JEROM ZANCHIUS
When foreknowledge is ascribed to God, the word imports (1) that general prescience whereby He knew from all eternity both what He Himself would do, and what His creatures, in consequence of His efficacious and permissive decree, should do likewise. The Divine foreknowledge, considered in this view, is absolutely universal; it extends to all beings that did, do or ever shall exist, and to all actions that ever have been, that are or shall be done, whether good or evil, natural, civil or moral. (2) The word often denotes that special prescience which has for its objects His own elect, and them alone, whom He is in a peculiar sense said to know and foreknow (Psa. i. 6; John x. 27; 2 Tim. ii. 19; Rom. viii. 29; 1 Peter i. 2), and this knowledge is connected with, or rather the same with love, favour and approbation. We come now to consider the meaning of the word predestination, and how it is taken in Scripture. The verb predestinate is of Latin original, and signifies, in that tongue, to deliberate beforehand with one's self how one shall act; and in consequence of such deliberation to constitute, fore-ordain and predetermine where, when, how and by whom anything shall be done, and to what end it shall be done. So the Greek verb which exactly answers to the English word predestinate, and is rendered by it, signifies to resolve beforehand within one's self what to do; and, before the thing resolved on is actually effected, to appoint it to some certain use, and direct it to some determinate end. The Hebrew verb Habhdel has likewise much the same signification.
There is a predestination of some particular persons to life, so "Many are called, but few chosen" (Matt. xx. 15), i.e., the Gospel revelation comes, indiscriminately, to great multitudes, but few, comparatively speaking, are spiritually and eternally the better for it, and these few, to whom it is the savour of life unto life, are therefore savingly benefited by it, because they are the chosen or elect of God. To the same effect are the following passages, among many others "For the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened " (Matt. xxiv. 22). "As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed" (Acts xiii. 48). "Whom He did predestinate, them He also called" (Rom. viii. 30), and ver. 33, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" "According as He hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy . . . Having predestinated us to the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ, unto Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will" (Eph. i. 4, 5). "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us, in Christ, before the world began" (2 Tim. i. 9).
All men universally are not elected to salvation, and, first, this may be evinced a posteriri; it is undeniable from Scripture that God will not in the last day save every individual of mankind! (Dan. xii. 2; Matt. xxv. 46; John v. 29). Therefore, say we, God never designed to save every individual, since, if He had, every individual would and must be saved, for "His counsel shall stand, and He will do all His pleasure." (See what we have already advanced on this head in the first chapter under the second article, Position 8). Secondly, this may be evinced also from God's foreknowledge. The Deity from all eternity, and consequently at the very time He gives life and being to a reprobate, certainly foreknew, and knows, in consequence of His own decree, that such a one would fall short of salvation. Now, if God foreknew this, He must have predetermined it, because His own will is the foundation of His decrees, and His decrees are the foundation of His prescience; He therefore foreknowing futurities, because by His predestination He hath rendered their futurition certain and inevitable. Neither is it possible, in the very nature of the thing, that they should be elected to salvation, or ever obtain it, whom God foreknew should perish, for then the Divine act of preterition would be changeable, wavering and precarious, the Divine foreknowledge would be deceived, and the Divine will impeded. All which are utterly impossible. Lastly, that all men are not chosen to life, nor created to that end is evident in that there are some who were hated of God before they were born (Rom. ix. 11-13), are "fitted for destruction" (ver. 22), and "made for the day of evil" (Prov. xvi. 1).
JIM BROWN
Predestination is true because we find it in the Bible. Does it matter what it means? Does it have several meanings? Certainly it matters and no it does not have several meanings. Does it really matter what saved means – or faith or prayer or any other word in scripture? Can we just apply any word, any way we please?
That would be like saying that up can be down, sweet is bitter, black is white, good can be evil, right is wrong.
