Predestination is what has already been determined, however, for the Christian, what has been determined can be changed by an individual's act of disobedience, which means the exercising of personal volition rather than exercising obedience of faith (Romans 1:5; 16:26) and trusting completely in God's omniscience and omnipotence.
The idea of predestination incorporates all the following: fated, predetermined, preordained, meant, doomed, foreordained, pre-elected.
The difference is the predestination that is being spoken of in this case is not fate without any means by which what has been foreordained cannot be stopped.
The reason the predestination that we are speaking of can be stopped has to do with freewill: our ability to exercise our volition and make a decision for ourselves, whether based on facts or falsehood, logic or impulse.
God has planned for us to walk in His perfect will and enjoy the abundance of blessings that have been predetermined for us to enjoy providing we walk in His faithfulness, which means that we ourselves are required to be faithful to our calling.
What we need to understand is that there is what has been termed "positional" justification, sanctification and glorification. Then there is "experiential" justification, sanctification and glorification. A third term is "provisional" justification, sanctification and glorification. As strange as it may sound, these three states of positional, experimental and provisional are current.
Positional justification, sanctification and glorification refers to what is ours in the plan and purpose of God.
Experiential justification, sanctification and glorification is what we experience of what God has provided for us within His plan and purpose.
Provisional justification, sanctification and glorification is about what we actually get to experience based on what we choose to do and how faithful we are in our walk with God.
We understand that everything God has foreordained for us has already been mapped out (Ephesians 2:10). All we need to do is to walk in God ways by doing His will (Romans 12:2) for our lives and we will obtain what has been predetermined for us to experience. However, unless we begin to take steps of faith towards God (Hebrews 6:1), we are not going to enjoy the experience of having what is ours to possess or share or take pleasure in. We are doomed to miss out (Matthew 16:12; 5:20), even though this need not be our fate (Ez. 18:32; Eph. 1:3). We may think that God has preordained us to perform good works so that His name will be glorified (Matthew 5:16), but just as the nation Israel was pre-elected, this did not mean that every Israelite's salvation was a fate accompli before each one was born (Ezekiel 18).
God has a plan wherein each one has been given a place (a position) to occupy before the throne of God at birth. Unlike the Son of God, we are all born with a blank slate, without any knowledge of a previous existence, irrespective of all the claims that are made by those who claim they are a reincarnation of a someone dead person or bird, beast, fish or grub. Our spirits do not evolve, reincarnate or transmigrate. Our spirits are created by God (Ecc. 12:7; Heb. 12:9; Num. 16:22) and are distinguishable from our soul (Heb. 4:12; 1 Thes. 5:23). Our spirits are what enable us to think (1 Cor. 2:11) without which we cannot exercise our volition, our freewill.
When Jesus was speaking to one of his audiences he stated, "I know from where I have come" (John 8:14 cf. 8:35,38,42; 7:6). His implication was that they did not know from where they had come. His audience claimed that their father was Abraham (John 8:33), but Jesus repudiated this saying that their father was actually the Devil (John 8:44), while acknowledging that according to the flesh, according to physical descent, their ancestral father was Abraham. Jesus was not saying that God did not give them a spirit, but that they believed what was false in preference to seeking out what is true.
Provisional salvation may sound like positional salvation, or even progressive salvation, which is an assessment of how much progress we have made in our walk. Not than anyone can determine what progress a person has truly made in reality, although we can tell whether a person has changed and to what degree that change has taken place. Unfortunately, unless God shows us the heart of the person, we cannot see what He sees. For all we know the person might give the appearance of change but be a worker of iniquity (Matthew 7:22-23) unbeknown to us.
Provisional salvation is about what is available to us as a consequence of the decisions that we make and act upon. Every step we make towards God is opposed by the spiritual forces of darkness (aka Devil). We are to be overcomers, not succumbers to sin. We are to overcome darkness not succumb to the fear of what we cannot see in the darkness. Provision has been made for us to escape from the snare of the Devil to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26) and exercise faith in God's faithfulness, so that we may walk in the good that has been set before us and fulfill what was originally preplanned for us. Unfortunately, distraction, doubt and unbelief will limit us, if the Devil has his way. However, this need not be the case, because provision has been made for us to endure the temptation of distractions that lead us to a place of doubt and unbelief.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
At every stage of our walk, distractions occur. We have to learn how to effectively master them and stay true to the path, the narrow way presented to us to walk down (Isaiah 35:8), for that which leads toward destruction is wide and easy to take (Matthew 7:13).
Whether we receive every reward that our Heavenly Father has provided for us depends upon the decisions we make. The decisions we make depend upon how we have been conditioned as children to some degree, but not if have recognized that we found the pearl of great price and treasure our salvation so much that our first love is to please Lord Jesus Christ by following where He leads us every day.
