This article concludes a series I have written on the language of “foreknowledge,” “election,” and “predestination” in the New Testament from the perspective of a Reformed Arminian and Free Will Baptist. Foreknowledge refers to God’s knowing things before they happen, such as the crucifixion of Jesus and the election of believers; God has perfect foreknowledge because He is omniscient. Election refers to God’s choosing individual believers in Christ from eternity past by faith unto eternal life. I have argued that the biblical authors do not use either “foreknowledge” or “election” such that it excludes genuine human choice. With foreknowledge, God foreknows future events as “certain,” but human actions are still “contingent.”[1] With election, God chooses believers in Christ from eternity past for holiness, but it is conditioned on God’s foreknowledge of their reception and exercise of faith.
This article continues these reflections in relation to the language of predestination. “Predestination” (proorizō) occurs only six times in the New Testament, each of which this article examines. In summary, these passages teach that God predestined the crucifixion (Acts 4:28), and by it a way unto salvation (1 Corinthians 2:7), and that He predestined for the elect to receive spiritual adoption and spiritual inheritance (Ephesians 1:5, 11) and to be conformed to Christ’s image (Romans 8:29, 30). But He did not unconditionally predestine salvific belief by arbitrary decree.
Acts 4: God predestined the crucifixion.
The first instance of predestination occurs in Acts 4:27–28: “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined [proōrisen] to occur” (NASB95). This passage may seem to present difficulty for the belief that people have genuine agency; however, a close reading shows it is not so difficult.
Strictly speaking, this passage does not state that God predestined these people to crucify Jesus; it states only that they were gathered to do what God had predestined would occur, namely, the crucifixion.[2] God predestined the cross because He foreknew the cross (Acts 2:23). Thus, the precise object of God’s predestination was the end (the cross), not the means (the people). Undoubtedly, ends are realized by means, but this end did not have to be realized by these means because these people could have chosen not to crucify Jesus. In the words of Robert E. Picirilli, God knew their actions as “certain,” but they were still “free,” “voluntary,” and “contingent.”[3] God predestined the crucifixion, but He did not predestine these people to make these decisions.
An example from the Old Testament illustrates this distinction between means and ends. In Genesis 37, Jospeh told his brothers about a dream he had received from God: his sheaf would rise above theirs such that theirs would bow to his (v. 7). Indeed, some years later, Pharaoh set Joseph over all the land of Egypt (41:41–45), and his brothers bowed to him (42:6). God pronounced the end but not the oft-sordid means by which Joseph went from dreamer to ruler: He did not pronounce that his brothers would plot against him and sell him to Ishmaelites (37:18–28) or that Potiphar’s wife would falsely accuse him of sexual impropriety, which resulted in unjust imprisonment (39:7–20). The means were contingent; they could have gone another way. But what man intended for evil, God devised for good (50:20).[4]
1 Corinthians 2: God predestined a way unto salvation by the crucifixion.
The language of predestination also occurs in 1 Corinthians 2:7. This verse states that God predestined (proōrisen) His wisdom in a mystery before the ages for the glory of believers. Here, the object of predestination is God’s wisdom: God has provided for sinners a way unto salvation by the cross of Christ (1:18, 21, 23, 30; 2:2, 8). Or, as F. Leroy Forlines explained it, “[I]t is the revelation of the New Testament gospel (‘the wisdom of God in a mystery’) which Paul speaks of as being determined by God.”[5]
This verse is thematically related to Acts 4:28, which states that God predestined Jesus to be crucified, but it also represents an extension of it; specifically, the crucifixion demonstrates God’s wisdom (1:30–31; 2:6–8) because it is His power unto salvation (1:18)—righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and glory (1:30). However, it is a mystery to the perishing because they do not understand it, thinking of it as foolishness (1:18–31; 2:14). Even so, God predestined this wisdom before the world began (cf. 1 Peter 1:19–20; Revelation 13:8),[6] and He did so for the blessedness of the elect.
This passage does not teach that God has predestined believers’ election by arbitrary decree. It teaches rather that God saves those who believe (1:21) and that Christian faith rests on the power of God (2:5), which is the cross of Christ (1:18). Hence, the object of predestination is not Christian belief; it is divine wisdom, which encompasses human decision.
Ephesians 1: God predestined the spiritual adoption and spiritual inheritance of the elect.
