PREDESTINATION
A sermon delivered by Robert Sholl

(All Scripture Quotations Are From The American Standard Version Unless Otherwise Noted)

A few weeks ago, I planned to speak on the topic of predestination. As put forth by Calvinistic creeds, the doctrine of predestination states that from all eternity, men and women are predestined to heaven or to hell. However, I had decided to put it off. Part of my reasoning was I believed that no one really holds to that false doctrine anymore. In fact, I had not come across that view in several years. In a day and age where people believe few if any are going to hell, the idea that God predestines that one will go to heaven or hell is anathema. Yet in the past week, two of our congregation got into a discussion with co-worker who believed that very thing. Therefore, this doctrine was not as dead as what I believed.

It behooves us therefore to look at this doctrine in light of New Testament truth. The fact of matter is that the bible does teach predestination. As we will see later however it is not the predestination of Calvin. I mention John Calvin because although he was not the first, he formulated in a straightforward manner five central tenets concerning salvation. In the background of these tenets is predestination. These tenets can be remembered using the mnemonic device TULIP:

T: TOTAL INHERITED DEPRAVITY

We are born guilty of Adam's sin, wholly given to evil, and cannot understand the gospel

U: UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION

God chooses individuals without regards to works or disposition

L: LIMITED ATONEMENT

Jesus made His sacrifice for only those elected for salvation

I: IRRESTIABLE GRACE

The Holy Spirit directly calls the person elected to be saved; the call is irresistible but does not violate free will

P: PERSERVERIANCE OF THE SAINTS

God keeps the saints saved and will not allow him to fall away

Following one after another, these are very logical statements. If all are wholly evil, cannot do any good, and cannot understand the bible then there must be a direct operation on us to open us to the word. Because I cannot do any good and you cannot do any good, it is up to God to pick and to choose individuals. Since as individuals we are predestined to accept or reject the gospel, atonement for sins is only for those who are to be saved. If God predestined you to Heaven, his call cannot be rejected. As an elect person, a predestined person, you cannot fall from grace or else the will of God fails.

We need to understand that though not all religious bodies accept all of these ideas, we find certain of these tenets throughout most. An idea such as once saved always saved is the perseverance of the saints. Original sin is really just inherited depravity. Part of Irresistible Grace is the idea of special illumination (the direct operation of Holy Spirit in order to understand the bible). My point is that the religious world picks and chooses what they want to believe but one of the things that is left out of denominational doctrines is the idea of predestination. However, since it looms very large in the background of Calvinism and these other idea, lets look closer at this idea of predestination.

I will start by quoting the Westminster Confession of Faith, perhaps the most concise and direct Calvinistic creed.

Chapter III:

I. God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass;[1] yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin,[2] nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.[3]

II. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed conditions;[4] yet has He not decreed anything because He foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such conditions.[5]

In Section 1 it is said that God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass. Take note of the1st key point. God ordains freely and unchangeably whatsoever comes to pass but not based on anything he saw in future. They are completely sovereign acts of God and as such unchangeable. This He determined from all eternity. One could not ask for a more direct statement than that. God ordains all things unchangeably. God has chosen a path that cannot be altered. Nothing can be changed. God did not just take some situation and work from it (recall it’s not based upon what He foresaw). Every thing that comes to pass is His will. Now the implication of that statement is staggering. We can see evidence of that in the qualifying statement "[1] yet so, as thereby neither is god the author of sin,[2] nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established". How can this be? No evidence or proof is provided. If God unchangeably ordained everything from all eternity before the creation, whatever His will is must always come to pass.

Now following this idea to a logical end, we have further statements in Chapter 3 of the Confession of Faith. Some men are chosen to everlasting life and some to everlasting death (Article 3). The number of these is fixed (Article 4). The chosen of life are chosen without regard to their "faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them" (Article 5). The Holy Spirit calls those chosen in life and does not call those chosen for death (Article 6).

These are all very logical statements that will get no argument from me if god has unchangeably ordained everything from eternity. However, how does the man-made creed compare to god’s word? "The lord is righteous in all his ways, gracious in all his works" (Psalms 145:17). "The lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works" (Psalms 145:9). When the thief steals, when the murder kills, when man turns to idolatry is that righteous or unrighteousness? Those things are unrighteous. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, it is said "do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of god? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of god. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God." Those things are unrighteousness. Yet, if God had unchangeably foreordained everything, if everything is his will, man us simply doing god's foreordained will. When one murders or steals he is simply doing god’s foreordained will. If it is God’s will that he do unrighteousness then god’s will is unrighteous. But how is that possible in light of Psalms145:9 that says " the lord is righteous in all his ways"? And in Romans 9:14-15 "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God?" There cannot be unrighteousness with God. Righteousness is an intrinsic character of god. So it is not God’s will that unrighteousness be done. God is righteous being. He wants all to do righteousness. In fact, in order to fulfill the man-made creed of predestination, God would have to set forth righteous laws and ordain men to break them with the express object of condemning them. Again how do we square that with Psalms 145:9 "the lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works"?

