God has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He
hardens
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The
apostle Paul says to the Romans: “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” (Romans |
Now, according
to the apostle Paul, those whom God foreknew were predestinated to be
justified. But what does this expression ‘God foreknew some and predestinated
them to be justified’ mean? Does it mean, perhaps, merely that God knew that
these people would repent and believe in Christ, and thus they would be
justified? No, otherwise what would be the point of talking of predestination
with regard to them? Is it not true that the verb ‘to predestinate’ means ‘to
appoint beforehand’? Let me give you an example to explain this concept. If I
decide to buy a certain field in order to appoint a certain part of it, let
us suppose a tenth of it, to the building of a house; and another part, the rest
of the field, to the citrus fruits growing; don’t I determine the destiny of
that field beforehand? And when I have bought it and accomplished my purpose,
cannot we say that that field was predestinated by me to be used in that way?
Of course, we can. Therefore, if God predestinated us to be justified that
means that even before we knew Him (that is, before we believed in Him) He purposed
to cause us to believe in His Son Jesus Christ. In other words, He purposed to
call us from all men He created. And therefore, at His appointed time, He
overpowered us and prevailed, He persuaded us and we were persuaded, without
us knowing absolutely anything about His divine plan for us. Perhaps you will
say: ‘It was I who wanted to repent and believe in Jesus, it was I who made
this choice?’ Then I would like to ask you some questions: ‘Who gave you
repentance?’ Was it not God who gave you repentance, as it is written: “Then
God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life” (Acts |
At this
point you may say: ‘Then, do those who don’t repent and believe in Jesus go
to perdition because of a decree of God toward them? Yes, that’s the reason
why they go to perdition. You may say then: ‘This is an injustice, thus you
make people believe that God is an unrighteous God, a merciless God, who makes
fun of His creatures!’ Hear what the Scripture teaches and you will see that
what you say is wrong. The apostle Paul, in order to explain why only a
remnant of the Israelites has accepted God’s salvation while most of the Jews
have rejected it, speaks of the birth of Esau and Jacob. He says that “(For
the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that
the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of
him that calleth;) It was said unto her [Rebecca], The elder shall serve the
younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated” (Romans
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It was
necessary for the Jews to reject Christ, so that Christ might die for our
sins; that is to say, God had purposed to cause the Jews to persecute Jesus
and to put Him to death, through the Gentiles, by nailing Him to the cross
for our sake. For Peter said to the Jews: “Men of Israel, listen to this:
Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and
signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man
was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with
the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God
raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was
impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Acts 2:22-24 – NIV). Please
note carefully the words “by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge”. Evidently
the Jews did not know that by their conduct they would fulfil the words of
the prophets according to which Jesus had to die for the unjust, yet God used
their wickedness and unbelief so that Christ might die for our sins. Therefore,
should we not recognize that God is wise and use those who have been hardened
by Him to accomplish what He has purposed to do? And should we not also
recognize that God gains glory for Himself by hardening the hearts of people?
For both in the case of Pharaoh (I mentioned before) and of the Jews, who
crucified Jesus, God gained very much glory for Himself. As to Pharaoh, he
was deeply humbled by God through all kinds of signs and wonders first, and
then he and his army were thrown into the Red Sea, and when the Israelites
saw what God had done to the Egyptians they praised God for His greatness (Exodus
15:1-19). As to the Jews who killed Jesus, they were put to shame by God for
He raised Jesus from the dead on the third day and when His disciples saw Him
alive in their midst they rejoiced in the Lord, and from that time on all
those who have believed in the Lord have rejoiced in the Lord for God raised
His Son from the dead. At that time God gained very much glory for Himself
through the resurrection of His Son (Luke 24:53) and He is still gaining very
much glory for Himself through it. |
First Paul
said that God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy and He hardens whom He
wants to harden, then he said: “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet
find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that
repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why
hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same
lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God,
willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had
afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews
only, but also of the Gentiles?” (Romans 9:19-24). Once again the words of
Paul are clear. God reigns and He prepared in advance some men for
destruction and some others for glory. Who are we to reply against God? |
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The will of man and the possibility of falling from
grace
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What shall
we say then about the will of man, if all his ways depend on God and his
destiny was determined beforehand by God? We shall say the following things:
the will of those who still live under the power of darkness is moulded by
God and turned in the direction He has appointed, without them knowing it; so
those who were predestinated to be justified will be allowed or enabled by
God (at God’s appointed time), through endless circumstances, to believe in
Jesus Christ, while those who were prepared for destruction will not be
allowed or enabled to believe. |
And what
shall we say then about the conduct of those who have believed in the Lord?
