but they are predestined based on what God knows they will do.
Romans 9 states that if God hardens who He wants, why does He still find fault with them? Paul responds by saying that we are too inadequate in our knowledge to ask such a question. God is the master Creator and He knows what He’s doing and why He’s doing it. He has the right as Creator to control His creation. Also, in verses 22-24, Paul says that God could be doing this to save others. If He exercises His sovereignty to make certain people do bad things, He can use it to bring more people into salvation. God therefore is still working in the interest of Justice as He is working to save the most people.
Do Freewill and Predestination contradict one another?
By now I’m sure you’re thinking that this is a hopeless situation. How can man have freewill, but God at the same time be predestining everything?
I lay forth the following reconciliation between predestination and freewill: God has vessels of destruction and vessels of honor. What he does with both sets of vessels is completely in His control and subject to His fore-determination. He can use the dishonorable vessels to bring more vessels into the honorable vessel category. Man, however, has the option to choose which kind of vessel he allows himself to be. If man rejects God (as Pharaoh did and all unbelievers have), you become a vessel predestined unto destruction that God can use to save other people. You have no reason to call God unjust for predestining you to do this because you freely chose it. If you, however, respond to God’s gracious offer of salvation you are put into the honorable vessel category and therefore are predestined to good use and salvation. Make sense? I believe this adequately takes into account both freewill and predestination (which are both proven to be true) without having the two conflict. This makes even further sense in light of some of the other passages about predestination.
If it doesn’t make sense, consider this illustration:
Imagine a border between two countries. The country on the left is a wicked and evil country. The country on the right leads is a beautiful and peaceful place where one can live out life doing peaceable work. Now imagine 3 different people that come to this border at the three different times. The first person travels into the country on the left and becomes a citizen of it. He becomes wicked, evil, and vile. The second person travels into the country on the right and becomes a citizen of that country. He becomes a very peaceful, good man.
Now take the third person. Say God wants to save this person from the destruction of the left country by making him a citizen of the right country. He could do it in the following way: If third person travels into the evil country (which remember has person #1 in it) God can predestinate Person #1 to deport him. The only place person #3 can go is into the right country. So he does. He becomes a citizen of the right country, is peaceable, and God’s will was fulfilled. However God may not have needed to do anything. The third person could’ve originally just had entered the right country of his own freewill—also fulfilling God’s will.
Now analyze person #1 and person #2. Did God force either of them into a specific country? No. But can person #1 blame God for destroying him and using him to save person #3? Of course not! He chose to go to the left country. Similarly, person #2 freely chose to go into the right country (and thus be saved to go along with the real-world parallel).
Now analyze the countries themselves. Once one of the persons entered one of the countries, they became citizens of those countries. They choice had been made, they committed to that place. Their citizenship is definite. It cannot be changed.
Hopefully you can see the parallel. In the same way person #2 (for example) was citizen of the right country and thus had to become a peaceable person, God can use vessels of honor for whatever purpose He wants--if you choose to be one. Remember person #2 had to choose to enter the right country originally (this is the equivalent of responding positively to the Gospel in our discussion).
Same with person #1. He freely chose to go into the left country (this is the equivalent of responding negatively to the Gospel in our discussion) and thus had to become and evil, vile person. In the same way, God can use people who reject His salvation offer in whatever way He wants—including saving other people. Remember Paul said in the passage from Romans 9 that God can use the people He hardened to save others.
This also goes along with what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:21-6:2, “5:21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 6:1We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 6:2(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
There is a parenthesis of time in which you can be saved (Paul refers to it as the “day of salvation”). This is why the notion “you can be saved anytime you want” is false—God calls you to salvation at a certain time and you must respond positively at that time because at a certain point God will give you up for eternity and you will be lost forever (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).
In light of predestination, this makes complete sense. If you choose to reject God, you are condemned to be a vessel of dishonor for eternity—subject to God’s will. If you receive God’s salvation offer and be saved, then you are predestined to be a vessel of honor—subject to God’s will to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29).
Conclusion
I hope this clears up the idea of predestination vs. freewill. Great questions Stephon and Abi!
God bless,
Robert A. Rowlett