Predestination, Only for Those Whom He Did Foreknow
By Arthur J. Licursi
The Free Will of Man
Many people have a difficult time reconciling God’s sovereignty to “predestinate” some to salvation with that matter of man’s free will to choose to receive Him and His salvation or not. They think God is unfair in apparently choosing some and not others. The truth is that such a conflict is not as it may appear at first glance.
They fail to see that our free will is at work and instrumental in our acceptance of Christ as Savior. Christ is the Father’s provision for our reconciliation to God and Christ also is the life-giving seed of the Father by which we may become reborn children of God. Our free will is at work in our acceptance or rejection of the salvation offered in Jesus Christ’s substitutionary work on our behalf. In fact, I call this choice to receive or not to receive salvation in Christ “the great choice.” Part of man being made in “the image of God” is for man to have free will, as God has free will. We are volitional, as God Himself is the ultimate volitional One. Scripture includes a record of those who did and did not receive God’s offer of salvation. Man has the ability to resist God, to reject God and His salvation in Christ, and many do.
Our Sovereign Father
One day in 1968 I said yes to the “great choice” and received Christ, who is not only the Father’s provision for my reconciliation to God, but also the Father’s life-seed by which I became a rebirthed child of God, I was made a literal child of God by receiving His Seed – Jesus Christ (1Peter 1:23, Gal 3:16). It was I who said yes by a free will; but at the same time I truly believe that my coming to receive Him and to know Him and His unending grace and love toward me was entirely a setup of “His doing” (Philip 2:13). It is only His hand that has kept me from destruction, prompted me and, by outer circumstances, pushed me to make that choice to receive Him. He has been active in every circumstance and situation of my life and that of every Christian, that I might ultimately be turned to find Him who has always been bidding me “come.” I can claim no credit, since I am now keenly aware that it was Him who was at work all the time. He at that time placed His Seed, His Son, Jesus Christ, in me (Col. 1:27) that I might become His child, born of His very own loins, a son of God.
God’s Work
It is the Father’s work by all situations to lead, guide, cajole and pull us to Him. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44a). He was endeavoring to fulfill His plan, which from before the world began was to adopt me by a literal birthing to sonship. “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will” (Ephes. 1:4-5).
If it was He who has been (and still is) working all the time in my life to the end of His good pleasure, then what about my free will? I believe in both His sovereign hand and grace at work in my life and also at the same time in my free will choice is instrumental. Consider, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). Here we see that it is both a matter of (1.) our “receiving” Christ by our free-will choice, and yet (2.) my rebirth is solely of the Father’s procreative work. My part was to choose to “receive.” Christians are those who were born of God. “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13, underline added).
God Knew We Would Say Yes Before We Said Yes
This matter of the Bible saying God “chose”, “predestined” some seems to indicate that God is the one who chose us for some unexplained reason; that He preferentially chose us over others. This is not the case. We must look deeper into the Bible. God desires that none would be lost or perish.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The answer to the question lies is seeing what the Bible clearly tells us. We cannot take Scripture out of context or we miss the truth to be found in it.
Romans 8:27-30 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow, (those only) he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Parenthesis added by writer.)
1 Peter 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
Notice that the sequence in v30 that where the Bible says it is God who predestinates, calls, justifies and glorifies, it is preceded by God’s foreknowing in v29. The fact is that God’s choice and predestination is predicated upon His “foreknowing” (Rom 8:29 above) that we are the ones who would say “yes.” God will not waste His “choosing” upon those whom He foreknows to be ones that will say “no.” In order to understand and reconcile the issue of God’s sovereignty vs. our free will, we must first realize something related to God’s foreknowing that is almost incomprehensible to our finite minds. You see, God foreknew us before we were born physically, with God with time is not an issue. Being eternal, God lives in the eternal present, which includes our past, present, and future, so, to God time is not a factor. He knew the end from the very beginning. Let’s now look at what exactly the Bible has to say on this matter. I believe Romans 8:27-30 and 1Peter 1:2 (above) hold the key for us.
In verse 27, we see that God “searcheth the hearts.” God knew your heart and the heart of every other person already from eternity past, before we were born. Based upon His “foreknowledge” (verse 29) that you or I would say yes (or no) to Christ, God proceeded to arrange the “all things” of verse 28, all the circumstances and situations of life (pleasant and unpleasant), which were the necessary to bring or push us unto Himself. He arranged that I would hear the Gospel at just the right time and make the “great choice” by my free will. He did foreknow that my free will choice would be “yes.” Our saying yes actualized what He already foreknew in the timeless past. So, the Father chooses; but also we must come to exert a believing faith (our part by free will) by receiving (John 1:12), as seen in the following verse.
2 Thes. 2:13b God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and (your) belief of the truth:
We can see that as result of God searching the hearts (verse 27) and “foreknowing,” He uses “all things” to call us to choose, to actualize our choice by receiving Christ, which was according to His “foreknowing.” The “great choice” of our receiving Him makes us Jesus’ “many brethren.” We together are the enlargement of the Father’s eternal family, to fill up His house as the children of His own birthing. From the moment of our “great choice” onward, it is our Father who continues to work all things (circumstances and situations of life) to fulfill His predestination of us to His purpose, which is that we would be “conformed to the image of His Son” (verse 29). “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philip. 2:13). His conforming of us to the image of Christ will continue and not be complete during our sojourn on earth. We continue to make free-will choices, which can either help or hinder (slow) the process. In Romans 8:29-30 we see our glorious end. Whomever He predestinated, He called, and whomever He called, He justified, and glorified. So, our being chosen and predestined by God was first built upon His “foreknowing” that we would say “yes.”
