Today I received an email from: newsdesk@christiannewswire.com Titled: A New Survey from Ligonier Ministries Reveals What Americans Know (or Don’t Know) About the Christian Faith; NEWS PROVIDED BY Ligonier Ministries; Sept. 8, 2020
Please NOTE! Just because the word “Christian” is in the name does not mean that everything communicated is correct or actually Christian. I often find their emails discussing groups, events or statements riddled with error. When I came across one survey question regarding Salvation and predestination (from a Calvinist point of view) that raised a red flag. They do not understand that not all Christians, myself included, accept their version of predestination as Scriptural. The following is my brief analysis.
Ligonier ministries survey – One question is about predestination of Believers.
3 verses are given which they claim proves that God chose who would be saved before the foundation of the earth. Romans 9:23; Titus 1:2; Ephesians 1:3–6 (ESV): Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
I do believe that God knew who would rebel against Him and who would accept His Son as the Redeemer. Remember God created time and is therefore timeless. He transcends time. Therefore, He knew who would choose Him.
Matthew 22:11–14 (ESV) 11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Although God’s Mercy is available to all, for The Call goes out to the multitude but few choose to accept it (a choice). However, the Calvinistic approach is that God does not allow “free will” but forced, as it were, His will on a select group of people by pre-choosing (predestination) them (whether they like it or not). This is Not consistent and actually violates, God’s will. Consider Matthew 28:18-20. There is no sense to fulfill the Great Commission if the fate of each person had already been decided!
One more example after Pentecost.
Acts 8:26–31 (ESV) Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch – 26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
Therefore, the Calvinist doctrine of predestination is faulty and misunderstood. The question to be asked then, what does Ephesians 1:4 mean? I believe a better explanation for this verse can best be explained by Dr. Frank Turek, at the following URL: From https://youtu.be/zDzbdroUxjo How can we be free if God elects us?
Dr. Frank Turek’s explanation makes sense and is consistent with God’s “free will” principal. Briefly, first, God knows who will accept Him and who will not; secondly, He will not “elect” someone against their will. Finally, no human knows who, during their lifetime, is already [willfully] “elected”, and only God knows who will impact each person so they can make the choice to Believe or reject. See also, Chosen But Free: A Balanced View Of God’s Sovereignty And Free Will 3rd Edition by Norman L. Geisler; From https://www.amazon.com/Chosen-But-Free-Balanced-Sovereignty/dp/0764208446
See also: See also: https://crossexamined.org/predestination-vs-free-will/
Do we have free will? – Great answer by Ravi Zacharias
· (a follower usually speaks the name of the one they follow)
· Christian – one who follows Christ
· Calvinist – one who follows Calvin
· Narcists – one who follows self
1 Corinthians 3:4–9 (ESV) 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
NOTE: [To me it is obvious that choice and free will are always an option – God just knows who makes the desired choice – a relationship with Him through Salvation. However, if I took the attitude that an individual’s relationship with God has already been decided, why bother sharing the Gospel? Scripture is clear, if Christians do not share the message, as with the eunuch, how will they know? If God knows beforehand who desires a relationship with Him it then follows He also knows which Christian is going to share the gospel with a specific individual!]
