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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God said to Abraham: Do not be upset about the boy and your slave. Listen to what Sarah says, because through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name.
I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you my power and in order to proclaim my name through all the earth.
Jehovah said: I will make all my goodness pass in front of you. I will call out my name, JEHOVAH. I will be kind to anyone I want to. I will be merciful to anyone I want to.
Yet Jehovah set his affection on your fathers. He loved them. He chose you their descendants above all peoples, as it is this day.
When the Most High gave nations their inheritance, when he divided the descendants of Adam, he set up borders for the tribes corresponding to the number of the sons of Israel.
It was Jehovah who hardened their hearts to make war against Israel. That way he could completely destroy them. That they might have no favor, but that he might destroy them, as Jehovah commanded Moses.
Blessed is the nation who's God is Jehovah. Happy are the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.
How blessed is the one you choose to bring near to you, to dwell in your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy Temple.
but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion he loved.
For Jehovah has chosen Jacob for Himself and Israel for his special treasure (property).
Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak. Let us meet together at the place of judgment. Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow. read more. He pursues them and moves on unscathed. He goes by a path his feet have not traveled before. Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, Jehovah have done this with the first of them and with the last. I am he! The islands have seen it and fear. The ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward. Each helps the other and says to his brother: Be strong! The craftsman encourages the goldsmith. He who smooths with the hammer spurs on him who strikes the anvil. He says of the welding: It is good. He nails down the idol so it will not topple. However you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham, my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth. I called you from its farthest corners. I said: 'You are my servant. I have chosen you and have not rejected you. Do not fear for I am with you! Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.'
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.
Unless Jehovah shortened the days no flesh would be saved. For the sake of his chosen anointed he will shorten the days.
The Son of man indeed goes, as it has been determined. But woe to that man through whom he is betrayed!
That which the Father gives me will come to me. I will not reject him who comes to me.
You did not choose me. I chose you and appointed you. You should go and bear fruit and your fruit should remain. Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
You have given him authority over all flesh that he may give everlasting life to the ones whom you have given him.
I taught your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours and you gave them to me. They have lived by your word.
I pray for them. I do not pray for the world. I pray only for those you gave me, for they are yours.
You have made known to me the ways of life, and you will fill me with joy with your presence.'
The things God fulfilled he announced beforehand by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer.
They were there to do the things your hand and council foreordained to occur.
They were there to do the things your hand and council foreordained to occur.
And when the people of the nations heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God. As many as were receptive to eternal life believed.
From one person he made every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth. He determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation.
Those he first recognized, he ordained in advance that they be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. He ordained in advance the ones he called. He declared righteous the ones he called. He also glorified those he declared righteous.
When they had not yet been born nor performed anything good or vile, so the purpose of God regarding the choosing would continue without dependence on works but on the One who calls.
He shows mercy to the one he chooses, and he allows others to be stubborn.
Or does the potter not have authority over the clay? Can he make out of the same lump one vessel to honor, and another for common use? (Jeremiah 18:6)
Even so at this present time there is a remnant chosen according to God's grace.
He predetermined (ordained) us to adoption, as sons to himself through Jesus Christ, according to the kind intention of his will.
We were assigned as heirs predetermined according to his purpose. He works all things according to his direction and will.
This is according to the eternal purpose (determination) (design) (arrangement) that He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Keep your roots deep in him! Build your lives on him. Become stronger in your faith, as you were taught, and be filled with thanksgiving.
It is in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal.
holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to reprove (refute) (rebuke) 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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You took this man and delivered him by the determined counsel (purpose) and foreknowledge of God. With wicked hands you impaled and murdered him.
They were there to do the things your hand and council foreordained to occur.
But you are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God's Spirit dwells in you. If any one does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to him.
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Those he first recognized, he ordained in advance that they be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. read more. He ordained in advance the ones he called. He declared righteous the ones he called. He also glorified those he declared righteous.
He (Jesus) gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us out of this present evil age. This is according to the will of our God and Father.
It pleased God to separate me even from my mother's womb and call me through his grace.
He chose us through him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love. He predetermined (ordained) us to adoption, as sons to himself through Jesus Christ, according to the kind intention of his will. read more. This is to the praise of the glory of his kindness, with which he freely honored us, the loved ones.
