I am now giving a clear, biblical teaching on predestination that balances God's sovereign plan with human responsibility — and also explains how it differs from the views of John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and John Wesley.
Core Belief: Your choice matters—God honors your
"yes" to Him.
✝️ Teaching on Predestination
📖 What Is Predestination According to Scripture?
Predestination means: Before the world began, God had
a plan. He chose to save everyone who would believe in Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:4-5 (ESV):
"Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world… He
predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ."
Notice the key phrase: "in Him". God chose
those in Christ — not just individuals randomly or without condition,
but those who would believe in Jesus.
God Foreknows Our Choices
1 Peter 1:1-2:
"God’s elect... chosen according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father."
God saw in advance who would believe. Before the foundation of the world, God has decided to elect and choose those who would believe in His Son Jesus Christ. He planned the salvation found only through Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:29:
"Those God foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to
the image of his Son."
Predestination is based on God knowing our future faith.
📜 God’s Plan: He Wants to
Save Believers
1. God desires all to be saved
1 Timothy 2:3-4 (ESV):
"This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
2. Jesus died for all people
1 John 2:2 (ESV):
"He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also
for the sins of the whole world."
So we see:
- God
wants everyone to be saved.
- Jesus
died for everyone.
- But only those who believe receive the benefits.
🙋 Human Responsibility:
The Choice Is Real
God has given every person the moral responsibility
to respond to the gospel.
3. Believe to be saved
John 3:16 (ESV):
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
Acts 16:31 (ESV):
"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved."
Predestination doesn’t cancel human choice — it includes
it. God, in His foreknowledge, predestined the plan, not the person. The
plan is: whoever believes will be saved.
Revelation 22:17:
"Whoever wishes, let them take the free gift of the
water of life."
The invitation is open—you decide.
John 1:12:
"To all who received Him, He gave the right to
become children of God."
"Receiving" is your action.
💡 Key Teaching: God
Predestined the Way, Not Just the Who
Before the world began, God decided:
“I will save everyone who believes in My Son.”
That’s what God predestined — the path to salvation, not forcing
individuals to believe or reject.
🧑🏫 How This
Differs from John Calvin, Beza, and Wesley
🔹 John Calvin &
Theodore Beza (Calvinism):
·
Taught double predestination: God
predestines individuals to heaven or hell unconditionally (no human choice
involved).
- God
predestines some to be saved and others to be damned,
without any condition of faith.
- They
emphasized God’s sovereign will, even at the expense of human
freedom.
- Calvin:
"God, by His eternal and immutable counsel, determined once for all
those whom it was His pleasure to save, and those whom it was His pleasure
to doom to destruction."
❌ We say this goes too far. It
makes God seem unjust or arbitrary.
✔️
Instead, we affirm God’s sovereignty alongside human free will.
🔹 John Wesley
(Arminianism):
- Emphasized
free will and taught that God’s predestination is based on foreknowledge.
- God
"looks ahead" to see who will believe, and then chooses them
based on that.
✔️ We agree partly — but not
fully.
❌
Foreknowledge alone does not explain election. God didn’t just predict who would believe. He planned the
salvation of those who would believe.
We teach:
God didn’t predestine individuals apart from Christ,
nor merely by seeing the future.
God predestined in Christ — a loving plan to save all who believe, offering
salvation to all, but only applying it to those who receive Christ.
We agree God wants all saved (like Wesley), but we emphasize
that God knew from eternity who would believe—and secured them forever (John
10:28).
🎯 Final Summary
|
Truth |
Scripture |
|
God predestined a plan to save those who believe in Christ |
Ephesians 1:4-5 |
|
God wants everyone to be saved |
1 Timothy 2:3-4 |
|
Jesus died for the whole world |
1 John 2:2 |
|
We must believe to be saved |
John 3:16; Acts 16:31 |
|
The choice is ours — the opportunity is from God |
Joshua 24:15; Romans 10:9-13 |
🗣️ Takeaway
You are not a robot. You are responsible. God has made the first move in Jesus. Now you must respond in faith. You are invited into the plan — but you must say yes.
💡 God’s Sovereignty: He’s
in control—but He made room for your choice.
💡 Your Responsibility:
Saying "yes" to Jesus is your step. God won’t force you.
💡 Hope for All: Jesus’
death covers every sin—anyone who believes is saved (Acts 10:43).
"Predestination isn’t a scary decree—it’s God’s promise
to save you if you trust Him. He saw your faith in advance and said, ‘I choose
them if they are in Christ! I choose them if they believe in Jesus’"
God planned to save believers before time began. He knew
you’d believe, so He predestined you. But He didn’t force you—you still choose
Jesus. That’s the beautiful balance: His plan, your choice.
(Ephesians 1:13: "When you believed, you were marked in
Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.")
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