God has foreordained and controls all things whatsoever by his mysterious foreknowledge and providence. By definition, the eternal destinies of the elect and non-elect must fall under God’s foreordination and control. Yet Scripture does not directly state that God predestines people to hell. Instead, it continually emphasizes that God elects to eternal salvation.

In light of this emphasis in Scripture, we should attempt to match our thinking to this biblical pattern. This will lead us to emphasize the election of grace and the passing over of some. It will not lead us to emphasize that God predestines people to hell.    

Predestination of Grace

The 16th-century Reformer Peter Virmigli wrote: “I separate reprobate from predestined because the Scriptures nowhere (that I know of) call men that are damned predestined” (Virmigli, Pred. 2.14). Is he right? 

By looking at the New Testament’s use of the predestination and other like terms, we can discover the answer. In the first place, the Greek word predestine (prooriso) occurs six times in the New Testament and always relate to Christ’s mission or salvation. Acts 4:28 says God predestined the work of Jesus Christ. Romans 8:29 and 30 speak of predestination as part of the chain of salvation that includes calling, justification, and glorification. 

1 Corinthians 2:7 refers to predestination with reference to the “secret and hidden wisdom of God,” which leads to our glory. Ephesians 1:5 speaks of predestination for adoption, where Ephesians 1:11 defines it in relation to receiving an inheritance according to God’s purpose. 

The three uses of foreknowledge in Scripture likewise refer to Christ’s mission (Acts 2:23; 1 Pet 2:20) or our salvation (1 Pet 1:20). The word elect occurs twenty-eight times in Scripture and always for those whom God saves. 

Given the biblical data, Virmigli correctly concludes that Scripture (or at least the New Testament) does not call the damned predestined.

Why Does Scripture Only Speak of Predestining the Saved?

Virmigli grasps the tension here. So he attempts to explain why Scripture speaks as it does. He explains that the benefits of predestination (justification, the good life, glorification) go beyond our natural capacity. In contrast, the things that condemn us are under our power by nature (i.e., sin) while remaining under God’s government (Virmigli, Pred. 2.14). 

So God’s predestination refers to God’s salvific gifts of grace because it brings us benefits beyond our natural capacity. Reprobation then refers to the acts that we do according to our natural capacity and which can condemn us.

Reprobation according to Nature

So what is reprobation then? According to Virmigli, “Reprobation is [defined as] the most wise purpose of God by which he has before all eternity constantly decreed, without any injustice, not to have mercy on those whom he has not loved, but passes over them, that by their just condemnation he might declare his wrath towards sins and also his glory” (Virmigli, Pred. 2.15)

Put simply, God passes over some people, allowing them to live and respond according to their natural capacity. This is a hard word. 

Yet one we must affirm in the right theological context. God has decreed to let people act according to their nature. If someone chooses to reject God, they have done so according to their nature. God did not coerce or cause them to do so. People choose sin over life. 

The contrast is also true: God chooses to share of his plentitude of grace. Moses explains: 

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (Deut 7:6–8)

God chose Israel for no other reason than he loves them and swore an oath to their fathers. Nothing in Israel merited this love. God simply did love them. And so shared of his plenitude of goodness. 

The opposite is also true: God judges people for their wickedness because they are wicked. So Deuteronomy 9:4–5 says:

“Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 

Reprobation of the Canaanites occurs because they are wicked. Salvation for Israel occurs because God chose to set his love on them. 

The first shows God act justly in accordance with human nature which tends towards evil. The second shows God acting graciously by loving and choosing a people for his own possession out of his gracious plentitude of being: “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people” (Deut 9:6).  

Should Christians Say, “God Predestines People to Hell”?

I suggest that we do not because it does not follow the biblical pattern of sound words. And yet Scripture does affirm that God governs all affairs. So human sin does not exist outside of God’s governing providence. 

But predestination, election, and calling refer to distinct salvific benefits that God shares with his elect. Scripture does not regularly emphasize the opposite: of predestination to hell, of election to failure, or of calling to sin. 

We must grant that God did raise up Pharaoh for his own purposes, and yet Pharoah hardens his heart as often as God hardens it. This demonstrates that Pharaoh acted according to his natural capacity and appetite for evil while God governed his evil actions for his purposes. In this sense, nothing exists outside of God’s control (cf. Rom 9:22). 

