There has been for years a teaching in countless of different religious groups a theory that man is predestined or their eternal fate is determined at the birth of each individual.

Now it is very clear teaching in the Word of God that God has chosen or predestined certain things to be. An example of this fact is that God has predestined that all mankind will be judged at the end of this world as we know it. (Eccl. 12:14, Matt. 25:31-33, John 5:26-29, Acts 17:31, 2 Cor. 5:10, Heb. 9:27)

This type of teaching of predestination is entirely within Gods appropriate exercise of His divine rule. But it is the teaching that God chooses without rhyme or reason the outcome of this judgment for each of us before we are even born is what I strongly object.

It is my hope with this study that we can search out the truth of God's word and uncover the falsehood of this manipulation of scripture so that we can be better equipped to proclaim the truth of God and lead men and women out of the darkness of false doctrines into the glorious light of Gods eternal truth.

l.) Reasons Why God Could Not Predestine Man’s Eternal Destiny:

A. It would make God partial: Acts 10:34-35, Rom 2:10-11, 2 Chr 19:7, Job 34:19

Acts 10:34-35

34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is
accepted with him.
(KJV)                                    

This teaching causes man to see God as some bias ruler that has a preference to certain types of people.

Does it seem right for God to say that all blonde hair, blue eyed and light skinned people were the only ones going to heaven? That would leave anyone that has dark hair, brown eyes and dark skin without hope. But that is not the way that God works.

Job 34:19

19 How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor

regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.

B. It Would Make God Evil:

To say that God randomly chooses some men to right so that they can go to Heaven and make some men do wrong so that they have to go to Hell would make him evil and unjust for not allowing all men to go to Heaven. Col 3:23-25

23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done:

and there is no respect of persons.

(KJV)

C. It Would Make God Responsible For All Sin That is Committed: 1 John 3:4-10, John 13:2 & 26-27

The thought that God causes man to sin goes against His holy nature. To teach that God can cause one to sin is totally against the teaching of Gods Word. I Jn 3:4-10

4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:

whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not

his brother.

(KJV)

This passage of scripture clearly shows us that God is the father of right living

and all that is good and the devil is the father of all sin.

 

This scripture is backed up in the word by the passages of scripture that teach us

of Judas's betrayal of Christ.

John 13:2

2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas

Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;

(KJV)

John 13:24-27

24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.

25 He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?

26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.

27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That

thou doest, do quickly.

(KJV)

Who was the cause of the sinful action of the disciple of Christ? Satan, not God.

And if God is responsible for our sinful actions, then man would be relieved of all responsibility or consequence of sin. We can read in Gods word that there have been many that have had to pay the consequences for their actions. (Achan in Joshua 7:l & 18-2; Ananias & Sapphira in Acts 5:1-10)

D. It Denies That Man Has Freedom of Will: (Deut 30:15-20, John 3:16-19)

If God were to predestine the eternal fate of man then that would make man unable to have freedom of choice.  He would be forced to live a life of evil and sin even if he desire to do right or vice versa.  But we can find substancal proof in the word that teaches us against this thought.   Deut 30:15-20:

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn

away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

181 denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye

shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan

to go to possess it.

191 call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set

before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that

both thou and thy seed may live:

20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his

voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the

length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD

sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

(KJV)

Here we see that as far back as the days of Moses that God was giving men and

women the choice of whom they would serve, God or the world.

It is our own decision if we want to obey the voice of God or if we want turn our hearts from him and live our own way.

John 3:16-19

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men

loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

(KJV)

Jesus came that man may have a choice of salvation.

2.) Scriptures That Disproves the Doctrine of Individual Predestination:

A. The provisions of salvation are for everyone: ( Heb. 2:9, 2 Cor 5:14-15, 1 Tim 2:5-6,Rom 5:18-19, 1 John 2:2)

All of these scriptures show us plainly that the doctrine of limited atonement is a trick of the devil to try and steer us from salvation.

The doctrine of predestination teaches that only a select few can be won to the Lord. But the Bible clearly teaches that Christ has died so that all men can recieve salvation, not just a certain group.

B. The call of salvation is universal: (Rev 22:17, John 12:32, Titus 2:11, Matt 11:28-30, John 7:37, John 3:16 )

These verses allow us to see that Christ is calling all to salvation. His plea is universal, to who ever wants to recieve it or claim it.

Now if we were predestined by the almighty all of these scriptures would be false and that would cause God to be a hypocrite because only certain ones can be saved.

C. God is actively and openly desirous of saving all men: (2 Peter 3:9, John 3:16, 1 Tim 1:15, 1 Tim 4:10, 1 Tim 2:3-4)

God has not just pick a certain bunch that he wants to save and help escape eternal damnation, but he is desiring that all that will heed his call to come.

