What does the Bible say about PREDESTINATION?

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Question: What does the Bible teach about being predestined? Has God already determined who will be saved and who LOST?

Answer: What a wonderful Bible topic is the teaching of predestination! Entire Christian denominations have been built, or broken, on man's misunderstanding of this doctrine taken from Romans 8. John Calvin's father wanted him to study law. If he had listened to his dad we may not have had this doctrinal problem today! The Collins English Dictionary defines the term as the doctrine or belief, especially associated with Calvin, that the final salvation of some of mankind is foreordained from eternity by God. (Dictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition.). Regarding this teaching Calvinism itself states "We call predestination God's eternal decree, by which he determined within himself what he willed to become of each man. For all are not created in equal condition; rather, eternal life is foreordained for some, eternal damnation for others" (Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia).

Now isn't that just wonderful? You could be the saintliest person on earth, yet despite all your goodness you could end up in eternal torment. I, on the other hand, could be the scum of the earth, yet because of God practicing predestination I could spend eternity in the bliss of paradise. We may as well both live a life of hedonism because it won't make one bit of difference in the end. The scripture used to justify this doctrine in the Bible is found in Romans 8:

"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. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30, NKJV throughout)

"God predestined all mankind to be conformed to the image of his son, but that was his desire, his goal. He knew our sinful nature would preclude that, so he extended his grace to all who would accept the sacrifice of his son for our sins. His goal was that we would be exactly like his son in holiness and purity, but knew that without his power reigning in us it could never happen. So he gave to us not only salvation, but power through the indwelling of his holy spirit."

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, 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, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." (Ephesians 1:3-6)

We are also told in the Bible that it was foreordained that those who believe and obey the eternal God should be adopted by Jesus himself, through whom we have an inheritance according to God's will (verse 11). Predestination has nothing to do with our future having been set out for us, as our future is dependent on our decisions in life. As John Didymus Pope stated: "If God predestined just one person to die an eternal death, we would have to throw out John 3:16."

Thank you for submitting your question regarding predestination and what the Bible says about it.