We shall say this: those who have believed must see to it that they make
their call and election sure by continuing in the faith and being zealous for
good works, for this is the will of God. But can a believer lose
justification? The answer is ‘Yes,’ because this is what the Scripture
teaches us. For if a believer draws back, by committing the sin unto death
(in other words, if he forsakes and denies the Lord who has rescued him), he will
lose the justification he has obtained by faith and his name will be blotted out
from the Book of Life. For God said to Moses: “Whosoever hath sinned against
me, him will I blot out of my book” (Exodus 32:33), and the writer of the
epistle to the Hebrews says: “For it is impossible for those who were once
enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of
the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the
world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance;
seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an
open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it,
and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth
blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and
is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned” (Hebrews 6:4-8) and again:
“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful
looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the
adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or
three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be
thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted
the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and
hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:26-29) |
How then
can we ‘reconcile’ these doctrines (that is, the doctrine of predestination and
the doctrine that says that a believer may lose his salvation and go to
perdition)? Of course, we can, even though it seems the opposite. Actually,
it seems that these doctrines nullify one another, that they contradict one
another, however we know that both of them are true, both of them are part of
the counsel of God. Therefore, do not deceive yourselves. |
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Some words in defence of predestination
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We are
really surprised to see that this doctrine, which is so much confirmed by the
Holy Scriptures, is so much neglected among many Churches. Many pastors don’t
speak about the purpose of God according to election, they never teach it. You
may hear them speaking about certain things which were not revealed to us, but
you will never hear them speaking about the purpose of God according to election,
which was revealed to us. Why? The reasons are various. |
Certainly,
one of the reasons is their ignorance; in other words, they don’t know the
Scriptures. Unfortunately we see that they are ignorant of many other
biblical doctrines as well. |
Another
reason is that the word PREDESTINATION makes them think at once of the
doctrine ‘once saved always saved’, so it is better not to speak of
predestination at all lest believers think that no matter how they may behave
they will eventually be saved. However, this attitude is not right, because
the apostle Paul, who said many things concerning predestination, warned in
various ways believers not to think that since they had been predestinated to
be justified they could do anything they liked. Hear, for instance, what the
apostle said to the Romans about the fact that many natural branches (the
Jews who are disobedient to God) were cut out of a cultivated olive tree and
many branches of the olive tree which is wild by nature (the Gentiles who
have believed) were grafted into the cultivated olive tree: “Well; because of
unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded,
but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also
spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them
which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his
goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off” (Romans 11:20-22). Therefore,
if Paul taught predestination to the saints of Rome and he warned them not to
despise the goodness of God, we don’t understand why those who are appointed
to shepherd the flock of God shouldn’t act like Paul. Why should we neglect
or fail to teach such an important and fundamental part of the counsel of God
because of a nonexistent fear? I am fully persuaded that if the doctrine of
predestination is taught rightly, believers will not run the risk of
deceiving themselves. In other words, if we teach that God predestinated us
to be justified by faith even before the foundation of the world and at His
appointed time He called us and justified us, but there is a sin (the sin unto
death) of which a believer cannot repent and which leads the believer who commits
it to eternal perdition, all sorts of deceitful thoughts will disappear from
the believers’ minds. |
However,
there is another reason why predestination is not taught among many churches,
here it is. Unfortunately in the heart of many believers there is some pride
that keeps them from recognizing that they have been saved SOLELY because of
the purpose of God according to election, that is to say, because God decided
beforehand to cause them to believe. In other words, because they were
ordained to eternal life. This means that all the things they now have were
given to them by God; they don’t come from themselves. Both repentance (through
which they humbled before God), and faith (through which they have obtained
the forgiveness of sins and eternal life), were given to them by God. For
this reason Paul asked the saints of Corinth: “What do you have that you did
not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7 – NKJV), because he knew that all the things
the saints did have had been given to them by God. These believers, however, stress
much, I would say too much, the fact that it was they who wanted to repent,
who wanted to believe etc.. To them it is hard to recognize that their will
was simply moulded by the Almighty without their knowledge. They can’t accept
the fact they were able to come to Jesus only because it was granted to them
by the Father! That’s why they stop their ears, or prefer not to hear those
who speak of predestination. This is a foolish behaviour on their part,
because it means that they don’t want to acknowledge fully the sovereignty of
God over all the universe, they don’t want to acknowledge the truthfulness of
God; but above all because in this way they take away from God a part of His
glory. Because, if I say that I believed because I wanted to believe and not
because God wanted me to believe (and caused me to believe), I don’t glorify
God for giving me faith. Why then should I glorify Him? Simply because after
I chose Christ He saved me!! In other words, it was I who decided to come to
Jesus (God did not do anything in order that I might come to Jesus), but as
far as the salvation of my soul is concerned it was Christ who saved it. According
