"Predestination vs. Free will"
Let me begin with an example: The New Testament church as a group is God’s “chosen race” (1 Pet 2:9; Col 3:12), and when one is added to the church, they become one of “the elect.” When the Bible speaks of predestination to salvation, it usually refers to specific persons who are predestined and not to an abstract group or an impersonal plan. These individuals made a “free will” choice to become followers of Christ and, therefore, became the chosen race, the elect, the saved, the church, the bride of Christ. God, in His foreknowledge, knew these decisions would occur. His foreknowledge has no direct impact upon an individual’s free choice decision!
In Rom 8:29-30 Paul speaks of persons who are not only predestined but also called, justified, and glorified. In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, he says, "God has chosen you,” the Christians of Thessalonica, “for salvation.” In Rom 16:13, Rufus is identified as an elect person. In 1 Pet 1:1-2, the apostle greets the elect Christians in several specific geographical areas. Revelation 17:8 implies that specific names have been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world. Although their decision to follow Christ was their individual free will decision, their very names have been known to God from the beginning because of His divine foreknowledge.
“Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20). How is it possible that God could determine even before the creation which individuals would be saved and could even write their names in the Book of Life? The answer is found in the fact and nature of God’s foreknowledge, which, according to Scripture, is the very basis for predestination (Rom 8:29; 1 Pet 1:1-2).
That God has foreknowledge means that He sees the future, and He sees it not as a nearsighted man might see vague outlines at a blurry distance but as someone with perfect vision sees every far-off detail through a powerful telescope. We must say, then, that God predestines specific individuals to salvation. Is this the same as Calvinism? No. Calvinism teaches not just a predestination to salvation but a predestination to faith itself: They teach that God determines which unbelievers will become believers. This is not the predestination taught in the Bible.
The individuals whom God foreknows (Rom 8:29) will become believers of their own free will choice. These are the ones whose names He records in the Lamb’s Book of Life and who are predestined to glory.
Rather than certain God-selected unbelievers being predestined to become believers, all foreknown free will choice believers are predestined to enjoy the benefits of salvation. This is seen in 2 Thess 2:13, where Paul says, “God has chosen you Thessalonian believers from the beginning for salvation.” In 1 Peter 1:1-2, this salvation is seen to include the double cure: a life of good works and justification by the blood of Jesus (“chosen . . . to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood”).
Romans 8:29 states clearly that those whom He foreknew were “predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son so that He would be the first-born among many brethren.” Some mistakenly take this to be a reference to the sinner’s spiritual re-creation in the moral image of Jesus. Still, the context references our final inheritance, the redeemed and glorified body we will receive at the final resurrection (Rom 8:11,23). “The image of His Son” refers to the fact that our resurrection bodies will be like that of Christ (Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:29; 2 Cor 3:18). Thus, we as believers are chosen to become God’s glorified children (Rom 8:30) with Christ being the “first-born among many brethren” because he was “the first-born from the dead” (Col 1:18; Rev 1:5), i.e., the first to be raised in a gloried body (Acts 13:34; 26:13; Rom 6:9; 1 Cor 15:20).
Acts 2:23 also refers to the foreknowledge of God the Father; its object is Jesus Christ and the circumstances of His death. Jesus was delivered up “by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.” “Predetermined plan” is equivalent to predestination; i.e., God had already determined from eternity that Christ would die for our sins. That He was delivered up “by foreknowledge” means that God foreknew all the human acts of participation in Christ’s betrayal and death, such as those of Judas and Herod. God did not predetermine these acts, but He knew them in advance and, therefore, could work His plan along with them and through them.
This is the only sense in which some are predestined to be saved. That is, God predestines believers to go to heaven, just as He predestines unbelievers to go to hell. But He does not predestine anyone to become and remain a believer or to remain an unbeliever. This is a free-will choice made by each individual; however, it is a choice that God foreknows. Thus, the critical difference between predestination and free will!
