No doctrine has been more opposed, misrepresented, or caricatured than the doctrine of predestination. To mention it to some people is like waving the proverbial red flag before an enraged bull. One reason why many people are so opposed to predestination is because they simply do not know what this doctrine is. Such ignorance is not surprising if one con­siders the almost complete lack of Bible knowledge, even among professing Christians.

Anyone who is familiar with Scripture, however, should know that the main theme from Genesis to Revelation is the sovereign rule of God over everything that happens in the universe. To say it in other words, the message of the Bible is that behind all apparent confusion of this world lies the eternal counsel or plan of God. That plan concerns the perfecting of a people called Israel, and the restoring of a world lost in sin, by means of the sacrifice of Christ, the Son of God. God governs human affairs with this end in view, and human history is a record of the out-working of His purposes. That God has a plan should not surprise anyone. Don't we all make plans before we set out to do something? Regardless of how some people may reject predestination, in theory all of us in our everyday life are practical predestinarian.

Before an architect begins with the actual construction of his edifice, he makes his blueprints on which he marks every minute detail. Before the first stone is laid, the complete building already exists in the architect's mind. The more complex the enterprise, the more necessary it is to have a good plan; otherwise everything will end in failure. If this is true of man, why should it be different with God? I for one, cannot conceive of God bringing into existence this whole complex universe without a plan covering every minute detail.

But whether I can conceive of this or not is not important, of course. What is decisive is that Scripture clearly shows that God indeed has such an all-encompassing plan. The Bible calls this His counsel. In Isaiah 46:9 and 10 we read:

I am God and there is none like me; declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done. This counsel or plan of God is also unchangeable. My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure ... yea, I have spoken, and I will also bring it to pass; I have purpos­ed, I will also do it.

 Isaiah 46:10, 11

Many more Scripture passages could be cited to prove that God has indeed a definite plan which embraces everything. When I say everything, I mean just that. There are no excep­tions. Everything, no matter what it is, has been fixed and determined in God's counsel. This is not fatalism, as is often charged. In the next article some of the objections which are raised against predestination will be dealt with. Now, how­ever, we limit ourselves to a positive statement of this doc­trine. All things are foreordained by God including man's salvation or damnation. If all things are planned by God, man's salvation or damnation cannot be exempt from this rule.

Lest anyone think that predestination is based only on logical inference and deductions, let me hasten to add that it is plainly taught by Scripture. The Bible makes it abun­dantly clear that when some men are saved and others are lost, neither of these two things comes as a surprise to God. Both come to pass because He has planned them. I can imagine that at this point someone will say, "I cannot accept that. The idea that God would determine in advance who is going to be saved and who is not is something I just cannot accept." I am not surprised at this reaction. The doctrine of God's sovereignty in salvation has never been popular with man, by nature. Because this doctrine humbles man, he will either reject predestination altogether or explain it in such a way that it becomes more palatable.

The Arminian says, "Predestination is taught by Scrip­ture, but what does it mean? It means nothing more than that God has predestined to salvation those whom He knew would believe in Christ. God knows beforehand what the choice is going to be, but He does not determine that choice. "

This view is widely held. The decision whether or not a man will be saved, is made to depend ultimately on man, not on God. Calvinists reject this view. The issue before us is this: Is a man predestined by God to salvation because he believes in Christ, or is he enabled to believe in Christ because he is predestined? Don't say this is a purely academic question or a theological subtlety. I am convinced this is a very important question which concerns the well-being of the Church.

Let us turn to the Bible, our final court of appeal. If anything is clear, already in the Old Testament, it is that God is sovereign in all matters, including salvation. Scripture knows nothing of a God Who foreknows, but Who does not foreordain. Nowhere in the Old Testament do we meet a God Who has to wait until man has made up his mind to choose for or against Him. On the contrary, God is described as the absolute Master of the human heart. Jeremiah says that God can change hearts, taking the old heart out and putting a new one in its place. This is a symbolic way of saying that man's actions, springing from his heart, do not lie outside of God's plan, but form an integral part of it. God, according to the Old Testament, is King, and He is King with an absolute sovereignty which admits to no qualifications or exceptions whatsoever.

It is in the exercise of that absolute sovereignty that God chose Israel. His choice of that people was not due to any greatness in that people. Only sovereign grace singled her out from many other nations. This applies also to the salva­tion of individuals — they are saved only by sovereign grace. This is very clear from the New Testament.

Jesus offered salvation. Some accepted it and some turn­ed away. Why? Simply because the former decided for Christ and the latter against Him? Our Lord Himself supplies the answer.

I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou host hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

Do you hear it? It seemed good in God's sight. There, according to Christ, lies the ultimate reason why some received a saving knowledge of God and some did not.

