In the first part of this series about free will and predestination, I established Biblical evidence that the Scriptures do support the concept of “free will” choice. Once again, taking a dual position, (not trying to confuse anyone, be spiritually-politically correct or playing both side of the fence) in this article I will establish Biblical evidence that the Scriptures do support “election” or “predestination” as well. Once again, I know that you may be wondering, “How in the world can one be “elected” or “predestined” and have a “free will” choice at the same time in connection to their destiny and the outcome of their lives? When we get to the portion of this article that explains God’s omniscient, all knowing and infinite characteristics and His ultimate control in connection to being the benefactor of eternity and time, you will then be able to better understand how these opposite concepts intertwine and mesh together in the broad scheme of God’s “beforehand” plan. With this said, despite the great contributions of notable Biblicist and Theologians of our time and times past, I am still not afraid to go against the spoken and unspoken pressure in Christendom to feel forced to choose a side. To add to this, I am definitely not afraid to buck up against the theological standards that have already been set either but not just for the sake of doing so. Once again, I do not do this to try to present myself as being more loftier than anyone, to focus on disproving anyone or to focus on refuting anyone but to present fresh insights and or at a minimum, another way of looking at what we have been looking at in terms of the positions that we hold. Most importantly, I am not even presenting my position to change anyone’s mind, heart, behavior or theological stance (for only God can do that) but within the scope of truth cause one to rethink and or to challenge what they know and why. None the less, when one holds to a position, people tend to focus on how one presents and supports their position within the scope of truth and believability as it gleams off of what has already been accepted and established more than anything else. Let’s face it! One’s position cannot be so far off that it does not make any sense at all. However, being very, very confident of my unorthodox, dual stance on this controversial issue, I just ask that you judge this series and this article on its answer and its ending as I and am building a very, very strong case. A case that is perhaps one you may or may not have ever heard presented before in this manner. In my humble opinion, this position is going to be very, very difficult to refute and to argue against. I do not say this in arrogance but for all those who think that they can, I do welcome all refuting arguments but for now I will focus on the task at hand and that is first establishing Biblical proof that the Scriptures supports “election” or “predestination” as well.
ELECTION OR PREDESTINATION (Oil).
There are many, many scriptures in the Bible that could seemingly refute the “free will” choice argument all together. When we think about the fact that God does everything in eternity and His eternal plans playing themselves out in time, it would seem like a done deal that the “free will” choice is not even possible. For example, in Ephesians 1:4-6 it says;
4. “…JUST AS HE CHOSE US IN HIM before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5. Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His *will, 6. To the praise of the glory of His *grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved (NKJV).
Other scriptures that further support “election” or “predestination” as opposed to “free will” are:
- “… But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…(1 Peter 2:9)
- “…The people He has chosen as His own inheritance…(Psalm 33:12)
- “…The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will… (Acts 22:14)
- “…because God from the beginning chose you for *salvation… (2Thessolonians 2:13)
More solidifying evidence that would seemingly serve as the nail in the coffin that appears to do away with the “free will” argument all together would be found in John 15:16 it says:
15. “YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME, BUT I HAVE CHOSE YOU and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” (NKJV).
With all of this said, yes God did “choose” us as the Bible does supports “election” or “predestination” but just know that it brings us back to the “So then does God predestined people to go to Hell without a choice or not?” issue in which we clarified the answer to this question in (Part 1) of this article as being absolutely “Not!” If this perplexing question in connection to election is not serious enough, to add to that, “Is the Bible contradicting itself?” or in some peoples perspective, “Is the Bible contradicting itself again?” I mean this does not make sense because in the previous article there was visible, Biblical evidence supporting the fact that we have a “free will” choice to choose God if we desired to or not when He said in Joshua 24:15:
15. “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, CHOOSE FOR YOURSELF THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (NKJV).
On the other hand, at the same time, I thought that we were “elected” or “predestined” when the Bible said in Romans 8:29:
29. For whom He (God) foreknew, (before the foundation of the earth) HE ALSO PREDESTINED (His children or chosen) to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He (Jesus) might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30. Moreover whom He (God) predestined, these (children or chosen) He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified (NKJV).
So with what seems like an obvious contradiction, how can this be? As I stated earlier, in order to understand how both of these opposite concepts mesh together in the scope of our destiny and lives we must look at God’s omniscient, all knowing and infinite characteristics and His ultimate control as benefactor of eternity and time. So let’s dive deep into our doctrinal and theological explanation.
GOD, THE BENEFACTOR OF ETERNITY AND TIME (The One holding the bottle that contains the Oil (“election”) and the Water (“free will” choice) who is able to shake it despite the resisting properties causing them to sovereignly blend).