Yet we must leave mystery mysterious. God is Good. God is Love. And he acts out of the plentitude of his Goodness and Love to give Life. The cause of our condemnation is our sin. Only divine patience and grace prevents the advance of final judgement (2 Pet 3:9, 15; Rom 2:4). God does not cause sin; we do. Instead, God regenerates hearts so that we can experience divine grace that goes beyond our natural capacity. 

So affirm predestination by grace. But do not say, “God predestines people to hell” since sin without repentance causes our condemnation. Only free grace saves us from our sins, and that through faith in Christ Jesus who imputes his righteousness to us through the Holy Spirit. 

https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/does-god-predestine-people-to-hell

Audio Transcript

A podcast listener named Steve writes in to ask this very pointed question: “Pastor John, are some people predestined for hell?”

Before I give my clear and definite answer, it really is crucial that a few preliminary things be said that are always lurking right there below the surface, ready to turn the answer into something it is not. So here are some preliminary points, then a few Bible verses, and then an answer.

Preliminary Clarifications

There are many people for whom a “yes” answer to this question — yes, he predestines people to hell — would have to mean God is unjust and he is not good. So a positive answer to that question is simply not possible for them. In fact, I would say if that is who you are, if God’s predestining who he saved and who perishes can only mean that he is unrighteous or unjust or not good, you shouldn’t believe, even if it is true. I know that sounds strange. Only believe it if you see it taught in the Bible and if it does not undermine other true and important things taught about God in the Bible. And I know that sounds almost outrageous to people to say, don’t believe it even if it is true. But I am not eager to undermine anyone’s confidence in the goodness and the justice of God. And I know what it is like to see these things at first and not see how they fit with his justice and goodness. And I have wept. I mean, my early twenties was a season of great torment mentally and emotionally over theological issues like this. I have tasted what it means to put my hands on my desk, face in my hands and cry out to God: I don’t get this.

So I want to be patient with people. I don’t want to undermine anyone’s confidence in the righteousness and the goodness of God. That is my first preliminary.

A second preliminary thing would be that God never, never sends, never will send anyone to hell unjustly. No one will ever be in hell who does not deserve to be there. And this fact that they deserve to be there will be open and plain in all the universe in that day.

“Everyone who perishes has chosen sin in such a way as to be truly responsible for his choice and truly deserving of judgment.”TweetShare on Facebook

Third preliminary. This means that if God ordains ahead of time that anyone will perish he does it in a way which is probably inscrutable to us and beyond our understanding. He does it in a way that the person is really responsible, really accountable for his choices, really guilty, really deserving of punishment. That is the hardest thing to grasp. But it is essential if we are going to believe all of Scripture, I believe. Everyone who perishes has chosen sin in such a way as to be truly responsible for his choice and truly guilty and truly deserving of judgment. That is preliminary point number three.

And here is the last preliminary. We live in a time where it is very difficult for people to let God be God. Even to conceive of a God with this much authority, this much complexity, this much power is almost impossible for many modern people. Beware of being stopped from believing the Bible by being a child of your time.

God Answers “Yes”

Now let me just give you some texts and draw a conclusion:

• Ephesians 1:11: “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” All things. Now the question is, does all things work according to the counsel of his will include the final destiny of individuals? I think so.
• Proverbs 16:4: “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” God has made the wicked for the day of trouble.
• 1 Peter 2:7-8: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.’ They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.” They disobey the word as they were destined to do.
• Jude 4: “Certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God.”
• 2 Peter 2:3: “And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
• Romans 9:11: Jacob and Esau “were not yet born and had done nothing good or bad — in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls — she was told” — this is before they were born or had done anything good or evil — “‘the older will serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’” That is a quote from Malachi 1:2–3, which ought to be read in context where the text makes clear that God is sovereignly before they were born choosing Jacob over Esau, but showing that Esau’s wickedness was real and blameworthy and he was responsible for it.
• Romans 9:22: “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory.”

So I am leaving those texts pretty much uncommented on. Just holding them out there. My answer is yes. God does determine from eternity who will be saved, who will be lost. But he does it in ways that are mysterious to us so that on that day no one will find any legitimate fault with God. No. The redeemed will know we are saved utterly by grace while deserving hell and the rest will know that they suppressed much knowledge of God’s grace and they deserve to perish.John Piper (@JohnPiper) i

The co-existence of God’s sovereignty and humankind’s free will has been a hotly-debated topic among theologians across the centuries. Understanding how God can have complete control and yet also grant free will to people is a mind-boggling concept. Most argumentative folk will take one of two extreme viewpoints:

• Viewpoint #1: Human beings are God’s puppets; God is the puppet master who controls their every move and decision.
• Viewpoint #2: Humans are free to do what they choose; God is powerless to stop them or change anything.

