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 hath said to thee hearken to her voice, for in Isaac shall a seed be called to thee.
And for this very cause have I raised thee up, to shew thee my power; and that my name may be declared in all the earth.
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thy face, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
Only, Jehovah took pleasure in thy fathers, to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you, out of all the peoples, as it is this day.
When the Most High assigned to the nations their inheritance, When he separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.
For it was of Jehovah that their heart was hardened, to meet Israel in battle, that they might be utterly destroyed, and that there might be no favour shewn to them, but that they might be destroyed, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah, the people that he hath chosen for his inheritance!
Blessed is he whom thou choosest and causest to approach: he shall dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, of thy holy temple.
But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved;
For Jah hath chosen Jacob unto himself, Israel for his own possession.
Keep silence before me, islands; and let the peoples renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us draw near together to judgment. Who raised up from the east him whom righteousness calleth to its foot? He gave the nations before him, and caused him to have dominion over kings; he gave them as dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow. read more. He pursued them, he passed on in safety, by a way he had never come with his feet. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah, the first; and with the last, I am HE. The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth trembled: they drew near, and came. They helped every one his neighbour, and each said to his brother, Take courage. And the artizan encouraged the founder, he that smootheth with the hammer him that smiteth on the anvil, saying of the soldering, It is good; and he fasteneth it with nails, that it be not moved. But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from the extremities thereof, and to whom I said, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not rejected thee, Fear 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 camest forth out of the womb I hallowed thee, I appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.
and if the Lord had not cut short those days, no flesh should have been saved; but on account of the elect whom he has chosen, he has cut short those days.
and the Son of man indeed goes as it is determined, but woe unto that man by whom he is delivered up.
All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and him that comes to me I will not at all cast out.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and have set you that ye should go and that ye should bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he may give you.
as thou hast given him authority over all flesh, that as to all that thou hast given to him, he should give them life eternal.
I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world. They were thine, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
I demand concerning them; I do not demand concerning the world, but concerning those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine,
Thou hast made known to me the paths of life, thou wilt fill me with joy with thy countenance.
but God has thus fulfilled what he had announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer.
to do whatever thy hand and thy counsel had determined before should come to pass.
to do whatever thy hand and thy counsel had determined before should come to pass.
And those of the nations, hearing it, rejoiced, and glorified the word of the Lord, and believed, as many as were ordained to eternal life.
and has made of one blood every nation of men to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, having determined ordained times and the boundaries of their dwelling,
Because whom he has foreknown, he has also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brethren. But whom he has predestinated, these also he has called; and whom he has called, these also he has justified; but whom he has justified, these also he has glorified.
the children indeed being not yet born, or having done anything good or worthless (that the purpose of God according to election might abide, not of works, but of him that calls),
So then, to whom he will he shews mercy, and whom he will he hardens.
Or has not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour?
Thus, then, in the present time also there has been a remnant according to election of grace.
having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
in whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will,
according to the purpose of the ages, which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord,
rooted and built up in him, and assured in the faith, even as ye have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the ages of time,
clinging to the faithful word according to the doctrine taught, that he may be able both to encourage with sound teaching and refute 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, given up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye, by the hand of lawless men, have crucified and slain.
to do whatever thy hand and thy counsel had determined before should come to pass.
But ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God's Spirit dwell in you; but if any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him:
But we do know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to purpose. Because whom he has foreknown, he has also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brethren. read more. But whom he has predestinated, these also he has called; and whom he has called, these also he has justified; but whom he has justified, these also he has glorified.
who gave himself for our sins, so that he should deliver us out of the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father;
But when God, who set me apart even from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,
according as he has chosen us in him before the world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love; having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, read more. to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has taken us into favour in the Beloved:
in whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who have pre-trusted in the Christ:
who is the earnest of our inheritance to the redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of his glory.
according to the purpose of the ages, which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord,
But we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, that God has chosen you from the beginning to salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
But we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, that God has chosen you from the beginning to salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
who has saved us, and has called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time,
foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but who has been manifested at the end of times for your sakes,
and all that dwell on the earth shall do it homage, every one whose name had not been written from the founding of the world in the book of life of the slain Lamb.
The beast which thou sawest was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go into destruction: and they who dwell on the earth, whose names are not written from the founding of the world in the book of life, shall wonder, seeing the beast, that it was, and is not, and shall be present.
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 indeed become a great and mighty nation; and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him.
And 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 governor over all the land of Egypt.
Ye indeed meant evil against me: God meant it for good, in order that he might do as it is this day, to save a great people alive.
And I have said unto you, Ye shall possess their land, and I will give it unto you for a possession; a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Jehovah your God, who have separated you from the peoples.
And ye shall be holy unto me; for I Jehovah am holy, and have separated you from the peoples to be mine.
But I counsel that all Israel be speedily gathered to thee, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person. And 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 that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.
and he said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah!
