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Are We Predestined Part 2
(Rev. Barry Johnson and Rev. Rodney Johnson)
Introduction
Let’s open this lesson with a word of prayer.
This is part two of our lesson “Are We Predestined?” In part one we examined how predestination has traditionally been taught in the Church and how some believe they are destined to go to heaven or hell because God has already decreed it. We read the story of Judas betraying Christ and how some believe that he did not have a choice based on his fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy about Jesus’ closest friend being His betrayer. But the main focus of lesson one, and in this lesson as well, was to understand how the words “predestined”, “predestination” and “elect” were used within the context of the Scriptures. In other words, we attempted to be true to the Scriptures in explaining “what” was being referenced when the words predestined, predestination, and elect were used. It is this foundation that opens the door for our understanding that yes, predestination is talked about in Scripture, but we must understand what was predestined and what was not.
Before we review some Scriptures that strongly disprove the notion that God has already decided our lives and predestined us to heaven or hell, we want to review a story in the Old Testament that is similar to what we discussed in lesson one about Judas betraying Christ. The story we want to examine is used as a proof text for predestination. A proof text is a “passage of Scripture that is presented as proof for a theological doctrine, belief or principle.” That story is God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, which is found in Exodus chapter one. It is taught that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart because He is sovereign and He can do as He pleases. It is taught that He did it because He is in control. It is taught that Pharaoh had no choice; he had to defy God. Finally, it is taught that God used Pharaoh’s stubbornness against him to bring Egypt to its knees. So what did happen and how do we reconcile what is recorded in Scripture with what we have been teaching in these two lessons? Well, let’s go to the Bible.
God’s Relationship with Man
First and foremost we have to remember what God’s relationship with man is. James 1:13-17 tells us the following, “(13) Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. (14) But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. (15) Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. (16) Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. (17) Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” (James 1:13-17)
Three things in this passage are important to identify.
* First, God is not a tempter. Only one being is given that title in the Bible – the devil (Matthew 4:1, 3 and Luke 4:2).
* Second, not only is God not a tempter, but only good comes from Him.
* And third, He is the Father of lights. And First John 1:5 emphasizes that point when it says, “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
These verses tell us that there is no darkness in God. We have already talked about how God desires that all men would be saved. That was not just for those of the New Testament. We see this also in the Old Testament when God made provisions for those who wished to be a part of the blessing of Abraham. When Moses brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, Exodus 12:38 records “A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.”
The mixed multitude were not Israelites but had witnessed how God humbled Egypt through Moses and did not want to live in a country that was no longer the most powerful in the world. These unbelieving Egyptians and other inhabitants living in Egypt had witnessed a power greater than the gods of Egypt! The mixed multitude partook of God’s grace; experienced it with the Children of Israel, and were fellow travelers with Israel for a time, experiencing with them the power of God as He pulled them “out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 4:20; First Kings 8:51) Also, Exodus 12:48 says, “But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it.” What we want you to see in pointing out these passages is that, even in the Old Testament, God allowed His grace to fall upon those who chose Him. In a way, isn’t this another example of the fallacy of the teaching of predestination? Let’s get back to Pharaoh.
Pharaoh
Exodus 1:8-10 says, “(8) Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. (9) He said to his people, ‘Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. (10) Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.’”
You know the story of Joseph, how he was sold into slavery but God used him, not only to save Egypt but all of the surrounding lands that were devastated by seven years of famine. Joseph became great in Egypt, but after four hundred years, he had been forgotten and the new Pharaoh never knew him. The new Pharaoh looked at the number of Israelites and decided that because they were outnumbered, they needed to enslave them unless they joined in with their enemies and fought against them. Needless to say, Pharaoh had made up his mind about the Children of Israel. The Pharaoh that Moses faced already had a hardened heart. Although the Jews were in Egypt for 215 years, we do not know how long they were in bondage and mistreated. What we do know is that this Pharaoh did not know Joseph, became afraid of the Jews because of their growth in numbers, and decided to enslave them to keep them from joining forces against them with their enemies. Let’s continue.
