The Supremacy of God in Predestination

By Eric Schumacher

When I first heard of predestination, that is God choosing who will be saved, I didn't know what to think....in fact, my first reaction was to not think about it at all. I wanted to simply cast it aside as unimportant or not understandable and leave it for the theologians. I have seen though that we are ALL theologians... we are ALL engaged in the activity of learning things about God. We all, whether for better or for worse, have a theology. And having a theology that is "for the worse" is no small matter. To hold a wrong theology is to sin against God. To hold a wrong theology or ignore a Biblical one, is to shrink our view God. Our worship of Him, our service to Him, our praise of Him, our joy in Him will never exceed our understanding of who God is.

You see, predestination, or any other 'doctrine' is much more than practical, it is essential. Far too often we, as a church, have become so preoccupied in teaching ways to find out who He is, we have ignored the teachings of who He is!!! In our concentration on multi-step means to God, we have lost the end we are seeking. Learning these doctrines must be viewed as more than gaining intellectual understanding... we must see them as getting to know our Creator. As Neil McClendon said, "...we need to be infected with the personality of God!" This comes as we understand and delight in the truths in His word.

So why should we study predestination? Because it is a doctrine about 'who God is'. In Exodus 33:13-19 Moses stands before God on Mt. Sinai and makes a bold request. He says to God "let me know Thy ways, that I may know Thee." Moses is stating that knowing HOW God works is essential to knowing WHO God is. And when God answers Moses' request in verse 19 He says, "I will be gracious on whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." God's sovereign choice of showing grace and compassion to whom HE wills is HOW He acts and WHO He is. This is at the heart of predestination.. .we should rejoice at how God sovereignly worked to bring about our salvation, because it tells us what God is like!

Predestination also deserves to be embraced because it is the highest expression of God's love for us; it exemplifies God's saving love for His elect. It shows the special love He has for Christians. Is this love special? YES, God loves Christians more than He loves those who never get saved. Allow me to explain. Scripture calls us Christ's bride and God's children. Imagine a father telling his son that he loved every other child as much as him. Or imagine a man saying to his wife, "I love every woman I see as much as I love you." We would NEVER call this man loving; instead, we would call him an outright adulterer?!!! The joy I get from my fiance' is that she loves me more than anyone else on Earth. The fact that God has this special love for us, His chosen, that He saved us, should well up in our hearts joy beyond compare and ignite never-ending worship in our souls!

And finally, it is important to study this doctrine because it exalts God and humbles us. A God who is not bound by the wills of His creation is much more glorious, awesome, majestic, and powerful than a God who is forced to stand back, with His hands tied, and only watch and hope His creation would choose Him.

With all this in mind, allow me to put forth a simple definition of predestination: R.C.Sproul writes this, "Predestination means that our final destination, heaven or hell, is decided by God not only before we get there, but before we are born. It teaches that our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God. Another way of saying it is this: From all eternity, before we even existed, God decided to save some members of the human race and to let the rest of the human race perish. God made a choice--He chose some individuals to be saved into everlasting blessedness in heaven and others He chose to pass over, to allow them to follow the consequences of their sins into eternal torment in hell." For the purposes of this talk, let me suggest this simple definition of predestination:

God chooses who is saved from before the creation of the world, not according to our faith or works, but based on His own will. In other words, God didn't choose you because He knew you would believe in Christ; you believe in Christ because He chose you.

First I'd like us to think back to last week's talk. We saw, very clearly, in Ephesians 2:1-5 that we, left to ourselves, are "DEAD in our trespasses and sins, and live in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and are BY NATURE children of wrath." And then we saw in Romans 3 that "there is NONE righteous, not even one; there is NONE who understands, there is NONE who seeks for God; ALL have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is NONE who does good, there is not even one."

This is very important to remember in light of predestination. It is crucial to understand that the soul is DEAD! It is not sick, it does not have the flu, it does not simple need a Band-Aid... the soul is DEAD! It doesn't need chicken-soup, it needs a resurrection! !! As we know, dead men are incapable of bringing themselves back to life. Therefore, in our spiritual death, we will never, ever, when left to ourselves, choose God. You see, that is the glory of God in predestination.... we weren't drowning or sinking in a sea of sin... we were DEAD at the bottom, sunken into the muck and scum. And God, to glorifi' Himself and display His love for His chosen, humbled Himself and dove into the sea, down into the muck, and pulled us out onto dry land. Then, in the same way as He stood before Lazarus' tomb, who had been DEAD for four days, Christ calls out, "COME FORTH!" and then suddenly our hearts, once of stone and sin, are regenerated and begin to beat. He gives us a desire for Him and we rise from our tombs to embrace Him as our Savior and our Lord. THAT is the Glory of God in predestination... that we were dead, dead, DEAD... but GOD has brought us forth to life! That is why you believe--because God first chose to make you alive.

