Understanding Predestination and Free Will
By Tim Webb
Of all the things that I have studied in the Bible, the one thing that has been hardest for me to wrap my brain around is the doctrine of predestination and free will, or Calvinism and Arminianism. I feel like a dog chasing its tail as I have looked at this from all angles. If a person looks for scripture on predestination they will surely find it, but however, if a person looks for scripture on free will they will also find it.
It’s important to admit our inability to fully grasp the nature of God and our relationship with him. Going too far to either side can result in a distorted understanding of salvation.
Ultimately, my view is somewhere in the middle. I believe the following to be true. 1) God either actively causes or passively allows all things in the universe to happen. 2) Love that is forced is no love at all. 3) The Bible tells us that God does not cause us sin. 4) God doesn’t send anyone to hell; he simply honors their wishes.
The Bible tells us that even Satan and one third of the angels were not forced to love God. Through their pride and their own free will choices they sinned against their creator. Adam and Eve also made the choice to sin against God as part of their free will, but God loved them anyway, and built his plan of salvation around their ill-fated decision. At the very heart of that plan is our savior Jesus Christ. Through the fall of man God was able to display to the world his grace, his love, and his mercy.
We are all called by God to be his children, but because God has given us the gift of free will, we have to opportunity to accept him or reject him. God knew, as part of his plan, before the beginning of time those who would accept his calling and those who would not. I believe that a person who falls away was never truly called and never truly believed and trusted in God to begin with.
John 1:11-13 makes a distinction between those who have accepted him and those who have not. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
Some raise the objection that God’s foreknowledge and foreordination of the fall damages man’s freedom. In other words, if God created mankind with full knowledge of the impending fall into sin, how can man be responsible for his sin?
The Doctrine of Concurrence says that God’s sovereign will flows concurrently with our free will. God ordains future events in such a way that our freedom and the working of secondary causes and the laws of nature are preserved. God’s sovereign will flows concurrently with our decisions in such a way that our free will choices always result in carrying out God’s will. Concurrence is complex, but God can handle the complexity. And we have to remember that what may be perceived to us as bad, may not be bad to God and his overall plan.
God foresaw Adam and Eve’s fall, but he created them anyway, in his own image, to bring glory to himself. They were given freedom to make choices. Even though they chose to disobey, their choice became the means by which God’s ultimate will was carried out and by which his full glory will be seen.
While divine sovereignty and human free will coexist at the same time, God’s will is always sovereign and will always override the will of man. I don’t know that you can break the relationship of the two wills into a percentage. Maybe it’s 80/20, maybe it’s 95/5, or maybe it’s 99.9/.1, with God being on the front end. But honestly, breaking it down into a percentage is too human for such a divine question. All that matters is that God wants us to come to him in faith, belief, and trust. After that, just leave the rest up to God. He can handle it.
I like to use this analogy. Think of God baking a cake in the kitchen. He turns the oven on, cracks the eggs and mixes all the ingredients, places the cake into the hot oven, and then takes it out when it’s done to let it cool. He then graciously lets us put the icing on the cake. Us putting the icing on the cake may be a small part and seem insignificant compared to God preparing the overall cake, but as small as it is, he still allows us to be part of the process. Our acceptance of him through faith is like putting the icing on the cake.
Scripture is overwhelmingly clear that God determines who will be saved (Romans 8:29; First Peter 1:2). Ephesians 1:4 tells us that God chose us “before the creation of the world.” The Bible repeatedly describes believers as the “chosen” (Romans 8:33, 11:5; Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 3:12; First Thessalonians 1:4; First Peter 1:2, 2:9) and the “elect” (Matthew 24:22, 31; Mark 13:20, 27; Romans 11:7; First Timothy 5:21; Second Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1; First Peter 1:1). The fact that believers are predestined (Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:5, 11) and elected for salvation (Romans 9:11, 11:28; Second Peter 1:10) is clear.
The Bible also says that we are responsible for receiving Christ as our savior. We have a certain amount of responsibility, first to accept him, and second, to confess our sins and repent. If we believe in Jesus Christ we will be saved (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10). God knows who will be saved and God chooses who will be saved, but we must choose Christ in order to be saved. How these facts work together is impossible for a finite mind to comprehend (Romans 11:33-36). Ephesians 2:8-10 is a great example of how our faith combines with God’s grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” I feel like the simple tried and true verse of John 3:16 sums it up best. “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.” It says that God gave his son Jesus for the whole world, not just to the ones that he chose or elected. But there is one caveat attached to it. This gift that God has given will only be given to those who choose to believe. First John 2:2 tells us that the sacrifice of Jesus was for everyone. “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” Matthew 18:14 tells us that it is not the will of God that anyone should go to hell. “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” Second Peter 3:9 reiterates the fact that God doesn’t want anyone to perish and that he is patient with us because of that. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Finally, Revelation 3:20 reminds us that Jesus doesn’t force himself upon us. It’s up to us to accept him. “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 that person, and they with me.” It is impossible for us to fully understand the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will and responsibility. Only God truly knows how they work together. Our responsibility as Christians is to take the gospel to the world (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). We should leave foreknowledge, election, and predestination up to God and simply be obedient in sharing the gospel.
The Bible also says that we are responsible for receiving Christ as our savior. We have a certain amount of responsibility, first to accept him, and second, to confess our sins and repent. If we believe in Jesus Christ we will be saved (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10). God knows who will be saved and God chooses who will be saved, but we must choose Christ in order to be saved. How these facts work together is impossible for a finite mind to comprehend (Romans 11:33-36). Ephesians 2:8-10 is a great example of how our faith combines with God’s grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” I feel like the simple tried and true verse of John 3:16 sums it up best. “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.” It says that God gave his son Jesus for the whole world, not just to the ones that he chose or elected. But there is one caveat attached to it. This gift that God has given will only be given to those who choose to believe. First John 2:2 tells us that the sacrifice of Jesus was for everyone. “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” Matthew 18:14 tells us that it is not the will of God that anyone should go to hell. “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” Second Peter 3:9 reiterates the fact that God doesn’t want anyone to perish and that he is patient with us because of that. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Finally, Revelation 3:20 reminds us that Jesus doesn’t force himself upon us. It’s up to us to accept him. “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 that person, and they with me.” It is impossible for us to fully understand the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will and responsibility. Only God truly knows how they work together. Our responsibility as Christians is to take the gospel to the world (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). We should leave foreknowledge, election, and predestination up to God and simply be obedient in sharing the gospel.