Trekking through Romans 8:28-29 is one of the most perilous journeys in the book of Romans. In just a few words, these verses contain a doctrine that has become the watershed between two different groups of Christians:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren (emphasis added).
Myth #1: Belief in Predestination Promotes Arrogance
Myth #2: Belief in Predestination Promotes Anxiety
Myth #3: Belief in Predestination Promotes Apathy
Myth #4: Belief in Predestination Promotes Amorality
What Does Predestination Mean for Us Today?
What Does It Mean to Be Chosen by God?
Most of us vividly remember the team selection process from our days on the playground. Whether it was dodgeball or kickball or softball, team captains would take turns naming players to join their team. They typically made selections based on two factors: popularity and athletic ability. Knowing these criteria made it especially painful for those who were among the last to be chosen.
Merriam-Webster defines predestinate as “destined, fated, or determined beforehand.” In a biblical context, it means that God the Father chose His people for a purpose and determined that His purpose would be their adoption as sons and daughters. It gives His chosen people the same status as Jesus with all the corresponding rights and privileges—including free and unlimited access to the Father (Ephesians 4:6; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:29; Galatians 3:26).
Is that what it means to be chosen by God? Is He choosing favorites or those most capable of serving Him well? Hardly. Romans 3:23 makes it clear that we can’t earn God’s choosing based on our merit: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And Romans 2:11 tells us, “There is no partiality with God.” So, receiving God’s favor is not a popularity contest. It is an act of “his undeserved kindness” (Romans 11:5, NLT).
We don’t have anything we can offer to God and say, “This is why You should choose me.” In fact, Scripture suggests the opposite. The Lord chose Israel when they “were the least of all peoples” (Deuteronomy 7:7). When God sent Samuel to anoint the second king of Israel, David’s father didn’t even present him for consideration because he was the youngest among several handsome boys (1 Samuel 16:11). God called Gideon to save Israel, even though he was from the weakest clan in Manasseh and “the least” in his father’s house (Judges 6:15). Paul considered himself to be “the least of all the saints” (Ephesians 3:8).
It is helpful to remember that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). When God passed over David’s older brother Eliab, He explained, “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). God’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV). Our strength, talent, and popularity are irrelevant. It is His strength that makes us effective.
Four Myths of Predestination
One way to better understand the doctrine of election is to set aside common misunderstandings. Let’s explore the truth regarding four common myths about predestination.
Myth #1: Belief in Predestination Promotes Arrogance
Some people argue against the idea of God’s predestination because they believe it leads to pridefulness and a feeling of having a special status with God. But the opposite is true. Rightly understood, the doctrine of election fills God’s people with astonishment that He should have mercy on undeserving sinners like us.
In the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul explains that we are predestined “to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (verses 5-6). Christ went all the way to the cross to make us acceptable before God. This truth humbles us. It fills us with a desire to live the rest of our lives praising God.1
Myth #2: Belief in Predestination Promotes Anxiety
In church circles, some have expressed concern that the doctrine of predestination creates anxiety. The thought here is that some people may worry whether they are the elect of God. We can examine this from two perspectives—that of the unbeliever and the believer.
Why did God select us? So that “we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will” (1:4, 5, emphasis added). That is as far as Paul goes in explaining why God decides to reconcile anyone to Himself. But in Ephesians 1, Paul does provide a remarkable list of blessings that accrue to those chosen by God: we are adopted into God’s family and made brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ (1:5; Rom. 8:29), accepted by God in Christ (1:6), redeemed from our slavery to sin (1:7; 2:1-3), enlightened concerning the mysteries of God (1:9), given an eternal inheritance (1:11), sealed by the gift of the Holy Spirit (1:13), and made secure in our eternal relationship to God (1:14).
In terms of unbelievers, most of the people I have talked with were not concerned about their status with God. Until the Holy Spirit stirs their hearts, they are not the least bit concerned about salvation.
Believers who experience doubt about their salvation have only to remember the fundamental truth of John 3:16: “That whoever believes in [Christ] should not perish but have everlasting life” (emphasis added). Their salvation rests in the power and keeping of Almighty God, and no one can snatch them out of His hand (John 10:29).
Myth #3: Belief in Predestination Promotes Apathy
If the work of salvation hangs entirely upon God, the argument goes, then we have no responsibility to pursue spiritual things. Does the doctrine of election reject freedom, and therefore responsibility, from a human perspective? Sinclair Ferguson points out the clearest example we have of both election and freedom in the same Person, Jesus Christ. No one’s life was more predetermined than His, yet He was the freest Man who ever walked on earth.2
Another aspect of the “apathy argument” suggests that if God is sovereign in salvation, we have no responsibility to evangelize the lost. Loraine Boettner’s thoughts here are helpful:
The decree of election is a secret decree. And since no revelation has been given to the preacher as to which ones among his hearers are elect and which are non-elect, it is not possible for him to present the Gospel to the elect only. It is his duty to look with hope on all those to whom he is preaching, and to pray for them that they may each be among the elect. In order to offer the message to the elect, he must offer it to all; and the Scripture command is plain to the effect that it should be offered to all.3
Myth #4: Belief in Predestination Promotes Amorality
The argument here is this: If God has predestinated us to eternal salvation, then we cannot ever lose what God has guaranteed. So then, we can live as we want to, in sin and without restraint, for God will certainly save us in the end. The problem with this view is that God has predestined us “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29); to be “holy and without blame before Him” (Ephesians 1:4). A person chosen unto salvation will live a holy life.
What Does Predestination Mean for Us Today?
Sometimes people get into the doctrine of predestination, and it seems like such an abstract concept that they forget its present-day application. Predestination is not just about who goes to heaven and who doesn’t; it is about how we handle ourselves on the way and our attitude as we fulfill this vision that God has for us. God chooses people to be “holy and without blame before Him” (Ephesians 1:4), to “go and bear fruit” (John 15:16), “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29), to be “[raised]… up at the last day” (John 6:44), and to walk in “good works” (Ephesians 2:10). And He does all this “according to the good pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:5).
If you are a believer, rejoice! You are beloved and chosen by God. Likewise, if you have never invited Him to be the Lord and Savior of your life, but you would like to make that decision, you also have a reason to rejoice. Scripture says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Your desire to enter a relationship with Him proves that the Holy Spirit is working in your life. He is calling you, and nothing is stopping you from accepting His free gift of salvation.
Sources:
1 John Stott, Romans: God’s Good News for the World (Downer’s Grove: Crossway Books, 1991), 250.
2 Sinclair B. Ferguson, “Predestination in Christian History,” Tenth: An Evangelical Quarterly (October 1983), 7.
3 Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1954), 285.