PREDESTINATION OR FREE WILL?

By pilgrim 10 March, 2024 PILGRIMAGE, RANDOM 1 Comment

‘You may attribute miracles to God, not nonsense.” CS Lewis

Does God predestine believers for salvation or does one choose God to be saved? It would be presumptuous to assume that this centuries old debate can be summarized in a short article, but it is worthy of reflection. Three standards are useful for the discussion.

Word of God: Predestination is not only a Biblical concept but one without any restrictions. Paul’s descriptions on election are not limited.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:11,12)

However, Paul also emphatically writes about the role of our free will in the salvation process, and dispenses with the notion that salvation is impossible for some, allowing choice to dictate our destiny.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”(Romans 10:9-13)

Experience: Any theory that does away with free will and is totally reliant on predestination does not find resonance with reality, because we find that on a daily basis, we are the product of our decisions. Free will is very much alive in our lives and to discard it for our salvation process would not be genuine.

The depravity of man preventing one from coming to God is also consistent with one’s experience of being enslaved to sin, and one’s inability to find union with a perfect, infinite God. Without election one cannot be drawn toward God and be united to him, just like you cannot overcome gravity without a plane. But to say there is nothing good in man not only goes against the creation account of man being created in God’s image, but also is inconsistent with the fact that many who are not saved perform admirable things in this world.

Also, while predestination is a realization that we only find in the back-view mirror once salvation has been received, it is impossible for one who hasn’t been saved to either see it or accept it as legitimate. Free will is the only rudder for their souls, whereas the saved can appreciate both predestination and free will. A legitimate theory would need to be universally appreciable, even if not acceptable.

Logic: Holding on to either extreme alone produces multiple logical issues. To say that free will is all there is, limits God’s sovereignty. Hence the Biblical language of ‘Jacob I chosen, Esau I have rejected’ attest to the fact that while Esau lost his birthright with his actions, it was also God’s choice. Without predestination, God would not be sovereign and hence not God.

Likewise, those who dispel free will and propound predestination alone are unable to adequately explain how God can be a loving and just God if elects a few and sends the rest to Hell. What is the whole point of creation if he were to make humans as mere robots, and pawns in his game? Why then the compulsion to preach the gospel? And if election is all there is, why the extreme intolerance towards those who disagree and why try to change the viewpoint of others, when free will does not exist? Pure Calvinism is inconsistent.

While Calvin’s focus was on emphasizing God’s sovereignty, the hyper-Calvinists have taken predestination to a point where God’s love is all but forgotten. It is the love of God that defines God above else and it is love that prompted God to make man with the capacity of decision-making. In allowing man to have free will and the ability to choose, God still remains sovereign because it is God’s decision regarding mankind. But God also takes responsibility for all of mankind and everything in this world- good and evil, because he created this world, albeit with a potential to rebel against him. And so, when Moses warns Pharaoh, the initial plagues tell us how Pharaoh hardened his own heart; but as the story unfolds, we see how God, respecting the decision of the Pharaoh, hardens his heart.

We might never fully understand how God’s sovereignty coexists with man’s free will, just like we will never fully understand how Jesus was fully human and fully divine at the same time or how the Bible is fully divine and fully human at the same time. However, to ascribe mystery to that would not be illegitimate, because with our finite minds we are trying to reason out the infinite. Truth is found at both extremes- both predestination and free will to the highest are true.