Predestination

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:29

Isn’t God wonderful? He knew who would receive Him from the foundations of the world! I wanted to discuss this issue of predestination because I think some people believe God essentially said “I picked and you had no choice in the matter.” I believe if that were the case Paul would have left out the beginning part “For whom He foreknew”, it could have merely read “He predestined” without any hint as to His foreknowledge. Ok so now we ask ourselves, “What was the point in even mentioning foreknowing us if He chose anyways?” I believe this word, ‘foreknew’, is pivotal in understanding the meaning. This is my personal take on this. I believe God from the beginning of time saw who would respond to His choice of them and who wouldn’t. It is clear in scripture we have a choice whether to respond to His choosing of us or not. Here is an interesting questionnaire I came up with once, please answer it honestly.

1) Do you believe God is forcing you to obey Him? (my answer is no)

2) So you choose to obey Him correct? (my answer is yes)

3) We all agree that it was His choice of me I was responding to correct? (yes)

4) So could it be that God, knowing someone would respond to Him, still chose not to choose that person if He went to them? (I answered no as it was a violation of the verse it is not His will that any perish but that all come to eternal life, and the author of Hebrews says it is impossible for God to lie)

I have talked with a certain individual that has backslidden and now believes that the reason he has is because GOD WILLED IT! We see that predestination is a concept we are made aware of but not the arbiters of. What I mean is, I think people look too deep into it and tank in their faith (whether by becoming complacent or struggling so much with a sin they stop fighting and fall back) because they instantly see it as a done deal whether your going to heaven or going to hell. The last time I checked in scripture, we are supposed to test ourselves and live in the present. Faith without action is dead. We need to live life in obedience to God (in the present day-by-day) to prove our genuine faith and remember that as long as you have a breath in your body there is hope for forgiveness of your sins. Scenario: the Holy Spirit convicts someone and they go to their death bed without a response to Him, in my mind God saw that they wouldn’t respond and they were not predestined for glory right? He did not choose for that person to be lost or He wouldn’t have even dealt with them right? If you say no you are saying that it is His will that some perish. This is how God is able to raise up leaders whether good or bad. God’s will is going to be accomplished and He has it all set what moves He is going to make, because He is the Master chess player. The foreknowledge works both ways. In the people who respond to God to salvation it is to their benefit, in the corrupt leaders way it is still going to bring God glory, but not in the way they are going to like. If God saw before the foundation of the world that an evil leader would respond to Him, God would not set him up for destruction but for life. The evil leaders position still needs filled, but it wouldn’t be by that guy. I hope this makes sense. I love God and His word, and when I believe that certain views on this almost make God out to be brutal and He is not. God is LOVE! Let’s use scripture to interpret scripture. To conclude, it’s not God’s will that any should perish but that all come to eternal life, again, if this is the case, He is not choosing people to go down the road of destruction!