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DOES PREDESTINATION CANCEL OUT FREE WILL?
Question:
Ephesians 1 teaches the doctrine of predestination which seems so contrary to free will. How can we reconcile the two ideas?
Answer:
FREE WILL AND PREDESTINATION ARE BIBLICAL
First of all, I don’t think it would be fair to characterize the doctrine of predestination as contrary to free will. Even Calvinists, (who talk a lot about predestination), believe people choose to go to heaven or to hell freely. The Calvinist would simply hold that somehow, people are choosing exactly what they really want, while at the same time, God has predestined and chosen that fate for them from before the creation of the world.
Conversely, no Arminian Christian (who talks much of free will) denies the doctrine of predestination. The word "predestine" is in the Bible. Thus, all Christians hold the two ideas in tension, free will AND predestination… and a perennial debate for centuries has been, how to put them together without violating Scripture, logic or both.
GOD'S CHOOSING IN EPHESIANS 1
Let’s deal with predestination in Ephesians and I think you’ll see we have reasons to doubt that these passages really do “indicate there is no free will” as you fear. Let’s begin with Ephesians 1:4:
- “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight."
Some take this to mean God chooses who believes in him ahead of time. Which seems to negate our freedom in choosing God. But what exactly does Paul say that God has chosen ahead of time? Who believes and who doesn't?
No! Paul doesn’t say, “God chose who will be in Christ.” Rather he says, “God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless in his sight.” The thing God has predetermined from before all time, then, is not who will be in Christ, it is the end state for all who are in Christ. So, that thing which he has predetermined is that we be perfect (blameless) and set apart (holy) as his very own.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE CHOSEN "IN HIM"
Similarly later in Ephesians Paul will say:
- Eph 1:11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory
Again, the choosing is toward a certain end - a plan for the chosen, not a plan for who is chosen. The specific predetermined plan for those "in Him" in this passage is, "that we would be for the praise of his glory."
The question to ask about this passage is this: Does it say that God has chosen individuals to be in him (which would negate their free will), or does it say, “in him we were also chosen?” Has God chosen individuals to be placed in Him? Or, has God chosen individuals who already are in Him? It's clearly the later.
WHEN DO WE BECOME "IN HIM"?
And when do people become "in Him"? The answer to this question is given later in the passge:
- Eph 1:13: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed...
So when were we included in him? Was it by God's choice, from before all time, apart from faith, negating our free will, according to a predeminted plan which determind who would be in him and who would not? No! The passage teaches that we were included when we "heard" the gospel and "believed."
Does that sound like a negation of free will?
PLANNING A MOVIE CLIP
To help understand Paul's language of predestination, imagine if I give a sermon and showed a movie clip to illustrate some point I was trying to make. You could say I "predestined" that people who came to church that day would see the clip. Let’s say 4 months ago I planned and chose the clip.
But the showing up in the building, was a matter of someone else’s choice, not mine. Or maybe it was a joint effort. Let’s say I asked people to come, advertised the event, and influenced them to be there. But they decided to agree with that call, or not. But once here, it was my choice and unalterable purpose that all who are in the building, will experience that clip.
JESUS AND BEING CHOSEN
When talking about what it means to be chosen, Jesus himself gives a parable to help us understand how God’s choosing works. In Matt 22 Jesus says the Gospel banquet invitation goes out to everyone. Not just to the expected or worthy, but to the outsiders and the unworthy too. Everyone.
In the parable, it’s the response to the invitation that determines if one becomes one of the chosen or one of those cast out. Jesus’ own conclusion is this:
- Matthew 22:14: “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
This is in keeping with the overwhelming theme in Scripture that God in some sense “chooses” everyone. That is, He calls and woos all, and His love is universal, his love is impartial, and his love desires all to be saved (e.g. I Jn 4:8; Deut 10:17-19; 2 Chron 19:7; Ezek 18:25; Mk 12:14; Jn 3:16; Acts 10:34; Acts 17: 27; Rom. 2:10-11; Eph 6:9; I Tim 2:4; I Pet 1:17; 2 Pet. 3:9).
To take Eph. 1 texts about "God’s choosing" to imply that God predestines some to salvation others for damnation without regard for their faith forces you to radically bend these texts or ignore them altogether.
WHAT GOD PREDETERMINES
As Dr Leighton Flowers has said:
- [Ephesians 1] is not about God predetermining which individuals will be in Christ. It is about God predetermining what will become of those who are in Christ through belief in His truth.
The clear teaching of the Bible is that God invites everyone to be saved. If you do freely come to Christ by faith, you are now sealed "in Him". Once you are "in him," God has chosen in advance, planned and predestined for you to be blameless, adopted and made to look like Jesus.