Predestination

The Greek word for predestined is proorizō. It means to decide or determine beforehand. When we speak of biblical predestination, a lot of people will raise red flags at the word and teaching. Most of this objection is based on a misinterpretation of Scripture. Let’s put aside everything we think we know about predestination to see what the Bible says. 

Romans 8:29-30 declares, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”. We see a couple things in this dense passage. We see that God knew us. As our Creator he knows all of us, our hearts, our minds, everything about us. He knows what we’re going to do and the path we will choose. Then he predestined us, but notice what is being predestined or decided. He is deciding who will be conformed to the image of his Son. This means he decides who will be transformed to be like Jesus. Then we see after this deciding happening, we are called and then when we place faith in Jesus we are justified and glorified. There is a process that happens. Most people get caught up with deciding who is saved because it sounds like we don’t have a choice whether we believe in Jesus or not. 

Let’s just review reality for a second. We do have the ability to choose to believe in Jesus. Just like we choose what we eat for breakfast. It is up to us whether or not we believe in Jesus. So if we have a choice, does God really predestine? Yes. How does God decide who is predestined? Right before this in verse 29 Paul says, “God foreknew”. In God’s knowledge of us, he knows whether or not we will choose Him. In his sovereignty he knows who will believe and who will not. It is still our choice, but yet he knows what we will choose. This is how predestination works with free-will. Yes God chooses who will believe and who he will call based on his knowledge of what we will do in the future. 

Some reject this view because it makes God sound like he is only selecting us based on our choices, so predestination would not be God’s choice at all. However, the fact that God allows us to be saved and sent Jesus to earth was certainly his choice. We are all lost in sin until we place faith in Jesus. God, before the world began, in love and according to his will, sent Jesus to die in our place. It was God who loved us first and chose us first (1 John 4:10) . We respond to that call but our freely made decision has already been foreseen by God and that is how predestination is made. He knows what decision we will make but it is still our choice to make. 

After we get past the idea that God is merciful in choosing those who will believe, we can see the beauty of this process and what it leads to. At the end of v.30 after we have been called and justified, Paul says we are glorified. This word can mean to “hold in honor” or “clothed with splendor”. So in the end, this predestination and our faith in Christ leads to our glorification where we share in the resurrection of Christ and our reward is gained. The story of predestination is not one of jealousy and favoritism but one of reward for those who are chosen and thus choose Jesus and one of celebration of the age to come. 

So in review, God chose to send his Son Jesus to allow us to be saved. He chose those who would believe in Jesus. He chose them out of love and he chose them to be saved. When we are called and saved by Jesus it was predestined or decided that we would be chosen to be saved because God knew we would believe. For those who reject Jesus, it is not that they were not on the list, but rather they were not chosen because He knew they would not believe. Predestination is not random choosing or picking the favorites. It is a selection based on God’s knowledge of our hearts and a choosing of those who would believe in Christ.