to the arguments of these believers, therefore, we should say that the faith
which allowed us to believe in Christ came from us, while the faith which
allows us to continue in the faith comes from God. And as a result, we should
say that actually our salvation did not depend entirely on the Lord! Pride
takes a lot to die out in these believers! However, you, proud believers,
must understand that through your pride you do not humble God but yourselves,
even though God seems to be humbled. Tell me this: what’s the difficulty you
have in recognizing that repentance and faith were given to you by God
because of His purpose? Why do you admit so easily that you were born the
first time not of your will but of the will of your parents, or rather,
because God wanted you to be born, while when you speak about the new birth
you say that it was you who wanted to be born again? But if we are born of
God, this means that we were born again of the will of God and thus because of
a decree of God, doesn’t it? Is it not written that He brought us forth of
His own will (James 1:18)? Is it not written that we were born not of the
will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God (John 1:13)? Therefore,
humble before God, and give glory to Him, all the glory that He is worthy to
receive from you. |
Finally,
there is another reason. According to these believers who deny
predestination, the doctrine of the purpose of God according to election
makes people think that God is unjust because He determined beforehand to
save some and to send others into perdition (or to let all the others go to
perdition). However, I would like to ask these people: ‘Why is He unjust? Is
He unjust because He lets wicked people, who deserve to go to perdition
because they rebelled against God, go to perdition? Is this an injustice? If
God gave salvation to some by their good works while to some others by their
faith alone, then, in this case, He would surely be unjust; but the fact that
He has decided to have mercy on whom He wants to have mercy is not an
injustice at all? Doesn’t the Possessor of heaven and earth have the right to
do what He wants with His own things? No, God is not unjust in having mercy
on whom He wants to have mercy and in hardening whom He wants to harden. I
ask you a question, ‘Do you think, then, that even the antichrist may repent
and believe in Jesus Christ?’ If your answer is ‘Yes’, you should explain to
me the meaning of these words “will … go to perdition” (Revelation 17:8 –
NKJV), and you should explain to me why the Scripture states that the Lord
will consume the antichrist with the breath of His mouth and will cast him
into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. How can the antichrist
have a chance to repent and believe, if he was appointed to be destroyed and
to go to perdition? You may say now: ‘That’s a special case!’ Let us suppose you
are right, you have to admit, then, that the antichrist will be hardened by
God. Why then should God let this man come into the world in order to let him
go to perdition? Why will God keep him from believing and being saved? Therefore,
if you admit that this human being is to go to perdition, why don’t you want
to admit that many other human beings (God alone knows who and how many they
are) are to go to perdition? If God can send one man into perdition, is there
anything that may keep Him from sending a billion or ten billion of human
beings into perdition? What is the difference between one and a billion? Isn’t
a decree of God anyway? Therefore, if you say that God is unjust in hardening
whom He wants to harden, is He unjust in hardening also the antichrist then?
Listen to me, it is just as the Scripture says, that is, God hardens whom He
wants to harden and He does this in order to accomplish His impenetrable purposes
that we who are dust and ashes don’t understand fully at the moment. But the
day is coming when all the purposes of God will be manifest as well as all
the reasons of all His decisions, and then all of us will have to recognize
that even those incomprehensible and seeming ‘unjust’ hardenings had a
definite purpose, that is, the purpose of glorifying His holy name. I know
that if God, by hardening the hearts of most of the Jews in the days of Jesus,
provided salvation for mankind, whose fruits we enjoy today, for sure any
other hardening caused by God is for our good; even if we may not understand
it now, for sure one day we will have to recognize that it was caused for our
good and not for our ruin. |
I have
said so far why some don’t teach predestination. However, I want to tell you
why we teach it. The reason is that it is a biblical doctrine and thus it is
a sound doctrine which does good to those who accept it. The good that the
brothers receive from it is this; they can see in the way God led them to
Christ a wonderful manifestation of the power of God, of His wisdom and above
all of His unconditional love towards them. So they can recognize that God
loved them while they were still in darkness and at a certain point of their
life He revealed Himself to them through Christ. It was God, therefore, who
decided to make Himself known to them, without them believing (before their
conversion) in His existence or knowing God’s plan for them. Furthermore,
considering their past lifetime which they spent in serving iniquity and
vanity, they will recognize how God in an incomprehensible way directed their
steps even when they were serving sin with all their strength, so that in the
place and at the time appointed by God they might accept Christ. Every
believer has his own story, and he knows that had it not been for endless circumstances
created and linked together by our great God, today he wouldn’t be what he is
by the grace of God, that is, a believer, but he would be an unbeliever, and
perhaps he would be in hell. Therefore all those who recognize that God loved
them and guided them and delivered them from death even when they were
sinners say with a loud voice ‘God is love!’, and ‘God reigns, and both
deceived and deceiver are his’. A believer, therefore, knowing his election,
will make all efforts to make his heavenly call sure and will perfect
holiness in the fear of God, in order to honour Him who decided to call him
to His glory. Such an excellent call must be honoured at any cost, even by dying
for the sake of the Lord. Besides, a believer even during the worst moments
of his life, knowing that God chose him before the foundation of the world,
feels relieved and comforted greatly, because he knows that He who did not
forsake him when he was still lost, will not forsake him now either, because
he belongs to the Lord forever. It is evident, therefore, that the doctrine
of predestination is a doctrine which edifies the church; the non-edifying
doctrines are others. Perhaps, someone will say that the doctrine of
predestination is ‘not very edifying’, thus I would like to ask these people:
‘How can a ‘not very edifying’ doctrine edify so much the brethren? |