Predestination Essay

Predestination is a real thing. This may not be the same for others, but it is something I believe in. In Noll’s “The Crisis over Providence”, providence relates to what God’s intentions are and how we respond to them. Most people have heard the saying “history repeats itself”. I believe in this and I view it as God has a plan and until humans respond how He wants, it will just keep repeating. We see this with “Stonewall” Jackson because when he died, it caused people to think they misinterpreted God’s plan. I also think everything happens for a reason. Lincoln was considered nonelite, but God still chose him to lead the country. Maybe the other candidates would not have been good presidents, maybe they would have, but we will never

Matthew 6:33 says “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

This can be fairly easy to do. Relying on fate to pull one through a situation may put one to peace for a moment, but it is a false peace. The choice to do nothing in exchange for a destined endpoint will leave one in confusion and, ironically, without purpose. The answer to this is simple: God should not be confused with fate. So many times, people choose to believe that God is fate, when in fact, God is waiting for them to rely on His ability. When one relies on fate, there is no choice to be made, but when one relies on God it takes more trust and more faith to believe that God is able to work in a situation that isn’t ruled by

Calvin then deviates from Luther regarding the next, natural question of justification and our sinful life, which is salvation. He states that God's sovereignty takes the initiative for God's favor and that "for some eternal life is pre-ordained, for others eternal damnation..." (228). Luther urges his reader’s faithful consideration of scripture, Christ's death on the cross and his completeness and in his Lectures on Romans, "If there were not the divine purpose, and our salvation rested upon our wills and our works, it (salvation) would be based on chance" (247 ch. 8). The two positions on predestination vary slightly but yield significantly different outcomes regarding the works of humankind.

Here is al list of verses supporting predestination: John 8:6-7; Rom 11:5-7; John 6:12, 37-39, 44, 46, 65; John 15:16; John 3:5-7, 19-20; John 15:16-19; 2 Cor 5:14-17; 2 Tim 1:9; Matt. 20:16; John 8:34; Romans 8:6-7; and 2 Tim 2:26.

Predestination is a part of provide and providence is determined by individuals minds; however, the execution of providence which is called government. Predestination is similar to a type of order an ordering that determines some individuals towards eternal salvation that exists in a divine mind. According to the Apostle RM (8:30) “whom He predestined, them He also called and whom He called them He also magnified. The Apostle believes that whomever God calls upon, this person will be an amazing and special person because God does not call on everybody but the ones He does call on will enter

This is frustrating because no one will never know in their lifetime on earth, whether whatever good is of use towards salvation until the very moment a person in waiting in line for condemnation. All a person wants after death to be in salvation for all the good they did while still alive and their sins to be forgiven by God. On the other hand, it would be chaotic to live on earth to know who is predestined for salvation or condemnation. Living on Earth would be depressing and even more depressing if a person does know where a person goes after death unless the person is predestined for salvation. However, it is also disconcerting if a person who always does good deeds and a person who willingly and dutifully redeems himself or herself to not be in for salvation. As it is not hard enough to live on earth filled with diseases, hunger, and natural disasters that not only kill but also makes a person suffer till their last breaths and not be in

The “big idea” will be coming from three different texts in the Bible. The first text reading will come from Psalm 1 and its “big idea” concerns “Choice”. Secondly, Philippians 4:1-2 should draw a person attention to “The Fruit of Unity.” Thirdly, the text John 13:31-35 is a reflection of God’s nature and purpose for his ministry. Each text has its own individual story or illustration, but with a common purpose, that is, a person’s service to God. The entire book of Psalm is a tally of life choice written by the Psalmist David and other writers. The Bible records, as an illustration, several Bible characters that made a choice, beginning with Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had a choice to listen and obey or disobey God. Jonah made a choice to obey

He just has the power to know what people would willingly choose before they make the actual decisions. Since there is no force or coercion from God, there is no contradiction between God’s foreknowledge and free will. Although the determining factors of life that God foresees are impossible to be changed, the most possible leading factors can be altered through people’s efforts. People’s ability to manipulate leading factors of life, like choosing different paths to the same destination, also grants them free will. Since God’s foreknowledge does not undermine free will to any extent, people can certainly have both religion and free

However, there is more to this thought than meets the eye. Calvin had four major points in his view of divine election. The first two points refer to those who are in the elect. Specifically, those in this group are arbitrarily chosen by God regardless of merit and if they are chosen, they cannot reject His calling (Calvin 926; 929). The last two points refer to those who are outside of the elect. Since these individuals are not called, God has eternally condemned them to destruction and, as a result, they cannot come to God even if they desired to (Ibid. 926; 981).

Europe throughout its history is especially notorious for its debates on their differing religious ideas, largely based on whether “pre-determination” is real. The bible shows God as an omniscient being that is all seeing. He knows what’s going to happen and how our lives will end up. So, the argument are lives aren’t already determined is void in the sense of religious views. “your eyes saw my uniformed body… all the days ordained for me… were written in your book… before any one of them came to be.”

A central debate of Christian theology seems unnecessarily tied to the idea of predestination. This is the Calvinists’ defining principal. All of their theology seems to be colored by this idea that God knows before we are born whether or not we will accept him, so he is, in a sense, creating those who will not accept him for an eternity in Hell.

Predestination has always been, for me, a tricky topic/doctrine. I find it very difficult to reconcile God’s choosing the elect with the implications for those who are non-elect. It seems very contradictory, and contrary to His nature, that an all-loving God, who loves unregenerate persons as much (?) as regenerate persons, would essentially choose, whether actively or passively, individuals to spend eternity in hell. Admittedly, my own theological grasp of hell is somewhat lacking, as I don’t really understand how allowing people to live in torment for all of eternity can be a loving action on God’s part, although I know that it must somehow be loving. While I despise universalism, I can understand why Christians might wish to twist their

Any study on predestination as it pertains to salvation would be incomplete without the mention of John Calvin. Calvin was born in 1509 and died in 1564. He is well known for his book titled Institutes of the Christian Religion, in which he explained his views on the church and other subjects like the sacraments, justification, Christian liberty and the sovereignty of God. Norman Geisler of the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics described him as, “a pioneer Protestant exegete of the Bible.” Nevertheless, his theories on predestination, foreordination, and election have had a tremendous influence on the study of theology and helped to shape the theological landscape during his time as well as the current theological landscape. His influence is so predominate regarding the predestination doctrine that it is often also referred to as Calvinism. Some scholars would even point to the doctrine’s origins as being developed by Calvin. Calvinism’s main focus is on God’s sovereignty, but a portion of Calvinism directly addresses predestination, election, and foreordination.

Pre-suppositional is a belief that precedes all other beliefs or the most fundamental commitment of the heart. By this meaning, this indicates the role that divine revelation should play in the human thought process or a basic heart commitment. For the Christian that commitment is God as he is revealed in his word. While ones their ultimate commitment they cannot believe anything that conflicts with that commitment. For the unbeliever, to presuppose God in this perspective is for him to think, say or do something, contrary to his own predisposition.