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 if the Lord had not shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen whom he chose, he shortened the days.
For the Son of man indeed goeth away, as it hath been determined; but woe to that man by whom he 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 did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever ye ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
according as thou gavest him authority over all flesh, that he should give everlasting life to all whom thou hast given him.
I manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word.
I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me; for they are thine;
Thou didst make known to me the ways of life; thou wilt make me full of joy with thy countenance."
But God thus fulfilled what he had before announced by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer.
to do whatever thy hand and thy will before determined to be done.
to do whatever thy hand and thy will before determined to be done.
And when the gentiles heard this, they rejoiced, and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were ordained to everlasting life, believed.
And he made of one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having fixed appointed times, and the bounds of their habitation;
For he determined beforehand that those whom he foreknew should be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he before appointed, he also called; and those whom he called, he also accepted as righteous; and those whom he accepted as righteous, he also glorified.
before the children were born, or had done any thing good or evil, to the end that Gods purpose according to election might stand, not depending on works, but on the will of him that calleth,
So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and hardeneth whom he will.
Hath not the potter a right out of the same lump of clay to make one vessel for an honorable use, and another for a dishonorable?
In the same way then at this present time also there is a remnant, according to the election of grace.
having in love predestinated us for himself to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
in whom we also obtained the inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
according to his purpose for ages, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord;
rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
in hope of everlasting life, which God, who cannot lie, promised from the most ancient times,
holding fast the sure word according to what he was taught, that he may be able by sound teaching both to exhort, and to refute 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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this man, being delivered up by the settled purpose and foreknowledge of God, ye, by the hand of godless men, crucified and slew.
to do whatever thy hand and thy will before determined to be done.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any one hath to not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
We know moreover that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For he determined beforehand that those whom he foreknew should be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. read more. And those whom he before appointed, he also called; and those whom he called, he also accepted as righteous; and those whom he accepted as righteous, he also glorified.
who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from the present evil world, according to the will of God our Father;
But when it pleased him who set me apart from my very birth, and called me through his grace,
according as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him; having in love predestinated us for himself to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, read more. to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved;
in whom we also obtained the inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who have before placed our hope in the Messiah;
which is a pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory.
according to his purpose for ages, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord;
But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, that God chose you from the beginning to salvation in sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth;
But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, that God chose you from the beginning to salvation in sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth;
who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and the grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but manifested in these last times for you,
And all who dwell on the earth wilt worship him, every one whose name hath not been written in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.
The beast which thou sawest, was, and is not, and is to come up out of the abyss, and goeth into perdition; and they that dwell on the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder, when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and yet will come.
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 penny? and not one of them shall fall to the ground without your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
this man, being delivered up by the settled purpose and foreknowledge of God, ye, by the hand of godless men, crucified and slew.
Thou didst make known to me the ways of life; thou wilt make me full of joy with thy countenance."
to do whatever thy hand and thy will before determined to be done. And now, Lord, look upon their threatenings, and grant to thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay upon you no further burden except these necessary things:
And he made of one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having fixed appointed times, and the bounds of their habitation;
For he determined beforehand that those whom he foreknew should be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
For he determined beforehand that those whom he foreknew should be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
For he determined beforehand that those whom he foreknew should be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
As it is written, "For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we were accounted as sheep for slaughter."
What then shall we say? Is there injustice with God? Far be it! For he saith to Moses, "On whom I have mercy, on him will I have mercy; and on whom I have compassion, on him will I have compassion." read more. So then it dependeth not on him that willeth, nor on him that runneth, but on God who showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show forth my power in thee, and that my name might be made known in all the earth."
For the Scripture saith to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show forth my power in thee, and that my name might be made known in all the earth." So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and hardeneth whom he will. read more. Hence thou wilt say to me, Why then doth he still find fault? for who resisteth his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that makest answer to God? Shall the thing that is wrought say to the workman, Why hast thou made me thus?
Nay but, O man, who art thou that makest answer to God? Shall the thing that is wrought say to the workman, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter a right out of the same lump of clay to make one vessel for an honorable use, and another for a dishonorable?
Hath not the potter a right out of the same lump of clay to make one vessel for an honorable use, and another for a dishonorable? What if God endured with much patience vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, purposing to manifest his wrath and to make known his power;
What if God endured with much patience vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, purposing to manifest his wrath and to make known his power;
What if God endured with much patience vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, purposing to manifest his wrath and to make known his power; purposing also to make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared for glory,
God hath not cast off his people, which he foreknew. Do ye not know what the Scripture saith in the passage concerning Elijah? how he pleadeth to God against Israel:
O the depth of the riches, and of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his purposes, and his ways past finding out! For "who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been made his counselor?"
according as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him;
according as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him;
according as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him; having in love predestinated us for himself to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
having in love predestinated us for himself to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, 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 also obtained the inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
in whom we also obtained the inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
in whom we also obtained the inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will,
and you also [he raised up], who were dead through your trespasses and sins, in which ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience; read more. among whom even we all had our way of life in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature children of wrath, even as others; but God, who is rich in mercy, on account of his great love wherewith he loved us, gave to us, even when dead through our trespasses, life with Christ,by grace have ye been saved, and raised us up with him, and caused us to sit with him in the heavenly regions in Christ Jesus, that he might show in the ages to come the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace ye have been saved, through faith; and this is not of yourselves; it is the gift of God;
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it, that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the bath of the water in the word; read more. that he himself might present to himself the church, glorious, having no spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
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 always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, that God chose 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 traditions which ye were taught by us, whether by word, or by our letter.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
and "a stone of stumbling, and a rock to strike against;" even to those who stumble, being disobedient to the word; to which they were also appointed.
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him that loveth us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to God his Father, to him be the glory and the dominion for ever. Amen.
Worthy art thou, O Lord, and our God, to receive the glory, and the honor, and the power; for thou didst create all things, and on account of thy will they were, and were created.
And they cry with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb.
And I saw, and lo! the Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and fortyfour thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of loud thunder; and the voice which I heard was as that of harpers, 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 was able to learn the song but the hundred and fortyfour thousand, who were redeemed from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, a firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no falsehood; for they are without fault. And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an everlasting message of good tidings to proclaim to those who dwell 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,"