Site menu:

Scripture2 Scripture

is based upon the belief that Scripture will interpret Scripture when personal bias is left out of the deduction. Whether symbolic, spiritual, literal or whatever the interpretative method, Scripture will not contradict when "rightly dividing the word of truth."

Make us your Homepage

Quick Links..

Dividing the Concubine

Predestination
 Added: 
April-12-04 
Question: I have some relatives who believe you are either predestined to go to hell or predestined to go to heaven? Can you help me understand this? Answer: Many people believe in the doctrine of predestination. This is the belief that certain individuals are predestined to go to heaven and others are predestined to go to hell, regardless of one's actions toward God. In short, the souls of men are not predestined. Some events are definitely predestined in Scripture, such as: the Garden, the Flood, the Church Age, the Second Coming of Christ, and so on. However, Scripture does not reveal that certain people have been predestined to go to heaven or hell. Man has always had a free will to accept or reject God's plan of salvation. We have had a choice in every dispensation since Adam. How would one actually know whether he was chosen for heaven or for hell, especially if his actions toward God were not a factor? How would one know if he was chosen or not if it's by faith that we accept what God has said?

Those who believe this doctrine explain that those who have been predestined to hell naturally reject the true path, and those who have been predestined for heaven naturally accept Christ. That sounds good, but it is an unreasonable and untrue depiction of Scripture. Why? Because every man is given light. He Lighteth Every Man: Jesus said, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:.."(John. 6:44). Jesus was explaining His Deity in this verse. This we know because every man has some degree of calling and light: "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9). So every man in the world has been given some degree of light by God; therefore, he has the opportunity to be saved. In John 12:32,33, Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die" (John 12:32-33).

When Jesus draws all men to Him, then any one of all men could be saved. This means that all men have a choice to accept or reject God's plan of salvation. "God....now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30). God does not command people to do what He has made impossible for them to do.

God's Elect: It is true that the saved are God's elect, "chosen...in him before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4). This is a collective statement, not an individual judgment. It is wrong to make this election a whim whereby God saves some and damns others. We should realize that the word all must be kept in its proper context. Many times it is limited in its usage; however, if any particular passage specifically uses and distinguishes that every man is given light, and that the word all refers to every man concerning the salvation offered, we can rest assured that every individual has the opportunity to be saved. We need not fear that we are of those who are predestined to be lost and forever separated from God unless we have not accepted Christ as Savior. Consider Paul's message to Timothy concerning salvation: "...who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe" (I Timothy 4:10). This means that He is specially a personal Savior for those who believe and even a potential Savior for those who might believe: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth" (I Timothy 2:3,4).

It is God's will that all be saved. But because of man's sinful nature, we know that this has not happened and will not happen because many people choose not to follow God. The souls of men are only predestined in the sense that some will definitely end up in hell and others in heaven. However, these destinations are reached only by each individual's God-given choice, not by God's predetermined blessing or curse.