You have heard it has been said regarding the concept of predestination,
"There are equally good arguments on both sides."
But I say unto you, "This may be true of some issues but not of predestination.
The biblical evidence is so heavily weighted in favor of predestionation/
Calvinism that it should not even be an issue."
Fact: There are NO passages in the Bible--Old or New Testaments--that directly or indirectly teaches, supports, or upholds the cardinal non-Calvinistic (Arminian) view of "free will". There are no examples, no sweeping narratives, no individual descriptions, no parables, no proverbs, no teachings on anything that remotely hints of it.
The Bible speaks often of the human will, but never does it state that a fallen, post-Edenic human being possesses a will in a state of freedom nor does it use any metaphor, description, or term indicating this idea. In truth, ask any non-Calvinist as to the reason for his/ her belief in it or free will and you will get an argument that is not based directly on Scripture. They raise good questions and notable objections but these are not tantamount of biblical evidence or biblical teaching. Some include the following:
"I don't see how God could 'make' someone saved without being manipulative and violating human responsibility! This would turn us into puppets and robots!"
"The fact is, God wants us to love him, and love must be a freely made choice otherwise it isn't love. If you're forced or made to love, it's not real love. Hence, we must have a free will."
"Look at me: I can make free choices. No one forces me to put on a particular shirt or wave my hand a certain way. God left me the freedom to make those choices. He doesn't require me to eat toast one day and then eggs the other. I know I have freedom."
While these points are all fine and good, note that none of them have a shred of actual biblical backing. Some attempt to draw in general ideas about God or freedom or love from the Bible and extrapolate biblical anthropology (study of human nature) from them rather than deriving them directly from Scripture. They're suggestive of biblical concepts but none draw from an actual text or narrative or specific teaching. In effect, it's a philosophical argument loosely based upon biblical concepts.
Let's be biblical then.
First things first: Does the Bible speak of the concept of "predestination," "election," "being chosen"? Yes. This is impossible to refute. The New American Standard lists 6 verses using the word "predestined": Acts 4:28; Romans 8:29, 30; 1Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:5, 11. Each instance is accurately translated from the Greek verb "prooridzo" meaning "predestined" or "decided beforehand" or "predetermined" (Bauer's lexicon).
The commonly used noun "eklektos" is predominantly used to refer to "elect" or "chosen" people (22 uses, all but perhaps 3 clearly referring to salvific election, the other 3 possibly meaning "an excellent choice"). Other lesser but related words include: "protitheimi" (to have in mind beforehand, Eph 1:9) and "kleiroo" (to be appointed, Eph 1:11). In short, there's no question that the Bible uses the actual term "predestine" as expressed in various forms. What now remains is what the Bible means by this
Second, Does the Bible ever speak of the human will in relationship to salvation? If so, how? Nowhere does the Bible ever use the term or concept of "freedom" in relation to the state of the fallen human will. Every other description, however, is clearly described in terms of bondage, the exact opposite of freedom. First things first: the most direct texts:
John 1:12-13, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (NAS)
- These phrases like "will of the flesh" have been variously interpreted. But what none of the interpretations can escape from is the two-fold emphasis that the human "will" is not the source, cause, yea factor in being "born" into God's family. Being children of God, being born again is not from any human source whether ancestry, family, personage, or even the self: it's all "of God." God is the source.
- Note the term used here for "will" is "theleima," a word whose forms will appear often in the New Testament.
- Non-predestinarians may dispute the specific meanings or references in this text--even deny it applies to the discussion at all--but at least predestinarians have texts like this to work with, texts that clearly are speaking of salvation and clearly speak of the will. And far from declaring our freedom of the will, texts like these distance if not deny the will as a part of the cause or creation of salvation.
Romans 9:15-16, "For 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."
- Paul is speaking of election in this text (beginning from the election of Israel in v. 3 to the individual election of Jacob over Esau in vv. 10-13).
- Then he uses Pharoah as an illustration of God being able to choose to use any for His purposes whether it be for salvation or condemnation. Verse 15 makes the clear statement of sovereignty: God can choose save those whom He wills. No one earns it or has the right to it.
- Then he makes the powerful statement regarding salvation / grace: "it does not depend on the man who wills (thelo- verb form of theleima)". Here is the most direct statement one can get: salvation is not a matter of the human will. Paul adds "runs" as a metaphor for striving or great effort. This has caused the otherwise "softer" NIV to render these phrases as "it does nt, therefore, depend uon man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy." In many ways this is stroner than the NAS' rendering!
