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Premise:
God is
omnipotent/omniscient. God gives free will. God made humans. Therefore, people
cannot have free will if God made us and knows what is going to happen to us?
Predestination
The word "predestination" means "to appoint, to determine, or to design
beforehand".
The Father, through perfect expression of His thinking, predesigned His perfect
plan in Christ (Eph. 1:9;
1 Pet. 1:2,
20;
2 Tim. 1:9). Through Predestination,
believers are guaranteed son-ship (Eph. 1:5) and heir-ship (Eph. 1:11).
The doctrine of Predestination deals only with Christians. There
is no such thing as an unbeliever being predestined to go to hell or sin. It is
a choice. The Christians makes a conscious decision to follow the plan of God.
The unbeliever makes a conscious decision to reject the plan of God. (John 3:18;
3:36). If any person accepts Christ as Savior, he will be saved.
The Biblical concept of Predestination does not conflict with human volition,
but emphasizes it.
The purpose of Predestination is to relate the believer to the Plan of
God through Positional Truth. (Eph. 1:4, 5). It is based on the foreknowledge of
God, (Rom. 8:29). It is an expression of God's love for those who are in union
with Christ. Predestination was a sovereign decision on the part of God
the Father, (Eph. 1:5, 11). Jesus Christ has a destiny. When we enter into
union with Christ at the time of salvation, we share in that destiny.
Positional Truth: There are five Greek words used to communicate
the Biblical doctrine of Predestination. Without a working knowledge of these
words and the categories of truth they represent, no one can draw inferences or
theological conclusions about what is being taught in the Bible on the subject.
(prooridzw) - verb, "to predesign; to predetermine".
(Rom.
8:28,29;
Eph. 1:5,11)
(protithemi)- verb, "to predetermine", (Rom. 3:25;
Eph. 1:9) Synonym of prooridzo.
(prothesis)- noun, "a predetermined plan". The subject of Ephesians is the
Prothesis of God. (Rom. 8:28; 9:11;
Eph. 1:11; 3:11;
2 Tim. 1:9)
God is never caught napping. He has already met every contingency
with a predetermined plan of action. When we yell "Help!" to God, He doesn't
have to try to think up some way to help us. He has already provided everything
we need. All we have to do is learn about what God has provided and how to take
advantage of it.
(proginoskw) - verb, "to foreordain". (I Pet. 1:20;
Rom. 8:29;
11:2)
(prognosis)- noun, "foreknowledge; a predetermined purpose". (Acts 2:23;
1 Pet.
1:2) [English: prognosis]
The
crucifixion of Christ is related to the Divine Decrees and the predetermined
purpose of God. (Acts 2:23, 4:28, cf.
I Pet. 2:4, 6)
All believers' suffering is related to the predetermined plan of God. In
eternity past, God thought about us and predesigned provisions for us for both
time and eternity. (Rom. 8:28, 29)
God the Father predetermined the Grace concept of Propitiation. (Rom. 3:25)
Propitiation: Predestination defines God's ultimate purpose for
the believer - that we should be like the Lord Jesus Christ in His humanity,
(Rom. 8:29). This is called glorification, (Rom. 8:30).
The born-again Jew is part of the preordained plan of God under the
unconditional covenant to Israel. Therefore, the Jew of the Old Testament is not
a castaway, (Rom. 11:2). There is a definite relationship between Predestination
and Eternal Security. Predestination provides the basis for Eternal Security.
Further:
We cannot attempt to put an infinite, eternal God with no "time-line" (because
our time is irrelevant to God) into our finite box of time - predestination
cannot be viewed with a finite mind - God resides in the Universe and we reside
contained within our temporal bodies. He knew us before we were born (all of us,
not just the saved) and he also knew who would choose Him at that "time" as
well. Therefore in that mind set He foreknew or predestined us. It is nearly
impossible to place our narrow minded time line into GODS Eternity. Such as,
answer the question "how could God have Always existed".
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