Remember how we have said in previous lessons that time does not exist with God, that He lives outside of time? So what is a prophecy to us is just a statement of truth to God. Here is an example. God tells Moses the following in Exodus 3:18-22, “(18) They will pay heed to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ (19) But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. (20) So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. (21) I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. (22) But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians.”
In verse nineteen God tells Moses that He knows that Pharaoh will not permit them to leave unless he is forced to. This is a statement of truth about what it was going to take for Pharaoh to let them go. If you continue reading the story, you will see that after Moses and Aaron met with Pharaoh, he refused to let them go and even increased their workload (Exodus 5:1-9). He denied Moses’ requests repeatedly. Exodus 8:15 is one example. “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.” The word “hardened” is the Hebrew word “kabed” and it means, “to make heavy or severe, to make unresponsive, or to refuse to submit.” So Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Barry, take us to where the confusion comes in and how predestination is justified in this story.
Exodus 4:21 says, “The LORD said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” In this verse, God said He would “harden” Pharaoh’s heart. So does this mean that Pharaoh did not have a choice at this point – that he could have let the Children of Israel go but God stopped him? This statement is repeated several times in Exodus. So what does it mean? Did God truly stop Pharaoh from releasing the Israelites? Was Pharaoh destined to do just what he did? The Hebrew word “harden” in this verse is “chazaq” and it means, “to strengthen or to make obstinate.”
Many times God is said to do the things He permits to be done. What God did was allow Pharaoh to be exactly who he chose to be. God allowed Pharaoh to harden his own heart. This is similar to what we read in Romans 1:24 which says, “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.” When someone chooses to do evil and refuses God’s intervention through His Spirit, God releases them to do exactly what they want to do. Pharaoh rejected God’s request to let His people go just as God knew that he would. He did not refuse to let them go because God stopped him. This is just who he was. Pharaoh “dug in his heels” and God did not override his will. God allowed Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness to consume him. We can also think of it this way: “Any judgment or calamity which does not break nature and subdue the life only hardens it. Just like the sun hardens clay and softens wax, so it is with truth.” People will either yield to the truth or they will stiffen themselves against it.
Here is our point as it relates to predestination: God did not predestine Pharaoh to respond the way that he did. That was Pharaoh’s choice. Once Pharaoh made his decision and refused to change, God allowed him to go all in. He allowed him to be exactly who he had chosen to be. God sought Pharaoh’s “permission” to let Israel go and worship Him. Pharaoh could have easily agreed, but he refused repeatedly. God gave Pharaoh multiple opportunities to change. Every time Moses appeared before him was an opportunity to change. Every plague was another opportunity to change. But Pharaoh continually hardened his heart. So God let it play out. Now let’s transition to a few Scriptures that clearly and emphatically do not support the common teaching of predestination as we discussed in part one. Ladies and gentlemen, how predestination is taught and understood is not biblical. Rodney, why don’t you begin with John 3:16.
Additional Scriptures Disproving Predestination as Taught
Thanks, Barry. John 3:16, which all of you are familiar with, says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” The “whoever” who believes that God gave His only begotten Son for their salvation and accepts Him will not perish; will not spend an eternity in the lake of fire. If God predetermines who will go to heaven and who will go to hell, that takes the decision out of the hands of the “whoever” and if this is truly the case, then verse 16 is a lie and should not be believed.
Turn to John 14:6. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.’” Jesus says that if a “whoever” decides they want to come or be introduced to the Father, there is only one way for that to happen – they must accept Him first and then they will have access to the Father. So, again we see that a choice must be made if we are going to have an opportunity to see the Father – go to heaven – and it’s not predetermined for us. But if predestination is true, then this verse is a lie and should not be believed. Barry, why don’t you review what is recorded in the Book of Acts?
