Welcome
Welcome to Predestination.info. Your visit was predestined!
This website is here to help you understand the Biblical truth of predestination.
What is Predestination?
Predestination is the Biblical truth that God has eternally chosen all events in time. All things are as God intended!
What does predestination mean practically?
It means that when things go badly in life, there is no need to fear because God has purposefully ordained each event for our well-being.
It means that we can be thankful for all that happens in our lives, recognizing that God has intended it all for good.
It means there is never a tragedy or an ultimate evil, for everything is going according to God's plan.
Can we know what God has predestined?
We can't know what God has predestined; only a prophet can know the future.
Does predestination mean I don't have to get out of bed in the morning, since everything's going to happen anyway?
You are welcome to try, but it won't work; because God doesn't just determine the destination: He also determines the journey. They both form part of a package; one can't happen without the other.
Where does predestination leave free will?
Our will is free from coercion but not from causation. Everything has a cause!
Does predestination make men into robots?
No, it just means that man's will is caused. Being caused doesn't make you a robot. A bar of soap is caused, but a bar of soap isn't a robot. A book is caused, but a book isn't a robot. Things are not robots just because they are caused, and neither is man's will.
Robots are not alive, they have no feelings, and no consciousness. Clearly humans are not robots.
Is there such a thing as chance?
Yes, in the sense of unpredictability, or the inability of man to predict what will happen, but nothing is chance to God!
"The lot is cast into the lap; but its every decision is from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33, see also Matthew 10:29)
Does the Bible say God predestines sin?
Yes. In fact one of the few times the Greek word prooridzo (predestine) is used in the New Testament is in the context of sin (Acts 4:25-28).
If God predestines sin doesn't that make Him to blame for sin?
No. It makes Him to thank for His good and righteous purposes concerning sin.
But why would God determine sin?
Why didn't He go about things another way?
God uses sin to show people their need of Him.
God is strong but we are weak; humans were created to rely upon God; to need God's help. We were never meant to be independent from God.
Sin reveals the great difference between God and man; that God is absolutely independent whereas man is utterly dependent.
Also remember that God has the right to do anything He chooses. If He didn't have that right He wouldn't be God.
How can God be good if He predestines sin?
This is what Joseph said to his brothers: "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." (Genesis 50:20)
So God means evil—even the sinful thoughts of men—for good.
How can sin ultimately happen for good?
In part because God uses it to reveal His many perfections, including His mercy and righteous judgement.
He also uses it in the meantime to humble His people and bring them low when they are proud.
How can God be holy (separate from sin) if He causes it?
When God creates moral and spiritual light He gives of Himself, for God is light. But when He creates moral and spiritual darkness He does not give of Himself. Rather, He withdraws the light of His truth (Isaiah 45:7).
So sin is never the result of the Holy Spirit working in men's hearts.
Doesn't the Bible say God does not tempt?
It does (James 1:13). It also says God does not lie (Numbers 23:19). We might add that God does not commit adultery or steal.
But God does make men do these things. Scripture is full of examples of God making men to err from His ways and hardening their hearts from His fear (Isaiah 63:17), sending a lying spirit into people's mouths (1 Kings 22:23), hardening their hearts (Exodus 4:21), turning their hearts to hate His people (Psalm 105:25), etc....
Is God the author of sin?
Sin is the corruption of God's good creation. It never adds anything to creation, but rather takes away. In this sense it is a negative concept.
Therefore it is called in scripture faithlessness, lawlessness, unbelief, injustice, and the powers of wickedness are called the powers of darkness, implying a lack of light.
The very word "sin" implies a failure to achieve, a falling short. Sin is the breaking of the law, a lack of obedience, not the gift of the Holy Spirit. In this sense God is not the author of sin.
Nevertheless God the author of everything in a different sense. Even darkness is the result of God's creation. Moreover God has the absolute right to withdraw His goodness and light. He gave, and He has the right to take away.
How does predestination connect to God's sovereignty?
God is the King of all creation.
God rules all things by His command.
The Bible says, "Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and evil come?" (Lamentations 3:37-38)
This verse speaks of God's providential command, meaning what God has commanded to come to pass. This is different to God's moral command, meaning what God obliges men to obey (such as "Thou shalt not kill").
God is King in both respects.
Does God command sin?
God does not command sin, but He does command that sin will happen. He ordains all events.
Does predestination conflict with God's permissive will?
In terms of God's providential command—His command concerning events—what God permits He also commands. This is one of the first lessons we learn in scripture: when God said "Let there be light" He was commanding the light to shine forth.
How does predestination relate to election?