D. Salvation is determined on how man responses to God's call:( Mark 16:15-16, John 5:39-40, Acts 13:44-46, Acts 16:31,Rom 1:16,Deut 30:15)

How can man read these scriptures and have one ounce of common sense and still believe that God predetermines who will be saved.

3.) Explanation of Some Text That Speak of Predestination:

A. Predestination is to a way of life, not a way of determining who will accept that way of life: (Eph 1:3-14, 2:10)

When we read these scriptures we can see that they are not speaking about certain ones being chosen beforehand to be saved. But they are relating to us that God has predestined that His people, the ones that chose to follow him and accept his Son as saviour, live a certain type of lifestyle. And that is a holy and blameless one.

It is not our salvation that has been ordained from the foundations of the world, but it is the possibility of our salvation and the way that we live after we are saved.

 

B. Selection of a person or a group of people for a certain task: Acts 13:2-3 & 47-48; Rom 11:13 & 15:15-16; 1 Cor 9:27

We can read throughout Gods word that the Jews were Gods chosen people. But this is not an injustice on the part of God, for even though he chose them particularly, we see that they had to live up to Gods standards to receive his blessings.

But also we see different places where God reached out to people from different nationalities as well.

We read in Joshua 2 about a lady named Rahab that was a Canaanite prostitute but she help the spies of Israel and they saved her and her family. But we see her again where, In Matt 1:5 and find that she is the mother of Boaz the husband of Ruth, who was the grandmother of Jesse, who was the daddy of King David, who we all know Christ came from this linage.

So even though the Jewish people were Gods chosen or elect, The Messiah came from the loins of a Canaanite.

I also believe that Paul was called of God to win the Gentile nations to Christ. Acts 13:2-3

2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

(KJV)

Acts 13:47-48

47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.   (KJV)

Rom 11:13

13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles,

I magnify mine office:   (KJV)

Rom 15:15-16

15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God,

16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering

the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable,

being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

(KJV)

We can see here that Paul was elected of God to preach to the Gentiles but that

didn't mean that he didn't have no choice in the matter and that God could not get

anyone else. Or that Paul couldn't ever be unfit to do it.

1 Cor 9:27

27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any

means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

(KJV)

It is just telling us that if we will be obedient to God that God will use us to win the

world and do his will on Earth.

The Jews as a whole are lost and Paul or any other preacher could very well be also.

C. God did predestine certain acts to be done: Mark 10:35-37, Mark 8:31-33, Acts 2:23

There are certain scriptures in the Bible that may lead some to say that God caused so and so act in a certain way to cause a certain thing to happen. One such case is with the betrayal of Christ. Some say that Judas was destined to turn over the Lord, that he had no choice. But I believe that with a closer look at scripture that we can see that it could have been any of the disciples that betrayed the Lord.

How many times do we see that Jesus has to get on Peter for stepping out of line, let us look at this text in; Mark 8:31-33

31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked

Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things

that be of God, but the things that be of men.

(KJV)

Jesus wasn't saying that Peter himself was turning into the devil, he was saying that the devil was trying to us Peter to get to Christ.

Let us look at; Mark 10:35-41

35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.

36 And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?

37 They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.

38 But Jesus said unto them, Te know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

39 And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

40 But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.

41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James

and John.

(KJV)

James and John was two of Christ most faithful followers but yet the devil was tempting them with pride and power, trying to cause division among the 12.

The only difference in these and Judas was that Judas caved in, not that he was chosen, he was just weak.

 

We also see that God destined the crucifixion of Christ but not the crucifiers.

Acts 2:23

23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of

God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

(KJV)

As with the case before it was the action not the actors that were predestined.

The Word of God at no time has ever stated that God has infringed on the personal freedom of anyone.

D. Various text use the term elect or election: 2 Peter 1:5-10

The word "elect" is used 13 times in the New Testament and "election" is used 6. And everytime it is referring to the ones that are saved not to an act of God choosing who will be saved.

If this was so an unsaved person that was marked for future salvation would be apart of Gods elect even while they were living for the devil.

To show that our election is not a absolute condition lets go to; 2 Pet 1:5-10

5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and

election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

(KJV)

4.) Some Evils of the Doctrine of Individual

Predestination:

A. It tends to promote Fatalism:

Fatalism is the teaching that all events are subject to fate or predestined. In other words, Whatever will be, will be.

B. It destroys the missionary spirit:

Why would we worry about others if God had already decided who was making it and who was not. The chosen will be saved and the ones that aren't will not be saved and there is no need in preaching or soul winning because there is nothing that can be done.

C. It makes God responsible for sin, not man:

This gives the sinner an excuse to live the way he does.

D. It causes some to reject Christ because they assume they are not chosen:

Anything that causes a man to put off salvation for another time or a better time is an evil doctrine.

E. It denies the major theme of scripture:

In other words it makes the Bible false and just another book not the Divine word of God.

This Bible Lesson posted 10/13/2005 - Pastor Anthony T. Molihan, Stanton First Church of God