*The first thing that we have to establish is that God of course is eternal and has no beginning or ending. I know that Genesis chapter 1:1 it states that “In the beginning …” but it is a traditional translation of what is a somewhat complex and debated Hebrew sentence structure. One approach is to take verse 1 as a temporal, subordinate clause that gives our finite minds a concept in which to grasp a God who really has no beginning or no ending. A scripture that further explains and confirms this would be Revelation 21:6 which says, “…I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End…” in which only God could be. *I just want to throw out a question to prep your thinking for our explanation connected to “election” and “free will” choice blending, “Since God is the Beginning and the End at the same time, which is also like “Oil” and “Water” do you think that He has the power and is able to mesh “election” and “free will” as well?” I think we know the answer to this question as this article is going to serve to stretch your thinking. *Next, we have to establish that God does everything in eternity or before the foundation of the earth and not in time as Ephesians 1:4 already confirmed when it says “…just as He chose us in Him BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” In using this portion of scripture, even though it supports the “election” or “predestination” argument, I am using it to focus on or point out that God finished His plan before it all began in Genesis 1:1. With all of this said, we have to also take into account God’s omniscient, all knowing and infinite characteristics and His ultimate control as benefactor of eternity and time. Please stay with me as I explain my point and you may have to read this next paragraph more than once to grasp the concept. What am I trying to say is that:
The omniscient God, who is the “Beginning” and the “End” but really has no beginning or ending, ultimately knows the beginning from the ending. With this said, therefore God was able to see, know and take into consideration “beforehand” everything that would ever taken place in time beginning with the beginning leading all the way up to the ending. So in essence, (moving forward from eternity into time) God in His foreknowledge of everything that would ever happen in time (not getting into why God did not He stop certain negative events from happening in history) is able to raced down the corridors of time in His infinite wisdom (moving backwards from time back into eternity, take what He knew that would happen in time) and perfect a finished plan before the foundation of the world. If you disagree with what I have said thus far, I invite you to stop reading this article but if not then continue to read on. I am building a strong case here.
Now that we have established the omniscient characteristic of God, in order for Him to finish His perfect plan before the foundation of the world, knowing everything that would ever happen in time good, bad and ugly. So in essence when we look at some Biblical events, GOD HAD TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL OF THESE EVENTS THAT WOULD EVER TAKE PLACE IN TIME beginning from Genesis 1:1 leading all the way up to the present day and eventually concluding futuristically with a new heaven and a new earth as mentioned in Revelation. Let’s walk through some events that God already knew or foreknew would happen before the foundation of the world or as we said, before recorded time even began in Gen. 1:1:
GOD KNEW BEFOREHAND ABOUT:
- The Fall of Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-21)
- The Temptation and the Fall of Man (Gen. 3:1-24)
- The Great Flood (Gen. 7)
- The Old Testament Believers who have passed away who were waiting in Abraham’s Bosom, a place of comfort down in Hell, until the death of Jesus on the cross (who had not yet come in human form yet) so that He could come to Hell and set them free so that they could go to the third Heaven. So in essence they were saved on credit (Ephes. 4:8-9)
- The birth of Jesus (Matt. 1-18-25)
- The death of Jesus on the cross (John 19:28-30)
- Jesus descending to the center of the earth or Hades (Ephes. 4:9)
- Jesus set the captives (Old Testament Believers) free so that they could go to the third Heaven (Ephes. 4:8-9)
- Jesus leaves the Comforter the Holy Spirit with us on earth in His absence (John 14:26)
- THE “FREE WILL” CHOICE THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE, WILL EVENTUALLY MAKE OR WILL NOT MAKE TO CHOOSE HIM TODAY
- God’s Second Coming
- The Rapture (yes, I am Pre-Tribulation)
- The Tribulation period
- A new Heaven and new Earth
God did not take into account all of these events I just listed once they were or will be set in motion and then finished His plan as he went along. More than this, these events did not catch God by surprise either. Once again this article is not designed to focus on why God did not stop certain negative events from happening but could be another discussion for another time. I know that sometimes the Youth ask me, “If God knew beforehand that Lucifer was going to sin against Him in Heaven (which was the first sin) why did not God just stop him or perhaps kill him by sending him to Hell right away as opposed to allowing him to end up in the Garden where he would tempt Eve.” You see these are the types of questions that are raised when we understand that God knew everything “beforehand” and finished His perfect plan “beforehand” that took events like Lucifer’s rebellion against Him into account “beforehand?” The hard part is trying to give a sound, doctrinal and theological answer in connection to it all. So since God already knew or foreknew all of these events because of His omniscient, all knowing and infinite characteristics and His ultimate control as benefactor of eternity and time. He had to be able to take all of the events of time into consideration when He finished His plan before the foundation of the world. As I stated in (Part 1), the previous article, in order to understand this concept of “election” or “predestination” and “free will” meshing together as we focus on God’s sovereign characteristics, you must be able to think “backwards” (time) and then “forward” (eternity) and then “forward” (eternity) and then “backwards” (time) if this makes any sense. So what does all of this mean as we bring home the main point? Since God was able to take into account all of the events of history that ever happened in time (and the bullet points that we have previously listed) He had to also take in to account one of the most important bullet point on the list which is:
- THE “FREE WILL” CHOICE THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE, WILL EVENTUALLY MAKE OR WILL NOT MAKE TO CHOOSE HIM TODAY.
