Reference: Predestination
Easton
This word is properly used only with reference to God's plan or purpose of salvation. The Greek word rendered "predestinate" is found only in these six passages, Ac 4:28; Ro 8:29-30; 1Co 2:7; Eph 1:5,11; and in all of them it has the same meaning. They teach that the eternal, sovereign, immutable, and unconditional decree or "determinate purpose" of God governs all events.
This doctrine of predestination or election is beset with many difficulties. It belongs to the "secret things" of God. But if we take the revealed word of God as our guide, we must accept this doctrine with all its mysteriousness, and settle all our questionings in the humble, devout acknowledgment, "Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight."
For the teaching of Scripture on this subject let the following passages be examined in addition to those referred to above; Ge 21:12; Ex 9:16; 33:19; De 10:15; 32:8; Jos 11:20; 1Sa 12:22; 2Ch 6:6; Ps 33:12; 65:4; 78:68; 135:4; Isa 41:1-10; Jer 1:5; Mr 13:20; Lu 22:22; Joh 6:37; 15:16; 17:2,6,9; Ac 2:28; 3:18; 4:28; 13:48; 17:26; Ro 9:11,18,21; 11:5; Eph 3:11; 1Th 1:4; 2Th 2:13; 2Ti 1:9; Tit 1:2; 1Pe 1:2. (See Decrees of God; Election of Grace.)
Hodge has well remarked that, "rightly understood, this doctrine (1) exalts the majesty and absolute sovereignty of God, while it illustrates the riches of his free grace and his just displeasure with sin. (2.) It enforces upon us the essential truth that salvation is entirely of grace. That no one can either complain if passed over, or boast himself if saved. (3.) It brings the inquirer to absolute self-despair and the cordial embrace of the free offer of Christ. (4.) In the case of the believer who has the witness in himself, this doctrine at once deepens his humility and elevates his confidence to the full assurance of hope" (Outlines).
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And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened those days.
And truly the Son of man goeth as it was determined; but wo to that man, by whom the Son of man is betrayed.
All that the Father giveth me, will come to me, and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and appointed you that ye may go and bear fruit, and your fruit may remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
that he may give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him.
I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou hast given them me, and they have kept thy word.
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou wilt fill me with joy by thy countenance.
But God hath thus fulfilled the things which he foretold by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer.
To do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel before determined to be done.
To do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel before determined to be done.
And the Gentiles hearing it were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed.
And he hath made of one the whole nation of men, to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation:
For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated, conformable to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. And whom he predestinated, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
our father Isaac, The children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil (that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works, but of him that called,) It was said to her, The elder shall serve the younger.
So then he hath mercy on whom he willeth, and whom he willeth, he hardneth.
Hath not the potter power over the clay, out of the same mass to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour?
And so likewise at the present time, there is a remnant, according to the election of grace.
Having predestinated us to the adoption of sons to himself by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
In him through whom we also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him that worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began;
as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
Fausets
(See ELECTION.) Ac 2:23; 4:28, "whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done" (proorisen). God has "predestinated" believers "unto the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace." "He hath chosen us in Christ" out of the rest of the world, "predestinated" us to all things that secure the inheritance for us (Eph 1:4-5,11). "Predestination" refers to God's decree, embodied in God's "election" of us out of the mass; His grand end. in it being "the praise of the glory of His grace" (Eph 1:6,12,14). It is by virtue of our union to Christ, "foreordained before the foundation of the world" (1Pe 1:20), that we are "predestinated" (2Ti 1:9).
Believers are viewed by God before the world's foundation as "IN CHRIST" with whom the Father makes the covenant (Re 13:8; 17:8; Eph 3:11), "according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." In 2Th 2:13 the Greek for "chosen" (heilato) means rather "taken for Himself"; He adopted them in His eternal purpose; "in (Greek) sanctification of (i.e. by) the Spirit" (by consecration to perfect holiness in Christ once for all, next by imparting it to them ever more and more). There was no doubt or contingency with God from the first. All was foreordained. God's glory and the believer's salvation are secured unchangeably. All pride on man's part is excluded; all is of God's unmerited grace. Yet the will of man is, in the sense of preserving our reponsibility, free. God alone knows how the two harmonize, His predestination and our freedom; it is enough for us they are both distinctly revealed.
At the same time fatalism is excluded, for God who predestinated believers to salvation as the end predestinated them to be conformed to the image of His Son as the means. We must make as sure of the means as of the end. Not to have the Spirit of Christ is to be none of His. Yet God's predestination is not founded on the believer's character, but the believer's character results from God's predestination (2Th 2:13; Ro 8:9,28-30). God the Father gives us salvation by gratuitous election; the Son earns it by His blood-shedding; the Holy Spirit applies the Son's merits to the soul by the gospel word (Calvin): Ga 1:4,15; 1Pe 1:2; the element IN (Greek) which we are elected is "sanctification of (consecration once for all by) the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (the end aimed at by God as regards us).
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Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands, have crucified and slain:
To do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel before determined to be done.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if the Spirit of God dwell in you. And if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And we know, that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated, conformable to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren. read more. And whom he predestinated, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
(that he might deliver us from the present evil world) according to the will of God and our Father,
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,
As he hath chosen us through him, before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and blameless before him in love, Having predestinated us to the adoption of sons to himself by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, read more. To the praise of the glory of his grace,
In him through whom we also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him that worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, That we who first believed in Christ, might be to the praise of his glory.