Neither of these extreme viewpoints has any biblical basis. God is NOT the controller of a bunch of little programmed robots, NOR does God take a “hands off” approach to humanity by helplessly allowing things to run their course—like train about to wreck—without being able to intervene in any way.

Here’s what the Bible DOES say about free will and God’s sovereignty:

1. All people have the ability to choose their actions freely (Deuteronomy 30:19-20; James 1:13-16; Galatians 5:16-17).
2. All people will be held accountable for their choices (Romans 3:19; 6:23; 10:9-10).
3. God knows the future; therefore, He knows what choices we will make. (See Matthew 6:8; Psalm 139:1-4.)
4. God has complete sovereignty over all things (Colossians 1:16-17; Daniel 4:35).
5. Out of His great love for people, God chooses to give people freedom of choice—DESPITE having the ability to control anything and everything He so chooses (John 1:12-13; John 3:16; Mark 8:34; 1 Timothy 2:4).

How all these factors work together and how God could possibly love us so much that He would allow us to choose rejection of Him is honestly beyond human comprehension (Romans 11:33-36). It’s hard for us to imagine withholding an innate power if we had the ability stop someone from hurting themselves or others or from hating us despite our love for them.

Yet God does not violate our free will by controlling our actions or thoughts. He may arrange circumstances to help you see the wisest decision, but the decision is still yours (Psalm 51:10; 1 Corinthians 10:13; John 6:44).

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” —2 Peter 3:9

God allows us to make mistakes to help us grow (Romans 5:3-5), blesses us when we choose wisely (Romans 8:28), and grants us the freedom to choose Him OR reject Him (John 3:18, 36; Luke 13:3; Mark 16:16). If we ask, God will forgive us (1 John 1:9), guide us (Psalm 119:104-105), and show us the way (Psalm 34:17-20), but the ultimate choice is still ours (Matthew 10:32-33; Revelation 20:15).

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” —John 15:9-11

“We love Him because He first loved us.” —1 John 4:19

What should I do with my free will?

Because God loves us and has sovereignty over all things, we can trust Him (Proverbs 3:5-6) and take comfort in the fact that God is aware and in control of the world around us (Proverbs 16:9). May we choose to make wise choices that follow God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17; James 1:5). May we choose to praise and worship Him as the wonderfully generous, infinite, powerful, merciful, grace-filled, and sovereign God He is.

“Are you a Christian or a Calvinist?” We received this question not that long ago. I am used to receiving questions/complaints from people who strongly disagree with Calvinism. But, this was the first one I had ever seen in which the person was insinuating that if you are a Calvinist, you are not a Christian. After engaging in a brief dialogue with the person, it was not just an insinuation. The person truly and strongly believed that Calvinists are not Christians.

We have also received numerous suggestions that GotQuestions.org disclose that it is a Calvinist ministry. I find these suggestions interesting considering that while we are moderately Calvinistic, it is absolutely not our purpose to promote Calvinism. And, if you read our articles on Calvinism vs. Arminianism or predestination/election/foreknowledge, our stand on the issues is abundantly clear. We are not hiding anything. What do they want, a flashing neon sign warning people: “This website has Calvinistic leanings!”?

For those not thoroughly familiar with the issue, Calvinism is a way to explain the relationship between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of humanity in relationship to salvation. To summarize, Calvinists believe that: (1) humanity is absolutely corrupt, spiritually dead, and unable to come to God for salvation on its own, (2) God sovereignly elects/chooses certain people to be saved, (3) Jesus’ death was only for those whom God chose, (4) all those whom God has chosen will eventually come to God in faith, and (5) those whom God has chosen will persevere in the faith (cannot lose salvation).

A reasonable biblical case can be made for each of those points. Depending on how the points are defined, I consider myself anywhere between a 1 to 4.5 point Calvinist. I completely understand how and why many Christians disagree with one or more of the points of Calvinism. What I don’t completely understand is why some Christians react to Calvinism with a visceral hatred. Granted, some Calvinists have a visceral hatred of Arminianism and question the faith of Arminians, but that is not the point of this post.

