Do we Know Predestination - Part I.

Do We Know Predestination at all?

To be sung to the tune of Both Sides Now

Part One – Did St. Paul View Predestination the Same Way as We Do?

Written by Dan McDonald

 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has conferred on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.  Before the foundation of the world he chose us in Christ to be his people, to be without blemish in his sight, to be full of love; and he predestined us to be adopted as his children through Jesus Christ.  This was his will and pleasure in order that the glory of his gracious gift, so graciously conferred on us in his Beloved, might redound to his praise.  In Christ our release is secured and our sins forgiven through the shedding of his blood.  In the richness of his grace God has lavished upon us all wisdom and insight.  He has made known to us his secret purpose, in accordance with the plan which he determined beforehand in Christ, to be put into effect when the time was ripe: namely that the universe, everything in heaven and on earth, might be brought into a unity in Christ.”  (Ephesians 1:3-10 REV)

 

            You may have said things like the following if you have expressed your views about predestination.  You may have said, “If I were to believe in predestination I would believe that human beings are nothing more than robots.”  Or hearing someone say that you might counter, “Sin is what made us robots, God’s sovereign predestining grace is what set us free.”  You maybe would have quoted something like a quote from Paul Evdokimov, of whom I must admit I know nothing except this quote where he says “It is simply unacceptable to imagine that from all eternity God prepares hell as a destination for his creatures.”  The idea that God arbitrarily chooses one group of sinners for life in paradise and another group of sinners for eternal perdition may be defended as just by believers in predestination, but perhaps for most Christians that is a description not of a just God but a maniacal psychopath.  If you had a knowledge of sixties music you might have thought that predestination could be sung about in a fourth verse of Judy Collins’ song both sides now.

 

            Predestination is a big issue topic.  It is usually presented in lengthy complex dissertations because we tend to view predestination in association with other doctrines like God’s sovereignty, man’s freedom as persons created in God’s image, philosophical discussions on the contingent nature of our human freedom, and of course the relationship to our participation in sin and how that participation in the power of sin comes to influence, control or dominate us.  The more we connect our understanding of predestination to the varied topics associated with it, the more we present predestination as a whole systematic theology where no two people will ever be able to agree on what is presented in its entirety.  So perhaps we need to try to imagine a narrowed down perception of predestination that can be agreed upon by a large consensus of Christians.  Once we have that narrowed down perception of predestination then our discussions could be broadened to include the numerous implications of the doctrine in relationship with other doctrines.

My own thinking has changed in recent years.  For thirty years I held a solidly Calvinistic perspective.  But in recent years I have questioned if my understanding of predestination proceeded from the same assumptions present in St. Paul’s understanding of the doctrine.  If we look at Ephesians 1:3-10 it is fairly obvious that St. Paul spoke of predestination as a doctrine meant to encourage God’s people, where for us it seems like a doctrine to shock people that will automatically create a firestorm.  I began to try to see where St. Paul’s perspective might differ from my viewpoint.

            I believe the differences can be considered by asking two artists to paint an icon representing the doctrine of predestination.  A late sixteenth century English theologian once created a chart showing the lines of double predestination.  On one side God chose mercy for one group of sinners leading them to believe the Gospel and to be predestined to the kingdom of heaven.  On the other side he showed those selected for judgment due to their sins from God’s sovereign choice to their arrival in perdition.  I think if you had asked St. Paul to paint an icon about predestination it would have been different.  He would have painted an icon of Christ identified as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  Christ himself would represent our origin in creation and our destiny in eternity.  If it could be painted St. Paul would show how from the beginning God the Father begot his Son in whom he was well pleased and chose him to be the origin, redemption, and final destiny of all God’s purposes in bringing to final fruition the goals of the universe.  The Father’s love for that son was so immense that he loved and selected as sons for adoption all who are connected by faith to the Son.  St. Paul’s predestination is God’s undying love for his Son poured out in exactitude upon us through adoption in Christ.  This is how I understand St. Paul’s use of the words “predestined in Christ Jesus.”