Predestination: Is often explained as Predetermined Destination when by its Bible definition, it should be better understood as Predetermined Disposition. It is not a definition of where you are going but rather whose you are becoming.
The Bible clearly declares that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Yet we all recognize that not all will be saved. If it truly were about your eventual destination, what choice would you have if you were one of those whom Jesus did not come to redeem? Clearly He came to seek and to save the lost. Where then is the re-definition of “which of the lost” did Jesus die for? Did He come and die only for a few pre-chosen of the lost? Did He, from the beginning, plan to provide the offer of redemption for All sinners or just some?
Another good question is, who needs Redemption? I think we would all agree that it is those who are described as the lost. But is it all of them or part?
Who are the lost? They are all those who have been separated from a Holy God by the presence of sin in their lives. This includes all descendants of Adam; and by extension all the descendants of Noah.
Who can be saved? From God’s perspective, He is not willing that any should perish. Whosoever believeth may come. He will in no wise cast any who come to Him for salvation. So caveat number one is that the lost must come to Him seeking redemption. No one will ever be redeem who does not seek to be redeemed.
Another good question is, who will not be saved? Revelation 21:8 says that all unbelievers will have their part in the lake of fire. People do not suddenly “see the light” one day and decide to become unbelievers; they are born unbelievers. So one hundred percent of all who are descendants of Noah are born as unbelievers. In order to stop being who they are as an unbeliever they must choose to believe. How can they do that?
Is it only by Gods choosing? Absolutely, for by His own predetermined choice, He will only save believers. No unbeliever will ever be given a place in heaven. No believer will ever be chosen to spend eternity or even one moment in hell. There is no purgatory nor earning your wings in God’s Bible.
Or is it only by our choice? Absolutely, for when we choose to believe, our entire nature changes; or by not choosing to believe, we remain in unbelief, in our own unredeemed nature.
Just as all humans are born as a virgin. Setting aside the unpleasantness of a forced change, each one must choose to become non-virgin and they can never physically become a virgin again. Not ever, for their actual nature as a person has been permanently and irrevocably changed. If a person chooses to remain a virgin and never change that state in their life, they will die as they were born, without ever becoming a non-virgin. So it is with your spirit. Unless you actively, purposefully choose to believe on the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you will die as you were born, in unbelief and condemned as a sinner before a Holy God.
Often people focus on the wrong aspect of an issue and miss the treasure they are meant to have. It is not important which came first, the chicken or the egg. The most important part of the egg is bacon. You see, if you have an egg, you have possibilities. You can raise a chicken, or let it rot and throw it at someone you disapprove of; you can eat it raw, boil it, fry it, scramble, poach it, or any number of possibilities. But if you have bacon THEN you have breakfast! That may seem a little silly but let’s apply it spiritually. If you are an unbeliever and you hear of Jesus and the truth of what He did, you have possibilities. However, once you believe, now you have breakfast with King of Kings. You are His child and a joint heir with Jesus. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
The question is not how you get to the breakfast table but rather, “Are you seated there?”, or just looking at those who are? The question is not did He choose you or did you choose him, because the answer to both those questions is YES.
Understanding that Predestination does not mean being chosen prior to salvation for salvation, is easy to see by a simple reading of the verse where the word is found in the Bible. Ephesians 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. “He has chosen” verse four, is His prerogative and His right as sovereign Creator of the universe and all that is in it. Notice that predestinated again refers to adoption as children or the adoption of Christ likeness in us. “By Jesus Christ” indicates a faith and belief in the gift of God.
“Predestinated” is not unto salvation, it is “unto the adoption” which is dependent on salvation having already occurred. Adoption is being conformed to His image and transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. We are graciously removed from the mold of the world and influenced to become so much like Him that it will be difficult to tell us apart. Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Salvation is trusting by faith in the free gift of the shed blood of Jesus Christ as the complete atonement for your sin. That involves acknowledging Him, repenting of sin and worship of the true and living God.
His choosing does not negate free will, rather it provides free will. You are by the hand of God, given the choice to accept Him or reject Him. He ensures that everyone who accepts Him is changed in their very nature by the continual presence of His Indwelling Holy Spirit. No one who does not want to, will accept Him. No one who accepts Him, does not want to. No one who wants to cannot.
Free will does not deny predestination but rather defines it. Those who would choose to believe are destined beforehand by God to be transformed into the image of His Son. Each unbeliever is free to choose to believe and be changed. To choose to remain in unbelief is an option for all those who reject the truth of His word.
Your will is free within your nature. The nature of a rock is to not breath, to lie on the ground and to move only by the power of another. Concerning life, it is dead. A bird by nature is a flyer. It may for a time be otherwise, but its nature is to sing and be free soaring and dependent on God for its food. While a fish is seldom comfortable or at home out of the water. It is not the nature of a fish to sing or lie still waiting to be moved by another while it is alive. Each has their own nature and characteristics. None are able to imitate nor emulate the other. A rock cannot fly for hours nor can a fish. No bird can swim for hours under the water. It would take a total change of their nature to allow that to happen.
When you are born as a human person, your nature is dead in trespasses and sin due to your inheritance through Adam. He places faith within you to believe the truth He presents to you. If you exercise that gift of faith to trust and believe in Him, God makes you alive in Christ by placing the earnest of His Spirit in your being. Once inside you, He begins to shape and mold your thoughts and intents and desires to be wholly conformed to His image. Your will aligns with His will and your joys are in the fulfillment of His joys. Now your nature is His.
Predestination is not about Salvation. Salvation is receiving Christ as Savior. Predestination is God’s sovereign choice to mold the person you are when you accept Christ Jesus as your personal Savior, into the image of His son, for His Glory, so you will be fit for Heaven. If your hopes, dreams and desires do not align with His, you will not be comfortable living in His Heaven.
Neither will you be comfortable in the other place you will be going if you choose some other path than His. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.”