Things I’m Pondering Today…

Predestination:

I want to write a substantial article on this in the future, but for now I just want to touch on a few things that I have been thinking about. I am in know way an expert on this topic. I also find it to be trivial in the grand scheme of God’s great salvation for mankind; and acknowledge that God’s ways are mysterious to us and we cannot even fathom what He has and will continue to do for us.

The Bible is clear that it’s not us who find God, but rather, it’s Him who finds us.

And just as God called Abram out of a life of Godlessness to be His friend, God also calls us to relationship with Him by His good Grace.

The Bible says that many are called, but few are ‘chosen’. But it also says that it’s not God’s will that any should perish.

The teachings of John Calvin state an unconditional election- that God not only knows, but chooses (or predestines) in eternity past who would be saved. This belief can easily negate the free will of man.

I’m totally down with only God doing the work of salvation, but this predestination belief is not resting with me so well.

Now I 100% believe that God knew who would be saved before He created us, but I’ve always kind of been on the Arminian side: the belief that God chose, or predestined, those who He KNEW would chose him in the future.

After all the Bible says,” that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, then you are saved”. So you have to make a decision to choose Jesus, right?

But Calvinism teaches that God’s chosing of us in eternity past was not based on our future decision to follow Him, but rather- simply His sovereignty. I acknowledge that I don’t have this figured out yet, but I do have a few potential problems with that philosophy:

1. God knows that future and He does know what decisions people will make, so He can’t make a choice or a decision without considering the future because He has already seen it. The future is His decision, and visa versa- a paradox, I know.

2. I’m not claiming to be right on this one, just jot down my feelings, but if God predestined those who would be saved unconditionally according to His soveriegnty; it makes Him seem cruel for not chosing to save everyone and unable to do so.

Now I know for a fact that every man deserves hell and it’s by God’s great grace alone that we are saved, but if He unconditionally choses who will be saved- sinners who deserve to go to hell- then why not choose everyone.

It almost could give those who believe to be elect a superiority complex- “God chose us and not you!” Then the question is why. We know our salvation is not based on merit/ good works, so those who are ‘elect’ are not so because of anything they have done or because of what kind of person they are- but it would sure be easy for them to conclude that.

3. If you believe that you have been unconditionally elected to be saved, then why would you need to/want to share the Gospel with others- since in your mind they have alreafy been predestined to be saved, or damned? My Calvinist friends call this paradox the ‘Frozen Chosen’.

I know that this post is not put together very well, but it’s only because my mind has not been 100% made up on this issue.

Conclusion: I love the Soveriegnty of God! I think man is totally incapable of saving himself. I know that God knows the future. I just believe that God demands us to make a decision to follow Him- which I guess takes a little bit of free will.