What is predestined? (God’s plan or people’s actions)

The Bible clearly teaches predestination but there is a huge confusion about what is predestined and who has free will. Let’s examine the passages that describe predestination and carefully determine what is predestined? Is it God’s plan or people’s actions?

What is predestined: God’s plan or people’s actions?

As we examine the two passages that describe predestination, we need to be careful to determine what is predestined? Is it God’s plan or is it people’s actions?

Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the judges, the kings, the prophets (such as Jeremiah, Jonah, Daniel, or Amos) all taught that mankind as a whole and as individuals make choices that determine their destination. This is summarized by Jesus in his plea to Jerusalem…

• O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee,  how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  (Matthew 23:37)

But God has always done everything according to the counsel of his own sovereign will. He created the universe as he saw fit. He created the earth as he saw fit. And he created man as he saw fit. There was no negotiation and no choices to be made.

• “Can anyone teach God knowledge, In that He judges those on high? (Job 21:22)
• With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? (Isaiah 40:14)
• “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?” (Romans 11:34)
• What is predestination? (Is it foreknowledge?)
• Free Will in the Old Testament
• Whosoever will may come

Therefore, when we see a word like predestined, we need to ask, what is predestined?

Romans 8 — God predestined the plan of salvation, not people’s actions

Everyone who reads this passage has a bias. It is not possible to read it in a vacuum, free from the influence of any doctrinal division. Every time we see the word “foreknew” it releases a flood of related concepts. Every time we see the word “predestined” it releases a different flood of different concepts. Our minds and thoughts are overloaded by our biases. Therefore, we predestine ourselves to see this paragraph in support of our familiar understanding of predestination. In an effort to look at this fresh, try to read it in various different translations, which use different words and phrases to convey the meaning. Sometimes this will help you understand God’s real meaning as opposed to man’s teaching. Consider this translation that’s not in widespread use today.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  For those whom he foreknew ^{[4267 proegnō]} he also predestined ^{[4309 proōrisen]} to be conformed to the image of his Son,  in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those whom he predestined ^{[4309 proōrisen]} he also called,  and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:26-30 ESV)

Before we can understand what this means for us today, we have to understand what Paul was saying 2000 years ago. If we can’t understand what he said, there is no way we can make a legitimate application for us today. So let me ask a simple question.

What is predestined in Romans 8:29?

• to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters (Romans 8:29 NIV)
• to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29 NLT)
• to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29 KJV)
• to have the same form as the image of his Son. Therefore, his Son is the firstborn among many children (Romans 8:29 GWT)

What is predestined in Romans 8:30?

• And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:30 NIV)
• And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. (Romans 8:30 NLT)
• 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. (Romans 8:30 KJV)
• and whom He did fore-appoint, these also He did call; and whom He did call, these also He declared righteous; and whom He declared righteous, these also He did glorify. (Romans 8:30 YLT)

In this chapter, Paul is contrasting the suffering of this present age with the glory that shall be revealed. In this paragraph, Paul declares God’s plan is for believers to be conformed to the image of his Son. This plan involves him calling the world to him, which is the gospel message of salvation. Paul was not saying predestination means only some are predestined for salvation. Therefore, he was not saying predestination means others were predestined for damnation.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:  That whosoever believeth in him  should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14-15)

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,  will draw all men unto me.  This he said, signifying what death he should die. (John 12:31-33)

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;  that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14)

Ephesians 1 — God predestined the plan of salvation, not people’s actions

Just like Romans 8, it is not possible to read this in a vacuum, free from the influence of any doctrinal division. Every time we see the word “predestined” it releases a flood of concepts. Our minds and thoughts are overloaded by our biases. Therefore, we predestine ourselves to see this paragraph in support of our familiar understanding of predestination. In an effort to look at this fresh, try to read it in various different translations, which use different words and phrases to convey the meaning. Sometimes this will help you understand God’s real meaning as opposed to man’s teaching. Consider this translation that’s not in widespread use today.

Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly [places] in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined ^{[4309 proorisas]} us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself,  according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, [that is], the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined ^{[4309 prooristhentes]} according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.  In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of [God’s own] possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14 NASB)

As in Romans 8, we need to know what Paul was saying 2000 years ago before we can make an application for us today.

What is predestined in Ephesians 1:5?

• for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5 NIV)
• to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5 NLT)
• to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself (Ephesians 1:5 NASB)
• the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself (Ephesians 1:5 KJV)

What is predestined in Ephesians 1:11?

