Why Write This?
Regarding this topic, one particular Sunday from my childhood stands out. I was around 11 years old, and partway through the sermon, I witnessed one of my family members walk out of the church service. And it was no subtle thing. She was sobbing, and her husband kept his arm around her in a shielding manner (as if to protect her from an object that might fly toward them at any moment) for the whole sad walk from the pew to the back of the auditorium. Only later did I find out that this was a “free will” family member who couldn’t handle the teaching of a “predestination” preacher.
I’m sure the reverse happens all the time (where a “predestination” Christian cannot handle their emotions while being exposed to a “free will” kind of Bible teaching) but that story is one of the first episodes of discord regarding this issue that I can remember witnessing as a child.
There have been countless others. Picture seven or eight respectable-looking Christians gathered in a living room for a Bible study. Pretzels and sodas are on the coffee table, and everyone turns in their Bible to some passage like Ephesians chapter one. After a few minutes, voices begin to raise up to a less-than-friendly pitch. Facial expressions begin to show dismay even from people who aren’t talking about the passage. Eventually someone turns to John 3:16 or Romans 9:18 to back up their argument, while someone else tosses their Bible aside in anger. Eventually one Christian starts to yell (in righteous indignation, of course) and another shouts “Calm down!” which ironically always has the opposite of its intended effect. About five minutes later, the bowl of pretzels goes crashing to the floor spilling all over the freshly vacuumed rug, while one of the Bible study attendees storms out of the room. Two other Christians jump up to comfort the storming out person, while a third begins to clean up the pretzels. A couple of others remain in their seats thankful that the heretic just left the room.
Been there? If not, you may have experienced something different yet similar. In my experience, disagreements on this doctrine can ruin Christian friendships more than any other topic.
So, why would I be foolish enough to write an essay on it? Why not just avoid the topic altogether? Well, to be honest, I mostly do. I’ve seen enough of these disagreements to now have been shaped into a person who either changes the subject (if I have the power to do so) or who walks out of the room before the debate begins.
However, I have recently come to the conclusion that I might have something special to offer when it comes to this conversation. You see, I no longer have a strong desire to convert people to what I believe about this particular topic. I don’t care anymore. People can believe whatever they want about this; I no longer spend time trying to proselytize people to my side. And while that might sound a bit “lazy” to some people, it might just make me a little extra qualified to write something about this topic that generates more light than heat.
It seems to me that a lot of treatments of this topic (sermons, books, bible studies) are taught from a dogmatic or even oppositional angle. Some guy writes a book with a title like, “The Dark Side of Arminianism” and cannot help but spend several chapters of material talking about how anyone who doesn’t interpret John 3:16 to be about the elect is just a man-centered Pharisee who believes his own works will save him on judgment day. Similarly, someone else preaches a series that might as well be titled, “Five Reasons Calvinists are Going to Hell” and he can’t resist saying that a God who predestines is a moral monster, and those who serve him worship a false idol.
In that sense, I do feel like I am a bit of a “moderate” when it comes to this debate, even though I identify with one side of it more than the other. Over the years, I have come to be able to see the other side’s point of view well enough that I do not sneer at it.
So, why write about this?
Here’s my motivation: I want to prevent the pretzels from getting thrown to the floor next time. If the following explanations help to change someone’s point-of-view that is fine with me. But I don’t think that’s the most important thing. I believe that people on both sides of this issue will spend eternity with Jesus, and it doesn’t matter to me if we all end up on the same page in the meantime. But I do want to make a case for predestination that will help people who don’t agree with me be better able to empathize with their Christian friends who do agree with me. There’s no need to storm out of the room. The pretzels can remain safely on the table. Nobody has to even change their beliefs about this for me to consider this essay successful. As long as this helps some Christian somewhere better understand some of his brothers and sisters, I will consider it a success.
I Am Not Going To Use Historical / Theological Words
Throughout this essay, my plan is to stay away from loaded theological terms and historically popular ways of naming things. I think it can be distracting to have to wade through terms like Calvinism, Arminianism, or even acrostics like TULIP.
