No doctrine has been more opposed, misrepresented, or caricatured than the doctrine of predestination. To mention it to some people is like waving the proverbial red flag before an enraged bull. One reason why many people are so opposed to predestination is because they simply do not know what this doctrine is. Such ignorance is not surprising if one considers the almost complete lack of Bible knowledge, even among professing Christians.

Anyone who is familiar with Scripture, however, should know that the main theme from Genesis to Revelation is the sovereign rule of God over everything that happens in the universe. To say it in other words, the message of the Bible is that behind all apparent confusion of this world lies the eternal counsel or plan of God. That plan concerns the perfecting of a people called Israel, and the restoring o f a world lost in sin, by means of the sacrifice of Christ, the Son of God. God governs human affairs with this end in view, and human history is a record of the out-working of His purposes. That God has a plan should not surprise anyone. Don‘t we all make plans before we set out to do something? Regardless of how some people may reject predestination, in theory all of us in our everyday life are practical predestinarians.

Before an architect begins with the actual construction of his edifice, he makes his blueprints on which he marks every minute detail. Before the first stone is laid, the complete building already exists in the architect’s mind. The more complex the enterprise, the more necessary it is to have a good plan; otherwise everything will end in failure. If this is true of man, why should it be different with God? I for one, cannot conceive of God bringing into existence this whole complex universe without a plan covering every minute detail.

But whether I can conceive of this or not is not important, of course. What is decisive is that Scripture clearly shows that God indeed has such an all–encompassing plan. The Bible calls this His counsel. In Isaiah 46:9 and 10 we read: I am God and there is none like me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. This counsel or plan of God is also unchangeable. My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure . . . yea, I have spoken, and I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it (lsa. 46:10, 11).

Many more Scripture passages could be cited to prove that God has indeed a definite plan which embraces everything. When I say everything, I mean just that. There are no exceptions. Everything, no matter what it is, has been fixed and determined in God’s counsel. This is not fatalism, as is often charged. In the next article some of the objections which are raised against predestination will be dealt with. Now, however, we limit ourselves to a positive statement of this doctrine. All things are foreordained by God including man’s salvation or damnation. If all things are planned by God, man’s salvation or damnation cannot be exempt from this rule.

Lest anyone think that predestination is based only on logical inference and deductions , let me hasten to add that it is plainly taught by Scripture. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that when some men are saved and others are lost, neither of these two things comes as a surprise to God. Both come to pass because He has planned them. I can imagine that at this point someone will say, “I cannot accept that. The idea that God would determine in advance who is going to be saved and who is not is something I just cannot accept.” I am not surprised at this reaction. The doctrine of God’s sovereignty in salvation has never been popular with man, by nature. Because this doctrine humbles man, he will either reject predestination altogether or explain it in such a way that it becomes more palatable.

The Arminian says, “Predestination is taught by Scripture, but what does it mean? It means nothing more than that God has predestined to salvation those whom He knew would believe in Christ. God knows beforehand what the choice is going to be, but He does not determine that choice.”

This view is widely held. The decision whether or not a man will be saved, is made to depend ultimately on man, not on God. Calvinists reject this view. The issue before us is this: Is a man predestined by God to salvation because he believes in Christ, or is he enabled to believe in Christ because he is predestined? Don’t say this is a purely academic question or a theological subtlety. I am convinced this is a very important question which concerns the well-being of the Church.

Let us turn to the Bible, our final court of appeal. If anything is clear, already in the Old Testament, it is that God is sovereign in all matters, including salvation. Scripture knows nothing of a God Who foreknows, but Who does not foreordain. Nowhere in the Old Testament do we meet a God Who has to wait until man has made up his mind to choose for or against Him. On the contrary, God is described as the absolute Master of the human heart. Jeremiah says that God can change hearts, taking the old heart out and putting a new one in its place. This is a symbolic way of saying that man’s actions, springing from his heart, do not lie outside of God’s plan, but form an integral part of it. God, according to the Old Testament, is King, and He is King with an absolute sovereignty which admits to no qualifications or exceptions whatsoever.

It is in the exercise of that absolute sovereignty that God chose Israel. His choice of that people was not due to any greatness in that people. Only sovereign grace singled her out from many other nations. This applies also to the salvation of individuals—they are saved only by sovereign grace. This is very clear from the New Testament.

Jesus offered salvation. Some accepted it and some turned away. Why? Simply because the former decided for Christ and the latter against Him? Our Lord Himself supplies the answer. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

Do you hear it? It seemed good in God’s sight. There, according to Christ, lies the ultimate reason why some received a saving knowledge of God and some did not.

The same doctrine is taught in the book of Acts. Why was it that some believed Paul’s message, while others rejected it? Because some made the right decisions and others did not? Certainly, this is part of it, but ultimately it was God Who gave faith to some, while withholding it from others. Let me quote the exact words of Luke. As many as were ordained to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48). Here we have the doctrine of predestination in a nutshell. Only those people who believed were predestinated to salvation. They were not predestinated because they believed, but they were enabled to believe because they were predestinated.

This fundamental truth, namely that God’s choice is never based on anything in man, is illustrated even more clearly in Romans 9. Speaking of Jacob and Esau, Paul says: For the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election night stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said unto her (Rebecca), the elder shall serve the younger. Even as it is written, Jacob I love, but Esau I hated.

But is this fair? Is this just? Doesn’t Paul attribute partiality to God? These are only some of the objections which have been and are still being raised against predestination. Paul deals with these objections in Romans 9:14–24, summing it all up in verse 20: Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God?

I realize that what I have said thus far is very incomplete. Lest anyone should have misunderstood predestination, let me say what it does not mean. Predestination does not mean that when God chooses some rather than others to salvation, He does so arbitrarily and without a good reason, mysterious though the reason may be to us. It does not mean either that God takes pleasure in the death of a sinner, or that the door of grace is closed to anyone who will enter in.

Spurgeon says in one of his sermons on election: I frequently meet people who are fretting and worrying themselves about this thought—What if I should not be elect! O sir, they say, I know I put my trust in Jesus; I know I believe in His name and trust in His blood; but what if I should not be elect? Poor dear creature! You do not know much about the gospel, or you would never talk so, for he that believes is elect. Those who are elect, are elect unto faith in Christ, and if you have faith you are one of God’s elect . . . If you, as a sinner, look to Jesus . . . and say:

Nothing in my hands I bring , Simply to the cross I cling,

you are elect . . . You were loved of God from before the foundation of the world, for you would not do that unless God had given you the power, and had chosen you to do it.

Is Christ your only hope for salvation? Do you believe in Him? Have no fear. You are one of God’s chosen people.

For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:8–9).

Cornelis Pronk is the pastor of the Free Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan . This is one of a series of radio broadcasts in Janua ry and February 1983 on the Five Points of Calvinism.