NOTE: New Light Faith Ministries and Barry Johnson Ministries, founded by Rodney V. Johnson and Barry O. Johnson, respectively, are partnering to offer Bible studies for Christians who are seeking to grow in their relationship with Jesus. This is a Bible study lesson, not a sermon. The Bible studies teach foundational truths that are designed to challenge, encourage, and, most importantly, flame the fire of hunger in the Christian who wants to learn more about who they have become in Christ Jesus. The Bible studies you find on this site contain the written version of the lesson. However, these lessons also include a video and an audio file of the study, a PDF version of the lesson, and a sheet for note-taking. If you would like any of the additional resources for these studies, please email us at newlightfaithministries@gmail.com or bjteachingltr@gmail.com for more information or contact us at the email provided on both of our Sermon Central pages. Be blessed.
Are We Predestined – Part 1
(Rev. Barry Johnson and Rev. Rodney Johnson)
Introduction
How many of you like having the opportunity of having the chance to choose whether or not you will go to heaven and spend eternity with Jesus? How many of you would not be in favor of not having that opportunity to choose and know that you will go to hell and spend an eternity tormented in the lake of fire? But what if you didn’t have the opportunity to choose? What if that decision was made for you before you were born? And, what if you had to spend your entire life not being sure where you would spend your eternity, but desperately wanted to spend it in heaven?
What I have just described is a commonly held belief in some Christian circles and is the topic of our lesson today, the doctrine of predestination or election. This lesson is titled, “Are We Predestined?” Rodney, I’d appreciate it if you would open this first lesson with a word of prayer and then share some of your thoughts about the subject.
If you recall from our last couple of lessons, we discussed the belief that some have that God is in control of everything. In those lessons, we reviewed how this belief impacts our relationship with God and our belief in what He will or will not do for us as His children. We talked about how some believe that trials and tribulations are designed by God to teach us “lessons”. We talked about how people read the story of Job and walk away believing that God is orchestrating things in our lives that both help and, at other times, hurt us to make us stronger. A natural extrapolation from believing that God is in control of everything is to believe that we are predestined to certain things in this life.
Predestination is a topic that has widely different views among Christians. Some see predestination as being essentially identical to divine determinism. Divine determinism is the doctrine that teaches that all of our life choices and what happens in our lives are determined by God. Others view predestination as a non-biblical doctrine. However, when we read the Bible, we see that predestination is mentioned in Acts and in Paul’s writings. We also see language that appears to confirm predestination even though the actual word itself is not used.
In the history of the Church, few doctrines have been as hotly debated as that of predestination. Throughout the centuries, theologians and laypeople have argued whether or not this doctrine, as it’s currently understood and taught, could be true. It has been called the “damnable doctrine of predestination” and others have called it the “sweetest truth in all of God’s Word”. Although books have been written to prove and disprove predestination, many will argue that if God is God, then He can do whatever He pleases and conclude that predestination must be true.
Again, we are faced with the connection between predestination and the prevailing belief that God is in control. Consequently, there is a lot of misunderstanding surrounding this doctrine. Some teach that predestination teaches that God determines who will and who will not go to heaven – whether they want to or not. Or worse, that God will refuse someone into heaven even if they want to go and have confessed that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. When this topic is discussed, whatever your position may be, the same questions come up:
• If the way predestination is currently taught and understood is true, do we have free will?
• If the way predestination is currently taught and understood is true, are we just puppets on a string, doing what God has sovereignly ordained in eternity past?
• If the way predestination is currently taught and understood is true, does that mean God has already decided who will go to heaven and who will go to hell?
• If the way predestination is currently taught and understood is true, why bother with evangelism since whoever is going to be saved will be saved whether we evangelize or don’t evangelize?
• If the way predestination is currently taught and understood is true, if God predestines some people to go to hell, how can they be guilty of sin since they are only doing what God has predestined them to do?