We were assigned as heirs predetermined according to his purpose. He works all things according to his direction and will. We who were first to hope in Christ should serve to the praise of his glory.
The Holy Spirit is a guarantee that we will receive our inheritance. This assures us that God will set us free to the praise of his glory.
This is according to the eternal purpose (determination) (design) (arrangement) that He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We always have to thank God for you, brothers. Jehovah loves you and we thank God that in the beginning he chose you to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
We always have to thank God for you, brothers. Jehovah loves you and we thank God that in the beginning he chose you to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
God has saved us and called us with a holy calling. This is not according to our works, but according to his purpose and grace that was granted us in Christ Jesus, from all eternity.
Jesus was known before the foundation of the world. He was made known at the end times for your sake.
All the citizens of earth will worship him, all whose names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life who was slain from the foundation of the world.
The beast that you saw was, and is not. It will ascend out of the pit and go into destruction. They who dwell on the earth will wonder, those whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
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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Abraham will definitely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him. I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household; and that they may remain in the righteous and just way of Jehovah. Jehovah will bring to Abraham what he told him.
It was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me like a father to Pharaoh. He made me lord over his entire household, and ruler of Egypt.
Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it. This was to keep many people alive, as he is doing now.
I am Jehovah your God. I have promised you their land that is rich with milk and honey. I have chosen you to be different from other people.
I am Jehovah, the Holy God. You have been chosen to be my people, and so you must be holy too.
My advice is to gather all Israel's troops from Dan to Beersheba. They are as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Lead them into battle yourself. Find him and attack him! We will fall on him as dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive.
He said: I was born with nothing (naked), and I will die with nothing. Jehovah gave, and now he has taken away. Blessed be the name of Jehovah!
Sing joyfully to Jehovah, O you righteous ones. Praise is becoming to the upright.
Cease your endeavors and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be glorified in the earth! Jehovah of Hosts is with us! The God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Our God is in heaven. He does whatever he pleases.
Everything Jehovah desires he does in the heavens and in earth, and in the seas and all deep places.
A man's heart determines his way. Jehovah directs his steps.
The lot is cast into the lap. But every decision is from Jehovah.
Jehovah controls the mind of a king as easily as he directs the course of a stream. He turns it where ever he wishes.
Jehovah of Hosts has sworn an oath: What I have intended (devised) will happen. What I have determined to do will be done.
Jehovah of Hosts has sworn an oath: What I have intended (devised) will happen. What I have determined to do will be done. In my land of Israel I will trample them on my mountains. I will free my people from the Assyrian yoke and from the burdens they have had to bear. read more. This is my purpose (plan) (advise) for the world, and my arm (extended power) is stretched out to punish the nations. Jehovah of Hosts is determined to do this. He has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him.
Jehovah of Hosts is determined to do this. He has stretched out his arm to punish, and no one can stop him.
Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it! And now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.
Jehovah created Jacob and formed Israel. Jehovah says: Do not be afraid for I have reclaimed you. I have called you by my name. You are mine.
Bring everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.'
I make light and create darkness. I make blessings and create disasters. I, Jehovah, do all these things.
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.' I summon a bird of prey from the east. I summon a man to fulfill my purpose from a far off land. What I have said I will bring about. What I have determined (purposed) I will do.
All the inhabitants of the earth are considered as nothing. He does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth. None can stop him, or say to him: 'What do you do?'
Will the trumpet be blown in a city and the people not be afraid? Will disaster happen to a city and Jehovah not cause it?
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:33) (Daniel 2:44) (Revelation 11:15) (Psalm 37:10,29) (Acts 24:15)
Do two sparrows sell for a penny? Not one of them will fall on the ground without your Father knowing. Even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
You took this man and delivered him by the determined counsel (purpose) and foreknowledge of God. With wicked hands you impaled and murdered him.
You have made known to me the ways of life, and you will fill me with joy with your presence.'
They were there to do the things your hand and council foreordained to occur. Now Jehovah behold their threats and grant that your servants keep speaking your word with boldness.
Known to God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.
From one person he made every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth. He determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation.