People who say that they believe in predestination but yet at the same time they say that they believe that man has "free will" must redefine the word predestinate as it is defined in the original text. In order to believe in predestination and free will at the same time, one must be so unstable as to call good, evil – black, white – up is down – and right is wrong. It is "Idiocy" to believe such a thing, yet this is what the majority of the preachers of the world are saying. They have interpreted the word predestination according to their own opinion and they are "idiotes"
II Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any "private" interpretation.
Prophecy here is the word propheteia which means "inspired" words as spoken by an inspired preacher who is called of God. The word "private" in this text is the word "idiotes" from which we get our word idiot. This word idiotes means "unlearned". The word "idea" comes from the word idiotes. Man has his own "idea" or opinion when he redefines a word of scripture, especially a word with all the depth of predestination. Such a man is an "idiot" And he is unlearned.
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brethren.
Every word in this verse has an exact meaning. We will address all these words in the future but for the present we will look at the word "predestinate". Before we do this, there is a purpose why God must predestinate himself a family. The reason that God must predestinate a family is that all men are dead in sin. They are all depraved, totally, and completely without any light, truth, ability, or "will" to make themselves alive. They cannot bring about their own spiritual birth by their will.
It is not by choice that a man is conceived and birthed into a family. It is by the will of the father. The field is plowed by the husband or farmer and seed (sperma) is planted into good ground. It is an utter impossibility to plant good seed (the word/ sperma of God) into fertile ground by the husband (father/ farmer) and not bring forth life. It is impossible for you to say truth (word/ seed) to the elect, regardless of how you say it, and them not come alive. Quit worrying about whether or not you are convincing. The farm hand does not worry about whether he put the seed in the ground with the right hand or the left or if he did it gentle enough.
JOHNATHON EDWARDS
That such is God's sovereign power and right, that he is originally under no obligation to keep men from sinning; but may in his providence permit and leave them to sin. He was not obliged to keep either angels or men from falling. It is unreasonable to suppose, that God should be obliged, if he makes a reasonable creature capable of knowing his will, and receiving a law from him, and being subject to his moral government, at the same time to make it impossible for him to sin, or break his law. For if God be obliged to this, it destroys all use of any commands, laws, promises, or threatenings, and the very notion of any moral government of God over those reasonable creatures. For to what purpose would it be, for God to give such and such laws, and declare his holy will to a creature, and annex promises and threatenings to move him to his duty, and make him careful to perform it, if the creature at the same time has this to think of, that God is obliged to make it impossible for him to break his laws? How can God's threatenings move to care or watchfulness, when, at the same time, God is obliged to render it impossible that he should be exposed to the threatenings? Or, to what purpose is it for God to give a law at all? For according to this supposition, it is God, and not the creature, that is under the law. It is the lawgiver's care, and not the subject's, to see that his law is obeyed; and this care is what the lawgiver is absolutely obliged to! If God be obliged never to permit a creature to fall, there is an end of all divine laws, or government, or authority of God over the creature; there can be no manner of use of these things.
God may permit sin, though the being of sin will certainly ensue on that permission: and so, by permission, he may dispose and order the event. If there were any such thing as chance, or mere contingence, and the very notion of it did not carry a gross absurdity, (as might easily be shown that it does,) it would have been very unfit that God should have left it to mere chance, whether man should fall or no. For chance, if there should be any such thing, is undesigning and blind. And certainly it is more fit that an event of so great importance, and that is attended with such an infinite train of great consequences, should be disposed and ordered by infinite wisdom, than that it should be left to blind chance.
If it be said, that God need not have interposed to render it impossible for man to sin, and yet not leave it to mere contingence or blind chance neither; but might have left it with man's free will, to determine whether to sin or no: I answer, if God did leave it to man's free will, without any sort of disposal, or ordering [or rather, adequate cause] in the case, whence it should be previously certain how that free will should determine, then still that first determination of the will must be merely contingent or by chance. It could not have any antecedent act of the will to determine it; for I speak now of the very first act of motion of the will, respecting the affair that may be looked upon as the prime ground and highest source of the event. To suppose this to be determined by a foregoing act is a contradiction. God's disposing this determination of the will by his permission, does not at all infringe the liberty of the creature: it is in no respect any more inconsistent with liberty, than mere chance or contingence. For if the determination of the will be from blind, undesigning chance, it is no more from the agent himself, or from the will itself, than if we suppose, in the case, a wise, divine disposal by permission.
