PREDESTINATION - 1

PREDESTINATED

All part of His Plan, His Plan

See article His Plan, His Plan; MORE ON PREDESTINATION; PREDESTINATION.

Eph. 1:4 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.”

Eph. 1:5 “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,”

Eph. 1:11 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”

Eph. 1:12 “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”

The goals of God’s predestinating work are given in this chapter as: 

(1) producing holiness in those so chosen (Ephesians 1:4); 

(2) adopting them as His own sons and daughters (Ephesians 1:5); 

(3) assuring them of an inheritance in eternity (Ephesians 1:11). 

(4) Its over-all purpose is to be “to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14). 

The word “predestinate” is also used in Acts 4:28 (there rendered “determined before”), Romans 8:29, 30 (see notes on these verses), and 1 Corinthians 2:7 (rendered as “ordained before”). The same Greek word, without the prefix, is found in Luke 22:22, Acts 17:26 (“determined”), and Acts 10:42; 17:31 (“ordained”), with essentially the same meaning. 

Since our minds are finite, we are unable to comprehend the infinite character of the plan and purpose of God, which is exactly the situation with regard to the clearly Biblical truth of predestination. In no way does this preclude the ability of God to plan also the paradoxical truth of human freedom and responsibility, which also are clearly Biblical (remember God’s ability is infinite!). We cannot fully comprehend with our minds, but can believe and rejoice with our hearts that God has known and chosen us believers for Himself even before the world began. He has a plan. And it all turns out just as He wanted even before the beginning. That takes eternal power.

See articles MORE ON PREDESTINATION; HIS PLAN, HIS PLAN.