The same doctrine is taught in the book of Acts. Why was it that some believed Paul's message, while others rejected it? Because some made the right decisions and others did not? Certainly, this is part of it, but ultimately it was God Who gave faith to some, while withholding it from others. Let me quote the exact words of Luke. As many as were ordained to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48). Here we have the doctrine of predestination in a nutshell. Only those peo­ple who believed were predestinated to salvation. They were not predestinated because they believed, but they were enabled to believe because they were predestinated.

This fundamental truth, namely that God's choice is never used on anything in man, is illustrated even more clearly in Romans 9. Speaking of Jacob and Esau, Paul says:

For the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said unto her (Rebecca), the elder shall serve the younger. Even as it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hated.

But is this fair? Is this just? Doesn't Paul attribute par­tiality to God? These are only some of the objections which have been and are still being raised against predestination. Paul deals with these objections in Romans 9:14-24, summing it all up in verse 20: Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God?

I realize that what I have said thus far is very incomplete. Lest anyone should have misunderstood predestination, let me say what it does not mean. Predestination does not mean that when God chooses some rather than others to salvation, He does so arbitrarily and without a good reason, mysterious though the reason may be to us. It does not mean either that God takes pleasure in the death of a sinner, or that the door of grace is closed to anyone who will enter in.

Spurgeon says in one of his sermons on election:

I frequently meet people who are fretting and worry­ing themselves about this thought — What if I should not be elect! O sir, they say, I know I put my trust in Jesus; I know I believe in His name and trust in His blood; but what if I should not be elect? Poor dear creature! You do not know much about the gospel, or you would never talk so, for he that believes is elect. Those who are elect, are elect unto faith in Christ, and if you have faith you are one of God's elect ... If you, as a sinner, look to Jesus ... and say:

Nothing in my hands I bring,

Simply to the cross I cling, you are elect ... You were loved of God from before the foundation of the world, for you would not do that unless God had given you the power, and had chosen you to do it.

Is Christ your only hope for salvation? Do you believe in Him? Have no fear. You are one of God's chosen people. For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

We have seen that predestination refers to the all-encompassing plan or counsel of God, the unfolding of which man calls history. Everything that happens, including the eternal salvation of some men and the just punishment of others for their sins, has been fixed or determined by the almighty and sovereign God.

Salvation, therefore, does not ultimately depend upon any act of the human will, not even on the act of faith in Christ. Faith itself is a gift which God bestows only on those whom He has predestined to salvation. A sinner is not predestinated to salvation because he believes, but he is enabled to believe, because he is predestinated.

Although this is the clear teaching of Scripture, many peo­ple, even many Christian people have much difficulty with predestination. The common objection against predestina­tion is that it reduces man to a mere puppet or automaton. If God had determined everything that comes to pass, how can a man be held accountable for what he does, or fails to do? In other words, the charge is that predestination is in­consistent with the moral responsibility of man. This is a serious charge which deserves careful attention.

Admittedly, the question concerning the relationship be­tween God's sovereignty and man's responsibility is a dif­ficult one. It has been called the Gordian knowledge of theology. As the history of theology shows, man is always inclined to stress the one at the expense of the other. Some theologians have been so concerned to safeguard God's sovereignty, that they virtually denied human responsibility. Others, in their anxiety to maintain man's responsibility, have magnified it beyond all due proportions, until God's sovereignty has been lost from sight, and in many instances flatly denied. Yet, the solution to this problem is not to be found in the denial or weakening of either divine sovereign­ty or human responsibility, but rather in the affirmation of both.

As Lorraine Boettner says,

…the same God Who has ordained all events, has ordained human liberty in the midst of these events, and this liberty is as surely fixed as anything else. Man is no mere automaton or machine. In the divine plan which is infinite in variety and complexity, God has ordained that human beings shall keep their liberty under His sovereignty. That man is indeed a free agent was recognized by the authors of the Westminster Confes­sion; for immediately after declaring that God has freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass, they added: "Yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.

The doctrine of predestination does not mean that those who are predestinated to eternal life are saved against their will. On the contrary, only those who willingly embrace Christ as He is offered to us in the Gospel, are saved.

But when a man puts his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ does that act of his will lie outside the purpose of God? No, it is very much a part of the divine plan. Perhaps an example from the Bible will help. When Paul was in the ship being taken from Alexandria as a prisoner to Rome, he said to the frightened sailors and passengers: There shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. He said this as a prophet, having received supernatural information. God had revealed part of His eternal plan to Paul. It was predes­tinated that no one on that ship was to lose his life. Their safety was guaranteed before it was accomplished. But what does Paul say to the ship's company a little later? Pay atten­tion to what he said. Except these abide in the ship, ye can­not be saved. The sailors had been about to flee from the ship in the lifeboat. To stop them, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.