It is said in James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning."

Not only that but we have several examples where god has changed His will. One example is found in 2 Kings 20:1:

In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’ Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. And I will add to your days fifteen years."

But we also find this decree in Jeremiah 18:7-10:

"The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.

In both Hezekiah's situation and God’s decree about nations, we see that God's will is changeable. God told Hezekiah to prepare as his life was at the end. God will visit disaster on wicked nations but His will can be and was altered. Now Hezekiah's prayer was answered and he received 15 more years of life from God. God's punishment of nations can be altered if those nations repent. So we see from God's word that in dealing with man, the circumstances do change. Man is not just some pawn in a cosmic game."

We find another interesting example in Jeremiah 7:30-31:

"For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight," says the Lord. "They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart."

So here have atrocities of Judah where these great sins were perpetrated. They were offering children to Baal. If God foreordained everything then he ordained human sacrifices. He in effect by his immutable will commanded it. But it says in Verse 31 "I did not command, nor did it come into My heart." It was neither God’s desire nor his will that they offer children as sacrifice to him. If God had, then when it came to pass in time Judah would have had to do so. There are only two logical outcomes of this situation. They had to either obey God's immutable will or obey His commands. If they obeyed God’s immutable will they would violate His command forbidding human sacrifices. If they obeyed God's command not to offer human sacrifices, they would be violating His immutable will. In either case, the only two possible outcomes, this would mean that God was requiring man to be obedient and disobedient at the same time. This simply cannot be reconciled to God’s word.

Everything that happens is not God’s will because the premise (foreordination) is not true. Thus, the conclusions are incorrect as well. Recall the statements that some men are chosen to everlasting life and some to everlasting death (Article 3). Also that the number of these is fixed (Article 4) and that the chosen of life are chosen without regard to their "faith, or good works, or perseverance in either of them" (Article 5). Again, that makes sense only if God, before man ever existed, predestined him as an individual to either heaven or hell. However, if the will of God is unchangeable, that is about as arbitrary as it can get. Yet we are told that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).

But what saith the scriptures? The New Testament does speak about election to salvation and condemnation. The New Testament does speak about predestination. Now the word election means to pick or to choose and the word predestination means predetermined.

Romans 8:28-32

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

1 Peter 1-3

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:

Ephesians 1:3-4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

Do these passages support the idea that God predetermined individuals to heaven and hell? Oh no! If you look at the context, you find no support for that. What is Paul and Peter talking about then? The subject under consideration are the blessings in Christ, that are bestowed upon the called, those love God. Who are the called? The ones that love God. Who are the ones who love God? Those who keep his commands (1 John 5:3). We are called by the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:14). The called are those who have obeyed gospel (Romans 1:5-6). So those who have obeyed the gospel, that is Christians, have been predetermined to conform to his son, to be justified, and to be sanctified before him. It has always been the intent of God in his scheme of redemption that salvation would come through the blood of Christ. It was always his intent that the church, which is His body (Ephesians 1:22-23) would be saved. Paul is not teaching we, as individuals, are predestined to heaven or hell. Paul is expounding upon the great blessings to that class of people who will accept the gospel. It is the plan that He purposed before time. What is the characteristic of these people? I don’t think there is a finer description than that given in the Beatitudes; "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." These are ones that will answer the gospel call. But God has made the gospel available to all. Anyone can respond if he so desires. God has not predestined a person to heaven or hell. As we look across God’s word, we see a universal gospel call.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Mark 16:15-16

And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 2

And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.

Romans 10:10

For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.

Revelation 22:16

I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

God would not offer salvation to all if He already determined where all were going. That would be offering salvation, but putting it out beyond some people’s reach. God has offered all men salvation. What is God’s will in regards to salvation? It is God’s will that all would be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). Yet we know from other passages that not everyone is going to be saved. Man must accept the offer of pardon that God before time devised and foreknew. God tells of no other way. Jesus said many are called but few chosen. Few are chosen because few will do the will of Father (Matthew 7:21). The will of God always comes to pass when the thing He desires relies only on Him (such as unconditional promises and blessings). If we die and go to hell, we cannot blame God. God has made the way which is in Christ Jesus (John 14:6). We must go in the Way. If you are here today and you have not responded to gospel call, won’t you do so now? You need to believe in God and Christ (Hebrews 11:6). Once you believe you need to repent and change direction (Luke 13:3). You must confess Christ's name (Romans 10:10, Acts 8:36-37)) and be baptized into Christ, buried with him in baptism (Romans 6:1-4), unto the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).