• we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined (Ephesians 1:12 NIV)
• we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance. (Ephesians 1:12 NLT)
• we did obtain an inheritance, being foreordained according to the purpose of Him who the all things is working according to the counsel of His will. (Ephesians 1:12 YLT)
• God also decided ahead of time to choose us through Christ according to his plan, which makes everything work the way he intends. (Ephesians 1:12 GWT)

Remember, in Ephesians, Paul is trying to help this church deal with a deep division between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. He starts by recounting the amazing plan of salvation. He describes the heavenly blessings of Christians versus the condemned nature of unrepentant human beings. Then, he goes on to rebuke their divisions and instructs them to work together in unity.

This passage is describing the order in God’s wonderful plan of salvation: to the Jew first and then to the Gentile (Romans 1:16; Romans 2:9-10). Paul describes God’s plan, which involves adopting believers into the family of God so that they obtain an inheritance from God. This was unheard of in ancient religions. It certainly was not true of Diana of the Ephesians. This is the plan of salvation. Paul was not saying we are predestined for salvation. Therefore, he was not saying others were predestined for damnation.

God predestined the preaching of the gospel

In what the world regards as foolishness, God’s sovereign plan is for the creature to preach the gospel of salvation through faith in the finished work of the creator on the cross.

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom,  God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation,  to save those who believe. (Romans 1:21 NRSV)

Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.  Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth,  that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. (James 1:16-18 WEB)

• The 2 great commissions (the first commission and the great commission)
• Rightly Dividing the Great Commission
• We need a new personal commission

God predestined the call to righteousness

The Bible truth is consistent with God’s message through Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the judges, the kings, and the prophets (such as Jeremiah, Jonah, Daniel, and Amos).

This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds:  “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow. 

 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.  Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city:

“No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all. People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God.  They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.” 

 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.  (Jonah 3)

God did not predestine that any should perish

It is anathema to God that any should perish. It is not God’s predestination. It is not in his nature. But, in his sovereign will, he has decided that man has the choice. Consider the parable of the ninety-nine sheep. One of the sheep might choose to wander away. By its own choice, not predestined. It could get lost. It might not be found. But not because God was at fault.

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish. (Matthew 19:12-14)

Near the end of his life, Peter wrote his second letter to the Jewish Christians of the dispersion to help them grow in Christ’s grace and warn against false teaching. In his opening, he teaches Christians to apply the things they have learned in their life. He warns them of the impending Day of the Lord. He reminds them of God’s judgments. And, at the very end, he encourages them with these words…

• 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. (2 Peter 3:9 NIV)
• The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. (2 Peter 3:9 NLT)
• 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. (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)

However, Calvinist extreme predestination teaches that God is willing that some should perish. The word predestinate means “to set bounds beforehand.” Calvinism teaches that God sets bounds on people’s behavior and action. But this is contrary to the Bible, which says God sets bounds on the plan of salvation. It is his plan. He has predestined the plan of salvation. He has determined the consequences. You determine the outcome. Have you accepted the gospel?

God predestined the plan, you choose to accept or reject

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10 NASB)

Since Greek is a gendered language, and the “this” in verse 8 is a Demonstrative Pronoun – Nominative Neuter Singular, it cannot refer to either “grace” (Noun – Dative Feminine Singular) or “faith” (Noun – Generative Feminine Singular) in verse 8 because they are the wrong gender. Therefore, no Greek speaking person in the first century would have interpreted it this way. Instead, the “this” in verse 8 refers to the whole plan of God starting with “mercy” (Noun – Dative Neuter Singular) in verse 4.

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized.  There were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:37-41 WEB)

Therefore the correlatives are these, Salvation is offered; the word is received: ch. Acts 2:40-41, “Save yourselves,—they—received his word.” The Lord adds many who believe, Acts 2:47 to Acts 5:14, “Believers were added to the Lord.” The hand of the Lord is with them that preach; many believe: ch. Acts 11:21. The Lord appoints Paul His minister; Paul obeys: ch. Acts 26:16; Acts 26:19. “God sends; the Gentiles hear:” ch. Acts 28:28 : comp. Matthew 21:43; Ephesians 2:8; Php 2:13; Php 2:12, etc. –Bengel’s Gnomen

For deeper study:

• What is predestination? (Is it foreknowledge?) – Predestination means to set bounds beforehand. Foreknowledge means prior knowledge. What has been predestined versus what is foreknown?
• Have you hardened your heart against God like Pharaoh? – Don’t be like Pharaoh who chose to deny God, so God hardened his heart to bear the plagues until the destruction was complete
• Free Will in the Old Testament – The Old Testament contains almost 4000 years of history about people exercising free will to obey or disobey God bringing blessings and curses
• The potter and the clay – The sovereign potter tries to make one kind of vessel but the stubborn willful clay ruins it by resisting him so he makes another kind of vessel