Rodney, as I listened to your questions, I began to understand, even more, why so many in the Church wrestle with the validity of the doctrine of predestination. While Rodney and I probably will not address each question individually in these lessons, we hope that the information that we provide will give you a framework for additional study of the scriptures so that you can decide for yourself the truthfulness of the doctrine.
However, we do want to be clear about this at the very beginning: the Bible does teach predestination. It’s a biblical word used several times in the New Testament. For example, Romans 8:29 says, “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” No one can get around the fact that “predestinate or predestination” is in the Bible.
However, it’s the understanding of what the word means and how it is used that is our focus in these lessons. This is why Rodney and I have prepared this study, and we want to carefully examine the passages where the word is used as we are commanded to do in Second Timothy 2:15 – “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
Judas
Before we go further into this lesson, Rodney and I want to set the stage as to why the proper Biblical understanding of predestination is important. And to do this, let’s examine what we know about Judas, the man who betrayed Christ. Let’s read what the Bible says about Him, both from the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Matthew 26:14-15 says, “(14) Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, (15) and said unto them, ‘What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you?’ And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.” We know that Judas negotiated with the priests to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver – the cost of a slave. When Judas changed his mind and killed himself, the money that he received from the religious leaders was used to purchase a field where he was buried after he committed suicide.
Matthew 27:5-7 say, “(5) And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. (6) And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.’ (7) And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.”
Now let’s look at one final New Testament passage pertaining to Judas and his betrayal of Jesus. Acts 1:16-17,20 says, “(16) Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spoke before concerning Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus. (17) For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry…..(20) For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his office let another take.’”
Rodney is going to take us back hundreds of years before Judas was born and see what the Old Testament says about his betrayal.
In reference to Judas being a friend (disciple) of Jesus and then betraying Him, Psalm 41:9 says, “Yea, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” In reference to the thirty pieces of silver, Judas received for betraying Christ, which he returned and the priest used to buy a potter’s field, Zechariah 11:13 says, “And the LORD said unto me, ‘Cast it unto the potter: a princely price that I was valued at by them.’ And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.” Finally, in a reference to the disciples replacing Judas in the first chapter of Acts, Psalm 109:8 says “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”
We wanted to remind you of this particular story to set the stage for this lesson. Many believe and teach that Judas was predestined to betray Christ because it was prophesied in the Old Testament. If this is the case, then Judas had no choice but to do what he did and, in doing so, was destined for hell even though God told Jesus to select him as one of His twelve disciples. Does this sound like the action of a righteous and just God? Would the loving God that Jesus describes in the gospel of John deliberately sacrifice a person so that His plan of salvation could be fulfilled?
We will come back to Judas later, but we wanted to give you a frame of reference to reflect on as we go through the rest of the lessons. As we go through these lessons, keep this question in the back of your mind: “Did Judas have a choice or did he only do what he was predestined to do?” With this in mind, let’s begin.
Understanding Predestination & Being Called
Rodney, the Easton’s Bible Dictionary, a well-respected reference on the Bible, says the word predestination is “properly used only with reference to God’s plan or the purpose of salvation.” The Greek word for predestination, proorizo (#4309), is found in only six passages in the New Testament, which we will examine in this study. Easton further states that each passage teaches that the eternal, sovereign, immutable, and unconditional decree or “determined purpose” of God governs all events.
Now before we continue, think about what Easton is saying. He says that everything that happens has a preordained purpose established by God. If we believe this is truth, then everything that happens in this world happens as part of God’s “determined purpose.” It’s similar to the issue we examined in the two previous lessons – whether or not God is truly in control of everything that happens. In trying to make sense of the doctrine of predestination or election, Easton says that it belongs to the “secret things” of God. He says that if we take the revealed Word of God as our guide, we must accept this doctrine with all its mysteriousness, and settle our questionings in the humble, devout acknowledgment, “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Your sight.”
