More Conflicting Bible Texts
Predestination and Free Will are Partners |
The Bible
contains many apparent conflicts
and some of those discussed in the July,
September, and October Wake Up Reports. This
month we will consider another textual conflict.
Some Bible passages seem to indicate that
salvation is a matter of choice and others seem
to indicate that long ago God decided
(predestined) who will be saved and who will not.
This conflict can be resolved so that all
passages are harmonious, but the resolution does
not come easy. I would like to begin this article
by saying yes, it is true that God
has predestined certain things; and yes,
it is also true that God permits people to
exercise free will in other things. The key to
resolving this conflict is in knowing which
things were predestined and which
things are free will.
Knowing
the Outcome is Not the Same as Forcing the
Outcome
The topic
of predestination involves several subjects which
have to be included in the study. Even though
many Bible texts do not use the word
predestination, the texts are related to the
topic! Remember, truth is proven true by the
harmony that comes from the sum of its parts.
For example, Gods omnipotence and
omniscience have substantial roles within the
topic of predestination. Many people believe that
since God is all powerful and all knowing, He has
predetermined who will be saved and who will not
and there is no possibility of changing the
outcome. For these people, there is no difference
between God knowing the outcome and forcing the
outcome.
Consider
the ramifications of this logic: If God has
predetermined the outcome of all things, He is
responsible for everything that happens. This
logic makes Him responsible for sin because He
predetermined that Lucifer and a third of Heavens
angels would sin and be cast out of Heaven. Then,
He forced Adam and Eve to sin, and to save
certain people from death, He forced Jesus to die
on the cross. This logic makes God the Creator of
sorrow, sickness, and death. Worse yet, He is the
source of dishonesty, hatred, cruelty, and sexual
immorality because these behaviors exist in many
people! If all these dreadful things about God
are true, then predetermining who will go to
Heaven and burn in Hell is not out of character.
Moreover, if these things are true, then God is
the greatest liar in the universe. He claims to
be a God of love, He claims that righteousness
and justice are the foundations of His throne,
but these words are lies if God created some
people to end up in Heaven and others to end up
in Hell.
God is not a liar. He is righteous and does not
force anyone into sin. If He did such things, no
one would want to spend eternity with Him. There
is a simple solution to harmonizing
predestination with free will. Knowing the
outcome is not the same thing as forcing the
outcome. For example, if I set an alarm clock to
go off at 6:00 a.m., I am forcing the event to
occur (Predestination). However, if I walk into a
room and see the alarm clock is set to go off at
5: p.m., I am not forcing the event, even though
I know the outcome (Foreknowledge). It is
possible that the divine powers, foreknowledge
and omnipotence, can operate in Gods heart
without interference.
A Living Trust
Before heaven and Earth were created, the Father
foreknew that sin would occur and this would
separate mankind from His presence (no sinner can
live in Gods glorious presence). Therefore,
He created a plan to save sinners and He designed
this plan to operate as a living trust.
A living
trust is a process whereby the assets of a
benefactor are distributed to beneficiaries
through the services of a trustee or trustees.
Trustees have specific obligations established by
the trust. They are to complete the terms and
conditions of the trust and distribute the assets
of the benefactor to beneficiaries. Trustees
are servants of the trust. They are not free to
act on their own, they do not own the assets of
the trust, and they are not permitted to
appropriate the assets of the trust to themselves.
After Adam and Eve sinned, God chose patriarchs
to be the trustees of the gospel. However, the
sons of God (the patriarchs, the spiritual
leaders) became distracted with beautiful women
who had no interest in spiritual matters.
Consequently, the world became so wicked and
degenerate that after 1,600 years, God cleansed
the Earth with a flood and started over. Then, He
chose the descendants of Abraham to serve as the
trustees of His gospel. Israel became so wicked
and rebellious that after God patiently waited
1,400 years, He sent Jesus to win Israel over,
but they killed Him. So, God started over with a
new covenant with believers in Christ
(Christians) to serve as trustees of His gospel.
However, after 1,600 years of apostasy, He had to
make a change and caused a reformation with
Christians and Protestants. After a mere 200
years, these trustees became so divided.
Confused, and blasphemous that God gave up on
them. When the Great Tribulation begins, God will
start over for the last time. He will choose
144,000 individuals to be His trustees and these
people will accomplish within a mere 1,260 days
all He wants done.
If the plan of salvation does operate as a
living trust, the textual conflict is resolved.
Predestination and free will are not in conflict
within a living trust. Before creation, God
predestined that groups of people would serve as
trustees of His gospel. Because He gives people
fee will, they may choose to receive or reject
the gospel. During the Christian era, God
appointed trustees to serve His beneficiaries: It
was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be
prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be
pastors and teachers, to prepare Gods
people for works of service, so that the body of
Christ may be built up. (Ephesians
4: 11, 12)
After Jesus came to Earth, we see that
individuals have a choice to believe or
disbelieve: For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever [chooses to] believes in
Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16) The [Holy]
Spirit and the bride [the people of God]
say, Come! And let him who
hears [the invitation also] say,
Come! Whoever is [hungry
and] thirsty [for truth and
peace], let him come; and whoever wishes,
let him take the free gift of the water of life
[which flows from the throne of God].
(Revelation 22: 17)
The Bible
teaches that God predestined certain events. For
example, He told Noah He would send a flood 120
years later (Genesis 6: 3) He told Daniel that
Messiah would die in the middle of the 70th week.