In all probability, our experience as a Christian will be one that while trying to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, we forget about the fear and trembling and deviate course. Instead of walking down the narrow Holy Way, distracted or bluffed or tempted we sidetrack. Easily done. Especially when navigating territory that is foreign to us.
Once I was travelling across Australia driving a car. The most intriguing part of the trip was crossing the Nullarbor Plain. I had heard of horrendous tales about the road across the Nullarbor. The highway (if you could call it that) in those days was an unpaved gravel road with potholes and sections of corrugated stones that could loosen every nut and bolt holding a chassis together, and known to take casualties; the evidence of which I eventually saw littered along the roadside.
I arrived in Adelaide and was talking to a newly met acquaintance about crossing the Nullarbor Plain. My acquaintance told me not to tell anyone as the railway workers don't like the public knowing this, but the road along the track is much better than the public highway. He said that if I were to follow the track along the railway line, I would be better off. Initially, it looks terrible, but that is to turn people away, after a mile or so, it is paved for all the rail workers, who live along the line, to drive down. With the secret information I headed off towards the Nullarbor.
Fortunately, I had picked up a hitchhiker at Port Augusta (South Australia) who lived in Norseman (Western Australia) the other side of the Nullarbor. He actually knew the terrain. He warned me not to take the track. Still I had a look at the track. Whatever I had been told was nonsense. The gravel highway was better than any off-road track that went alongside the railway.
Taking the Indian Pacific railway on the return trip, I made the point of taking note of the track for vehicles that run along the side of the railway line. The off-road vehicle track was much worse than the gravel highway and non-existent in some places. The railway workers had jiggers (handcars) with which they checked the rail track. There were rail sidings periodically spaced along the single rail track for the jiggers to use. At a number of places there were a few small dwellings for maintenance workers.
If I were predestined to travel to Perth, I did not know about it. In 1974, I made two return trips across the continent. One with a broken arm. The other with a broken leg. I learned quite a number of life lessons in doing so. One of them is to beware of deceptive people giving bad advice. This is like the enemy distracting us, so that we enter darker places rather than continue towards the light.
God has predestined that we walk in His ways, but more than that, it is His desire that we bring glory to His name in order that we might benefit by sharing His glory through Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:2).
One person informed me on Friday, 8th, March, 2024, that when he became a Christian he did not stop sinning, yet he believes in once saved always saved. He expects to continue sinning until the day he dies. He is of the belief that he has a deceptive heart and even if it were changed it would still be wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Unless, this person gets rid of his stinkin' thinkin' (so to speak), forsaking the way of the wicked and the thoughts of the unrighteous (Isaiah 55:7) is not something he is predestined to do, even though God's desire we are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). This being the calling to which all are called (John 1:12) so that we can be sons of God, saints of the Most High (Daniel 7:17).
When I became a Christian, without realizing it, I ceased masturbating. Nevertheless, I committed fornication with some women, including prostitutes, buggerized a woman, committed fornication and sodomized a homosexual, got drunk on a number of occasions, wiped off my new Ford GT sports sedan as a consequence on one occasion, bore false witness on the odd occasion, demonstrated a disregard for people, got into some fights, obtained some merchandise without paying for it, but was constantly thinking about the love of God. The sin dropped off. I simply found myself ceasing from sinning. Instead my devotion turned to knowing God. This I was predestined to do. Sinning I was not predestined to do. Although, there have been times that I have jumped into the sewer of sin and had to suffer the shame and ignominy of publicly acknowledging my decision to do so. The desire to not jump in the sewer of sin and keep sinning became less over time and God's grace abounded so that eschewing evil became my treasure (Pr. 13:8; Is. 33:6; 11:3). My realization now is that God has predestined for me to walk in His ways and do the works that He has set for me. As it is written:
Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 1:17-20)
What need to be understood is that we are predestined to walk in the ways of God. This will only occur if we make the decision to repent from our iniquity, exercise faith towards God, and faithfully walk in His ways. At any time we can jump the fence along the Holy Way, if we so desire. Trouble is, jumping back into the Holy Way is not as easy to do. In which case, we will be predestined to start again at the beginning, by confessing our sin, asking for forgiveness, and begin the walk again. This is what we are predestined to do, if we want to walk with God and reap the benefits from doing so.
The fact that we possess freewill gives us a degree of freedom either to walk with God or do our own thing. Unfortunately, doing our own thing is fraught with anguish and pain, whether we like to admit it or not.
God wants to reason with us. This would not be the case if we were animals. However, we are spirit beings that possess a soul and a body, not just a body and soul only. Our spirits give us the ability to reason with God and make a decision to think righteously or not. For if we are willing to walk in God's ways, we have to go the next step and demonstrate that we understand the benefits of doing so and thereby faithfully exercise obedience of faith (Romans 1:5). For this is what the gospel message is all about, according to the Apostle Paul, who says he had:
received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, (Romans 1:5)
Exercising "obedience of faith" transcends ideas of "obedience to the faith" as the King James Version (KJV) incorrectly states. Exercising obedience of faith is not a works trip as implied by "obedience to the faith" rather it is an active expression of faith being demonstrated through love for God and one's fellows.