My beliefs about this have been mostly shaped by the Bible, and I only need to use the Bible to defend it. It may be interesting to get into what Jacob Arminius believed in 1609, but that story is mostly irrelevant to why I’ve come to the conclusions that I have. I think what is of primary importance is what the Bible says about this.
The Most Important Point: Every Christian Believes in Predestination
So, let me begin by saying something that will, at first, sound controversial, but will turn out to not be controversial at all: all Bible-believers believe in predestination.
Note: by comparing the title of this section to the first sentence of this section, you can see that I am using “Christian” and “Bible-believer” as synonyms. I realize that some people disagree with that. There are people who claim to be “Christians” but would also profess to not believing the Bible. Personally, I think that is silly, but to defend that view would require a completely different essay. So for now, I will simply acknowledge that I’m using “Christian” and “Bible-believer” as equivalents.
Ok, back to my non-controversial claim: Every Christian believes in predestination. Why do I say that? Because, the word “predestine” has a much broader definition than we often use when we get into debates about this.
The verb ”predestine” means “to determine something beforehand.” And everyone agrees that that happens sometimes. In fact, every Christian will even admit that God sometimes determines certain things to happen before they happen. And what He says will happen, will happen. To not believe this would require one to reject the Bible.
Here’s an example: One of the most famous Bible passages is the covenant God made with Abram. In Genesis 15:13-16 it says:
Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions. But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
In this passage, God clearly determines several things ahead of time. He announces that Abram’s descendants will be enslaved in a foreign land for 400 years. He says this many years before it takes place, and it does indeed take place. He also prophesies His future judgment on the oppressing nation (which takes place in the book of Exodus) and the takeover of the Promised Land (which takes place in the book of Joshua.)
So, this first point seems to be undebatable. We can all agree on this. God determined ahead of time some things that He planned on doing, and then He did them when the time came, just as He had predicted earlier. So, we can start this whole discussion by noticing that, at least one time, God predestined something.
However, this was not a one-time occasion. There are many prophecies in the Bible where God announces his actions years in advance.
In Habakkuk, God tells the prophet that He is going to raise up the Chaldeans to conquer Judah (Hab. 1:5-6) to be then rescued later, and the prophet has to simply wait for God’s decree to actually take place (Hab. 3:16) In Jeremiah, God announces ahead of time his plans to rescue and restore Israel after a period of 70 years in captivity (Jeremiah 29:10-11). He says this toward the beginning of the seventy years, not afterwards. He had predetermined to do it. These kinds of things are all over the Old Testament.
This kind of pre-planning is acknowledged in the New Testament as well. Take a look at Acts 4:27-28:
“For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.”
These words are part of a prayer from some of the earliest Christians. And in speaking to God they proclaimed that the events that had just recently take place (Herod, Pilate, and others crucifying Jesus) were all related to a plan that God had predestined.
And all the Christians that I know have no problem with this. Of course, God predestined that Jesus would come and suffer for our sins. That this was God’s plan all along is one of the main themes of the New Testament. The New Testament writers took great effort in many places to show that Jesus was the fulfillment of things that had been decreed centuries earlier.
So, here is where it gets tricky. Some Christians would say that these stories of God ordaining things to happen before they take place are a pattern. In other words, these kinds of things keep happening throughout the Bible because this is what God does. He predetermines things and then brings them to pass.
Other Christians however would argue, just because God predetermines some things, does not mean that He predetermines everything.
Fair enough. But before we go on to consider more about this, let’s at least take a moment to stop and be thankful for the things we all agree on. God predestines. At least sometimes. No bible-believer can take the position that God never intervenes in this world and never decides to do anything ahead of time. We are all agreed on this. Now, pass those pretzels.
Ok, so God Predestines Some Things. How Many Things?
The answer to this question in many ways determines the two sides. We all agree that God predestines, but it seems that some Christians think that He does a lot more predestining than others.