This choice is one to be made by every man and woman, in answer to God’s great question - What will you do with Christ? To say “yes,” is to choose to receive the free gift of salvation from judgment, and the new and divine life, which is in Christ.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
It is as simple as that.
Some Are Not “The Chosen”
A question should naturally arise if we look at Romans 8:28 and note the phrase “to them who.” This means the promise in the first half of this verse “all things work together for the good” applies only “to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” To me, conversely, this would mean then that those who are not the called do not enjoy the fruit of this promise, which is seen the first part of Romans 8:28. This means those who are not “the called” do not have “all things working together for good.”
What exactly is the good of “for good” in Romans 8:28? We see the answer in the next verse. In Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, (those only) he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” The “all things,” including the negative that occurs in the life of the child of God who was “chosen to be in Christ before the world began” (Eph 1:4) are for the “good purpose” of pushing us to be conformed to the image of the Son. If you are a believing child of God, then this promise belongs to you if you.
Philip. 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Our heavenly Father has been working in our lives since the day we were born physically to turn us to receive Christ, and still to keep us turning to trust Christ in dependence upon Him. Being a “chosen” one, we then can believe that we have God at work in our lives, using all the circumstances and situations of life, many dealt to us by the hands of the people around us, to conform (renew) our soul to the image of Christ, who dwells within our spirit.
At this point some may be saying, “But why were some chosen and some not?” I assure you that God was not arbitrary or capricious in this choosing. While it is true that God desires that none would perish and that Jesus died for all humanity, paying the price for all humanity in the shedding of His blood and giving His life for mankind; God only “chose” those whom He “foreknew” to be ones who would say “yes” to receive His Son (John 1:12).
I believe God uses those who are not the chosen, which Paul calls “vessels of dishonor,” to provide the negative in the world to push the “chosen” ones (vessels of honor) to abandon their lives to Christ’s Lordship, to turn and trust Him day by day. Paul wrote in Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? The negative is needed and not wasted. By example, we see this profoundly at work in God using Hitler to push the Jews back to the land of Israel when they were not otherwise returning to the land of Israel.
How can I say that God “chose” on a fair basis? Look at Romans 8:29-30 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Here we see that the entire sequence of God’s work in our lives is initiated by God’s “foreknowing” (v29) that we would say “yes,” to receive and then trust Christ to be our new person, whose image we would come to reflect.
All of this is in perfect accord with man asserting his free will. God has foreknown each man’s choice; God yields to the man’s choice when that man says “no,” or God works to draw, save and conform those whom He foreknew would say “yes.”
Jesus Has Become Both Christ & Lord
So what is left for us after we’ve said yes to the “great choice”? In Acts 2:36 Peter said that Jesus of Nazareth has become “both Lord and Christ.” I believe that we each, as born-again children of God, made that greatest choice of our free will and then yet, we will make many important life-affirming choices as we proceed in the process of growth from His children to grown-up sons. The great choice was to receive Jesus as Christ the Savior. It is later that we come to learn to yield to Him as Lord (Gk. kurious, “governor” of our life). Never do people come to receive Christ as their Savior and also see Him and enjoy Him as their very life in place of their own self-for-self life in that initial transaction of salvation. We grow in obedience to Him who dwells within as our new Lord. Few if any know of, let alone yield to, the “exchanged life” in their initial years as a Christian. The Apostle Paul speaks of this exchange, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20a). Yes, we receive Him initially as our Savior, but it is only later (oftentimes many years) that we come to know Him as our very life, and still later as our Lord (governor) of our very being.
God’s Sons Are His Grown-up Children
Our Father’s desire is that we grow up from being His children (Rom. 8:16) to become His sons. Note in Rom 8:14 that only as many of those who are “led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” This indicates that my “obedience” to His leading from within me is necessary for my growing to sonship. He indwells my spirit and leads me by a spontaneous intuitive knowing that every Christian has by the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:2a) indwelling their spirit.
1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One (Christ), and ye know all things.
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Obedience was a galling for me in my early Christian life. Religion told me, and I ignorantly agreed, that obedience meant I must obey tradition, the pastor, senior men, and all the written Mosaic laws of God that were in Scripture. I knew I could not do those things; so to me, obedience meant a setup for failure and condemnation. I now know that being led by the Spirit of God is the result of my learning - learning to yield and trust His supernatural life already flowing within me. He is able to live through me when I listen and yield to His will. It is mine to yield (always a free-will choice) to Him or function independently of Him as the god of my own life. When I do not yield to His inner leading, He permits me to suffer the consequences of my independent actions, which naturally occur when I live apart from His leading. I’m not condemned by my disobedience and failures (Rom. 8:1); rather, I learn to turn to Him and obey through suffering the consequences of my independent choices. I learn to yield to His leading since He is the only genuine life and wisdom. I should trust Him who is my life. Only He in me is capable of living righteously and putting my life together in this world (John 16:33). -<End>