He had just finished telling them that they would all be preserved alive. Paul had God's Word for it; it was all predestinated. Yet, now Paul tells them that that which was absolutely certain to take place, would not take place unless a certain condition was fulfilled. It would not take place unless the sailors stayed in the ship.

Did Paul's insistence on this condition destroy the certainty of the working out of God's plan? Not at all. Why not? Because the fulfillment of that condition was just as much part of God's plan as the safety of the ship's company. It was certainly true that the ship's company would not be saved unless the sailors stayed in the ship. But that did not involve any risk that God's plan might be frustrated. The sailors did remain in the ship, and so the original prophecy was fulfilled. They did not remain in the ship by chance. No, they were, although unaware of it, under the guiding hand of God. The centurion and the soldiers who kept them from escaping in the lifeboat were God's instruments in seeing to the final accomplishment of God's plan.

If we can learn anything from this example it is that when the final result is foreordained by God, all the steps to it are also foreordained. Applying this to the matter of faith and salvation, we see that God has predestinated some men to salvation, just as He predestinated those men of the ship to the preservation of their earthly lives. Yet, in both cases the fulfillment of a condition was necessary to the accomplish­ment of the final result. The men on that ship were all predestinated to survive the disaster; yet none of them would have made it safely to shore if those sailors had gotten away in the lifeboat.

Likewise, the elect are all predestinated to eternal salva­tion; yet they will not be saved unless they come to faith in Jesus Christ. According to Scripture, however, such faith in Christ is due only to the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. It takes a miracle, that of the new birth, before a sin­ner will savingly believe in Jesus Christ. Yet, that wonder­ful act of God in the sinner's heart does not do violence to his freedom as a person. As the Canons of Dort, a great Calvinistic creed, say:

This grace of regeneration does not treat men as senseless stocks and blocks, nor take away their will and its properties, or do violence thereto; but it spiritually quickens, heals, corrects, and at the same time sweetly and powerfully bonds it, that where car­nal rebellion and resistance formerly prevailed, a ready and sincere spiritual obedience begins to reign in which the true and spiritual restoration and freedom of our will consist.

The eternal plan of God, and even its execution at the new birth, are not at all incompatible with our freedom and responsibility as personal beings. But what about those who are not saved and ultimately perish in unbelief? Do they perish against their will? No. It is true, they perish because they did not believe in Christ, but they did not believe in Him because they did not want to. In the Day of Judgement this will be their condemnation, that they preferred the darkness to the light, that they would not come to the light, because their works were evil. They will go to hell because they preferred the things of the world to the things of God. Not a single human being in history has desired salvation and been turned down. Not a single soul has ever sincerely prayed for eternal life and failed to receive it. Therefore, no one will be able to say to God, "I would have to come to Christ, but He would not have me." No soul will be able to say, "I desired life, but Thou gayest me death." That is impossible!

Many object to the doctrine of predestination and say, if this is true, there is nothing I can do to be saved. But the point usually is that these people don't even want to be saved. When the Gospel is preached to them, they reject it. They don't like its terms. Faith and repentance? "No, sir, that's not for me." A life of sanctification and self-denial? "No thanks, I'm not interested. I would rather have my sins."

That is always the reaction of man by nature. He does not want to be saved. And God always gives a person exactly what he wants. If you prefer to live without God in the world, you will live without Him in the next world too. If Christ and His salvation mean nothing to you here, what would you do in heaven, where the redeemed are constantly singing His praises? You would feel out of place there, wouldn't you?

Sad to say, this is the condition of every human being as he comes into the world. No one by nature, is concerned about God and His Son Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul describes the condition of us all in Ephesians 2. He says to the Ephesian Christians that before their conversion they were dead in trespasses and sins, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, children of wrath, having no hope and without God in the world. But out of that lost race of men God had decided to save some. That is what the doctrine of predestination is. After Paul has described the terrible con­dition of man by nature he says:

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. But God — this is the Gospel.

God could have left all men in their sin and misery. He was under no obligation to pro­vide salvation for anyone. But He did choose some, and those whom He chose were no better than the others who were passed by and left to their own evil devices and choices.

Many people object to the doctrine of God's sovereign elec­tion because, as Machen says: It writes God entirely too large and man entirely too small to suit our human pride. But those who are saved by faith in Jesus Christ know that his doc­trine, distasteful as it may be to man by nature, is yet the only solid ground of hope. Little hope we would have, if our salvation depended on ourselves. If God did not draw us out of the darkness of sin, we would never come to His marvelous light in Christ Jesus.

There lies your only hope — in God's eternal counsel! Not in your love for God, or faith in Christ, or anything else that is in you. But in that wonderful, though mysterious counsel of God, from which flow all spiritual blessings such as faith in Christ, love to God, and everything else we need to live and die happily.