(Daniel 9: 26, 27) He revealed to John that the
date of the sixth trumpet has been set, down to
the very hour, day, month, and year. (Revelation
9: 15) Jesus plainly told His inquiring disciples
just before He ascended that the Father has set
dates and times according to His own authority. he
said to them: It is not for you to know the
times and dates the Father has set by his own
authority. (Acts 1:7) Note:
Jesus said that it was not for them to know
certain dates because He did not want His
disciples to understand that His return would be
2,000 years later. If Jesus had revealed this,
Christianity would have died before the end of
the first century A.D.
When Israel camped at the base of Mt. Sinai, God
let Abrahams descendants know from the
beginning that their position as trustees of His
covenant (gospel) was conditional. He sent Moses
to Israel with the big if. Then
Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him
from the mountain and said, This is what
you are to say to the house of Jacob
You
yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how
I carried you on eagles wings and brought
you to myself. Now if you obey me
fully and keep my covenant, then out
of all nations you will be my treasured
possession. Although the whole Earth is mine, you
will be for me a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation [my trustees]
.
So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the
people and set before them all the words the Lord
commanded him to speak. (Exodus
19: 3-7, italics mine) The people
responded together, We will do everything
the Lord has said. So Moses brought their
answer back to the Lord. (Exodus
19:8) Note: Please review
Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 if you have any
question about the conditional nature of Gods
arrangement with Israel. Gods appointment
of trustees is always conditional.
The Lord gave Israel these instructions. I,
the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I
will take hold of your hand, I will keep you and
make you to be a covenant for the people and a
light for the gentiles, to open eyes that are
blind, to free captives from prison [of
sins curse] and to release from the
dungeon those who sit in [spiritual]
darkness. (Isaiah 42: 6, 7)
Israel failed to meet these terms and Gods
patience ended when Israel refused to receive
Jesus as the Messiah. This is why Jesus
terminated the trusteeship of Israel shortly
before His death saying: O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets
and stone those sent to you, how often I have
longed to gather your children together, as a hen
gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were
not willing. Look, your house is
left to you desolate. For I tell
you, you will not see me again until you say,
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord. (Matthew 23: 37-39,
italics mine)
After Jesus ascended, the Jews
persecuted the apostles and believers in Jesus.
One reason was the early Christians understood
that God had abandoned old Israel and created a
new Israel. (James 1: 1; 2:1; Galatians 3: 28,
29; Ephesians 2) Christians also understood
that under the new covenant, all believers in
Christ are trustees and commissioned to proclaim
the gospel. (Matthew 28: 19, 20) Paul and
Barnabus affirmed this transition in their
thinking when speaking to the Gentiles: For
this is what the Lord has commanded us
[that is, all believers in Christ]: I
have made you [to be a new Israel, you
are now the seed of Abraham, heirs of the promise
given to him, you are now] a light for
the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the
ends of the Earth. When the Gentiles heard
this, they were glad and honored the word of the
Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life
believed. (Acts 13: 47, 48)
The last
nine words of Acts 13: 48 are often used to
justify the idea that God has predestined who
receives eternal life. If these were the only
words on the topic of predestination, the
conclusion would be reasonable. Since many other
texts were written and the setting during which
these words were spoken should be considered,
they have a different meaning. These nine words
mean, Gentiles can receive salvation
without becoming Jews. When God established
Christians as His trustees, God opened the door
to salvation to the Gentiles through Christ
whereas the door to salvation had previously been
through Israel. Under the new covenant, God
ordained that Gentiles could become heirs of
Abraham through Christ and this took Israel
entirely out of the loop. Therefore, the phrase,
all who were appointed [that is, the Father
had predestined that the Gentiles should hear the
gospel and those who were convicted of their
need] for eternal life, believed.
From the beginning, it
was Gods plan after Jesus died, there would
be no longer be any distinction between Jews and
Gentiles. Of course, the Jews could not know this
(and it remains unknown to them) until God
revealed this fact to Paul. Notice his words to
the church at Ephesus: In reading
this [Paul is referring to his comments
in Chapter 2], then, you will be able to
understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
which was not made known to men in other
generations as it has now been revealed by the
Spirit to Gods holy apostles and prophets.
This mystery is that through the gospel the
Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members
together of one body, and sharers together in the
promise in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians
3: 4-6)
For
He [the Father] chose us
[all who believe] in Him [Jesus]
before the creation of the world to be
holy and blameless in his sight. In love He
predestined us to be adopted as His sons through
Jesus Christ [whether Jew or Gentile], in
accordance with His pleasure and will to
the praise of His glorious grace, which He has
freely given us in the One He loves
In Him
[Jesus] we were also chosen [to
become trustees], having been predestined
[for this task] according to the plan of
Him who works out everything in conformity with
the purpose of His will, in order that we, who
were the first to hope in Christ, might be for
the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:
4-6, 11, 12)
James understood that old Israel had lost its
trusteeship and new Israel had been appointed as
trustees. This is why he defined the 12
tribes of Israel as believers in Christ.
(James 1:1, 2:1) He wrote, Every
good and perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does
not change like shifting shadows. He chose to
give us [Christians] birth
through the word of truth, that we [as
believers in Christ] might be a kind of
firstfruits of all He created.
(James 1: 17, 18)
God has
always had an elect on Earth who were
appointed to serve as trustees. His chosen people
have the task of distributing the love of the
Father to His beneficiaries. But
you [believers in Christ] are a
chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people belonging to God, that you [as
trustees of His gospel] may declare the
praises of Him who called you out of darkness
into his wonderful light. Once you
[Gentiles] were not a people [you
were not a chosen nation like old Israel], but
now you are the people of God [as
believers in Jesus you are the new Israel]; once
you had not received mercy [such favor],
but now [through Jesus] you
have received mercy [astonishing favor].
(1 Peter 2: 9, 10)
Larry Wilson
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