Based on quite a few dialogues/debates, my best guess is that many people so strongly oppose Calvinism because they hate the idea that they are not in control. They despise the idea that their faith was predestined. They loathe the concept that God choosing them had anything to do with them coming to Christ for salvation. Simply put, they want to think that they are fully in control of their own eternal destiny. They chose to receive Christ as Savior. And for many, they adamantly hold onto the idea that they can also choose to reject Christ as Savior after previously trusting in Him for salvation.

What Calvinism haters do not understand, or refuse to accept, is that God’s absolute sovereignty does not negate the fact that we are still absolutely responsible for our actions. Yes, God elects people to salvation (Romans 8:29-30). At the same time, we must believe in Christ to be saved (John 3:16). The two are not mutually exclusive. Both are true. Everyone whom God has chosen will believe, and everyone who believes is chosen by God. Admitting that you cannot perfectly understand the mind of God is the only way to come to a biblical balance on this issue (Romans 11:33-34). Calvinists do not have a perfect understanding of how things work, but there is no denying, biblically speaking, that God is absolutely sovereign in salvation.

Some of the hatred that is directed towards Calvinism is the result of some Calvinists being horrible at explaining Calvinism and/or explaining it in an arrogant manner. This sometimes accurate caricature has been parodied brilliantly by the Babylon Bee: “Local Calvinist’s Sense of Superiority Visible From Space” and “Animal Control Corrals Cage-Stage Calvinist After Biting Incident.” But, ultimately, we cannot accept or reject a doctrinal system based on how some of its adherents behave. Calvinism should be accepted or rejected based solely on whether it is biblical.

Yes, GotQuestions.org is moderately Calvinistic. In our team of nearly 250 volunteers, we have full Calvinists, moderate Calvinists, Molinists, and moderate Arminians. The only point of Calvinism that is a non-negotiable for us is eternal security. The purpose of our ministry is to answer questions biblically. If a person asks us a question regarding the sovereignty of God in salvation, we will strive to answer that question according to what the Bible teaches. If the answer happens to agree with Calvinism, so be it.

For all you Calvinism haters out there, would it help if I told you that you were predestined to hate Calvinism? I didn’t think so.

No doctrine is more despised by the natural mind than the truth that God is absolutely sovereign. Human pride loathes the suggestion that God orders everything, controls everything, and rules over everything. The carnal mind, burning with enmity against God, abhors the biblical teaching that nothing comes to pass except according to His eternal decrees. Most of all, flesh hates the notion that salvation is entirely God’s work. If God chose who would be saved, and if His choice was settled before the foundation of the world, then believers deserve no credit for any aspect of their salvation.

But that is, after all, precisely what Scripture teaches. Even faith is God’s gracious gift to His elect. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father” (John 6:65). “Nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27). Therefore no one who is saved has anything to boast about (Eph. 2:8-9). “Salvation is from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).

The doctrine of divine election is explicitly taught throughout Scripture. For example, in the New Testament epistles alone, we learn that all believers are “chosen of God” (Titus 1:1). We were “predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11, emphasis added). “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. …He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Eph. 1:4-5). We “are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son …and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:28-30).

When Peter wrote that we are “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:1-2), he was not using the word “foreknowledge” to mean that God was aware beforehand who would believe and therefore chose them because of their foreseen faith. Rather, Peter meant that God determined before time to know and love and save them; and He chose them without regard to anything good or bad they might do. Scripture teaches that God’s sovereign choice is made “according to the kind intention of His will” and “according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will”—that is, not for any reason external to Himself. Certainly He did not choose certain sinners to be saved because of something praiseworthy in them, or because He foresaw that they would choose Him. He chose them solely because it pleased Him to do so. God declares “the end from the beginning …saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isa. 46:10). He is not subject to others’ decisions. His purposes for choosing some and rejecting others are hidden in the secret counsels of His own will.

Moreover, everything that exists in the universe exists because God allowed it, decreed it, and called it into existence. “Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (Ps. 115:3). “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps” (Ps. 135:6). He “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11). “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). “For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him” (1 Cor. 8:6).

