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 God said to Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy handmaid. In all that Sarah says to thee, hearken to her voice. For in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
But indeed for this cause I have raised thee up, to display in thee my power, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of LORD before thee. {I will be merciful to whom I may be merciful, and I will be compassionate to whomever I may be compassionate (LXX/NT)}.
Only LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples as at this day.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.
For it was of LORD to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that he might utterly destroy them, that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them as LORD commanded Moses.
Blessed is the nation whose God is LORD, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.
Blessed is the man whom thou choose and cause to approach, that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, thy holy temple.
but chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
For LORD has chosen Jacob to himself, Israel for his own possession.
Keep silence before me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come near, then let them speak. Let us come near together to judgment. Who raised up the righteous [man] from the east. He calls him to his foot? He gives nations before him, and makes him rule over kings. He gives them as the dust to his sword, as the driven stubble to his bow. read more. He pursues them, and passes on safely, even by a way that he had not gone with his feet. Who has wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, LORD, the first, and with the last, I am he. The isles have seen, and fear. The ends of the earth tremble, they draw near, and come. They help every man his neighbor, and says to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, he who smoothes with the hammer, him who smites the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good, and he fastens it with nails, that it should not be moved. But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend, thou whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and called from the corners thereof, and said to thee, Thou are my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou came forth out of the womb I sanctified thee. I have appointed thee a prophet to the nations.
And unless the Lord cut short the days, no flesh would have been saved, but because of the chosen, whom he chose, he cut short the days.
And the Son of man indeed goes according to that which has been determined, nevertheless woe to that man through whom he is betrayed!
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and he who comes to me I will, no, not cast out.
Ye did not choose out me, but I chose out you, and appointed you, so that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit may remain, so that anything whatever ye may ask of the Father in my name, he may give you.
just as thou gave him authority over all flesh, so that all things that thou have given him, he will give them eternal life.
I manifested thy name to the men whom thou gave me out of the world. They were thine, and thou gave them to me, and they have kept thy word.
I pray about them. I do not pray about the world, but about whom thou have given me, because they are for thee.
Thou made known to me the paths of life. Thou will fill me of joy with thy countenance.
But this way God fulfilled what things were foretold, through the mouth of all his prophets, the Christ was to endure.
to do as many things as thy hand and thy purpose predetermined to happen.
to do as many things as thy hand and thy purpose predetermined to happen.
And hearing this, the Gentiles were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed for eternal life believed.
And he made from one blood every nation of men to dwell upon all the face of the earth, having determined prescribed times, and the limits of their occupancy,
Because whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be of similar nature of the form of his Son, in order for him to be the firstborn son among many brothers. And whom he predestined, these he also called, and whom he called, these he also made righteous, and whom he made righteous, these he also glorified.
(for not yet having been born, nor having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to selection might remain, not from works, but from him who calls),
So then he is merciful to whom he will, and whom he will he hardens.
Or has the potter no right over the clay, from the same lump certainly to make this vessel for esteem, and that for disesteem?
So then also at this present time there has become a remnant according to the selection of grace.
Who predestined us for sonship through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the desire of his will,
in him in whom also we obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the deliberation of his will.
according to the purpose of the ages, which he made in Christ Jesus our Lord,
rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as ye were taught, abounding in it with thankfulness.
in hope of eternal life, which the non-lying God promised before times eternal,
holding firm the faithful word according to the teaching, so that he may also be able to exhort by the sound doctrine, and to correct those who contradict.
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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this man, having been designated (by the purpose and foreknowledge of God) a man delivered up, ye, having taken by lawless hands, killed, having crucified,
to do as many things as thy hand and thy purpose predetermined to happen.
But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, this man is not of him.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to purpose. Because whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be of similar nature of the form of his Son, in order for him to be the firstborn son among many brothers. read more. And whom he predestined, these he also called, and whom he called, these he also made righteous, and whom he made righteous, these he also glorified.
who gave himself for our sins, so that he might rescue us, according to the will of our God and Father, out of the evil age that has come,
But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's belly, and called me through his grace,
Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and unblemished before him in love. Who predestined us for sonship through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the desire of his will, read more. for appreciation of the glory of his grace, by which he blessed us in him who is beloved.
in him in whom also we obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the deliberation of his will. For us to be for appreciation of his glory, men who have first hoped in the Christ.
which is a pledge of our inheritance for the redemption of the acquired possession, for appreciation of his glory.
according to the purpose of the ages, which he made in Christ Jesus our Lord,
But we are indebted to express thanks to God always about you, brothers, beloved by Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation, in sanctification of spirit and belief of truth,
But we are indebted to express thanks to God always about you, brothers, beloved by Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation, in sanctification of spirit and belief of truth,
Who saved us and who called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal.
who was indeed foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in the last times because of you.
And all who dwell upon the earth will worship it, whose name has not been written in the book of life of the Lamb who was killed from the foundation of the world.
The beast that thou saw was, and is not, and is going to ascend out of the abyss and go into destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of th
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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since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of LORD, to do righteousness and justice, to the end that LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoke
So now it was not you that sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
And as for you, ye meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
But I have said to you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
And ye shall be holy to me, for I, LORD, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that ye should be mine.
But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude, and that thou go to battle in thine own person. So we shall come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and of all the men who are with him we will not leave so much as one.