Now look at Acts 2:21. “And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The “everyone” is the same as the “whoever”. The only reason a person will not be saved is because they have made the decision not to call on the name of the Lord and to accept His free gift of salvation.
Turn to Ephesians 2:8. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” How do we receive God’s free gift? When our faith touches God’s grace! We are the ones who must extend our faith to receive the free gift of salvation. That decision rests with us. If we are predestined, then we would not be able to freely choose to accept the gift no matter how often we try. Another point of clarification is the fact that if I was predestined to be saved, then grace does not matter. I say this because, no matter how I choose to live on this earth, in the end, I will go to heaven. After all, it was predestined. Does this make sense?
First Timothy 2:4 says it is God “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” If God desires that every single person on planet Earth be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, then to say that He chooses who will be saved and who will not be saved means this verse is a lie. If God desires everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, how could He also predestine some to not be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth? We cannot have it both ways – both cannot be true! The Bible says God cannot lie. Titus 1:2 tells us “In the hope of eternal life, which God, Who cannot lie, promised long ages ago.” God cannot lie so we must believe that He truly desires that everyone would be saved all the while knowing that many will reject His offer.
Let’s look at two more passages. First Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” Again, what we see in this verse is WHAT is on God’s “wish list.” Now what I’m about to say may sound blasphemous: God can wish all He wants to but it will not make it so. Why? He has given us the ability to choose Him or not choose Him. For God’s wish “to come true” we must choose Him.
The last reference we will use to show that predestination is a lie is Revelation 22:17 which reads “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ and let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” If predestination is true, then all of these verses are lies and should not be believed. But, if these verses are true then we serve a wonderful, loving God who loves every man, woman, and child and wants all of us to be saved but must honor His word that gives us the free will to choose or deny His Son.
Understanding the Greek Word “Proorizo”
Ladies and gentlemen, if predestination does not mean God “has preordained” a particular path for an individual that cannot be changed, then what is it referring to in the passages used to justify it as doctrine? The Greek word for predestinate is a verb, proorizo, which is comprised of two words: pro, which means “before” and horizos, which means “boundary”. So, the primary meaning of predestinate is “to mark off by boundaries beforehand.” As we stated in the first part of this lesson, the word proorizo is used in six places in the New Testament. We have already read two of them in Part One – Romans 8:29-30 and First Corinthians 2:7.
Now let’s look at the remaining four passages. Acts 2:22-23 says “(22) Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know – (23) this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” What did God predetermine and what did He foreknow? He predetermined and foreknew (He knew it before it happened) that Jesus would die by being nailed to a cross and crucified by men who did not know God, on the orders of the religious leaders, who also did not know God. Why did God predetermine this event?
Jump down to verses 37 and 38. “(37) Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’ (38) Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” God predestined the death and resurrection of Jesus – He marked it off as the boundary necessary for the “whoever” and the “everyone” to receive salvation.
Barry, tell us what happens after we accept God’s gift based on what was written in Ephesians 1:5 & 11. Ephesians 1:5 says “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” By professing our belief in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that profession initiated and completed the predetermined boundary that was marked off as being necessary for us to be adopted into the family of God!
The last reference to proorizo is found in Ephesians 1:11 – “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” What was it that God predestined? He predestined, He predetermined the boundary that was marked as being necessary for us to receive the inheritance as a result of being adopted into His family.
These two passages in Ephesians chapter one are a part of Paul’s description of the spiritual blessings that we have “in Christ” and that context is important. The things he describes are for those who are “in Christ.” In verse three Paul writes “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” (Ephesians 1:3)
Let me give you an example using a Trust. Parents establish a family trust for their children in the event of their passing. It is a “predetermined” fact that one day the parents will die if they are not here when the Lord returns. In that Trust are specific, well-defined directions as to what is to be done when the parents die. Their children will know what their inheritance is based on what is in that trust. Their inheritance is predetermined, predestined, and will not change as long as they are inheritors and they do not die before the parents. When I think about what Paul writes about predestination, I think about it in these terms – it’s something that I am guaranteed as a child of God – but only after I become a child of God. I am not pre-determined to become His child, but once it happens then all of the other things related to being His child, including my inheritance, are available to me. These blessings are bestowed on those who are a part of the body of Christ. And this is important: these blessings are given because of where we are – in Christ – not the means of getting us there.