What about sin? God is not the author of sin, but He certainly allowed it; it is integral to His eternal decree. God has a purpose for allowing it. He cannot be blamed for evil or tainted by its existence (1 Sam. 2:2: “There is no one holy like the Lord.”). But He certainly wasn’t caught off-guard or standing helpless to stop it when sin entered the universe. We do not know His purpose for allowing sin. Clearly, in the general sense, He allowed sin in order to display His glory—attributes that would not be revealed apart from evil—mercy, grace, compassion, forgiveness, and salvation. And God sometimes uses evil to accomplish good (Gen. 45:7–8; 50:20; Rom. 8:28). How can these things be? Scripture does not answer all the questions, but it does teach that God is utterly sovereign, perfectly holy, and absolutely just.

Admittedly, these truths are hard for the human mind to embrace, but Scripture is unequivocal. God controls all things, right down to choosing who will be saved. Paul states the doctrine in inescapable terms in the ninth chapter of Romans, by showing that God chose Jacob and rejected his twin brother Esau “though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls” (v. 11). A few verses later, Paul adds this: “He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” (vv. 15-16).

Paul anticipated the argument against divine sovereignty: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?’” (v. 19). In other words, doesn’t God’s sovereignty cancel out human responsibility? But rather than offering a philosophical answer or a deep metaphysical argument, Paul simply reprimanded the skeptic: “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?” (vv. 20-21).

Scripture affirms both divine sovereignty and human responsibility. We must accept both sides of the truth, though we may not understand how they correspond to one another. People are responsible for what they do with the gospel—or with whatever light they have (Rom. 2:19-20), so that punishment is just if they reject the light. And those who reject do so voluntarily. Jesus lamented, “You are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life” (John 5:40). He told unbelievers, “Unless you believe that I am [God], you shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). In John 6, our Lord combined both divine sovereignty and human responsibility when He said, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (v. 37); “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life” (v. 40); “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (v. 44); “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life” (v. 47); and, “No one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father” (v. 65). How both of these two realities can be true simultaneously cannot be understood by the human mind—only by God.

Above all, one must not conclude that God is unjust because He chooses to bestow grace on some but not to everyone. God is never to be measured by what seems fair to human judgment. Is man so foolish as to assume that he, a sinful creature, has a higher standard of what is right than an unfallen, infinitely, eternally holy God? What kind of pride is that? In Psalm 50:21 God says, “You thought that I was just like you.” But God is not like man, nor can He be held to human standards. “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa. 55:8-9).

Carla submitted this very difficult question:

“I struggle mightfully, painfully, fearfully with the concept of God’s Elect/Chosen. Does God choose some to be his own but not others? If so, how does that work with the verses that suggest man has a choice/can seek out God and expect His grace/mercy/acceptance? How terrifying to think some individuals are pre-destined for Hell/damnation.”.

Here are some considerations in reply:

Carla’s questions are difficult and raise various issues upon which Christians disagree. One important perspective is offered by Calvinist Christians–primarily because their ideas are classically presented by the Protestant Reformer, John Calvin.  First, I will summarize briefly what Calvinist Christians believe on the matter of “election” and “predestination.” While I think that some aspects of this view are correct, I will then explain why I think other aspects of the Calvinist position are incorrect and should be modified in light of Scripture. In doing so, I will present what I believe is a more biblical perspective on the issue of predestination and election.

Calvinist Christians believe that God alone makes it possible for a person to place faith in Christ and be saved. Calvinism holds that a person cannot and will not place faith in Christ and receive salvation unless God specifically elects/chooses that person and gives him or her the gift of faith. God’s choosing of certain people and not others is, according to Calvinism, part of His mysterious will; that is, God does not choose people based on anything the elect did. Nobody can merit or earn being chosen by God. The elect also cannot resist placing faith in Christ and cannot ever turn away from their faith once they accept Jesus. Those people whom God elects have been predestined for salvation from all eternity. Calvinism holds that anyone who is not among God’s elect cannot choose to place faith in Christ and be saved, and Jesus did not die for them. They were predestined to be separated from God for all eternity and have no ability to choose to be saved.

Let us now consider some of the merits and flaws of Calvinism. As Carla mentioned, there are verses that seem to indicate predestination. For example, in Ephesians 1:4-5 Paul says God “chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” A few verses later, in verse 11, Paul says, “In [Jesus] we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Similarly, Paul writes in Romans 8:29-30 that “those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

But Carla also notices that there are verses indicating that we must choose to accept God and that this salvation is available to all people. For example, Jesus famously says in John 3:16 that God’s love extends to the whole world, and “whosoever believes” in Jesus will have eternal life. Paul likewise says “the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people” (Titus 2:11). And again, God “is the Savior of all men, especially of believers” (1 Timothy 4:10). So while Jesus is the savior for all people in the sense that anyone can accept the salvation He offers, it is only believers who will ultimately be saved. As further evidence that God offers salvation to all people, consider the fact that God wants all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). In what sense could God, who sent his Son “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10), genuinely desire the salvation of every person if some people are not even given the opportunity to accept that salvation? God’s offer of salvation goes out to all people, Jesus died for all people, and God loves the whole world and desires the salvation of all people; nevertheless, only some will choose to respond to God’s saving grace and be saved.

