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Predetermination and Free Will

1. Has God foreordained all things to happen for all eternity?

Some theologians give a positive answer to this question, mainly based on the book of Proverbs of Solomon, regarded as the "shelter of the doctrine of divine predetermination", e.g. Proverbs 16:1,9,33, 19:21, 20:24, 21:1, 29:26. If the Lord directs the steps of man, this means that he is controlled, or governed, by God. They conclude therefore that, no matter what the man wants to do, and the plans he makes, it is the will of his Author that will be carried out (Manual of Berhof, p.231).In Lamentations 3:38, Amos 3:6, Isaiah 45:7 we have texts that could even suggest that God does evil.

But we often find that God only allowed certain things to be done, though they were attributed to Him. For example, it was the devil who tried Job with severe tribulations, but Job (Job 1:21), the author of the book (Job 42:11) and even Satan (Job 1:11, 2:5) put the blame on God; in another famous example, Satan caused King David to number the people (1 Chronicles 21:1) but the blame was put on God (2 Samuel 24:1).

The permissive will of God is found throughout the Bible, and includes the free will that is given to humans. A classic example is the salvation of lost man:"The Lord ... is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9), "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out "(Acts 3:19) and "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." (Mark 16:15 to 16). Here we see expressed the will of God (willing all to be saved) and His permission (he who does not believe will be condemned), which gives free will to man.

Charles Hodge, a highly respected Calvinist, commented: "It is evident from these and other texts that it is common use to attribute to God the effects that He, in His wisdom, allows to happen." This has to be the permissive will of God, which others cannot admit: it would be disastrous for their fundamental theology.

It is necessary to reconcile the eternal purposes of God, or His "decrees" as some people say, with the consequences of the free will granted to man. Man, because of his limitations, does not have this capability. But God, eternal and omniscient, knows everything, whether present, past or future, so that He foresees equally well as He sees and as He remembers. So everything that happened, happens and will happen is within His plans. He is Sovereign. But man only knows a little of what is happening at present, hears from other sources a little of the past and has no certain knowledge of the future (except for what has been revealed to him by God in His Word).

Because of God’s permissive will, man makes his own decisions, and is himself responsible for his acts. But God already knows in advance what any man will do, and it is therefore in His plans. Bible prophecy, much of which has already been fulfilled, to the letter, is proof of that. For example, Judas decided to betray Jesus of his own accord, but Jesus knew he would do it and it was fulfilment of prophecy. There are lots of other examples.

Likewise the events of history, past, present and future, do not occur by the express determination of the will of God, but are known in advance by Him for the fulfilment of His eternal purposes.

God has eternal purposes and they will inevitably be met, and God has human involvement among the means to achieve His purposes. The doctrine of divine determination is not antagonistic to the free agency of man, because man acts spontaneously with God's permission. The free action of man and the divine sovereign action are congruent because of the omniscience of God, who knows in advance what action any man will take.

2. A concept of God's eternity.

The eternity of God is defined as an existence which has neither beginning nor end. It is more than the human mind can understand, because we are limited to what is finite - everything has a beginning and end. We are also limited as to time and space, and not understand a life without them.

The Bible begins with the words "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1) and ends by saying "The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it (the city), and His servants shall serve Him ... and they shall reign forever and ever.” Note: God already was before the creation of heaven and earth: before the existence of the universe because it was created by Him. And He and His servants (speaking here of men and women who were reconciled to God through faith over time) will also live and reign with Him forever (Revelation 22:3,5).

The prophet Daniel expresses it this way: "the saints of the most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever"(Daniel 7:18) - an eternity following the other, endlessly... Failing to understand this, some folk ask: Who created God? Obviously the answer is no one. He is the "I Am": always was, is and will be!

 

3. Who are the elect mentioned in the first chapter of Ephesians? Does the death of Christ on the cross redeem the elect? Did Christ die for all or only for the elect?

In the Bible we find the words "election" and "elect", which are translations derived from the Greek words "ekloge ¯" (choice, election) and "eklektos" (chosen, elected or favourite) and the Hebrew word "baw-kheer"' (selected, chosen, elected).

Undeniably God has every right to make the choice He wants in everything. He also possesses the divine attributes of omniscience, omnipotence, etc. The Bible shows us several examples in which God's choice is revealed, like the following:

 

1. Concerning Israel

• He chose according to the foreknowledge of God the Father (1 Peter 1:2) those who love God, those who are the called according to His purpose,  those  He foreknew from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief  in the truth (Romans 8:29-30, Colossians 3:12, 1 Thessalonians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 2 Timothy 2:10, Titus 1:1). These will be victors with Christ over  the beast and his army after the tribulation of the Jews (Revelation 17:14).

• He chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27), and the ignoble things of the world and the despised, and those that are not, to reduce to naught things that are (1 Corinthians 1:28).

• He chose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him (James 2:5).

• He chose Peter from among the disciples, that the Gentiles might hear the word of the gospel from his mouth, and believe (Acts 15:7).

• He chose Paul to be an apostle to the Gentiles and to demonstrate the Gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1, 3:8-9).

 

3. The Angels

• He elected angels (those who have not been involved in sin or rebellion against God, but kept their first estate) to continue in His presence (1 Timothy 5:21, Jude 1:6, 2 Peter 2:4).

 

Conclusion

The saints who were in Ephesus (Ephesians 1:1), as in all the world, were the "elect", also called "the faithful in Christ Jesus”, meaning those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. These are the "brethren" according to the examples 2a, b, c. See the commentary on the letter to the Ephesians, with index HERE. Both in Israel and in the Church of Christ God chooses or elects certain people to certain tasks and doubtless continues choosing. The Holy Spirit works in the saints for that to happen. See examples 1 b, and 2 above.

Christ's death redeems the elect, since they were elected for putting their faith in His work of redemption. Example 2.

Christ died for all, but only those who believe and receive Him as their Lord and Saviour are chosen by God to receive salvation and other privileges granted by His great mercy (Matthew 22:14, 26:28, etc.). I recommend that you read the pages on which you will find salvation THIS index.

 

R David Jones