Dick Moser
October 14th, 2024
Let me begin with an example: The New Testament church as a group is God’s “chosen race” (1 Pet 2:9; Col 3:12), and when one is added to the church, they become one of “the elect.” When the Bible speaks of predestination to salvation, it usually refers to specific persons who are predestined and not to an abstract group or an impersonal plan. These individuals made a “free will” choice to become followers of Christ and, therefore, became the chosen race, the elect, the saved, the church, the bride of Christ. God, in His foreknowledge, knew these decisions would occur. His foreknowledge has no direct impact upon an individual’s free choice decision!
In Rom 8:29-30 Paul speaks of persons who are not only predestined but also called, justified, and glorified. In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, he says, "God has chosen you,” the Christians of Thessalonica, “for salvation.” In Rom 16:13, Rufus is identified as an elect person. In 1 Pet 1:1-2, the apostle greets the elect Christians in several specific geographical areas. Revelation 17:8 implies that specific names have been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world. Although their decision to follow Christ was their individual free will decision, their very names have been known to God from the beginning because of His divine foreknowledge.
“Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20). How is it possible that God could determine even before the creation which individuals would be saved and could even write their names in the Book of Life? The answer is found in the fact and nature of God’s foreknowledge, which, according to Scripture, is the very basis for predestination (Rom 8:29; 1 Pet 1:1-2).
That God has foreknowledge means that He sees the future, and He sees it not as a nearsighted man might see vague outlines at a blurry distance but as someone with perfect vision sees every far-off detail through a powerful telescope. We must say, then, that God predestines specific individuals to salvation. Is this the same as Calvinism? No. Calvinism teaches not just a predestination to salvation but a predestination to faith itself: They teach that God determines which unbelievers will become believers. This is not the predestination taught in the Bible.
The individuals whom God foreknows (Rom 8:29) will become believers of their own free will choice. These are the ones whose names He records in the Lamb’s Book of Life and who are predestined to glory.
Rather than certain God-selected unbelievers being predestined to become believers, all foreknown free will choice believers are predestined to enjoy the benefits of salvation. This is seen in 2 Thess 2:13, where Paul says, “God has chosen you Thessalonian believers from the beginning for salvation.” In 1 Peter 1:1-2, this salvation is seen to include the double cure: a life of good works and justification by the blood of Jesus (“chosen . . . to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood”).
Romans 8:29 states clearly that those whom He foreknew were “predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son so that He would be the first-born among many brethren.” Some mistakenly take this to be a reference to the sinner’s spiritual re-creation in the moral image of Jesus. Still, the context references our final inheritance, the redeemed and glorified body we will receive at the final resurrection (Rom 8:11,23). “The image of His Son” refers to the fact that our resurrection bodies will be like that of Christ (Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:29; 2 Cor 3:18). Thus, we as believers are chosen to become God’s glorified children (Rom 8:30) with Christ being the “first-born among many brethren” because he was “the first-born from the dead” (Col 1:18; Rev 1:5), i.e., the first to be raised in a gloried body (Acts 13:34; 26:13; Rom 6:9; 1 Cor 15:20).
Acts 2:23 also refers to the foreknowledge of God the Father; its object is Jesus Christ and the circumstances of His death. Jesus was delivered up “by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.” “Predetermined plan” is equivalent to predestination; i.e., God had already determined from eternity that Christ would die for our sins. That He was delivered up “by foreknowledge” means that God foreknew all the human acts of participation in Christ’s betrayal and death, such as those of Judas and Herod. God did not predetermine these acts, but He knew them in advance and, therefore, could work His plan along with them and through them.
This is the only sense in which some are predestined to be saved. That is, God predestines believers to go to heaven, just as He predestines unbelievers to go to hell. But He does not predestine anyone to become and remain a believer or to remain an unbeliever. This is a free-will choice made by each individual; however, it is a choice that God foreknows. Thus, the critical difference between predestination and free will!
Dick Moser
October 14th, 2024
