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Predestination
Intro.
A. Basic doctrine of Calvinism is predestination
(foreordination) of individuals to reward & punishment.
1. The idea is God, before earth formed, with no regard
to will of man, predestinated certain people to eternal life & others
to eternal damnation.
B. The great proof texts of the Calvinist for this
doctrine are: Eph. 1:4-5,11; Rom 8:29-30; Acts 13:48
1. Conclusion drawn from these passages by John Calvin,
& Augustine centuries before him, that God arbitrarily elected certain
individuals to salvation & condemned all others is entirely wrong.
2. Definitely a type of predestination is taught in the
verses, but not the Calvinistic kind.
a. King James Version uses word
"predestinate" in Eph. 1:5,11 and
Rom. 8:29-30. ASV uses the word "foreordain." Mean
essentially the same, "To set out beforehand, to ordain before."
I. GOD GIVES MAN THE FREEDOM OF CHOICE.
A. God gave Adam and Eve the freedom of choice. Gen.
2:16-17
1. The choice was plain: obey and live or disobey and
die.
2. They chose through their own will and the tempting
of Satan to disobey.
3. Who’s willing to say that since God foreknew
outcome, He forced Adam and Eve to sin? James 1:13-14
B. We, too, are given a choice. Joshua said, -- Joshua
24:15
1. Men likewise today need to make a choice as to which
God they will serve--whether the god of wealth, pleasure, popularity,
worldly wisdom, or the one true God.
2. Mary chose that good part which shall not be taken
away. Luke 10:42
3. The Psalmist said -- Psalm 119:30
II. GOD IS NOT A RESPECTER OF PERSONS.
A. 2 Chron. 19:7; 1 Pet. 1:17
B. Why then did God bestow special favor on some?
1. God had respect to Able. Gen. 4:4-5 - Were
Cain and Able predestinated to good or evil? No, Able acted by faith. Heb.
11:4
2. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Gen.
6:8 - The next verse shows why.
C. God has respect for the character of man, not the
person of man.
1. God has respect unto the humble. Psalm 138:6
2. Those who fear Him and work
righteousness are accepted. Acts 10:34-35
3. Those who obey the truth will be rewarded. Rom.
2:6-11
D. God has not exempted anyone from the opportunity to
obtain eternal life. 1 Tim. 2:4 “who desires all men to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”; 2 Pet. 3:9
1. God does not show respect to anyone separate and
apart from their actions.
III. SALVATION IS NOT WHOLLY DEPENDENT ON GOD.
A. The origin of salvation is utterly dependent on God.
Eph. 2:4-10
1. There was nothing that man did that caused God to
plan to give His grace. Titus 3:5
B. The reception of salvation is dependent on man.
1. Reception of salvation comes through meeting the
conditions God provided through His grace.
C. Some think that the grace of God and works are
incompatible.
1. On the contrary, salvation is by both grace and
works.
a. Gift. If and when you meet the conditions, will you
have actually earned it? No, it was a gift; you simply received it by
meeting the conditions. So it is with the grace of God.
D. God placed on man responsibility of obtaining
salvation which He foreordained (predestinated). God Foreordained:
1. The gospel. 1 Cor. 2:7-8; 2 Tim. 1:9-10 Man
must obey gospel to receive benefits of it. 1 Pet. 4:17
2. That Christ should die for man. 1 Pet. 1:19-20;
Rev. 13:8 Must obey Christ to receive blessings. Heb. 5:9
3. That redemption would be in Christ (Eph. 1:4-7),
but man must put on Christ. Gal. 3:26-27
4. The church (Eph. 3:9-11), but one must be
baptized into the church to be part of it. 1 Cor. 12:13
E. Salvation most assuredly comes through the call
& grace of God, but this call & grace is extended through the
gospel. 2 Thess. 2:14; Titus 2:11-12
1. Nowhere does Bible teach- God condemns or saves
someone against his will or apart from his will; rather, it takes an
exercise of his will.
IV. THE GREAT PROOF TEXTS EXAMINED.
A. Eph. 1:4-5,11.
1. The Calvinists say this teaches that certain
individuals are predestinated & others aren’t. They claim that if
one were not of those predestinated, he’s eternally damned &
there is nothing he can do about it.
2. However, it is a particular group of class of people
that God chose before He made the world. It is those "in him,"
that is, those "in Christ."
a. Verse 4a -- Paul and the others were part of that
class which God chose before the foundation of the world. Those "in
Christ" (this class or group) are the predestinated ones.
b. Verse 4b -- The kind of life they should live was
predestinated.
c. Verse 5 -- The adoption was predestinated.
d. Verse 11 -- We are the heirs of eternal life because
we are of that predestinated group.
3. God predestined before making world that He would
choose those in Christ. Now up to us to be of those in Christ.
B. Rom. 8:29-30
1. This passage is a statement of God's entire purpose.
a. God has often spoken of things that were not as
though they were. Rom. 4:17
b. God is speaking of His entire plan in this fashion.
c. Those whom He foreknew are the ones He
predestinated. The ones He predestinated are the ones He called. The ones
He called are the ones He justified and the ones He justified are the ones
that He will eventually glorify.
d. Again, it is the class or group which He foreknew,
predestinated, called, etc., and not a random selection of certain
individuals.
e. This class that He predestinated constituted the
called or the elect.
(1) Some misunderstand the thought of the
"elect." They think that if one is not of the "elect,"
he is just out of luck, is eternally damned, and there's nothing he can do
about it.
(2) It is not an arbitrary election, but an election
upon certain conditions.
(3) The election is through sanctification of the
Spirit unto obedience. 1 Pet. 1:2
2. Some get confused on the thought that God foreknows.
The fact that God foreknows in no wise means that He causes them to happen.
a. He foreknew fall of man and made preparation for it,
but did not cause Adam and Eve to sin.
b. He foreknew that Christ would need to die for man,
but did not kill Christ or cause Him to die.
c. He purposed & planned the church before the
world, yet didn’t force some into it & bar others.
d. He foretold of one to betray Jesus (Zech.
11:12-13), but didn't make Judas betray the Lord. Judas himself allowed
Satan to enter his heart. Luke 22:3
e. Some think that since God knows, there is nothing
they can do. God knows that some are foolish enough to accept the
Calvinistic doctrine of predestination.
(1) The thing
that will cause them to be lost is not because God foreknew, but because
they were foolish enough to accept it.
C. Acts 13:48
1. He doesn’t say that as many as were ordained
to eternal life were given eternal life apart from own will.
2. Belief is made a condition. Thus, as many as were
predestinated, put on Christ, or met the conditions.
3. The class--"in Christ"--are the ones
ordained to eternal life.
4. The verse can be arranged in this fashion: "As
many as believed became part of those who were ordained to eternal life."
Concl.
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