Make No Mistake, Predestination And Foreknowledge Are Not The Same Thing
Posted: Friday, October 28, 2011
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
A good number of Christians believe that everyone is predestined to Heaven or to Hell and there is nothing they can do about it. There is absolutely no biblical scripture which teaches that, and there is every reason not to accept it. First of all it is a foolish and unfair thing for some people to receive that heavenly reward even though they have gone through life with nothing but scorn and ridicule of God and His word. The same reasoning is that those who have striven all of their lives to live as closely to God’s tenets as they possibly can, must be punished eternally.
In the teachings of John Calvin’s T.U.L.I.P espousals, the “U” is for Unconditional Election. Which means that some are elected, some or not and there are no conditions where they can influence that. Tyrants who were responsible for millions of fellow humans deaths, if one of the elect, has no worry, they will be eternally rewarded. It is difficult to understand how anyone would arrive at such a total variance from truth. Let me give you a few verses of scripture which try to explain their arrival at such a notion.
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44 KJV)
And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. (John 6:65 KJV)
And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. (Mark 4:10-12 KJV)
There are more similar ones to these but this is a good sampling. The first two, Jesus simply repeats what he told them earlier, but to “draw him” or “given unto him” has reference to drawing of one by the WORD, God’s word. No such thing as miraculously handing him salvation on a silver platter. The latter scripture from Mark has reference to their current time. All of these men, Jesus included, were living under, and subject to, God’s Law given through Moses to the Jews. The time was not right for the public to be introduced to the coming of Christ’s law. And in fact, the complete understanding of it was not give to Jesus’ apostles until the first Pentecost after Jesus had arisen and had even ascended into Heaven. The Holy Spirit descended and entered into the apostles on that day as is recorded in the second chapter of Acts.
Now, another reason the doctrine of unconditional election cannot be accepted as truth is that it would contradict so many other scriptures.
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: (Acts 10:34 KJV)
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4 KJV)
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. (Ezekiel 18:20 KJV)
The verse from Acts is clear, absolute. The two segments taken from Ezekiel emphasizes that a soul which sins, will be separated from God. Spiritual death is a separation from God and to be so, means that one is lost. And there are many more verses which contradict the predestination of man.
Now God is omniscient, which leaves out nothing that God does not know. Therefore, he knows all things, which have been, which are and which are to come. So he definitely knows who will be saved and who will not. But as this being forced upon people with no participation or control over his condition, it is not factual. God knows the hearts and intents of man.
The Old Testament is filled with incidents where God had an entire nation of people eradicated. And in fact, he destroyed the entire world except for 8 souls. Some credit him with being cruel and even barbarous for such things, but this is only the proof that he knows, far in advance, which peoples have any prospect of turning to Him.
The conversation he had with Abraham proves beyond the shadow of a doubt, that he had not predestined anyone, concerning Sodom and Gomorrah.
And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there. And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake. And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place. (Genesis 18:23-33)
And another important reason to reject the “Unconditional Election” is, it eludes common sense. If that theory were correct, why on earth would God send his Son to earth to suffer and die a torturous death of the cross, if it did not give ALL mankind an opportunity to be saved and not allowing anything whatsoever to interfere with that except the person’s own choice of obedience or disobedience.
He miraculously and providentially directed things on the earth in which to create a huge book containing 66 writings from inspired men from creation to near the end of the first century A.D. and allow many of them to give their lives in defense of those writings. All for no reason. God is not the author of confusion, nor is he the author of senseless rhetoric. And that is what the bible would be if man had no choice as to his eternal home.
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