ANSWER: THIS IS HOW ELECTION OR PREDESTINATION (OIL) AND FREE WILL CHOICE (WATER) IS BLENDED TOGETHER BY AN OMNISCIENT GOD.
God, already knowing the beginning from the ending before the foundation of the earth, finished His plans having taken into account everything that has and will ever happen in time is fair enough to give everyone the choice to choose or not to choose Him in time. Ultimately, God knowing the choice that we have already made, will make or will not make to choose Him in time has PREDESTINED US BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD ACCORDING TO OUR OWN “FREE WILL” CHOICE. Since He controls everything He is able to “elect” or “predestine” us according to foreknowledge based on the “free will” choice that we made in time and because it was His finished plan before the foundation of the world, it is still correct in saying that He still “chose” us as 1Peter 1:1-2 confirms:
2. “… ELECT ACCORDING TO THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE FATHER, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience* and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and *peace be multiplied” (NKJV).
What we need to understand is that when we look at the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God” equation, along with all the other things that God “foreknew” was also the “foreknowledge” of the “free will” choice we have already made to accept Him, eventually will make to accept Him or will not make to accept Him. If I can make this principle relative to the present day, as you are reading this article right now, God already knew before the foundation of the world:
- The “free will” choice everyone has already made to choose Him, making them a Believer today.
- The “free will” choice everyone who will eventually make to choose Him, making them eventual Believers in time but already a Believer in eternity being seated in Heavenly places. (Ephes. 2:6)
- The “free will” choice that everyone who has already decided to never, never, never choose Him under any circumstances and to stay that way, making them a permanent non-Believer
Whatever the case, the choice was and or is ours and God will respect that choice even if it means not choosing Him because God will not invade our “free will” choices. As I mentioned in the previous article (Part 1) people have a huge problem with a “My way or the highway God” and I do understand how people could feel that way. Once again, Adam’s willful choice to sin, disobey and rebel against a Holy God made it “God’s way” as sin always has an un-bargained for debt that is owed and that not only effects us but those around us as well. However, despite our personal perspectives about a seemingly ultimatum, God still gives us a choice in choosing Him or not and will not force anyone to do so if they choose not to. How do I know this? The reason is that Jesus is a gentleman who will never force entry into some ones heart. Some absolute “predestination” supporters would probably argue that “… no one comes to God unless He draws them …” as stated in John 6:44 which seemingly gives heavy weight to the “election” argument. While this is true, that Scripture is not talking about an irresistible drawing from God like Dracula does his victims after saying, “Look into my eyes.” We are drawn primarily by God’s Word or hearing His Word because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). The meaning that some “election” supporters have attached to being drawn could not be the case because yet even as God, Jesus will still make the choice to knock at the door of our hearts and leave it entirely up to us to “choose” or “not to chose” to let Him in. In Revelation 3:20 it says:
20. “Behold, I stand at the door (of your heart) and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, (of your heart) I will come in to him (live in your heart) and dine with him, and he with Me (NKJV).
In closing, based on what I have studied, “election” or “predestination” and “free will” choice are meshed together in the grand scope of our lives. In fact, when you really think about this concept and context, the outcome of our lives and destiny leans slightly more toward “free will” choice than it does “election” which is equally important. What this does is it gives mankind, for a lack of a better way of saying this, more “personal accountability” and “responsibility” in the outcome of our destiny and lives. How we exercise that “free will” choice is entirely up to us. Whether we agree or disagree with this article and position (not to be smart) is really each person’s choice. Whatever our position is strictly “election” or “free will” the one thing that we can agree on is that the good news is that if we are alive today, (with all due respect to everyone’s faith as this is a Christian perspective), we are on the blessed side of regret and still have a chance and a choice to exercise if we have not already. I know I just swayed more on the side of “free will” but that is where I slightly lean and besides it is true.
BONUS MATERIAL: (Please refer to the first part of this article for my rationale about those who have never had a chance to hear the Gospel).