Who is an earnest of our inheritance, till the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory.
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation, thro' sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation, thro' sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began;
Who verily was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in these last times for you,
And all that dwell upon the earth will worship him, whose name is not written in the book of life of the Lamb, who was slain, from the foundation of the world.
The wild beast which thou sawest, was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth, (whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world) shall wonder when they behold the wild beast, that he was, and is not, and yet will be.
Hastings
The English word 'predestinate' in the AV is, in the few cases in which it occurs (Ro 8:29,36; Eph 1:5,11), exchanged in the RV for 'foreordain,' a return to the usage of the older Versions. The Gr. word (proorizo) conveys the simple idea of defining or determining beforehand (thus, in addition to above, in Ac 4:29; 1Co 2:7). The change in rendering brings the word into closer relation with a number of others expressing the same, or related, meanings, as 'foreknow' (in pregnant sense, Ac 2:23; Ro 8:29; 11:2; 1Pe 1:2,20), 'determine' (Ac 17:26), 'appoint' (1Pe 2:8), 'purpose' (Eph 1:9), in the case of believers, 'choose' or 'elect' (Eph 1:4 etc.). In the OT the idea is expressed by the various words denoting to purpose, determine, choose (e.g. Isa 14:24-27; 46:10-11), with the ahundance of phrases extolling the sovereignty and immutability of God's counsel in all the spheres of His operation (see below; so in NT). The best clue to the Scripture conception will he found in tracing it as it appears in these different spheres of the Divine action.
1. In its most general aspect, foreordination is coextensive with the sphere of God's universal providence, is, in fact, but another name for the eternal plan, design, purpose, counsel of God, which executes itself in providence. The election of believers, to which 'predestination' is sometimes narrowed, is hut a specific case of the 'purpose' of Him 'who worketh all things after the counsel of his will' (Eph 1:11). It is in this wider regard, accordingly, that foreordination must be studied first. It cannot be reasonably doubted that all Scripture
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Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father. Yea, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands, have crucified and slain:
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou wilt fill me with joy by thy countenance.
To do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel before determined to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and give thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness,
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, that no further burden be laid upon you than these necessary things, To abstain from meats offered to idols and blood,
And he hath made of one the whole nation of men, to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation:
For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated, conformable to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated, conformable to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
For whom he foreknew, he also predestinated, conformable to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
(As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.)
What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. read more. It is not therefore of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. Moreover the scripture saith to Pharoah, For this very thing have I raised thee up, that I may shew my power in thee, and that my name may be declared through all the earth.
Moreover the scripture saith to Pharoah, For this very thing have I raised thee up, that I may shew my power in thee, and that my name may be declared through all the earth. So then he hath mercy on whom he willeth, and whom he willeth, he hardneth. read more. But thou wilt say to me, Why doth he still find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay, but who art thou, O man, that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
For who hath resisted his will? Nay, but who art thou, O man, that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, out of the same mass to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour?
Hath not the potter power over the clay, out of the same mass to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour? What if God, being willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, yet endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction?
What if God, being willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, yet endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction?
What if God, being willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, yet endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction? And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, whom he had before prepared for glory?
God hath not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Know ye not what the scripture saith of Elijah? how he pleadeth with God against Israel,
O the depth of the riches, and wisdom, and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor?
As he hath chosen us through him, before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and blameless before him in love,
As he hath chosen us through him, before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and blameless before him in love,
As he hath chosen us through him, before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and blameless before him in love, Having predestinated us to the adoption of sons to himself by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Having predestinated us to the adoption of sons to himself by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
in all wisdom and prudence, Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself,
In him through whom we also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him that worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
In him through whom we also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him that worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
In him through whom we also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him that worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
And he hath quickened you, who were dead in trespasses and sins, Wherein ye formerly walked, according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in time past, read more. in the desires of the flesh, doing the will of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the others. But God who is rich in mercy, through his great love wherewith he loved us, Hath quickened us together with Christ, even when we were dead in trespasses, (by grace ye are saved) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places through Christ Jesus: That he might shew in the ages to come the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace ye are saved through faith; and this not of yourselves:
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify it (having cleansed it by the washing of water) through the word: read more. That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, that it may be holy and unblamable.
Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation, thro' sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions, which ye have been taught, whether by word, or by our Epistle.
Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ to the sojourners scattered thro' Pontus,
And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, to them who stumble, not believing the word, whereunto also they were appointed.
And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first begotten from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth: To him that loved us, and hath washed us from our sins with his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto his God and Father, to him be the glory and the might for ever.
saying, Worthy art thou, O Lord our God, to receive the glory, and the honour, and the power, for thou hast created all things, and through thy will they are, and were created.
And they cry with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb.
And I saw and behold a Lamb standing on mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty-four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice out of heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as a voice of a great thunder; and the voice which I heard was as of harpers harping on their harps. read more. And they sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders: and none could learn the song but the hundred forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth. These are they who had not been defiled with women; for they are virgins: these are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were bought from among men: first-fruits to God and the Lamb. And in their mouth there was found no guile: they are without fault. And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having an everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation,
Watsons
PREDESTINATION, according to some, is a judgment, or decree of God, by which he has resolved, from all eternity, to save a certain number of persons, hence named elect. Others define it, a decree to give faith in Jesus Christ to a certain number of men, and to leave the rest to their own malice and hardness of heart. A third, more Scripturally, God's eternal purpose to save all that "truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel,"