So Calvinism seems to recognize correctly that there is a sense in which those who will be saved have been predestined by God from all of eternity, but Calvinism seems incorrect in denying that salvation is freely available to all people and that all have the opportunity to accept this salvation through what Jesus did for us on the cross. How then should one best make sense of both of these biblical truths?

I believe that those who will be saved are “predestined” by God in the sense that God foreknows from eternity who will be saved. More than that, from all of eternity God has determined to place each person He will create into a unique circumstance in history (e.g., time, place, upbringing, etc.). For each person that God could create, God eternally knows in which circumstances that person would freely choose to accept His grace and be saved and in which circumstances that person would freely choose to reject His grace and be lost. So by creating the world a certain way and placing Person X into certain life circumstances, God knows in advance whether X will choose to be saved in those circumstances.

I myself happen to have freely chosen to accept God’s grace in the life circumstances in which God has placed me, and God eternally knew that I would. But I have no doubt that God could have ordered the world differently and placed me into different circumstances such that I would not choose to accept God’s grace and be saved. Had He done so, God would have eternally known that I would not be saved.

So, on the one hand, it is true that Jesus died for all people and all people have the ability to choose out of their own free will whether or not they will accept God’s grace and be saved. Yet, on the other hand, it is also true that there is a sense in which each person is predestined. By placing each person into certain circumstances and knowing how each person will freely choose in those circumstances, one could say that God “predestines” those who are “elect.” The concept behind this proposal goes back to a sixteenth-century man named Luis de Molina. His attempt to reconcile God’s sovereignty with human freedom is called Molinism.

Molina did not speculate on why God ordered the world in the way that He did. He simply wanted to show how God can be sovereign over all that happens in the world He creates despite God giving humans free will. But I think it is natural to wonder why God would order the world such that person X is saved but Person Y is lost. How does this fit with God wanting all people to be saved, as we saw in 1 Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9? Answering this question would require more space than I have here. In brief, however, I will suggest that God purposefully orders the world so that, by the end of human history, as many people as possible are placed into circumstances in which they will freely choose to be saved. Thus God orders the world the way He does for good reasons. William Lane Craig proposes a solution along these lines. While I agree with Craig that God arranges the world so that as many people as possible freely choose to be saved, I do not entirely agree with Craig’s position that God ensures that everyone who is lost is a person who would reject God and be lost under any circumstances. But getting into such details is beyond the scope of this question.

–Zach Breitenbach,  Assistant Director of Room For Doubt and an adjunct teacher at Lincoln Christian University

[ADDENDUM BY DR. RICH KNOPP]:

Another point to consider is that scripture very clearly and undeniably presents the idea that God predestines people who are His “elect.”  But a major question is whether this predestination applies to each INDIVIDUAL or whether it applies to the ENTIRE GROUP of those whom God “predestined.” God could have predestined that a group would be the “elect.”  And individuals can become part of the elect group by individually responding to God’s necessary grace by their personal response in faith. So according to this, Romans 8:28-29 says that God foreknew and predestined that there would be a group of the “elect” who would “become conformed to the image of His Son.”  If this point is legitimate (and biblically justified), it could greatly reduce one’s distress over whether he or she is individually one of the “elect.”

It’s also important to emphasize that genuine, fully committed Christians disagree on this issue. But most Christians still believe that we should preach and teach the Good News of Jesus to everyone!  In other words, regardless of whether one is a Calvinist Christian, a non-Calvinist Christian, or a Molinist, pretty much everyone agrees that God is ultimately sovereign over all things; that all Christians have the obligation and privilege to share Christ with others; that all who profess Christ should consistently and faithfully live accordingly; and that everyone should accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.

I hope you find some personal peace as you continue to wrestle with this tough question. Thanks so much for submitting it!

–Dr. Rich Knopp, Program Director, Room For Doubt; Professor of Philosophy & Christian Apologetics, Lincoln Christian University.