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high fortress. Selah.
But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he pleased.
Whatsoever Jehovah pleased, he hath done in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all deeps;
The heart of man deviseth his way, but Jehovah directeth his steps.
The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole decision is of Jehovah.
The king's heart in the hand of Jehovah is as brooks of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Jehovah of hosts hath sworn saying, Assuredly as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, it shall stand:
Jehovah of hosts hath sworn saying, Assuredly as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, it shall stand: to break the Assyrian in my land; and upon my mountains will I tread him under foot; and his yoke shall depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. read more. This is the counsel which is purposed concerning the whole earth; and this is the hand which is stretched out upon all the nations. For Jehovah of hosts hath purposed, and who shall frustrate it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
For Jehovah of hosts hath purposed, and who shall frustrate it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
Hast thou not heard that long ago I did it, and that from ancient days I formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps.
But now thus saith Jehovah, that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
every one that is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory: I have formed him, yea, I have made him.
forming the light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil: I, Jehovah, do all these things.
declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure; calling a bird of prey 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 it, I will also do it.
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doeth according to his will in the army of the heavens, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and Jehovah not have done it?
let thy kingdom come, let thy will be done as in heaven so upon the earth;
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father; but of you even the hairs of the head are all numbered.
him, given up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye, by the hand of lawless men, have crucified and slain.
Thou hast made known to me the paths of life, thou wilt fill me with joy with thy countenance.
to do whatever thy hand and thy counsel had determined before should come to pass. And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings, and give to thy bondmen with all boldness to speak thy word,
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:
and has made of one blood every nation of men to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, having determined ordained times and the boundaries of their dwelling,
Because whom he has foreknown, he has also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brethren.
Because whom he has foreknown, he has also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brethren.
Because whom he has foreknown, he has also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brethren.
According as it is written, For thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we have been reckoned as sheep for slaughter.
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Far be the thought. For he says to Moses, I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy, and I will feel compassion for whom I will feel compassion. read more. So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shews mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very thing I have raised thee up from amongst men, that I might thus shew in thee my power, and so that my name should be declared in all the earth.
For the scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very thing I have raised thee up from amongst men, that I might thus shew in thee my power, and so that my name should be declared in all the earth. So then, to whom he will he shews mercy, and whom he will he hardens. read more. Thou wilt say to me then, Why does he yet find fault? for who resists his purpose? Aye, but thou, O man, who art thou that answerest again to God? Shall the thing formed say to him that has formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Aye, but thou, O man, who art thou that answerest again to God? Shall the thing formed say to him that has formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Or has not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour?
Or has not the potter authority over the clay, out of the same lump to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour? And if God, minded to shew his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fitted for destruction;
And if God, minded to shew his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fitted for destruction;
And if God, minded to shew his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fitted for destruction; and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared for glory,
God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Know ye not what the scripture says in the history of Elias, how he pleads with God against Israel?
O depth of riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable his judgments, and untraceable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?
according as he has chosen us in him before the world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love;
according as he has chosen us in him before the world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love;
according as he has chosen us in him before the world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love; having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself
in whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will,
in whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will,
in whom we have also obtained an inheritance, being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will,
and you, being dead in your offences and sins -- in which ye once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience: read more. among whom we also all once had our conversation in the lusts of our flesh, doing what the flesh and the thoughts willed to do, and were children, by nature, of wrath, even as the rest: but God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love wherewith he loved us, (we too being dead in offences,) has quickened us with the Christ, (ye are saved by grace,) and has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, that he might display in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For ye are saved by grace, through faith; and this not of yourselves; it is God's gift:
Husbands, love your own wives, even as the Christ also loved the assembly, and has delivered himself up for it, in order that he might sanctify it, purifying it by the washing of water by the word, read more. that he might present the assembly to himself glorious, having no spot, or wrinkle, or any of such things; but that it might be holy and blameless.
rooted and built up in him, and assured in the faith, even as ye have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
But we ought to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, that God has chosen you from the beginning to salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
So then, brethren, stand firm, and hold fast the instructions which ye have been taught, whether by word or by our letter.
Peter, apostle of Jesus Christ, to the sojourners of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
and a stone of stumbling and rock of offence; who stumble at the word, being disobedient to which also they have been appointed.
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and has washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father: to him be the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen.
Thou art worthy, O our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy will they were, and they have been created.
And they cry with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb.
And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing upon mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written upon their foreheads. And I heard a voice out of the heaven as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of great thunder. And the voice which I heard was as of harp-singers harping with their harps; read more. and they sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn that song save the hundred and forty-four thousand who were bought from the earth. These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins: these are they who follow the Lamb wheresoever it goes. These have been bought from men as first-fruits to God and to the Lamb: and in their mouths was no lie found; for they are blameless. And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having the everlasting glad tidings to announce to those settled 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,"