- Again, there are surely ways to wrangle and mangle the text to make it read otherwise. But at least predestinarians have texts like these to work with. All non-predestinarians can do is object with philosophy but no direct Bible. ("I don't see how this is fair!")
Now factoring in the universally accepted truth that for the Israelites the "will" was located in the "heart", what does the Bible say about the state of the fallen human heart? or the state of human beings in general, spiritually, in relationship with God?
Ephesians 2:1-3, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."
- This is not a pretty picture. We were spiritually "dead." That's worse than just in bondage to sin. The dead cannot respond much less declare freedom of the will. Further, the rest of vv. 2-3 describe EVERY human being in bondage to the trends of the world and of Satan. We were trapped in lust and desires. This is as far from a picture of freedom than one can get.
-Note that when the rest of vv. 4-10 describe the act of salvation, no where is free will or the idea that we were saved on the basis of our choice at all described. In fact, Paul is quite pointed about emphasizing it's "by grace" and "not of yourselves" it is a gift, not earned, not done. All of it: salvation, grace, faith "this is not of yourselves."
Ephesians 4:18, "being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart"
- At the least, this applies to the Gentiles (v. 17), though Paul would agree it applies in truth to everyone. The Jews may have less "ignorance" to fall back on but the hardness of heart is universal. A picture of freedom? Not a chance.
Romans 6:17-18, "But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."
- A triple-whammy here. (1) Paul describes our former fallen state as "slaves of sin." Slavery is the exact opposite of freedom. The heart is enslaved to sin and the will with it; (2) Paul describes the act of salvation as "having been freed from sin." How can the will be free if it needs to be freed? Pre-salvation human hearts are not free, they need to be freed from sin's bondage; (3) Salvation is then described as becoming "slaves of righteousness." Even salvation itself is not true freedom (which is complete independence). We change our servitude from sin to God, where it should be.
- This cuts at the heart of the free-will error: humanity was NEVER intended to have a perfectly free will. That would mean a life apart from God. True relationship with God, the Creator, MUST involve a complete subjugation of the self and the will to God. Ironically, in the human experience, this "slavery of righteousness", to us, feels like the most amazing FREEDOM we could experience because that's how we're built. We're built to experience freedom by being enslaved to God.
Third, Does the Bible ever speak of election often or rarely? Often! Unlike other concepts, election theology is not peripheral to the Bible. Why? Because it all started with Israel, who are "God's chosen people." For Israel, election was not some esoteric, philosophical discussion alongside "How many angels can stand on the head of a pin?" Election formed the very fabric of their spiritual identity. There were specially chosen, hand-picked by God, privileged above all other nations and peoples. Morever, they were taught by God that they didn't earn this privilege: it happened despite who they were:
Deuteronomy 7:7, "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples"
- God chose the smallest, weakest nation to prove that it was all Him and none of them that would make them great. This concept is repeated by Paul in the New Testament in regard to our election as Christians:
1 Corinthians 1:26-29, "For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God."
This is why the Bible is not shy about discussing this concept. This is why Paul often speaks of predestination in the New Testament, almost offhandedly. To the Israelite already steeped in election theology as a given, to pass on the idea of national election to individual election (just as Jeremiah 31:31 ff describes) is a no-brainer. They already believed in a God who elects, selects, predestines, and predetermines.
Our problem is that we're so steeped in our Western ideas of freedom and independence and individuality that we've imported that into our theology. We've overestimated our experience of freedom and underestimated the truth that all of us (even as Christians) as Ephesians 2:2-3 describes, are subject to the whims, trends, and values of the world we live in. Are we truly free? Or don't we walk and talk and think very much in the way the world does? Even those who "rebel" against the trends do so in a "stereotypical" way that identifies them as "rebellious"; they become part of an entrenched liberal culture that mistakenly believes that they're free when they've merely chosen to switch allegiances and trends from a majority to a minority.
Scripture is clear: we are not free. Even as believers, we are still burdened by so much sin. We have that inward battle in our hearts, one we will never be free of in this life. Salvation began the process of freedom and sanctification continues it. We still strive for freedom as Christians. Only in glorification will we be truly free and even then, we will be freely enslaved to God. And enjoying it all the way.
This is just a taste of the idea of predestination in the Bible.
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