Easton’s definition of predestination is the commonly held belief among some Christians. But is this truly how Scripture defines predestination? We believe that the peace of the Church regarding this issue has been disrupted because of the misunderstanding surrounding this word.
Before I continue, let me say this. Rodney and I will reference extra-biblical material to help us in our understanding of a subject, but we do not place the extra-biblical in a higher place of authority in our understanding of a subject than we do the Bible itself. Only the Bible has the final authority in our lives.
Now that we have shared with you how Easton “defines” predestination, let’s talk a little about it in laymen’s terms. The word predestination essentially means to determine something beforehand. In the natural, we do this all the time in our daily lives. It’s called planning. We predetermine what we are going to wear to work each day; sometimes we determine this the night before. We predetermine where we are going and the route we will take to get to their before we get in the car. We predetermine what we need before we go to the grocery store. So predetermination is a natural part of our lives.
And Barry, when we apply this to Scripture, we do see that God predetermines some people to a certain destination (calling, etc.) For example, God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations.” In this verse, we see that God had a calling on Jeremiah’s life before he was formed in his mother’s womb. God had predetermined, or predestined Jeremiah to be a prophet. But Jeremiah also had a choice. He could have chosen not to fulfill his calling as a prophet. He served God during one of Israel’s most wicked periods and there were times when he thought about abandoning his calling. Jeremiah 20:9 records, “But if I say, ‘I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,’ then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it.” I am sure that this is not the only time he struggled with completing his call.
This is just one example of God’s determining what a person would be at birth – which is His prerogative to do, and we see this in Romans 11:29, which says “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” But this is what we must understand, and we will say this again from time to time – even though God has predestined His desires for our lives, it is still our decision whether or not we will walk in them. But this is not the same thing as determining beforehand who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, which is how predestination is often viewed. Our point is this: although the idea of predestination is present in many scriptures, if not explicitly stated in both the Old and New Testaments, we find references to God setting men apart to be His prophets and apostles long before they were ever born (Jeremiah 1:5, Galatians 1:15-16).
Understanding “What” Was Predestined
Rodney let’s begin our examination of predestination with First Corinthians chapter two. The word predestined is seen in verse seven, but we need to read the first 14 verses to see the context in which it is used. “(1) And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. (2) For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (3) I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, (4) and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, (5) so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (6) Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away.” (First Corinthians 2:1-6)
Let’s pause here for a moment. In the notes that we have prepared for this lesson, the word wisdom is highlighted in yellow. So far, wisdom has appeared five times in the first six verses. In the Greek, it’s sophia and means “wisdom, skill, tact, expertise in any art.” It’s the definition that most of us know and understand. Paul talks about both the “wisdom of men” and the “wisdom of God” in these verses, which tells us that they are not the same. We wanted to point this out because it will help you understand the context in which the word predestined is used.
Before we continue, let’s take a moment to distinguish “godly wisdom” from “man’s wisdom”. Turn to James 3. We’re going to read verses 13 through 18. “(13) Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. (14) But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. (15) This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. (16) For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. (17) But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (18) And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:13-18)
The most important point we want you to take away from this passage? James says that the wisdom of God is pure, it’s peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, and good fruits. In other words, it’s the opposite of the wisdom of men as evident in jealousies, selfish ambition, etc. It is not by accident that peace is the fruit of Godly wisdom. When we hear and receive Godly wisdom, it will always, always, and we mean always, produce peace.
Now, let’s go back to First Corinthians 2 and pick up with verse seven. “(7) but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery; the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; (8) the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; (9) but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him. (10) For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. (11) For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, (13) which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. (14) But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” (First Corinthians 2:7-14)
In the context of this passage, what did God predestine? He predestined that He would make available to us His wisdom for our glory, for our salvation. Paul talks about God’s wisdom which was at one time hidden in the past. Here the predestination concerns the gospel message. Ephesians 1:9 tells us “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.” And what was this mystery that He intentionally purposed from before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4), the wisdom that none of the rulers of the world understood (First Corinthians 2:8)? That Jesus would come to earth as God incarnate, die as an atoning sacrifice for our sin, and offer salvation to all who would believe and that His life would become our life.
