Are we predestined to be saved or lost?
By the foreknowledge of God and through His infinite wisdom God knows the future and what the outcome of our choices would be,
Knowing this, isn’t it true that the outcome of my salvation is pre-determined? Is my quest for salvation just a matter of going through the already determined motions, is there any need for making an extra effort to serve God – What will be will be! It’s all about how the cards are stacked. – WRONG!
Make no mistake, God Chose you to decide to follow Him and He made it possible for everyone to inherit eternal life. John 3:16-17 John 1:12 But the decision is yours to take. Your final destination will be determined by your own choosing – The choices you now make, is still the determining factor of where you would spend eternity.
God, having a foreknowledge of the outcome of your choices, whether it be for, or against Him, isn’t determining your choices, neither is it deciding for you.
Your eternal life is based on your own decisions, not Gods. In the judgment, God will merely honor the choices you had made.
At creation, God in His infinite wisdom and mercy could have saved us into His Kingdom before sin ever happened. Looking at the mess of sin, God could have decided to turn future into history, saving us form a life of pain and misery. God already knew how things would play out, Why didn’t He finish it all then.
Making this request, is asking God to Judge you based on decisions you did not make yet, decisions you never experienced for yourself.
If you are judged in this way, you would be accepted or rejected without a personal experience. You would not have knowledge of your choices?
Should God accept or reject you, based on future decisions, decisions you never lived out, Justice would not be served.
Think about the consequences; I think about those who would lose their eternal life. They would have a very strong case against God. They could argue and say: God, I know, you say, that given the choice, I would have chosen to be lost; but I never lived it. You tell me that I am lost, lost because I would not have listened to the Holy Spirits still small voice, but I never had your Holy Spirit in the first place. I hear you accusations, judging that I would have rejected the Bibles message, but I never even knew that there were such a thing as a Bible.
You say that I would have rebelled, even after Jesus would have died for my sins, but, Jesus never died for me in the first place. God, you are imagining things!
So, how can you justly condemn me, seeing that I never experienced a life of sin – I never lived it! – And the Devil will say, see, I told you so! He is an unjust God! And the angels would question Gods motives, the fairness of His judgments and they could fall for Lucifer’s accusations.
Well ok, you say, this makes sense, but what about satan and his imps. Surely, God could have wiped the devil from existence, before he created Adam and Eve, then Jesus would not have had to die and sin would never have been.
Wait a minute, Look at the bigger picture: The controversy between God and Satan is centered on our worship.
This great controversy has turned into a court case - God is on trial. Satan accused God of being unjust. The accusation was made that God caused the angels to serve Him, without free will, and a third of the angels sided with the accuser – Now Gods Character is put to the test. It must be revealed - Is He just, or is He a dictator.
This showdown between God and Satan is focused on our worship – Our allegiance, choosing whom we will accept as Lord of our lives or not. Would we worship God or would we choose to obey the Devil.
Look at it this way, Satan has sinned, now what? If God would have eliminated Him, the other angels would have had, very good reason, to doubt God. – Watch out guys, Lucifer accused God of being unjust and God zapped him- poof! I guess he must have had a point – Be afraid be very afraid, God destroys those who expose Him – We better watch our step.
Yes, God could have destroyed Satan right then and there, but He had a better plan. Instead, He would let Satan show his true colors. Instead of eliminating him, God created humans to whom He would show His grace. He gave Satan the opportunity to temp us and to cause us to fall into sin. This would reveal that Satan is a liar and a deceiver and God is just and Love
Human beings would have the opportunity to choose whom they will serve – With free will, they could choose to serve God out of love or they could choose to obey Satan.
Satan’s character is revealed, He proves himself to be a Killer and the father of all lies, – That he do not deserve our worship.
Through the gift of His son, God’s character of love is showcased. God would give His only begotten son to die in our place, making Him the focus of our adoration. – Satan is a liar and a deceiver, he came to kill and destroy – Jesus came to seek the Lost. Satan’s government is built upon hatred and revenge. God is longsuffering and He pardons through his gift of grace – God is Love.
Your future is not determined, and your salvation depends on the decisions, you now make. Judgment is honoring those choices. Those who now live for God, will always live with Him, those who reject Him now, will be without Him forever.
Hebrews 3:13-15
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end;
15 While it is said, today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
