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, had not the Lord put a limit to those days, not a single soul would escape; but, for the sake of God's own chosen People, he did limit them.
True, the Son of Man is passing, by the way ordained for him, yet alas for that man by whom he is being betrayed!"
All those whom the Father gives me will come to me; and no one who comes to me will I ever turn away.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my Name.
Even as thou gavest him power over all mankind, that he should give Immortal Life to all those whom thou has given him.
I have revealed thee to those whom thou gavest me from the world; they were thy own, and thou gavest them to me; and they have laid thy Message to heart.
I intercede for them; I am not interceding for the world, but for those whom thou has given me, for they are thy own--
Thou have shown me the path to life, you wilt fill me with gladness in your presence.'
But it was in this way that God fulfilled all that he had long ago foretold, as to the sufferings of his Christ, by the lips of all the Prophets.
Yet only to do what thou, by thy power and of thy own will, didst long ago destine to be done.
Yet only to do what thou, by thy power and of thy own will, didst long ago destine to be done.
On hearing this, the Gentiles were glad and extolled God's Message; and all those who had been enrolled for Immortal Life became believers in Christ;
He made all races of the earth's surface--fixing a time for their rise and fall, and the limits of their settlements--
For those whom God chose from the first he also destined from the first to be transformed into likeness to his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest among many Brothers. And those whom God destined for this he also called; and those whom he called he also pronounced righteous; and those whom he pronounced righteous he also brought to Glory.
For in order that the purpose of God, working through selection, might not fail-a selection depending, not on obedience, but on his Call-Rebecca was told, before her children were born and before they had done anything either right or wrong,
So, then, where God wills, he takes pity, and where he wills, he hardens the heart.
Has not the potter absolute power over his clay, so that out of the same lump he makes one thing for better, and another for common, use?
And so in our own time, too, there is to be found a remnant of our nation selected by God in love.
From the first he destined us, in his good-will towards us, to be adopted as Sons through Jesus Christ,
In him, I say, for by our union with him we became God's Heritage, having from the first been destined for this in the intention of him who, in all that happens, is carrying out his own fixed purpose;
In accordance with that purpose which runs through all the ages and which he has now accomplished in Jesus, the Christ, our Master.
Rooted in him, building up your characters through union with him, growing stronger through your faith, as you were taught, overflowing with faith and thanksgiving.
and is based on the hope of Immortal Life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began,
who holds doctrine that can be relied on as being in accordance with the accepted Teaching; so that he may be able to encourage others by sound teaching, as well as to refute our opponents.
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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He, I say, in accordance with God's definite plan and with his previous knowledge, was betrayed, and you, by the hands of lawless men, nailed him to a cross and put him to death.
Yet only to do what thou, by thy power and of thy own will, didst long ago destine to be done.
You, however, are not earthly but spiritual, since the Spirit of God lives within you. Unless a man has the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ;
But we do know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him-those who have received the Call in accordance with his purpose. For those whom God chose from the first he also destined from the first to be transformed into likeness to his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest among many Brothers. read more. And those whom God destined for this he also called; and those whom he called he also pronounced righteous; and those whom he pronounced righteous he also brought to Glory.
Gave himself for our sins, in accordance with the will of God and Father,
But when God, who had set me apart even before my birth, and who called me by his love,
For he chose us in our union with Christ before the creation of the universe, that we might be holy and blameless in his sight, living in the spirit of love. From the first he destined us, in his good-will towards us, to be adopted as Sons through Jesus Christ, read more. And so to enhance that glorious manifestation of his loving- kindness which he gave us in The Beloved;
In him, I say, for by our union with him we became God's Heritage, having from the first been destined for this in the intention of him who, in all that happens, is carrying out his own fixed purpose; That we should enhance his glory--we who have been the first to rest our hopes on the Christ.
And the Spirit is a pledge of our future heritage, fore- shadowing the full redemption of God's own People--to enhance his Glory.
In accordance with that purpose which runs through all the ages and which he has now accomplished in Jesus, the Christ, our Master.