The Christians who are most likely to say, “I don’t believe in predestination” tend to be the Christians who believe that God merely predestines big movements within history- things like the exodus, the promised land, the captivity and restoration of Israel, Jesus’ arrival as the sacrifice for sins, the second coming, etc. But they would emphasize that this doesn’t mean that God has predestined whether you will drink Coke or Pepsi with your lunch tomorrow. You have a free will to choose. In fact, they would say that if God determined your decisions ahead of time, you wouldn’t be free to choose. Makes sense, right? And so while many of these Christians would say that God is sovereign over His creation, they wouldn’t define His sovereignty in a way that credits Him with directly deciding what happens in this world.
And the most important topic that rises up at this point (the one that causes the heightened emotions described in the first section of this essay) is the decision to follow Jesus. Did God choose us or did we choose Him? Christians who say, “I don’t believe in predestination” would also, of course, say that we choose God.
Now the Christians who say things like, “I believe in predestination” tend to be the Christians who believe that God is sovereignly decreeing many things in this world, and they often believe He is even involved in determining things that seem like minor details in our lives: “Oh, that parking spot opened up just as I pulled into the lot. God must have wanted me to be able to get into the grocery store quickly.” These
Christians are also more likely to believe that the reason a Christian trusts in God is because God chose them. Yes, they chose God, but only because God had already chosen them.
The above descriptions are generalizations of two groups of people. Perhaps not everyone fits neatly into each category. For instance, I can remember talking with a man years ago who told me that he believed God does choose who is a Christian and who isn’t, however he said that he did not believe that God chooses what we will eat for lunch ahead of time.
Nonetheless, the two broad categories seem to be: (a) Christians who believe that God predestines a few important things, and (b) Christians who believe that God predestines everything (or nearly everything) and therefore is governing over everything directly.
Over the next four sections, I explain why I strongly lean toward side (b) on this.
Why Should We Think God Predestines So Much?
Here is my thinking: If someone does something 57 times in a row, and we see no (or very few) exceptions, it’s not unreasonable to strongly consider that maybe this is just what he/she does. And from my reading of the Bible, it seems to me that God determines a lot of things.
Some of my Christian friends believe that God has predestined and determined a few big things in this world (things like the Egyptian captivity, the Israelite conquest, the Chaldean conquest, the first and second comings of the Messiah, etc.) but left the rest of the events in history to be determined by human free will (or by “chance” in the cases of non-human happenings.) Sometimes these Christians don’t even seem to notice that for God to have determined even just 6 or 7 big historical events… well, it would be difficult to pull that off without somehow affecting the free will of the people involved. But more on that later.
The primary reason that I can’t get on board with that line of thinking is that it seems to me that the Scriptures teach that God has determined way more than just 6 or 7 big historical events. He seems to be involved in nearly everything. Consider the following verses:
A king’s heart is like streams of water in the Lord’s hand: He directs it wherever He chooses. ~ Proverbs 21:1
A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory comes from the Lord ~ Proverbs 21:31
These verses would explain how God could have predestined things like the Israelite captivity in Egypt, or the invasion of the Chaldeans, or even rulers like Pontius Pilate and Herod with their roles in the crucifixion – the verses say that the Lord directs the hearts of kings and even grants victory in battle. And what is interesting about these verses is that they don’t seem to be making the claim that this is an exceptional thing that God rarely does. Both proverbs are written as if this is what He normally does.
I suppose one could wonder if this is a special kind of sovereignty that God only exercises over kings so that He may order big world events, but look at this next Proverb:
A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps. ~ Proverbs 16:9
This verse seems to take the principle found in Proverbs 21:1 and then applies it to everyone. The Lord determines everyone’s steps. Even though we make our own plans, it is the Lord who is directing our steps in this verse.
