Predestination vs Free Will

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Eph 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

 Up until about the 4th century AD, there really was no controversy between the doctrines of free will and predestination.  It was Augustine who first proposed that people were predestined for salvation or depraved with no hope of salvation. It was John Calvin in the 16th century, however, who really championed the idea of predestination, largely based on the writings of Augustine.

The belief that men are predestined for their ultimate fate became widely known as Calvinism, although, there is a lot more to Calvinism than just predestination.  Predestination is actually only one of the famed Five Points of Calvinism.


There are a number of verses which support the doctrine of predestination.

Rom 8:28-30 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Acts 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

Rom 9:16-24 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."  Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?"

But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' "  Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?  What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

 Act 9:5,6  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. 

Gen 17:20,21  "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.  But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." 

Jeremiah 1:5  Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

 Clearly, these passages and others support the notion of both election (some chosen for salvation regardless of their will) such as Isaac and Paul, and others chosen for depravity (those chosen for damnation) such as Pharaoh and Pilate.

There are number of arguments made by free will proponents including the idea that God did not choose Pharoh or Pilate for damnation, He merely looked into the future, saw they would not accept His free gift, and then used them for His ultimate purpose.

One has to consider if this explanation is logical and reasonable.

Romans 9:17 quotes God speaking of Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

Exodus 4:21 says "The LORD said to Moses, 'When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.'"

Taking these verses together it is hard to believe it was not God's purpose that Pharaoh would be chosen for depravity.

On the other hand, Christian Apologist, Dave Hunt has a really good argument:

"The huge difference between the biblical God and the Calvinist God is clear. The biblical God punishes men for rejecting the salvation He provided for everyone, which all could have accepted by their free will-and punishes them for their sins, which are contrary to His will, none of which they had to commit but chose to do so.

But the Calvinist God condemns to hell those whom He could save if He so desired but for whom He sovereignly chose not even to have Christ die for and from whom He deliberately withholds the salvation He pretends to offer them—and punishes them for not accepting.”

 
This illustrates the more powerful argument that the doctrine of predestination as outlined by John Calvin is not in harmony with the description of the loving God described throughout the Bible who wants none to perish, but all to come to salvation (1 Timothy 2:3,4).

Other verses come out clearly in support off the ability for every individual to make his own choice.

Isaiah 65:12  I will destine you for the sword,

            and you will all bend down for the slaughter;

            for I called but you did not answer,

            I spoke but you did not listen.

            You did evil in my sight

            and chose what displeases me."

Joshua 24:14,15  "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Matthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

Joh 3:16,17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Romans 5:18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Romans 11:32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

There are many others, but you get the picture.  So the big question then, is "How can these scriptures be reconciled?"


Loraine Boettner, in his work The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, gives us a good idea of the attitude of the early church fathers in the period prior to Augustine:

“It may occasion some surprise to discover that the doctrine of Predestination was not made a matter of special study until near the end of the fourth century. The earlier church fathers placed chief emphasis on good works such as faith, repentance, almsgiving, prayers, submission to baptism, etc., as the basis of salvation. They of course taught that salvation was through Christ; yet they assumed that man had full power to accept or reject the gospel. Some of their writings contain passages in which the sovereignty of God is recognized; yet along side of those are others which teach the absolute freedom of the human will. Since they could not reconcile the two they would have denied the doctrine of Predestination and perhaps also that of God's absolute Foreknowledge.  They taught a kind of synergism in which there was a co-operation between grace and free will.”

Perhaps the best word picture of this synergism is provided by Christ Himself in the parable of the wedding banquet found in Matthew 22:1-14.

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

"Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'

"But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.  The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.  The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.  Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.'  So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

"But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.

"Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "For many are invited, but few are chosen."

In this parable, the King (God) throws a wedding banquet (celebration of the salvation of the church) for his son (Jesus).  He sends out invitations to a certain group (the Jews), but that group rejected his invitation.  The king then sent some of his servants (the prophets) to tell his invited guests to come to the banquet, but they seized the servants, abused them, and killed them.

The king then puts out a blanket invitation to everyone.  He sends out his servants out into the streets to invite everyone they find (the Gentiles) to the banquet.

The king finds one without the proper wedding clothes (salvation by grace) and throws him into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Hell).

That pretty much sums it up the entire gospel story in one parable.  Importantly, some are invited directly by the king (elected) but the call to attend the banquet (enter into heaven) goes out to anyone who will listen.

This parable sets the table (pun intended) for the belief of the early church fathers and the only explanation I believe is compatible with all of the quoted verses (and many others as well).

In my blog post on God's Will, I discuss the various types of God's will including what I call God's ultimate will.  God's ultimate will is His plan for the universe from beginning to end which was written before time began.

In the synergistic explanation, God chooses individuals whom He uses to accomplish His ultimate will.  These people include the patriarchs, Moses (certainly an unwilling participant, at least initially), Pharaoh, the prophets, the twelve original Apostles (including Judas, who betrayed him, foretold in Psalm 41:9), Paul, and surely others.  It is possible that this list also includes the early converts who were dispersed in the Christian Diaspora which resulted in the preaching of the gospel, quite literally, around the known world.

None of these verses, however, excludes the salvation (or damnation) of any other individual or group of people.  Just because some are called for specific purpose does not preclude the calling of everyone else to salvation.  The Bible never says, "these people are called and everyone else is damned".  Instead, what I believe it says (paraphrased) is: "These people I have elected (for salvation or damnation) to achieve my ultimate will, and everyone else have the choice to heed or reject my invitation."

This is the message of the parable of the wedding banquet and, I believe, the answer to the predestination versus free will conundrum which satisfies the needs of all of the verses on both sides of the debate.