What does the bible say? This article is from the GNMagazine .The Bible simply does not teach that God predetermines our lives, especially in the sense of ultimate salvation. Some hold to this idea, which is called predestination. But from the beginning God has always given intelligent beings the faculty of choice. This includes the angels, Adam and Eve, the children of Israel and all people down through history.
Notice that Psalm 139 concludes with a prayer for deliverance from sin and asks God's guidance in learning His everlasting ways. Why would David ask that if he knew his salvation were assured no matter what? This request shows that he clearly didn't see himself as being guaranteed salvation. He knew that he, like all of us, needed God's direction to find the right path.
Earlier God had said of King Saul, "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments" (1 Samuel 15:11). If God had predetermined the outcome of Saul's life, He wouldn't have chosen Him to be Israel's first king. A person who once had been humble (verse 17) had turned away from God and chosen the wrong path of life.
Jesus Christ taught the same thing: Individuals are free to choose. Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with several examples that call for defining action on our part (see Matthew 7:13-28). He presents us with two mutually exclusive paths�one broad and easy, the other narrow and difficult.
We must find the right path that leads to salvation�discerning between two kinds of teachers, true ones and false ones. His true servants must hear His words and then do them to obtain salvation. This is also the message of the book of James. Read James 2:8-12.
Of course, it is implicit that we all must be saved by grace through the sacrifice of Christ, but God's forgiveness should always lead to a life of obedience.
No doubt God knows far more about us than we can imagine (1 Corinthians 13:12). But the teaching of the Bible is that individuals have freedom of choice and that we will be judged "according to our works" (Deuteronomy 30:19-20; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Acts 17:30-31; Revelation 20:13).
What does Psalm 139:13-16, then, mean? The most recent translation of the Old Testament by the Jewish Publication Society is the Tanakh. It translates this particular passage: "My frame is not concealed from You when I was shaped in a hidden place, knit together in the recesses of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed limbs; they were all recorded in Your book; in due time they were formed, to the very last one of them."
The intent of this passage is to convey God's sovereignty over our lives beginning at conception, not to teach predestination. Our Creator is concerned that we fulfill our great purpose in life�to obtain everlasting life in the Kingdom of God�but we must willingly accept His salvation and practice His way of life. He wants us to choose rightly, but the choice is still ours.
No matter how many scriptures you post and the logic anyone tries to imply, whosoever calls upon the name of the lord will be saved, who sever is elect,, is predestined, chosen, or any other tag you want to put on it.
All that come into the family of God have their part to do to enter into the covenant of God.
Predestination is not about Salvation. It is about Sanctification. Romans 8:28-30: We know that in everything God works for Good with those that love him, who are CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE (Justification). for those whom he foreknew (Justified) he also PREDESTINED to be conformed to the image of his Son, (Sanctification) in order that he (Jesus) might be the first-born among many brethren (The glorified ones). (The following is a reiteration of the previous statement) - And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Jesus died to bring Salvation to all men. Every man woman and child that has lived or will live has salvation within their reach. Taking hold of it and living in it is a matter of their choosing. All mankind is called to obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ but only those who hear and obey will receive the blessings of salvation and those who obey are predestined to be conformed into the image of God's son Jesus Christ.
RIGHT ON THUNDER, I HEAR YOUR ROAR!:glow::applause:
Predistination IS the END goal, blessing and reward of salvation to everyone(the whosoevers) who receives, believes, and accepts Jesus Christ.
Contrary to popular beliefs, There ain't no special group of people who are predistined except those who believe in Jesus Christ, and they are the ones who are predistined to be transformed into the image of Christ and live forever and ever with the Lord. Predistination equals to your Distination, as a believer, which is HEAVEN in a glorified body!
If you ain't got Jesus Christ in your life, you are predistined to hell, to live forever and ever with satan and all those who have rejected the free gift of salvation, hell, this is their distination. Because of their unbelief, and rejecting, and failure to receive and believe in Jesus Christ, and His death on the cross for the remission of our sins. Plain and simple truths!
There ain't but two places a person can make their eternal home after death, and that's heaven or hell!:glow::devil:
Bro Beefcakes understanding on the subject of ''Predistination'' ( Does the bible teach Predistination ) IS CORRECT...I think it would be easier to understand ''Predistinatrion '' like this: ITS NOT THE PERSON WHO IS PREDISTINED.BUT RATHER ITS (THE PLAN) THAT IS ''PREDISTINED'' ... God bless!
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
God said, so just believe it.
He foreknew us, he predestined to us to conform to the image of Christ, He also called us to salvation, and we became saved or justified, and this all leads to be glorified. We are predestined by God, before time as we know it began, to end up in Heaven.
Not because we give up free will, but because God lives in all dimensions and knows our entire life before we draw our first breath. He knows the choices we have made in His eyes. Don't limit the unbelievable power of an eternal God.
If you want to disagree with this scripture, just tear it from your Bible and go talk to the Father.
The Bible is plain and simple once you take away all the misinterpretations. Keep it simple...It is a love letter and love letters mean what they say.
We cannot come to Christ unless the Father draws us. John 6:44. So, the "whosoever will" must also be looked at from that perspective. If we cannot come unless we're drawn there by the Holy Spirit, the the "whosoever will" has to be the ones that are drawn. The ones that are drawn are those who are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son.
Man, left to himself, never chooses God. Jesus called us evil (Matthew 7:11). Jesus said we did not chose HIM- He chose us (John 15:16).
So yes, the Bible teaches predestination- just not in the way that some hold to it. Being chosen or predestined doesn't give us a license to live whatever manner we chose to. When salvation occurs (and I disagree that predestination isn't about salvation, because one cannot be predestined to be sanctified without first having been chosen for justification) a new creation is born. One that has died to sin, been buried and resurrected with (IN) Christ Jesus.
My mom's family is what is called primitive baptists- this denomination holds that the "chosen" can live however they want and then one day God just saves them- nothing there about turning from sin, trusting in Christ alone for salvation- and they can continue to live a life of sin because they're "chosen". That "predestination" is NOT biblical, at all.