But, Brothers, whom the Lord loves, it is our duty always to thank God about you, for, from the first, God chose you for Salvation through the purifying influence of the Spirit, and your belief in the Truth.
But, Brothers, whom the Lord loves, it is our duty always to thank God about you, for, from the first, God chose you for Salvation through the purifying influence of the Spirit, and your belief in the Truth.
It was God who saved us, and from him we received our solemn Call--not as a reward for anything that we had done, but in fulfillment of his own loving purpose. For that love was extended to us, through Christ Jesus, before time began,
Destined for this before the beginning of the world, he has been revealed in these last days for your sakes,
All who are living on earth will worship it--all whose names have not been written in the Lamb's Book of Life, the Lamb that has been sacrificed from the foundation of the world.
The Beast that you saw was, but is not, and is about to rise out of the bottomless pit, and is on its way to destruction. Those who are living on earth will be amazed--those whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world--when they see that the Beast was, but 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 in Heaven.
Are not two sparrows sold for a half-penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's knowledge. While as for you, the very hairs of your head are numbered.
He, I say, in accordance with God's definite plan and with his previous knowledge, was betrayed, and you, by the hands of lawless men, nailed him to a cross and put him to death.
Thou have shown me the path to life, you wilt fill me with gladness in your presence.'
Yet only to do what thou, by thy power and of thy own will, didst long ago destine to be done. Now, therefore, O Lord, mark their threats, and enable thy servants, with all fearlessness, to tell thy Message,
We have, therefore, decided, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to lay no further burden upon you beyond these necessary conditions--
He made all races of the earth's surface--fixing a time for their rise and fall, and the limits of their settlements--
For those whom God chose from the first he also destined from the first to be transformed into likeness to his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest among many Brothers.
For those whom God chose from the first he also destined from the first to be transformed into likeness to his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest among many Brothers.
For those whom God chose from the first he also destined from the first to be transformed into likeness to his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest among many Brothers.
Scripture says-'For thy sake we are being killed all the day long, We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.'
What are we to say, then? Is God guilty of injustice? Heaven forbid! For his words to Moses are-'I will take pity on whom I take pity, and be merciful to whom I am merciful.' read more. So, then, all depends, not on human wishes or human efforts, but on God's mercy. In Scripture, again, it is said to Pharaoh-'It was for this very purpose that I raised thee to the throne, to show my power by my dealings with thee, and to make my name known throughout the world.'
In Scripture, again, it is said to Pharaoh-'It was for this very purpose that I raised thee to the throne, to show my power by my dealings with thee, and to make my name known throughout the world.' So, then, where God wills, he takes pity, and where he wills, he hardens the heart. read more. Perhaps you will say to me-'How can any one still be blamed? For who withstands his purpose?' I might rather ask 'Who are you who are arguing with God?' Does a thing which a man has molded say to him who has molded it 'Why did you make me like this?'
I might rather ask 'Who are you who are arguing with God?' Does a thing which a man has molded say to him who has molded it 'Why did you make me like this?' Has not the potter absolute power over his clay, so that out of the same lump he makes one thing for better, and another for common, use?
Has not the potter absolute power over his clay, so that out of the same lump he makes one thing for better, and another for common, use? And what if God, intending to reveal his displeasure and make his power known, bore most patiently with the objects of his displeasure, though they were fit only to be destroyed,
And what if God, intending to reveal his displeasure and make his power known, bore most patiently with the objects of his displeasure, though they were fit only to be destroyed,
And what if God, intending to reveal his displeasure and make his power known, bore most patiently with the objects of his displeasure, though they were fit only to be destroyed, So as to make known his surpassing glory in dealing with the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared beforehand for glory,
God has not rejected his People, whom he chose from the first. Have you forgotten the words of Scripture in the story of Elijah- how he appeals to God against Israel?
Oh! the unfathomable wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments, how untraceable his ways! Yes-- 'Who has ever comprehended the mind of the Lord? Who has ever become his counselor?