The Calvinist idea of "the faith" is a set of doctrines to which an adherent professes to subscribe and then works at proving that this is the case, under the pretense that requirements for "the perseverance of the saints" is being met.
The Jehovah Witnesses also see their body of doctrines as "the faith" to which adherents must subscribe. Their 1984 version of The New World Translation Of The Holy Scriptures (TNWOTHS) have 2 Timothy 3:15 reading:
"able to make you wise through the faith in connection with Christ Jesus"
instead of:
"able to make you wise through faith in Christ Jesus"
and John 17:3 reading:
This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.
instead of:
And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
These KJV & TNWOTHS translations of the Greek text are weighted towards a "work for salvation" mindset "by acquiring knowledge of doctrines" and "performing works" to demonstrate that a person is saved.
The Calvinists have their TULIP doctrines which keep them from entering into a personal relationship with Lord Jesus Christ.
The Jehovah Witnesses seem to do everything they can to point out that knowledge of their doctrines (which they call "the faith") in connection with Christ Jesus is what is required, not a relationship.
Calvinists claim that people were predestined to disobey the Word of truth (1 Peter 2:8) rather than acknowledge that those who refuse to reason out their salvation with God do so from their own freewill and therefore they are predestined to fall by virtue of their disobedience not because they were preordained to do so.
We are predestined to either be saved or not be saved, to eat of the good of the land or be devoured by the sword, to enter eternal life or face The Great White Throne Judgment. We are predestined to be one or the other, not to be either saved or condemned to eternal punishment without exercising our freewill in the matter.
Our future is predetermined (predestined, preordained, fated or doomed) by the decisions we make and our follow through in keeping faithful to our decisions or failure to do so. Every time we make a decision to comply with what is right to do, we fortify our standing in Heaven. We grow in faith every time we give God the glory for what we know He has done in our lives. In doing this we are predestined to share in the glory of God, how much depends upon us and the extent to which we are faithful in walking in the ways of the Lord. The more we walk in God's ways, the greater the likelihood of us having more reason for giving glory to our Father in Heaven for what happens in our lives.
We have been predestined to make decisions and these will determine our future. If we decide to exercise faith toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ, we will begin to bear fruit, initially through our confession and then in our behavior. In fact, we are predestined to bring glory to God by bearing fruit if we walk in His ways and forsake our unrighteous thoughts.
Instead of hate, we will express love. Instead of anger we will possess joy. Instead of being in a state of fear, we will be at peace. Instead of being impatient, we will become patient. Instead of holding grudges and being judgmental we will be forgiving and kind. Instead of being selfish and mean we will be gracious and generous. Instead of demonstrating that we don't keep our word, we will prove to be trustworthy and faithful. Instead of being proud and boastful, we will exhibit meekness and humility. Instead of being impulsive, we will demonstrate maturity and self-control.
However, we are predestined only to bring forth the fruit that according to the disposition we allow God to install within us. God has predestined us to share in all the good that is rightfully ours in Lord Jesus Christ. While we are positionally predestined to have everything that pertains to life and godliness as partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4), what we obtain and enjoy depends upon us making the right decisions and staying the course known as the Holy Way.
An example of predestination is when a person says they are going to do something and then a course of events changes matters. For instance, one day I was busy attending to some matters that I needed to do, when my son kept pestering me to take him to watch a game of football. My son had already played for his team that morning. Still he wanted to see a school buddy play that afternoon and he wanted to give him support. I knew the person in question. He was not someone who could be relied upon. I explained how I felt about the situation to my son and asked what if he doesn't show. I will still watch the game, he said. We went to the match. His school buddy was nowhere to be seen. Instead of watching the game, my son decided to go and skateboard in the park next to the football grounds. I reminded him of what he promised me. He said the game was boring. He would rather skateboard. Five minutes later, my son had dislocated his arm and I attempted to put it back, but there was wasn't sitting right. He had chipped of a minute piece of bone at the base of his humerus (that he didn't find funny) which prevented his arm to sit comfortably in his elbow socket. Long story short: he has suffered ever since.
Was my son's injury preplanned, as in foreordained? Or was this the predestined to happen because of a series of events?
There was nothing preplanned about the event. And, personally, I do not subscribe to the idea that this was foreordained according to the will of God.
The series of events that led up to the accident included two violations of faith:
- Not keeping the promise he made;
- dishonoring his father.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:6-7)
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
With this mindset, we are predestined to accomplish what God has ordained for us from this time forth and bear fruit that glorifies His name.
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