And he said, Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. LORD gave, and LORD has taken away, blessed be the name of LORD.
Rejoice in LORD, O ye righteous. Praise is comely for the upright.
Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. LORD of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
But our God is in the heavens. He has done whatever he pleased.
Whatever LORD pleased, that he has done, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps,
A man's heart devises his way, but LORD directs his steps.
The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of LORD.
The king's heart is in the hand of LORD as the watercourses. He turns it wherever he will.
LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand,
LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and tread him under foot upon my mountains. Then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulder. read more. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For LORD of hosts has purposed, and who shall annul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
For LORD of hosts has purposed, and who shall annul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
Have thou not heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be thine to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
But now thus says LORD who created thee, O Jacob, and he who formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name, Thou are mine.
everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yea, whom I have made.
I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create evil. I am LORD who does all these things.
declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not [yet] done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure, calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yea, I have spoken. I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed. I will also do it.
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand, or say to him, What are thou doing?
Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? Shall evil befall a city, and LORD has not done it?
May thy kingdom come. May thy will happen on the earth as also in heaven.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall on the ground independent of your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
this man, having been designated (by the purpose and foreknowledge of God) a man delivered up, ye, having taken by lawless hands, killed, having crucified,
Thou made known to me the paths of life. Thou will fill me of joy with thy countenance.
to do as many things as thy hand and thy purpose predetermined to happen. And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to thy bondmen with all boldness to speak thy word,
Known to God from the age are all his works.
For it was decided by the Holy Spirit, and by us, to lay upon you not one greater burden than these necessary things:
And he made from one blood every nation of men to dwell upon all the face of the earth, having determined prescribed times, and the limits of their occupancy,
Because whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be of similar nature of the form of his Son, in order for him to be the firstborn son among many brothers.
Because whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be of similar nature of the form of his Son, in order for him to be the firstborn son among many brothers.
Because whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be of similar nature of the form of his Son, in order for him to be the firstborn son among many brothers.
Just as it is written, For thy sake we are killed the whole day long. We are considered as sheep of slaughter.
What will we say then? Is there injustice from God? May it not happen! For he says to Moses, I will be merciful to whom I may be merciful, and I will be compassionate to whomever I may be compassionate. read more. So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who is merciful. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, For this same thing I raised thee up, that I might display in thee my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
For the scripture says to Pharaoh, For this same thing I raised thee up, that I might display in thee my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he is merciful to whom he will, and whom he will he hardens. read more. Thou will say to me therefore, Why does he still find fault? For who has resisted his purpose? Rather, O man, who are thou answering back to God? No, will the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why did thou make me this way?
Rather, O man, who are thou answering back to God? No, will the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why did thou make me this way? Or has the potter no right over the clay, from the same lump certainly to make this vessel for esteem, and that for disesteem?
Or has the potter no right over the clay, from the same lump certainly to make this vessel for esteem, and that for disesteem? And if God, wanting to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
And if God, wanting to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
And if God, wanting to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that he might make known the wealth of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he previously prepared for glory,
God did not thrust away his people whom he foreknew. Or know ye not what the scripture tells by Elijah? How he encounters God about Israel.
O the depth of wealth, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways beyond finding out! For who has known the mind of Lord? Or who became his counselor?
Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and unblemished before him in love.
Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and unblemished before him in love.
Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and unblemished before him in love. Who predestined us for sonship through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the desire of his will,
Who predestined us for sonship through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the desire of his will,
Having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his desire, which he purposed within himself
in him in whom also we obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the deliberation of his will.
in him in whom also we obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the deliberation of his will.
in him in whom also we obtained an inheritance. Having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the deliberation of his will.
Even you, who were dead in trespasses and sins in which ye once walked according to the era of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. read more. Among whom we also all once behaved in the lusts of our flesh, doing the intentions of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath as also the others. But God, being rich in mercy, through his great love that he loved us, even us being dead in the transgressions, he made alive together with the Christ (ye are saved by grace), and raised us up together, and seated us together in the heavenly things in Christ Jesus. So that in the coming ages he might show the transcending wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For ye are saved by grace through faith, and this a gift of God, not from you,
Husbands, love your own wives even as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it, so that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it with the washing of water by the word, read more. so that he might present it to himself, the glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and unblemished.
rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as ye were taught, abounding in it with thankfulness.
But we are indebted to express thanks to God always about you, brothers, beloved by Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation, in sanctification of spirit and belief of truth,
So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that ye were taught, whether by word or by letter from us.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen who are sojourners of the Dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
and, A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, men who stumble at the word, being disobedient, for which also they were set.
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and washed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him is the glory and the dominion into the ages of the ages. Truly.
Thou are worthy, our Lord and God, the Holy, to take the glory and the honor and the power, because thou created all things, and because by thy will they are, and were created.
and crying out in a great voice, saying, Salvation is in our God who sits upon the throne, and in the Lamb!
And I looked, and lo, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with it a number, a hundred and forty-four thousand, having its name and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven as a sound of many waters, and as a sound of great thunder. And the voice that I heard was as of harpers harping with their harps. read more. And they sing a new song before the throne, and before the four beings and the elders. And none could learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand, those who have been redeemed from the earth. These are men who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were out of men purchased by Jesus, a first fruit to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their mouth, for they are unblemished. And I saw an agent flying in mid-heaven having eternal good-news to proclaim to those who sit on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people,
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,"