So then, let us look closer at the definition I presented earlier: "God chooses who is saved from before the creation of the world, not according to our faith or works, but based on His own will." This definition is clearly outlined in Ephesians 1:4-5, "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of HIS will..."

The first point is that God chooses who will be saved. Scripture clearly demonstrates this choice is God's alone and not ours: Colossians 3:12 says we are 'chosen of God" and 1 Thess. 1:4-5 says it was 'His choice of you'.

The second point is that God made His choice before the creation of the world. Again in Eph 1:4 we see He chose us "before the foundation of the world", and in 2 Thess 2:11-14 it says "God chose you from the beginning for salvation..."

The third point is that God's choice of us is NOT based on our faith or our will. Acts 13:48 states we were 'appointed to believe' that is, to have faith... we were not chosen because we had or would have faith; we have faith only because we are chosen. John 10:26 tells us the ultimate reason people don't believe: "You do not believe because you are not a sheep." You don't become a sheep by believing, you believe because you are a sheep. Romans 9:16 tells us predestination "does not depend on the man who wills...but on GOD who has mercy." It is not dependent on our will, but God's.

In the same fashion, the fourth point is that God's choice does not depend on the good we have done or will do. Romans 9:11 points out His choice is "not because of works, but because of Him who calls..." 2 Tim 1:9 says He "saved us, and called us with a holy calling, NOT according to our works, but according to HIS purpose and grace..." God's choice was unconditional...it wasn't based on us, but only on Himself.

Through-out all this we see that God's choice is based entirely and wholly on His will and purposes. God DID choose who is saved from before the creation of the world, not according to our faith or works, but based on His own will only. Allow me to point out some more scriptures defending this which might be helpful for you to look at later:

*2 Thess 2:11-14--God has chosen you from the beginning of creation.
*Eph 1:3 - 14--you were predestined before the foundation of the world.
*Acts 13:48--you believe because you were appointed to believe.
*2 Tim 1:9-- [H e] saved us and called us with a holy calling NOT according to OUR works, but according to HIS purpose.
*Romans 9:20-21--God created vessels of wrath and also vessels of mercy PREPARED BEFOREHAND for glory.
*Eph 2:1-5--when we were DEAD, HE made us alive.
*Romans 9:14-18--it doesn't depend on OUR will, but on GOD.
*John 1:12-13--it is NOT the will of the flesh, or the will of man, but of GOD.
*Colossians 3:12--it is the choice of God.
*1 Thess 1:4-5--it HIS choice of you NOT your choice of Him!
*1 Cor 1:30--it is by HIS doing you are in Christ!

I know when I was first confronted with the doctrine of predestination my head was filled with questions and objections. I'm sure for some of you the same is true... it's only natural. I'd like to very briefly take a look at some of what I thought and know others have as well...

Is God forcing me to believe? What about my 'free-will'?
It's important to understand our will. We do have a will, and it is controlled by our desires. For instance, one person might choose a brownie over a rice-cake because they have greater desire for the taste of the brownie. While I, on the other hand, may choose the rice-cake because I have greater desire to eat less calories and watch my figure. What God does in predestination is change our desires so that we WANT Him.

So, while we do have a will, it is not totally free. That is, the ultimate outcome is not in our hands. However, our will is not forced; as we saw before, we come to Christ because we want to. God doesn't drag anyone, kicking and screaming, to eternal life.

But what about all those 'choice' verses, where we are commanded to choose Him?
Predestination agrees we must believe and choose Christ. But we need to understand HE choose us first and causes us to believe and choose Him. That is what we saw, for example, in Acts 13:48--it says the people believed because they had been chosen.

What if someone seeks God but isn't predestined? Will God turn them away?
No, God will turn no one away who seeks Him. But let's remember, NO ONE seeks God (Romans 3:1 1)...the only people who will seek Him are those He first calls. That is, the only people who come to Christ are the people that God predestined.

But isn't that unfair that God chooses some and not others?
At first it might appear this way, but remember--we all deserve hell. God doesn't have to save anyone. His choice of those who are saved is only out of grace and mercy. Those who go to hell aren't being treated unfairly, but only receiving what we justly deserve. Imagine everyone in this room deserved to be whipped by me. However, I choose to give three people candy bars instead of whipping them and then I whip the rest. Were the ones I whipped treated unfairly? No, they deserved to be whipped all along.