To elect means to choose someone. God has chosen a people for Himself from eternity (Ephesians 1:4).
The elect are therefore said to have been predestined unto adoption by Jesus Christ to God (Ephesians 1:4).
But predestination is a broader concept than election, encompassing all that God has determined (see Acts 4:28).
Does God predestine people to hell?
It is good for cruel people to experience the pain they would cause to others; for proud people to experience shame in equal measure to their pride; for liars to experience the confusion they would cause to others; for the merciless to be shown no mercy; for ungracious people to be shown no grace; for unthankful people to receive no gift; for Godless people to dwell in hopelessness and despair. Hell is a place of perfect equity—all the wicked reaping their reward forever. Hell is a very good thing, and a wonderful blessing to forgiving, loving, merciful, kind people—God's people. God has certainly predestined every aspect of it.
Why evangelise if God has predestined who will go to heaven and who will go to hell?
There is no incompatibility between predestination and evangelisation. Remember, God determines the journey as well as the destination. So if men are saved through evangelism, it is because God has determined it.
When Christ commanded the apostles to evangelise it was their duty to obey.
Where does the Bible teach predestination?
God's name, I AM THAT I AM (Exodus 3:14) teaches predestination.
I AM means that God is self-existent, that His being is uncaused, that He is of Himself.
By contrast we are not of ourselves (we come from our parents), a chair is not of itself (it is made), a tree is not of itself (it comes from the seed of another tree). Only God is of Himself. This is fundamental to the Christian understanding of being. "For of Him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36)
The great implication of God's name (I AM) is that nothing else exists of itself, and so everything else is of Him. He is independent, and everything else depends on Him.
Therefore nothing can exist without divine predestination and ordination.
How important is the doctrine of predestination?
Predestination is the key to understanding the world around us, to seeing the plan of God in our lives, to our appreciation and thankfulness to Him, and to our worship and exaltation of Him as King.
Predestination is one of the most important truths of scripture, being central to the name of God itself and to His sovereignty, for He rules all events by His command (Lamentations 3:37-38).
The first thing Jesus taught His disciples to pray was, "Hallowed be thy name" (Matthew 6:9). When Christians pray for God's name to be hallowed they are praying for His Lordship over all to be revered.
How important is the name of Jesus to predestination?
The first and most important part of the name Jesus, Yah, is short for Yahovah in Hebrew, meaning LORD.
The LORD Jesus rules by His command. His command is from outside of time, from eternity. We know this because He said "before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58). In other words He did not say "before Abraham was I was." The LORD Jesus exists presently before Abraham. He is timeless. He dwells in eternity. He is the Rock of Ages (Isaiah 26:4).
It is therefore by His eternal predestination that He upholds all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3), for, "by him all things consist." (Colossians 1:17)
Every single time we read the word "LORD" in capital letters in the Bible it is upholding the truth of predestination, for it speaks of Christ's Lordship over all.
Why should I believe in predestination?
Because it makes sense to believe it, because the Bible teaches it, because it is a God-exalting doctrine, because it is a life-affirming doctrine, and because it is true.
Predestination boldly proclaims that God is the ultimate and immediate cause of all things, the originator of all things, and nothing can happen without God intending it.
Predestination is an uplifting doctrine, because it means that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
The sovereignty of God, to which predestination is central, is the great and central motivator for the Christian life, being key to the Kingdom of God, which rules over all (Psalm 103:19) and the Kingdom as it dwells within the hearts of believers. It is what gets the Christian out of bed in the morning. It is what makes Jesus Christ the LORD and gives Him rule over our lives and all things.
In the language of the Bible it holds as follows:
"And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, what doest thou?" (Daniel 4:35).
The doctrine of predestination declares that God alone is Almighty, God alone is possessor of all power in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18), so that none can defeat his counsels (Psalm 33:10), frustrate his purposes (Isaiah 14:24; Isaiah 46:11), or resist his will (Romans 9:19).
"But our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased" (Psalm 115:3).
He is, moreover, "the governor among the nations" (Psalm 22:28), setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining the course of all human powers and dynasties as pleases him best:
"to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men" (Daniel 4:17)
"whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation" (Daniel 4:34); "and his kingdom ruleth over all" (Psalm 103:19)
Indeed, He is, "the blessed and only Potentate" (1 Timothy 6:15), that is, Sovereign, "the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:15).
The sovereignty of the God of scripture is absolute, irresistible, infinite: "For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" (Isaiah 14:27).
"For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36).
Such is the God of the Bible.
"And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, the LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exodus 34:6)
