Those Whom He Predestined: A Meditation on Romans 8

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, 

to them who are the called according to his purpose.

For whom he did foreknow, 

he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,

that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: 

and whom he called, them he also justified: 

and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

What shall we then say to these things? 

If God be for us, who can be against us?

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, 

how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? 

It is God that justifieth.

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, 

yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, 

who also maketh intercession for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 

shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, 

or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; 

we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors

 through him that loved us.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, 

nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, 

nor things present, nor things to come,

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, 

shall be able to separate us from the love of God, 

which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I confess that among the doctrines of Holy Scripture which cause me the most discomfort of mind, the concept of predestination is probably chief.  And yet it is there in the pages of Scripture, breathed out by God through His Prophets and Apostles, and we must receive it as God gives it to us, if we would be His disciples.  If we were to limit our consideration of God and His Word to only those things which make us comfortable, we would have replaced theology with narcissism, left much of Scripture upon the editing room floor, and ourselves left any pretense of the Christian faith.  Thus, whether it grieve our mortal minds or not, let us begin.

Predestination, or destiny in general, is not a foreign concept to world religious systems.  In some it creates a kind a fatalism, where people toss up their hands and say something to the effect of, “Well, if I cannot change my fate, what’s the point in trying to live a virtuous life?”  In others, it creates a sense of terror where the individual constantly seeks verification or signs of a a good destiny for himself, saying, “I’m working hard to live virtuously— surely God must have destined good for me, or else I would despair.”  In Scripture we read of other uses or applications of predestination which have higher aims, usually in regard to Old Testament prophecy regarding blessing or judgment toward God’s people, and usually contingent in some way upon either their faith or unbelief.  To Adam and Eve is promised a Son who will save them from the curse of their Fall; to Noah is given a promise of salvation through the great Deluge; to Moses is given a promise to lead the Hebrews out of captivity while to Pharaoh is given a dark prophecy that he was raised up only to be a sign of judgment; to David were given promises of the Kingdom of Israel; to Isaiah and Jeremiah were given prophecies of the fall and rise of that same kingdom; through Jesus and the other Prophets also came declarations about the near and distant future, up to and including the end of the world.  Scripture paints a picture of God at work among mankind throughout history, guiding everything and everyone according to His own purpose.  And yet at the same time, it portrays mankind with freedom to choose better or worse fates, lead greater or lesser lives of faith or despair, to walk with God in the ways of life or depart from Him to the ways of death.

How does one reconcile the presence of both predestination and free will in Holy Scripture, without accusing God and His Word of contradiction?  Several principles taken from Scripture can help, including the proper distinction of Law and Gospel.  For example, if one recognizes that apart from God all human powers are twisted toward evil and selfishness, one can also see the truth that a person cut off from God by their own fallen nature and their evil choices will result in eternal separation from God— a destiny of destruction, condemnation, and suffering in hell’s fiery prison.  However, one can also recognize that everyone united to God by grace through faith and repentance, living according to His Word, reconciled and forgiven through the sacrificial blood of Christ poured out for them on Calvary, their own lives united to the Author of Life— these have a destiny of eternal peace, joy, and salvation, united to God and all His people in blessed communion forever.  Thus there is a destiny according to the Law, and a destiny according to the Gospel.

One might ask why, if God is all powerful, He would not simply predestine everyone to blessedness?  Here we remember that God has told us He is Love, and love cannot be coerced by power.  If there is to be fellowship with God, it must be a fellowship of love uncompelled, and thus man must be free to choose either love or hatred, life or death.  Since mankind in their fallen state is incapable of truly good and free will, God in His compassion comes to every lost and broken person through His Word and Spirit, breathing life into them, that they may by His grace freely choose to abide in Him, or continue in rebellion against Him.  Thus it is man who chooses his own fate through his response to the love and compassion of God, whether he will die according to the Law, or live according to the Gospel.  For God has made it clear throughout Scripture that His Son’s blood was spilled for the life of the whole world, to make satisfaction for all people from the Creation to the end of time, that He desires no one to be lost but for all to be saved, and makes His appeal to every person of every tribe, tongue, and nation.  Thus we know that everyone who ends up in hell, is there by their own choice and fault according to the terms of the Law, and everyone who ends up in heaven is there purely by the grace of God through Jesus, according to the terms of the Gospel.

Lastly, it is worth remembering that while we exist in the continuity of time, God is Himself timeless— beyond time, as the Creator of all time and space.  While we experience time as a succession of present moments, one instant followed by another where both the past and the future are inaccessible to us, God perceives the whole of time singularly, present in every instant of past and future alike.  While to us it may seem that many things are yet undetermined, that the future is ours to create, God sees the end of the world as clearly and certainly as He sees its beginning.  He knows already who will respond to Him in faith and who will reject Him, who will choose freely to be reconciled through the blood of His Son or to be judged according to the Law.  He knows and loves every soul that He has created, and bears the pain of loss for every soul that will freely reject Him, spurning His love and life, and demanding their fate in the lake of fire with the devil and the evil angels.  God already knows every one of His elect who will reign with Him in His Kingdom forever, just as surely as He knows every soul who will choose a destiny of perdition.  Only God can exist beyond time and space as the Creator of the universe, and only He can see the whole of time as one eternally present instant.

So what are we to do?  First, we should not try to be God— we struggle enough with the present moment, and are radically incapable of dealing with all of the past or future.  We cannot see the universe in its totality the way He can, and thus must live according to the nature we are given.  To us, in this moment of present time, comes the Eternal Word of Him who lives and reigns above time and space, calling in love and compassion for us to be reconciled to Him by grace through faith in the Son of God.  Here and now we have the promise which reaches beyond every moment in time, which offers to us the blessed destiny of fellowship and communion with God and His people forever— just as we have the warning of an eternal fate apart from God if we reject Him, His Word, His love, and His grace.  Here, in this present moment, we live in the presence of the almighty and timeless King of the Universe, who comes to us by His Word and Spirit, giving to us the freedom to choose life or death, love or hate, peace or destruction.  Here, in this moment, our destiny is laid out before us according to the judgment of the Law or the salvation of the Gospel, and in this moment, we are free to choose between them.  For those who choose to abide in God and His Word, there is nothing in all creation that can separate them from the love of God in Christ; and for those who choose to reject Him, there is no power in all creation that can save them from the fires which await.  Both the Gospel and the Law spring forth from the eternal nature of God Himself, reflecting both His love and His justice.  Both destinies are eternal, existing beyond the time and space of this created universe, and thus they endure despite all human efforts against them.

As the Word and Spirit of God meet you this day, your response in this moment is what sets your eternal destiny.  You are free by the love and grace of God to choose between the paths of life and death, to be raised out of the mire of your fallen nature unto a new and eternal life, or to remain in the evil of your own choosing and the eternal destruction which awaits.  Hear the Word of the Lord’s love and compassion for you and choose life, that you may live forever in Him.  Amen.