My rationale for my position is this;
Taking into consideration the “Fall of Man” and the “The Plan of Redemption” if we serve a God who “elects” some before the foundation of the world to have a relationship with Him and who ultimately get to go to Heaven and in the same token “rejects” or “predestines” others to go to Hell without at least providing a chance to choose Him or not, than what would “The Plan of Redemption” be needed for if we are all already “predestined” to Hell? What about the Scripture in Romans 10:13 that says, “Everyone who (chooses) calls on the name of the Lord will be saved?” If we are all already “predestined” then that makes God a liar because what about the person who calls upon the name of the Lord and cannot be saved because they were not “elected?” Then if one says that this same person will still be “elected” than that is the same thing that I am saying as well but I am just put emphasis on the fact that God knew before the foundation of the world! However, they still made the choice to “call upon the name of the Lord” which brings “free will” into the equation too and this is my point exactly! More than this, if God “elected” some without giving us all a choice, thus “rejecting” others, (I know He is God but) would not this be favoritism which is sin? God told us not to do this and taught against it in James 2:1-13 that favoritism is forbidden? I know that in its context it is referring to poor people versus rich people but the preference principal is still the same. Jesus did not give us a do as I say and not as I do example. Instead Jesus wanted us to do as He said and do as He did. Jesus would never tell us not to show favoritism and then He does the opposite. To add to this, will someone please tell me where all these connective scriptures come from that let us know that we are “elected?” Will someone please tell me where all of these connective Scriptures come from that lets us know that we still have a “free will” choice. Better yet, if anyone can make better sense of these two seemingly contradicting Biblical concepts, I am open to listen and try to understand your viewpoint. In doing so, one will ultimately be faced with the same problem that I have been faced with and that is answering the question as to how these two antitheses mesh together because the Bible supports and confirms both.
On the other hand, once again, taking into consideration “The Fall of Man” and “The Plan of Redemption” if we serve a God who “elects” us before the foundation of the world to have a relationship with Him and who ultimately get to go to Heaven and “predestines” others to go to Hell BUT it is based on His “foreknowledge” of our own “free will” choice that we made in time, than when Romans 10:13 says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” fits perfect because at least He gives everyone a chance and a choice to choose to call on Him or not. People may still have a problem with the “My way or the highway” issue BUT despite their personal feelings, at least they have been given a choice. More than this, “Everyone” who is saved and who will get saved being seated in Heavenly places right now (Ephes. 2:6) is on point because the person who will get saved a month from now is technically already seated in Heavenly places today. Using this same example, I think that this best confirms what I have been trying to say throughout the article: based on God’s perfect plan that He finished in eternity before the foundation of the world that “elected” us in conjunction with Him already knowing the “free will” choice (that the person who will get saved in time, a month from now will make) to open the door of their heart that Jesus is knocking on. With all of this said, it is safe to say in truth that the person who will get saved a month from now (in time) was already seated in Heavenly places with Christ (in eternity) before the foundation of the world. It ultimately still brings us back to both, “election” and “free will” choice. Wow! This is a vicious cycle here trying to explain this!
I cannot and please correct me if I am wrong, see God sending anyone to Hell by playing a Heavenly game of “ene-mene-miny-moe” with our lives before the foundation of the earth?” If this is the case than why was Hell prepared for the devil that “chose” to rebel against God and the fallen angels that “chose” to follow the devil (Matt.25:41). Would not it have been easier to say that hell was prepared for Satan, his fallen angels and all those who were not “elected” if we have no “free will” choice? Notice that Hell was not prepared for us as human beings but instead we added ourselves to the Hell equation due to the “Fall of Man.” If the opposite is the case than why did not God play “ene-mene-miny-moe” with some or all of the obedient angels who “chose” not rebel against Him too? I will tell you why because God is a just God who would not do that. I know that Gods thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways not out ways (Isa. 55:8). I know that God is sovereign and who can question His sovereign choices but I just can’t see this even with me knowing and accepting that He is a God of love, grace and mercy as well as a God of wrath, recompense and judgment. Until someone can show me a well executed, sound and exegetically correct position that takes into consideration ALL of the connective Scriptures that supports “free will” choice and ALL of the connective Scriptures that supports “election” I feel very, very comfortable supporting this unorthodox, perhaps unaccepted dual position which focuses on a sovereign God who has the power to “elect” us in eternity according to His foreknowledge of the “free will” choice that we made, will make or will not make, exercised in time – ALL at the same time. Once again as I stated earlier, people may still have a problem with the “My way or the highway” issue BUT despite their personal feelings, at least they have been given a choice and not predestined for eternal doom and gloom. Even if people do not agree with me as I stated earlier, that is their choice but at a minimum you have to admit that this stance is interesting and well supported Scripturally as I raised and wrestled with some very, very tough questions. None the less, I don’t know about you but it feels like my brain has just finished doing mental gymnastics because this is some really deep material to try to explain and grasp! My brain is getting off of the balancing bean
Get our daily news and article headlines by email or RSS feed. 