In Ephesians 1:5, the context repeatedly refers to those who have come to the faith, who have entered into Christ, as the ones predestined to be a son or daughter. God predestines that all who come into the body of Christ enter that family relationship as His children. Now in Ephesians 1:11, Paul appears to be speaking of him and the other early believers, the first to put their hope in Christ. They were “chosen” by God to proclaim the message of truth, the gospel, and by this proclamation, to bring others into the body of Christ. So, here, predestination would seem to be limited to specific individuals within Christ for a specific purpose. By extension, you might say that each of us within the body of Christ is predestined to fill a specific role within the body – but that again is different than being predestined to heaven or hell.
A good example of this is Jesus’ parable about the talents in Matthew 25. We’re only going to look at verses 14 and 15: (14) “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. (15) To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.” (Matthew 25:14-15) What I want you to see is that each slave was given talents specifically designed for him because the man knew he could handle it. God knew beforehand, because He lives outside of time, the talents – the gifts – we would receive as part of His kingdom.
Qualifying For What God Predestined
When we take all of this in context, each of the references to proorizo – none of them refers to who is being marked off by boundaries beforehand, but what is being marked off by boundaries beforehand. In other words, God has predetermined that “something” has boundaries or limits and that “something” is available if certain conditions are met. Think about it this way. If something is marked off by boundaries that means a person is in one of two places. The person is either inside the boundary or the person is outside the boundary. However, according to the common teaching of predestination, the person is the boundary that has been marked off beforehand. If we, as the boundary, are inside salvation, our future is an eternity in heaven, whether we choose it or not. On the other hand, if we are the boundary and we are outside of salvation, then our future is the lake of fire, whether we chose the lake of fire or not.
We read in Ephesians 1:5 that “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” How can the lost qualify for God’s predestination? How can the lost qualify for an eternity in heaven with Him? Turn to Hebrews 11. We’re going to look at the beginning of several verses that show the lost how they can qualify for God’s predestination. “(1) Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (2) For by it the men of old gained approval. ... (4) By faith Abel... (5) By faith Enoch... (7) By faith Noah... (8) By faith Abraham... (11) By faith even Sarah... (13) All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth... (20) By faith Isaac... (21) By faith Jacob... (22) By faith Joseph... (23) By faith Moses.” It is faith in Jesus that qualifies the lost for God’s predestination. Faith and only faith. One final verse – Hebrews 11:6. It says “And without faith it is impossible to please Him (to receive God’s predestination), for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Summary & Closing Prayer
By now we hope that you see that predestination is never used in the sense of divine determinism of heaven or hell or that all, or any, of our actions are determined by God. Rather, it is used in a more limited sense. God has predetermined that all who are in Christ would be conformed to the image of Christ and adopted as children of God. He has also determined from creation that Christ would be crucified and that the message of the cross would be the means to bring us to glory. Finally, God predestined a specific place for believers within the body of Christ and for those who would reject Christ.
God has shown through His own words and through the death of His Son that He desires that all would be saved. However, he cannot override the free will of man to make his own choice. If God had predestined some to go to heaven and others to hell, He would be violating His own words. He would be in a sense, lying. God cannot say on the one hand that He desires that all men would be saved knowing that He had already predestined some to spend an eternity in hell. Do you understand this? We serve a wonderful, loving God who has given us the free will to choose. We choose what we want to do which means we can choose His Son or not. It’s our choice. However, if we choose Jesus, then and only then, has God predestined what would happen to those who make that choice.
Rodney do you have any final comments before I close out with prayer?
