Romans Chapter 9

Can the doctrine of “Predestination” be even understood by the human mind? Did the Bible mention anything about what God’s predestination is all about? If the Bible contains all the answers to this, why do we not find a reasonable explanation even to this present day?

According to Calvinism, a widely accepted doctrine today, it says that God predestines based only on His sovereign will. This sovereign election depends solely upon God’s one-sided decision and does not take into account man’s choice. It states that mankind is utterly depraved and totally incapable of choosing God, as a result, God has to elect some to be saved. One may ask what principles and conditions then does God use in His predestination? This is a question that holds no answer because nobody knows nor is it recorded in the Bible, hence only God Himself knows.

However, this is an extremely dangerous teaching, for it is basically nullifying all of God’s efforts in revealing Himself throughout the history of man. Since the creation of the world, God has made Himself known to mankind through the Law, the prophets, His servants and finally His Son Jesus. Being a holy and merciful God, He promises all men that whosoever is willing to repent from his sins and receive Christ, he will be saved. Because God never changes, therefore the way to salvation too never changes. This is a vital truth because it grants us absolute and complete assurance that by genuine repentance from our sins, we shall be pardoned and saved. However, Calvin’s doctrine of predestination has taken this salvation which determines the life and death of mankind, and built it on “God’s sovereign election” – something which no one can know or understand. By doing so, it has left mankind clueless on how to be saved according to what God desires. We can but merely “wait,” hoping that we would be the “fortunate” ones to be elected wherein we will then eventually come to faith in Him; otherwise, even if we were to obey all that God commands in the Bible, we would still not be saved. The most bewildering of all is that unless we are elected by God, even from hearing the gospel message, we will not develop a desire to believe in Him; or perhaps in our minds we are completely willing to believe in Him, but because we have not been given the ability by God to do so, we would finally still end up unable to believe in Him. Oh, how unfathomable and far-fetched is this mystery of “the sovereign election of God” which no one can comprehend!

All these misconceptions, however, came from the wrong understandings of certain bible passages, causing the truths behind Predestination to be misrepresented leading to all these confusions. The root cause of the problems lies in the passage of Romans, Chapter 9; if anyone were to read the passage, they would find themselves in the same shoes as Calvin because they would come to the same conclusion:

‘Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad – in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls – she was told, "The older will serve the younger."’ ~Ro 9:11-12

‘For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.’ ~Ro 9:15-16

“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?” ~Ro 9:21

All the verses above seem to suggest that God’s predestination depends neither on a person’s righteousness nor does it depend on how determined a person is or how hard a person tries; but it is solely dependent upon God’s mercy and compassion to decide who He wants to save. God, the Lord of the whole universe, holds absolute authority to determine who should or should not be saved. Not only with the verses above, the entire Romans, chapter 9, revolves around the same theme. We will be examining this chapter thoroughly at the end of the series, then will we realise that the doctrine of Predestination commonly known today has in fact seriously deviated from the Predestination in the bible.

To understand the true doctrine of Predestination found in the bible, firstly, we need to differentiate between the passages related to Predestination and those that are not. One of the most critical errors in Calvinism is to have used passages that are irrelevant to Predestination to derive their doctrines. Secondly, when the Bible speaks of a truth, it is unnecessary to affirm it through many repetitions, so long as the meaning of a passage is clear, substantiated, and found to be consistent with the whole Bible, it can be used as the foundation for biblical doctrine.

Quoted below are passages for Predestination:

“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.” ~Ro 8:28-30

“who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” ~1Pe 1:2

“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. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 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 hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” ~Ep 1:4-12

From the verses above, we know that God predestines according to His foreknowledge. The biggest mistake in Calvinism’s doctrine of Predestination is to have left out the most crucial factor behind Predestination – “God’s foreknowledge.” Without it, God’s predestination process would be made so much simpler. Man, having lost the ability to be able to choose God, would leave the work of predestination to reside solely upon God’s one-sided decision and arrangements. God, who is in control of everything, is only required to bestow His grace to the chosen elect and they will turn to Him accordingly. In this case, no prior knowledge is required about these people. However, from the passages above, “for those God foreknew he also predestined,” also “who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,” clearly state that God predestines according to His foreknowledge. But what then does God need to foreknow about a person for Him to decide to elect that person to salvation? Is it our intelligence? Surely not, since our intelligence is given by God. Is it our life experiences then? That is also impossible, because our life experiences are arranged by Him. If it is something that requires God to foreknow, obviously it is something not controlled or arranged by Him. What is it then which is not under the control of God? It could be nothing but our free will and personal choice. What God needs to foreknow are exactly our decisions made by the exercising of our free will in all things, especially our response towards the gospel.

In the quoted verses of Romans above, “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…” makes it clear to us that those called by God according to His purpose are the ones that love God, and all these people are the ones whom God foreknew. God has elected those who love Him, predestined them to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, and called them to be saved through Jesus. The same truth can be found in Ephesians, Chapter one, “For He [God] chose us in Him [Christ] before the creation of the world.” For God foreknew who would repent and turn to Christ, hence, even before the creation of the world, God has already chosen those who would believe in Jesus; that we may now through His beloved Son be saved and able to enjoy His abundant grace and mercies. The greatest commandment of the Law is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and the purpose of the Law is to reveal sins and to direct sinners to Christ. Therefore, without a doubt, God’s predestination ought to be consistent with the Law He has given to man. Hence, those whom God has elected must be the ones that love God with all their hearts and with all their minds, to turn away from their sins and come to Jesus Christ. This is consistent throughout the whole Bible and the history of mankind, it is only too obvious, but why do we still find that in Calvinism’s doctrine of Predestination, no one is able to know or understand God’s principles in election?

This is truly what the Bible teaches concerning predestination: even before the creation of the world and the creation of man, God according to His foreknowledge already foreknew the heart and mind of every individual that will come into this world, He knew precisely who would believe or not believe in Christ. He also knew the extent and how far a believer would pursue Christ. God through His foreknowledge chose these people and predestined their lives. Through many miraculous leadings in their life, He has brought these people to Christ to be redeemed and become His children. He has also arranged many opportunities for them to pursue spiritual growth after their conversion. In the end when Christ returns, we shall all inherit His eternal heavenly kingdom. God has predestined us to receive His abundant blessings so that His glory and majesty might be manifest through us, and He would be praised and exalted.

Calvinism today has taken away the part on man’s free will and it has become a predestination that does not require “God’s foreknowledge.” However, the true biblical Predestination involves the thoughts and decisions of millions and millions of people, a process of utmost complexity. In the eye of man, this is indeed unimaginable and beyond our feeble mind can grasp; but as for our God, it is the magnificent display of His supreme wisdom, glory and power.