But what about the small things in life? Does God determine which parking spaces we get? Surely God only intervenes during the big events of life, right? Check out this next one:
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. ~ Proverbs 16:33
Wow. This verse is surprising. The lot being cast into the lap would be the modern-day equivalent of throwing dice. And this verse seems to say that it is the Lord, and not chance, that determines what comes up. Now, I suppose one could ask the question, “Did God’s people in the Old and New Testaments really believe that it was God who determined the roll of the dice?” The answer is yes. That’s the only thing that makes sense of verses like Acts 1:23-26:
So [the apostles] proposed two: Joseph… and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know the hearts of all; show which of these two You have chosen to take the place in this apostolic service that Judas left to go to his own place.” Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias. So he was numbered with the 11 apostles.
In this passage, the eleven apostles chose Judas’ replacement by casting lots. And it shows that they specifically believed that God would determine the way the lot fell. I’m not saying that all of our decisions should be determined by rolling dice. But I am pointing out that it seems the worldview of the apostles was consistent with a belief that God controls even the little things.
Let's Look At Some Old Testament Stories
Let’s move on to the book of Ruth. In that narrative, we find more hints that God is in control of so much more than a few big events.
So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of land belonging to Boaz… ~ Ruth 2:3
This is an interesting coincidence. Of all the fields Ruth could have chosen to forage for food in, she happened to choose Boaz’s land – the only man in town who would rescue her from her predicament and include her in the big surprise ending of the story. As one reads this story in context, it almost seems as if God was actually the one directing her steps, not chance. In fact, later on in the story it becomes pretty clear that this wasn’t a coincidence:
Salmon fathered Boaz, who fathered Obed. And Obed fathered Jesse, who fathered David. ~ Ruth 4:21-22
This is the big surprise ending to the book of Ruth. Ruth (Boaz’s wife by the end of the story) was King David’s great grandmother! And all because she happened into that one particular field that day. I think the story as a whole makes it clear that God was at work in all of these happenings, and did not simply leave the story to turn out however it would have turned out without His direction. In fact, the story specifies God’s involvement in the conception of King David’s grandfather:
Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he was intimate with her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. ~ Ruth 4:13
It’s always been interesting to me that the verse doesn’t say that Boaz was intimate with Ruth and then she gave birth to a son. It adds in the clause, “the Lord enabled her to conceive.” The writer of Ruth seems to want us to know that God was somehow involved with this conception.
Now, of course, some Christians will be quick to point out, that just because God got involved with one particular conception, doesn’t mean He’s involved in all of them. That’s fair. It is true that this could be a special case. But the point I’m trying to make right now is: Wow. Look at all these special cases! It’s not just the stories of Abraham, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and Jesus Christ that involve a God who is determining the events that come to pass. God intervenes and determines how a lot of stories in the Bible go. He seems very involved.
In Jonah 1:17, it says that God “appointed” a fish to swallow Jonah. God didn’t leave it up to the fish’s free will; the story specifies that God caused the fish to swallow Jonah.
Again we could say, “yes, but these are all special occasions!” Yes, maybe they are. But I’m trying to point out that the more of these occasions one finds in the Bible, the less “special” they are. And these occasions really are all over the Bible. There are enough of them that it leads some of us to suspect that God is the one determining what happens in this world, perhaps even on the non-special occasions.
Do the Prophetic Passages Point To a God Who Determines and Even Pre-Determines Things That Happen?
Check out this verse from Isaiah:
The Lord of Hosts has sworn: “As I have purposed, so it will be; as I have planned it, so it will happen. I will break Assyria in My land…” ~ Isaiah 14:24
Here we have another verse that backs up the idea that God predestines. It says that whatever God plans, so it will happen. But of course, this is about the special occasion of the Lord defeating the Assyrians. But look at these next two verses from the same book:
I form light and create darkness, I make success and create disaster; I, Yahweh, do all these things. ~ Isaiah 45:7
I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: My plan will take place, and I will do all My will. ~ Isaiah 46:10
Both of these verses fit with what we find in Isaiah 14:24, but this time they aren’t specific to one particular battle or event. Rather it is written more like this is the way God ordinarily works. Isaiah seems to believe (and this is all over his book!) that God has a plan from the beginning which will take place. Successes will come upon some, and disasters will come upon others, and the one who brings them is the Lord. He has not merely left this world up to chance or free will. He is directing things according to His plans.