Those he first recognized, he ordained in advance that they be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Those he first recognized, he ordained in advance that they be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Those he first recognized, he ordained in advance that they be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
It is written: For your sake we are put to death all day long. We are considered as sheep for the slaughter. (Psalm 44:22)
What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? There is not! He says to Moses, I will show mercy to the one I choose to show mercy, and I will feel compassion for the one I choose to feel compassion. read more. So then it does not depend on mans will or effort, but on God who shows mercy. The scripture says to Pharaoh: For this reason I have raised you up, that I might through you, show my power and declare my name in all the earth.
The scripture says to Pharaoh: For this reason I have raised you up, that I might through you, show my power and declare my name in all the earth. He shows mercy to the one he chooses, and he allows others to be stubborn. read more. You say to me: Why does he yet find fault? Who resists his purpose (will)? Yes, but you, O man, who are you to answer back to God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it: Why have you made me this way? (Isaiah 45:9)
Yes, but you, O man, who are you to answer back to God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it: Why have you made me this way? (Isaiah 45:9) Or does the potter not have authority over the clay? Can he make out of the same lump one vessel to honor, and another for common use? (Jeremiah 18:6)
Or does the potter not have authority over the clay? Can he make out of the same lump one vessel to honor, and another for common use? (Jeremiah 18:6) If God decided to show his wrath and make his power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fit for destruction.
If God decided to show his wrath and make his power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fit for destruction.
If God decided to show his wrath and make his power known, endured with much long-suffering vessels of wrath fit for destruction. In that way he could make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy that he had prepared in advance for glory.
God has not rejected his people whom he first knew. Do you remember what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he made intercession to God against Israel?
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments. His ways are beyond human understanding! For who has known the mind of Jehovah? Or who has been his counselor? (Isaiah 40:13)
He chose us through him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love.
He chose us through him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love.
He chose us through him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love. He predetermined (ordained) us to adoption, as sons to himself through Jesus Christ, according to the kind intention of his will.
He predetermined (ordained) us to adoption, as sons to himself through Jesus Christ, according to the kind intention of his will.
He made known to us the secret of his will, according to his good pleasure and purpose.
We were assigned as heirs predetermined according to his purpose. He works all things according to his direction and will.
We were assigned as heirs predetermined according to his purpose. He works all things according to his direction and will.
We were assigned as heirs predetermined according to his purpose. He works all things according to his direction and will.
You were once dead because of your trespasses and sins. You once walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power (authority and jurisdiction) of the air, the spirit that is now active in the sons of disobedience. read more. We all once lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires (lusts) of the flesh and of the mind. We were by nature children of anger and violent passion, like everyone else. But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. For by grace (loving-kindness) you have been saved. God raised us up with him and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, with Christ Jesus. So in the ages to come he, with Christ Jesus, might show the exceeding (surpassing) (exceptional) riches of his grace with kindness toward us. By grace (Greek: charis, divine favor, loving-kindness) you have been saved through faith. It is not from you. It is the gift from God!
Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the congregation and gave himself up for it. This is so he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word. read more. So he will be able to present the congregation to himself as a glorious congregation, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. It should be holy and without blemish.
Keep your roots deep in him! Build your lives on him. Become stronger in your faith, as you were taught, and be filled with thanksgiving.
We always have to thank God for you, brothers. Jehovah loves you and we thank God that in the beginning he chose you to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the precepts (Greek: paradosis: traditions of doctrines, teachings handed down) you were taught by word of mouth or by letter from us.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are temporary residents scattered in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
It is a stone that people stumble over, and a large rock that people find offensive. They stumble because they are disobedient to the word. To this end they were appointed.
And from Jesus Christ, who is the Faithful Witness, and the firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood. He made us to be a kingdom of kings and priests to his God and Father. To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
You are worthy, Jehovah our God, to receive glory and honor and power: for you have created all things, and because of your will they are and were created.
They cried with a loud voice, saying: Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.
A Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him one hundred forty-four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. I heard a sound from heaven, as the sound of many waters. It was as the sound of a great thunder: and I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. read more. They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders. No man can learn that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women. They are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed (bought) from among mankind. They are the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. No falsehood (lie) (deceit) was found in their mouth, for they are without fault. Then I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven. He had everlasting good news to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, 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,"