Colossians 1:26-27 tells us: “(26) that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, (27) to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Because God predestined it, everyone who accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior now has Christ in them, the hope of glory! Praise God! What we see in Second Corinthians 2 is that what God predestined was His wisdom that would reveal the way back to Him for the human race.
Barry, this is similar to what we read in Acts 4:27-28 which says, “(27) For of a truth against Your Holy child Jesus, whom You have anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, (28) to do whatsoever Your hand and Your counsel determined before to be done.” (Acts 4:27-28) In Acts 4:28, Peter and John are reporting back to the church on their trial before the Jewish ruling body. And in this report, they mentioned that Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and the Jewish residents of Jerusalem had conspired against Jesus. And “they did what Your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” What was it that God had decided beforehand would happen? At the very least, they were referring to the crucifixion of Jesus.
Now did God’s predestination extend to the role that these other players would perform? Or was it limited to the act itself? When balanced with other Scripture, we understand these verses were again limited to the act itself – Christ’s crucifixion. God did not decide beforehand which soldiers would have a part in the crucifixion. That decision was made by the chief priests. Acts 4:27-28 look at the crucifixion itself while First Corinthians 2 refers to the message of the cross and the significance of the crucifixion. What God predestined was that the gospel message would be the means through which salvation would come.
Now, let’s look at two passages that are used to teach predestination. The first one is Romans 8:29-30. Examining this passage first will lay the foundation for looking at First Peter 1:1-2.
Romans 8:29-30 states the following: “(29) For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; (30) and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” God lives outside of the boundaries of time. What is a prophecy to us is simple truth to Him. He speaks truth – what He knows will happen, not because He ordained it, but because He knows what will happen. God sees us being born, living out our years, and then dying – all at the same time. He knows whether or not we will accept His offer of salvation through His Son Jesus or reject it. For those of us who accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and this is important, we are the “foreknew” in this verse. Again, because He lives outside of time, God knew beforehand – He foreknew – that we would accept Jesus, and this is what clarifies predestination in this verse.
It is the elect, those who “elected” Jesus to be Lord in their lives, who would be conformed to the image of Christ. Because God lives outside of time, He could see, by the choices we would make, that we would accept Jesus. The verse also tells us what He predestined for those who would accept Jesus – that we would “become conformed to the image of His Son.” We see in verse 29 that God did not predestine us for salvation. God pre-determined a plan that those who are in Christ, those who accept Him as their personal Savior, would then become like Him. Predestination in this passage is very narrowly defined as it does not pertain to all of our choices, just that one choice after we choose to accept Christ. Again, it’s not about “who” would be saved but what we would be predestined to be saved into – the opportunity to become like Christ!
Now, the sticking point for some is how verse 30 reads – “and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” (Romans 8:30) Again, we must keep the verse in context and the context includes those whom God “foreknew” because He could see the choices they would make. So, we could read verse 30 this way with complete confidence of being faithful to the context: “and those He foreknew He predestined, and those He foreknew and predestined He also called; and those He foreknew, predestined and called He also justified, and those He foreknew, predestined, called and justified, He also glorified.”
Why could God do this? Those He foreknew that would choose to accept what He had predestined from before the foundation of the world – that they would “become conformed to the image of His Son” – and as a result, they would be called, they would be justified, and they would be glorified by that one simple act of faith. We are not called, justified, and glorified because we have been predestined to be called, justified, and glorified, rather we are predestined to be called, justified, and glorified because we accepted Christ and the salvation that He made available to us. In other words, when we accept Christ, being “predestined” to be conformed to His image also includes being called, justified, and glorified.