In the Bible, God is even in control of the weather. There are multiple places in the Bible that speak about God providing food for his people (with good weather) or causing a famine (with bad weather.) The psalms credit God with things as mundane as rain (Ps. 147:8) and snow (Ps. 147:16) and they say that He causes clouds, lightning, and wind (Ps. 135:7.) And it’s not that God simply created a world that contains these things. The psalms say things like “He causes the clouds to rise” and “He makes lightning for the rain.” Maybe this is just poetry and not to be taken literally. But there are times where it sure seems like Israel’s songbook assumes that God is not merely involved in a few big events, but in everyday life.
In fact, Psalm 33:11 indicates that God has plans that will stand forever, from generation to generation. While Psalm 135:6 says that God does whatever He pleases on heaven and on earth. The Old Testament worldview doesn’t seem to take the position that God created a world and then mostly left it alone so that the creatures on earth can do whatever it is they would do with their free will apart from His intervention. The psalms were written as if God governs over this world and does whatever He wants with it on a regular basis.
What Does the New Testament Say About This?
There are several appearances of words like “predestined” in the New Testament. Sometimes, you find the actual word “predestined” in a Bible verse, and other times the concept is there but the particular word isn’t used. Acts 13:48 is a fascinating example. Right in the middle of a story where Paul is preaching the gospel to the Gentiles in Antioch of Pisidia, Luke, the narrator, says this:
When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.
It’s hard to interpret this verse in a non-predestination sort of way. Not all of the Gentiles in the whole city believed in Jesus. Only some of them did. Which ones? The ones who had been appointed to eternal life. Who could have appointed them to eternal life? This verse seems to assume that God appointed who responded to the gospel on this occasion. And this interpretation fits with many other verses in the New Testament. Here is another example:
For those [God] foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified. ~ Romans 8:29-30
Both of these passages (Acts 13:48 and Romans 8:29-30) are focused on God’s predestination related to the specific topic of salvation. And there are other verses like them. But I’ve stayed away from those kinds of verses in this essay, because I’m trying to make a larger point: It seems to some of us that God doesn’t merely predestine who is saved, but rather He predestines just about everything else too! Check out this verse from the Apostle Paul’s speech to the Athenians:
From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. ~ Acts 17:26
In this verse, Paul says something much broader than what most Christians talk about when they talk about predestination. He’s not referring to salvation here. He’s claiming that God is the one who determined where every single person was born, and what nationality they are, and that He has determined when and where they would live.
So, this is where I hope, even if I haven’t convinced you, you can at least understand where I am coming from. It seems to me that the Bible - which is very clear on the fact that God predestines some things - doesn’t take the position that He only predestines a few things. In the Bible, God sure seems to be involved in nearly everything.
And like I said earlier in this essay: If someone does something 57 times in a row, and we see no (or very few) exceptions, it’s not unreasonable to strongly consider that maybe this is just what he does.
I cannot help but read the Bible and get the impression that planning, decreeing, and determining what happens on earth is the ordinary work of God. And my belief about this is not based on any one verse in the Bible, but rather the dozens and dozens of verses that assume this worldview.
But wait a minute! If this is true, this is a big deal as it contradicts many other thoughts that people have about God and His workings with humanity. So, let’s switch directions now and address the biggest objection to all of this.
What About Our Will? Don't We Make Decisions? If This Is True, How Can We Be Responsible For Our Choices?
These are important questions! In fact, these concerns are the primary reason why most of the people who say “I don’t believe in predestination” believe what they do. Most people who reject the idea of “God determines everything” do so because they believe that people make real choices in this life, for which they are responsible. Therefore, they feel they must reject most of what has been said in the previous four sections of this essay, even though so many Bible verses point to it.
