Did God Predestine Who Would Become Christians?
Different Theologies Produce Different Viewpoints
Some people believe that God chose and predestined ahead of time who would become Christians. He then works in their lives to draw them to Himself, and they respond because they were predetermined to do so.
Others believe that God offers salvation to everyone and works in all of our lives to draw us to Himself, leaving the choice up to us.
Christians have been debating this for centuries. Those who have been taught in churches with a Calvinist theology usually believe that all who commit their lives to Jesus Christ were predestined to do so.
Those who have been taught from Arminian or Anabaptist theologies emphasize the free will of everyone to choose to follow Jesus.
Beliefs About Predestination Should Not Divide Christians
Those who know and follow Jesus are united in Christ. No matter which of these theologies influence their outlook, they are Christian brothers and sisters who just have different outlooks.
It is good to have discussions as we study the Scriptures, sharing why we believe certain things. But the discussions should not result in arguments or church splits. Jesus calls us to love one another, even when we disagree with each other.
Study the Scriptures to Search for Answers
I believe that in looking at this question of predestination, we need to look at several Bible passages. It is easy to choose one or two verses to base our theology on. But we need to realize that the Bible fits together as a whole, even though it was written by over 40 different people. These writers were led by God to write what they did, and their writings are His Word.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness… NKJV
I have discovered that some people think that because God knows ahead of time who will decide to follow Jesus, that this means He predestines their decision. However, there is a difference between having knowledge of something and making it happen.
Romans 8:29 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. NKJV
When I read this Scripture, I don’t interpret it to mean that the predestination means whether or not a person will be saved. It is saying that God foreknows who will come to Him, and He has predestined that those who do will be conformed to Jesus. In other words, He planned ahead of time that Christians should grow in their relationship with God to become more and more like Jesus. That is a work of His Spirit to make changes in those who are committed to God.
God’s Actions Plus People’s Response
Believing this is not to say that God isn’t actively involved in people coming to know Christ. He responds to people’s prayers for others to come to know Him. Specific prayer for someone results in God working in many ways to draw that person to Himself.
He lays it on our hearts to share the gospel with people. He prepares people to consider what is shared if they have not hardened themselves against His message . He helps people who are searching and reading the Bible to understand.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. NKJV
Faith itself is a gift from God, so as someone reaches out to God, He provides them with the faith to believe. When someone decides to follow Jesus, it is a mutual working of His Holy Spirit and that person’s responsiveness.
If No Choice, Why Share the Gospel?
If we believe that the choice to follow Christ is predetermined, what motivation do we have to share the Good News of salvation with people? If we believe that people have a choice as to whether or not to put their faith in Jesus, we are motivated to share and pray that people will respond.
However, I have noticed that there are many of the Calvinist persuasion who do share the Good News with others, perhaps wanting to be used by God to fulfill His purpose to bring in those who are predestined. It’s interesting to see how Christians of opposite persuasions on this issue are still being used by God in bringing people to Christ.
Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
The Ephesians 1 Question
Recently I heard a discussion about Ephesians 1:4-6.
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, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. NKJV
The person leading the discussion was leaning toward the belief that everyone who comes to Christ has been predestined to come. However, my interpretation, based in part on Romans 8:29, is that the before God created the foundation of the world, he chose and predestined that those who follow Jesus would be holy and without blame before Him, and would be adopted as sons and daughters of God by Jesus.
I find it interesting that verses 11-12 of that same chapter in Ephesians says this:
In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. NKJV
Reading in this version we might get the idea that it is either the people who are predestined or the inheritance for those people that was predestined. So I looked in The Pure Word
Here is that translation:
In Him with whom we have obtained an inheritance, having made predetermined according to the purpose of Him, who is accomplishing all things by the counsel of his will. For we, to be for the full praise of His Glory who are first continuously by our choice expecting in Christ.
Reading that helps me believe that it’s the inheritance that was predetermined and that we have a choice.
Two Other Verses in Favor of Salvation by Choice
The well-known verse, John 3:16, says that because God loved the world, He gave His Son, and that whoever believes in Him receives everlasting life. It does not say that God only loved and gave His Son for people who were predestined to believe. In the Pure Word, we read “that whoever is continuously by his choice committing for the result and purpose of Him, should not perish…”
I will close with one last verse that sums up my belief regarding whether God predestined certain people to be Christians.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. NKJV