Rodney, with this background, let’s look at First Peter 1:1-2. “(1) Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, (2) elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” The word elect is eklektos (#1588) in the Greek and means “to choose, to select.” The question that we must answer, and that answer is crucial to our discussion of predestination, is “Was it God who did the electing”? Those who believe and teach predestination would answer with “Yes, it was God who did the electing.” But that is not what First Peter says.
The passage says, “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” God knew in His foreknowledge – He foreknew – who would be elected, who would become born again. Remember, foreknowledge is having foresight, or understanding, that something will happen before it comes to pass. God has this knowledge as He sees all things that ever were, or are, or ever will be. But, because He has this knowledge, it does not mean that He is the cause of the thing that happens.
Now, if God didn’t do the electing, then who did? The person who accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior does the electing! And it’s a choice that God saw the person making from before the foundations of the world. Again, do you see the connection between the teaching that God is in control of everything and the doctrine of predestination?
Judas Revisited
Barry and I will discuss Scriptures that contradict the predestination doctrine, especially as it relates to who goes to heaven or who goes to hell, in Part 2 of this study. But before closing this part, let’s revisit Judas Iscariot. We asked you to consider “if” Judas was predestined to betray Christ. We know that this question can create a lot of other questions. But based on what you have heard so far, was Judas born for the sole purpose of betraying Christ and then predestined to hell?
Prior to Judas making the decision to betray Christ, he was no different than any of the other disciples. He performed miracles as did the other disciples and Jesus trusted him as a friend. When Jesus prayed for His disciples in John chapter seventeen, He said the following in verse twelve, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your Name: those that You gave Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12) Judas was certainly included with those whom God gave to Christ and he did not have to make the decision that he did, which made him “the son of perdition”.
At the last supper, Jesus said in Mark 14:21, “The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of Him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Good were it for that man if he had never been born.” Jesus said that it would have been better for Judas if he had not been born. Judas “destined” himself for destruction by his choices, not because God had specifically destined him to be the one to betray Jesus.
Any of the disciples could have betrayed Jesus, but it was Judas who ultimately made the decision to do so because of the devil’s influence. And we see this in John 13:2. “During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him.” Can anyone say that the devil had not tried to tempt any of the other disciples to betray Jesus? We do not know. What we do know is that he was successful with Judas.
Later in the chapter, we read the following in verses 21-27: “(21) When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me. (22) The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking.
(Notice the detail John gives us. None of the disciples, including Judas, believed that they would be the one to betray their Lord. Judas probably had some “pre-discussions with the priests but he had not solidified the decision yet or the final price. Let’s keep reading.)
(23) There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. (24) So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” (25) He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” (26) Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. (27) After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, ‘What you do, do quickly.’” (John 13:21-27) We also read in Luke 22:3 that it was Satan who entered Judas and influence him to betray Jesus. “And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve.” (Luke 22:3)
With what we have read about Judas in mind, if he was predestined to betray Jesus and it was Satan (the devil) who influenced and convinced him to do so, wouldn’t that mean that God also predestined Satan, to work through him and use him influence Judas? Think about that. Wouldn’t that mean that God “worked in conjunction” with Satan to not only crucify His Son but also condemn a person to an eternity without Him? Does this sound like the Father that Jesus introduces to us the gospel of John? We thought it was important to properly understand the relationship between the Old Testament prophecies concerning who would betray Jesus and Judas’ ultimate decision to do so.
Close
This is a good stopping point for this lesson. As we said at the beginning, we want to provide you with enough of a foundation that you can further study this topic on your own to understand how God works with and through us. God determined from creation that Christ would be crucified and that the message of the cross would be the means to bring us to glory. That decision was made at the point Adam sinned. From that point forward, those who would eventually accept Christ as their personal Savior were predestined to be made in His image. The benefits we have in Christ were predestined to all those who would come to accept Him. The opportunity for salvation is available to every person, no one is predestined to go to hell and we will cover this in more depth in Part Two which you will receive in a couple of weeks.
Barry I will yield to you for final comments and closing prayer.