For he chose us in our union with Christ before the creation of the universe, that we might be holy and blameless in his sight, living in the spirit of love.
For he chose us in our union with Christ before the creation of the universe, that we might be holy and blameless in his sight, living in the spirit of love.
For he chose us in our union with Christ before the creation of the universe, that we might be holy and blameless in his sight, living in the spirit of love. From the first he destined us, in his good-will towards us, to be adopted as Sons through Jesus Christ,
From the first he destined us, in his good-will towards us, to be adopted as Sons through Jesus Christ,
When he made known to us his hidden purpose. And it also accords with the good-will which God purposed to exhibit in Christ,
In him, I say, for by our union with him we became God's Heritage, having from the first been destined for this in the intention of him who, in all that happens, is carrying out his own fixed purpose;
In him, I say, for by our union with him we became God's Heritage, having from the first been destined for this in the intention of him who, in all that happens, is carrying out his own fixed purpose;
In him, I say, for by our union with him we became God's Heritage, having from the first been destined for this in the intention of him who, in all that happens, is carrying out his own fixed purpose;
You yourselves were once dead because of your offenses and sins. For at one time you lived in sin, following the ways of the world, in subjection to the Ruler of the Powers of the air--the Spirit who is still at work among the disobedient. read more. And it was among them that we all once lived our lives, indulging the cravings of our earthly nature, and carrying out the desires prompted by that earthly nature and by our own thoughts. Our very nature exposed us to the Divine Wrath, like the rest of mankind. Yet God, in his abundant compassion, and because of the great love with which he loved us, Even though we were 'dead' because of our offenses, gave Life to us in giving Life to the Christ. (By God's loving-kindness you have been saved.) And, through our union with Christ Jesus, God raised us with him, and caused us to sit with him on high, In order that, by his goodness to us in Christ Jesus, he might display in the ages to come the boundless wealth of his loving- kindness. For it is by God's loving-kindness that you have been saved, through your faith. It is not due to yourselves; the gift is God's.
Husbands, love your wives, just as the Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for her, To make her holy, after purifying her by the Washing with the Water, according to his promise; read more. So that he might himself bring the Church, in all her beauty, into his own presence, with no spot or wrinkle or blemish of any kind, but that she might be holy and faultless.
Rooted in him, building up your characters through union with him, growing stronger through your faith, as you were taught, overflowing with faith and thanksgiving.
But, Brothers, whom the Lord loves, it is our duty always to thank God about you, for, from the first, God chose you for Salvation through the purifying influence of the Spirit, and your belief in the Truth.
Stand firm then, Brothers, and hold fast to the truths that we taught you, whether by word or by letter.
To the People of God who are living abroad, dispersed throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Roman Asia, and Bithynia,
and 'a stumbling-block, and a rock which shall prove a hindrance.' They stumble because they do not accept the Message. This was the fate destined for them.
and from Jesus Christ, ' the faithful Witness, the First-born from the dead, and the Ruler of all the Kings of the earth.' To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his own blood-- and he made us ' a Kingdom of Priests in the service of God,' his Father! --to Him be ascribed glory and dominion for ever. Amen.
'Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive all praise, and honour, and power, for thou didst create all things, and at thy bidding they came into being and were created.'
And they are crying in a loud voice-- ' Salvation be ascribed to our God who is seated on his throne and to the Lamb.'
Then, in my vision, I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. With him were a hundred and forty-four thousand men, with his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from Heaven, 'like the sound of many waters,' and like the sound of a loud peal of thunder; the sound that I heard was like the music of harpers playing on their harps. read more. They are singing what seems to be a new song, before the throne, and before the four Creatures and the Councillors; and no one was able to learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from earth. These are the men who never defiled themselves in their intercourse with women; they are as pure as virgins. These are the men who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed as the first-fruits of mankind for God and for the Lamb. 'No lie was ever heard upon their lips.' They are beyond reach of blame. Then I saw another angel, flying in mid-heaven. He had the Good News, decreed from eternity, to announce to those who dwell on the earth--to men of every nation, and tribe, and language, 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,"