JEFF CLAIBORNE
The god that is worshiped by many today is the same god that was presented to Eve in the Garden of Eden. A god that does not mean what he says, and winks at our transgressions. It is a god made in the image of man and subject to the will of man. We will call this god of deception by the name "tolerance". In our modern culture, tolerance, by definition, is the acceptance of all things and ideas being equal to all other things and ideas. Tolerance is viewed as being compatible with Christian fellowship. A fellowship that is subject to a misrepresentation of the love of God and is void of the fear of the judgment and punishment of God, and is absent of divisive acts or words. Tolerance is the god worshipped by most modern Americans. Tolerance is a god that imitates the real God of scripture, yet delivers a different message. It is a message that contains enough truth mixed with error to deceive the many who are on the Broadway to destruction. This message of tolerance is even capable of deceiving the very elect of God (Matthew 7). Its sweet beverage is poisoned with the doctrine of let us be like God and let us make us a name (Genesis 3:1-7; Genesis 11:4). ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
In Jeremiah 17:9 we are taught that our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. In Genesis 6:5 and 8:21 we are told that every imagination of the thoughts of men's hearts is only a continuous evil that is persistent from a man's youth. According to Romans 1:21 men become vain in their imaginations inventing new gods. II Corinthians 10:5 commands us to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. That passage further tells us to capture every thought of our minds and submit them to obedience to Christ. Contrary to scripture, men love their fantasy world.
The true God of scripture has freewill, and he chooses to exercise it. This first statement about God is foreign to the thinking of 21st century man. We believe God is obligated to abide by the freewill of man, and thus God becomes a robot granting the demands of men, being men who decide how and when salvation and blessing to men will be granted. They reason that they have by an act of their own freewill made Christ their savior. They walk down a church aisle and "accept Christ as their savior" obligating Christ to save them, absent any real repentance on their part. It is given because man required it of his own freewill. Man becomes sovereign in his will and God becomes subject to obedience to the will of man. The true roles of God and man in scripture have been reversed.
The term freewill, in and of itself, is directly connected to sovereignty. Freewill is a will that is free to exercise its will at its own choosing. It has the power to exercise it's will over any force or creature or spirit that would oppose it, thus if man has freewill, man is sovereign.
The scriptures describe the freewill of God. "I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and created evil." Isaiah 45:7. God said that he created light and darkness; good and evil. Did God create the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? (Genesis 2:9) Yes, he did. God has a sovereign freewill. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Ephesians 1:3-6. God has a freewill that he exercises according to his good pleasure. Church councils, government regulations, human desires and the imagination of men cannot overthrow the freewill of God. The theology of learned scholars cannot affect the freewill of God. The Pharisees attempted to overthrow the freewill of God and failed. Satan tried to mutiny against the freewill of God and in his attempt only succeeded in receiving condemnation from the sovereign God of the universe. Today, many who call themselves Christians are trying to overthrow the sovereign freewill of God by emphasizing their own freewill. The conclusion is that men desire self-rule and self-determination and the only way to get it is to overthrow the freewill of God.
Men do have a will, but it is not a sovereign will. The will of man is self-will; the desire to have control over one's own will; the desire to determine our own destiny, but the self-will of man is quickly and easily overthrown by the freewill of God. Man's self-will is sin. In his self-will man can only sin. This self-will does give man the ability to make decisions, but those decisions are always decisions bound in sin. The self-will of man is controlled by the desire of man. Men desire sin. In the book of Romans Chapter 3 and in Ephesians Chapter 2, the self-will of man is presented as being dead in its trespasses and sins. It is a will that never seeks God and never honors God. The self-will of man is self-esteem, the self-made man, self-determination and positive thinking. When a man is not redeemed he worships self, serves self and exalts self. Even his good works are filthy rags in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6).
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