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WHAT
PRESBYTERIANS BELIEVE ABOUT PREDESTINATION |
What is predestination?
Essentially,
predestination is a way of speaking about the sovereignty of
God. Predestination is an act of God's will through which
He elects or chooses those whom He calls to faith and thus
to eternal life. |
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Where does the idea of predestination come from?
Predestination
is a concept which is rooted in the Biblical images of God’s
calling of a chosen people. The apostle Paul writes, “For
those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed
to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the
first-born within a larger family” (Roman 8:29). And, in
Ephesians, we read, “He destined us for adoption as His
children through Jesus Christ, according to the good
pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:5).
Many theologians
throughout the centuries of Christianity have expressed
various, sometimes opposing, understandings of
predestination. Some theologians, such as Augustine, have
seen in predestination only a positive calling to eternal
life, emphasizing God’s election of those who have salvation
from sin and death. Others, such as John Calvin, have seen
a negative aspect to predestination as well as a positive
one, emphasizing that some are foreordained for salvation
while others are foreordained for damnation. Still other
theologians have seen predestination as God’s foreknowledge
of those who would choose faith. |
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What are some misconceptions about predestination?
Many have
charged Presbyterians with teaching that God has, from all
eternity, condemned some people to eternal death. Such a
teaching is known as the doctrine of “double predestination”
(also known as the doctrine of “reprobation”).
Presbyterians
today do not adhere to an understanding of predestination
which professes that God draws pleasure from foreordaining
some persons for condemnation. Presbyterians believe
that such teachings are not consistent with the Biblical image
of a God “who desires everyone to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4).
Those of us who
are called to faith can give thanks for God's initiative in
dealing with us so graciously. Yet, we cannot presume to
know anything about God's purpose for those who seem to have
rejected faith. We perceive it to be dangerous to move
beyond the mystery of predestination to try to explain what
God has not revealed.
Another
misconception is that Presbyterians believe in
predestination as a kind of fatalism wherein God determines
everything in advance, effectively denying the reality of
human choice. Such a fatalistic view places the blame of
sin’s existence squarely upon God.
Presbyterians
believe that we, as sinners, are responsible for our sinful
acts even though we are unable to turn away from them
without the gift of God's grace. But we also believe that
God's grace transforms the human will so that it can freely
obey God's will.
Presbyterians
believe that predestination affirms the sovereignty and
freedom of God without rejecting human choice and
responsibility. Predestination is really all about God’s
grace. |
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So, why do Presbyterians believe in predestination?
There
are a number of good reasons for maintaining a doctrine of
predestination. First of all, Presbyterians have always
stressed the freedom of God, and predestination has been
connected to a doctrine of God's freedom and of God's
lordship over the universe—over all creation. The doctrine
of predestination re-emphasizes that God alone is Lord.
Second, the
doctrine of predestination functions to safeguard the
doctrine of justification by grace. Presbyterians
experience faith as a gift from God. We believe that God
comes to us with His grace—to which we can only respond with
gratitude. Predestination is a way of saying that God has
taken the initiative in giving us this gift—and all gifts.
Third, we
Presbyterians can see this doctrine as a source of assurance
of God's love for us. It is a doctrine that gives us
confidence as we stand before God as forgiven sinners.
Finally, we see
predestination as part of a doctrine of providence: God
cares about everything He has created, and God has a purpose
for each person who has been created.
Back to
"What We Believe." |
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