But wouldn't God get more glory if His creation freely chose Him and He limited His sovereignty, instead of Him choosing us?
We need to understand that God glorifies Himself by fully displaying who He is, His attributes. We would never suggest God limits His love, mercy, or grace. To suggest that God limits His sovereignty would be to say He values the choice of His creation over Himself. God values Himself above all else. As we saw in Exodus 33, it is the nature of God to determine who is saved. God would be acting against His nature and His greater glory to limit Himself.

So, if predestination is true, then what is the use of prayer or evangelism?
God ordains what will happen and He also ordains HOW it will happen. God uses prayer and evangelism as the means to bring about His purposes. Your sharing of the gospel may very well be an indication of God's calling someone to Himself. Besides all this, we are commanded to pray and evangelize...we must be obedient to God's word.

Applications
Predestination has been one of the most life-changing discoveries I've made in my walk with the Lord. At first I thought it wasn't an applicable doctrine at all. I thought, "OK, it's true, but it doesn't really effect me." But it has... in big and important ways.

The first way it's impacted me is in evangelism and missions. It is our hope!!! We don't have to sit back and worry about whether or not we're doing a good enough job to cause a person to want Christ, because it's not our job. We can have confidence that God will save who He is pleased to save. All we need is to be obedient to share and allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in changing hearts and drawing souls unto Himself.

Another way predestination has greatly influenced my walk is in my prayer life. By focusing on God's sovereignty and acknowledging His plan to save His chosen people our prayers exalt God. And in understanding predestination we can have confidence in prayer. We know then that God is absolutely in control. We are praying to a God that DOES work in people, as opposed to a God who must sit back and hope someone chooses Him. If we are to believe that God DOESN'T choose who is saved and it is based on our decision then we should pray in that way as well... Charles Spurgeon suggests what such a prayer might sound like:

"Lord, I thank you I am not like those poor presumptuous [believers in predestination]. Lord, I was born with a glorious free will; I was born with the power by which I can turn to you by myself; I have improved my grace. If everybody else had done the same with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved. Lord, I know you do not make us willing if we are not willing ourselves. You give grace to everybody; some do not improve it, but I do. There are many that will go to hell as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as much of the Holy Ghost given to them; they had as good a chance, and were as much blessed as I am. It was not your grace that made us differ; I know it did a great deal, still I turned the point; I made use of what was given to me, and others did not - that is the difference between me and them."

However with predestination, we can pray humbly, exulting God's almighty, completely sovereign will and know how He works. We can pray confidently saying, "God, if it would please You, for Your name's sake act to save this person's soul!!!", instead of, "God, will you please hope with me that they chose you?"

Another big way predestination has changed me is in my view of who I am and who God is. It is my hope and my prayer that after learning about predestination you feel God is BIG, BIG, BIG, and that you are small, small, small.

When I learned of predestination, I immediately felt tiny and insignificant compared to my Savior. Neil McClendon said these two things, "God doesn't need you..." and "Your opinion doesn't matter..." These two ideas gripped me in learning about predestination. How wonderful and humbling it is to know God doesn't need me! He is perfectly able to bring about His purposes without me. How much more glorious and awesome is a God who is totally self-sufficient and who's creation is completely dependent upon Him; as opposed to a God who is in desperate need of the vessels He has created to choose Him in order that He can complete His purposes.

You see, we have grown to value this idea of freedom and rugged individualism. We can do it all by ourselves. We stand on our pedestals and get in the face of God saying, "God, thank you for what you have done.... you have created me, loved me, protected me, sent your Son to die for me, and have always provided for me. In my salvation you worked a great 90%!!! But it was I, I who did the remaining 10%... and what an important 10% that is!!! For it is I who chose you! If I had not, then all your work and your death and your resurrection is in vain. For without my choice, your purposes would have failed." How frightening!!! How terrible we should think this way!!! It is time we got down off our pedestals and fell to our faces acknowledging our utter dependence upon Him. For God is not in the business of helping those who help themselves, but He is in the business of bringing glory to His name by saving those who cannot help themselves!

I pray we have a HUGE view of God and a terribly small view of self. For me, this has magnified the greatness of God's very personal love. I see my life and see how totally sinful I have been, am, and will be on this Earth. I see that, left to myself, I would always HATE God and never seek Him, but only attack His glory with every breath I take. Yet, this exalted and glorious God, who would be completely just to send me to eternal, conscious torment in hell as an enemy of His, chose me. He chose me because He chose me. He loves me because He loves me. It pleases Him, it is His will. When I see how undeserving I am of this love and salvation and consider He's given it, by HIS will, I am over-whelmed by His love. I have no choice but to fall broken at His feet and call Him Lord of my life and the universe. I have no choice but to cling to Him and seek Him...to worship Him for the sovereign, awesome God He is.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, by the Lockman Foundation.

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