However, what if you didn’t have to stop believing all that? I, for one, haven’t abandoned those beliefs! I agree with the people who say that people make real choices and are responsible for the choices that they make. After all, there are dozens and dozens of Bible verses which also assume that worldview. Let me show you a few:
But if it doesn’t please you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship: the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh.” ~ Joshua 24:15
Notice that Joshua thinks that the people he is speaking to have a choice – they can choose to worship Yahweh (God’s primary Old Testament name) or they could choose to worship false gods. This verse doesn’t specifically say that the Israelites had the ability to choose to follow Yahweh, but it assumes it.
Here’s another verse - this time from the New Testament - that makes the same assumption:
Then the jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ~ Acts 16:29-31
In this conversation - between the non-Christian jailer and the Christian Paul and Silas - the answer to the question, “What must I do to be saved” was not, “Well, buddy, there is nothing that you can do. You are either predestined or not.” No, Silas and Paul told the jailer about the decision that he could make – a decision that would determine whether he was “saved” or not.
It might be helpful to keep in mind that the Paul speaking in this passage is the same man who wrote, “And those [God] predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified..” Yes, the same man who wrote that verse is the man who, in this story, is instructing an unbeliever to make a decision for faith in Jesus Christ.
So, what am I saying? Let me be clear: I am saying that even though I believe God ordains everything that happens, I also believe that somehow we, as humans, make real choices for which we are responsible.
How can those things both be true simultaneously?
I do not know. I simply believe that the Bible teaches both, and so I hang on to both as true. That may sound illogical to some people, but that’s not a big concern of mine. I’ve determined to trust what the Bible says is true, even if I can’t wrap my head around how it could be true.
For now, I am content with noticing that the Bible doesn’t seem to think that any of its “predestination” passages contradict any of its “you-have-a-choice-to-make” passages.
The Story of Joseph Gives Us a Framework For This
Let me end by illustrating this with one last story from the Old Testament. The story of Joseph found in Genesis 37-50.
In that story, we see that there are two levels of causation found in the story: Joseph’s brothers choose to sell him into slavery so that he ends up in Egypt (Gen. 37:28) and God chooses to send Joseph to Egypt to bring about a great deliverance (Gen. 45:7-8.) But here’s what is unusual; those are two perspectives on the same event. It is not that the brothers were responsible for one event while God caused something else to happen on a different occasion. It was the exact same event.
Who caused Joseph to end up in Egypt? According to Genesis it was his brothers and God. Well, sure. But who was responsible for this decision? Well, we shall see that the answer is: his brothers and God. Notice what Joseph says to his brothers at the end of Genesis:
You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result – the survival of many people. ~ Genesis 50:20.
So, whose decision was it? This passage shows that Joseph believed it was simultaneously both a “plan” of his brothers and a “plan” of God. And when his brothers did it, they were evil for doing it. And they were responsible for the evil that they did. And yet when God did it (keep in mind we are talking about the same “it”), it was for good. God was responsible for the good that resulted from that decision.
The reason that I point this out, is that it appears to me that the writer of Genesis (and this is true of other writers of other parts of the Bible as well) didn’t have a problem believing that somehow Joseph’s brothers made a real choice for which they were morally responsible, and yet God was also somehow determining what was taking place.
If Moses (the writer of Genesis) was fine with thinking those two things can coexist, so am I.
Conclusion
You don’t have to believe any of this. In fact, you shouldn’t say that you do if you didn’t find this particularly convincing. But my hope is that this essay helps you be able to empathize with and better understand where some of your brothers and sisters are coming from. Seeing it from their angle (even if you remain unconvinced) can bring a peace and unity to your next Bible study. And as far as it is possible on your part, you should live at peace with everyone (Rom. 12:18.)
I'd like to give special thanks to my seminary professor, John Frame, and his book The Doctrine of God, for drawing my attention to many of these verses and helping me think through this issue.