The language of predestination also appears in Ephesians 1:5, 11: Paul praises the Father for having predestined (proorisas) the elect for adoption as sons unto Himself through Jesus Christ, in Whom they have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined (prooristhentes) according to the Father’s purpose.[7]
Firstly, this passage explains that an object of predestination is the elect, namely, those persons who are in Christ (1:4) because they have trusted in Him and believed in His Word (1:12–13). The elect and the reprobate are not unconditionally chosen by arbitrary degree; rather, they have exercised human agency to believe on the gospel or not. As Thomas Helwys’s Declaration of Faith states: “We Believe and Confess . . . That before the Foundation of the World GOD Predestined that all who believe in him shall be saved . . . and that GOD has not Predestined men to be wicked.”[8]
Secondly, this passage explains that a telos, or, as Forlines put it, a “terminus,” of predestination is the spiritual adoption of God’s elect. It “does not say that certain ones are predestined to believe.”[9] It says rather that if the person believes on the word of truth, God has predestined that he or she will receive spiritual adoption. Thus, the doctrine of predestination is encouraging because it reminds the elect that they are God’s children and that He loves them.[10]
Thirdly, this passage explains that another telos of predestination is the spiritual inheritance of the elect, namely, their perseverance in the faith unto eternal life so that they become the praise of God’s glory (1:12–14). For this reason, the Orthodox Creed confesses, “Now predestination unto Life, is the everlasting Purpose of God.”[11] Thematically, Paul’s point of “glory” overlaps with his discussion in 1 Corinthians 2:7. Again, this passage does not teach that God predestined the elect to believe.[12] And again, it reminds the elect that, notwithstanding current struggles, they will persevere unto eternal life to become the praise of God’s glory.[13]
Romans 8: God predestined believers’ conformity to the image of Christ.
Finally, the language of predestination occurs in Romans 8:29–30: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [proōrisen] to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined [proōrisen], He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” This passage moves syntactically from foreknowledge to predestination to calling to justification to glorification, with each designation building upon the prior one. Predestination is not synonymous with foreknowledge but rather is distinct from it, just as it is distinct from calling, justification, and glorification.[14] Concerning these terms in relation to eternity and time, Picirilli observes that foreknowledge and predestination occur in eternity and that calling, justification, and glorification occur in time.[15]
Predestination follows foreknowledge not only syntactically but also logically in that it is based upon it.[16] That is, God predestines individuals according to His foreknowing they will love Him (8:28; cf. 1 Peter 1:2); these are those people who have been justified by faith (3:28) in Christ (3:21–28; 5:1). Hence, Jacobus Arminius wrote, “[N]o one is predestinated by God to that conformity, unless he is considered as a believer, unless one may claim that faith itself is included in that conformity which believers have with Christ.”[17] Hence, predestination does not describe God’s unconditional election of some over others, but it does encompass His foreknowing people’s decisions to believe on Christ.
Additionally, God predestines specific ends for the elect: in this case, conformity to Christ’s image. “The text does not say that God predestined people to belief,” writes J. Matthew Pinson. “It says he predestined those he foreknew as believers to conformity to Christ’s image.”[18] Thus, alongside the teloi of spiritual adoption and spiritual inheritance, Paul also taught about the telos of conformity to Christlikeness. Again, the doctrine of predestination encourages the elect believer because, although he presently struggles with sin (7:14–25), his struggles will eventually cease because he will be conformed to Christ’s image—or, as it is written elsewhere, he will be like Jesus (1 John 3:2).
Conclusion
Sometimes Arminians express unease concerning the word predestination because often they associate it with Calvinism. However, said Forlines, “Predestination is just as essential for Classical Arminianism as it is for Calvinists,” adding, “If there is no predestination, there is no gospel.” The Reformed Arminian and the Free Will Baptist affirms the doctrine of predestination because it is plainly in the New Testament, and for that reason, Forlines continued, we must not “forfeit” the word predestination but must “reclaim” it.[19] The question is not whether we believe in predestination; it is what we believe about it.
From before the ages, God foreknew that human beings would sin, but rather than leaving them with the consequences of their fault, He predestined a way unto salvation for them by the cross of Christ. The biblical doctrine of predestination thus teaches us about God’s love because He provides a way of rescue, as well as a path for adoption, inheritance, and glory—what Picirilli refers to as “salvation blessings.”[20] This doctrine is deeply encouraging for the elect because God will perfect what He has begun (Philippians 1:6). Thanks be to God that one day, we will be conformed to Christ’s perfect image, to the praise of God’s glory.
[1] Robert E. Picirilli, Grace, Faith, Free Will: Contrasting Views of Salvation; Calvinism and Arminianism (Nashville: Randall House, 2002), 38.
[2] As F. Leroy Forlines rightly interpreted it, “In this verse, proorizō refers to what happened at the cross as having been predetermined by God” (The Quest for Truth: Answering Life’s Inescapable Questions [Nashville: Randall House, 2001], 391).
[3] Picirilli, Grace, Faith, Free Will, 24, 25, 80. Picirilli does not distinguish between means and ends in the same way I have done. Rather, he speaks broadly about the nature of God’s decrees and distinguishes between the idea of contingent versus necessary actions. For example, he writes, “God’s decrees encompass the voluntary acts of free creatures, rendering all such acts equally certain,” and argues that “sinful acts” result from God’s “permissive” but not “efficacious” decrees (25). Concerning these men’s decision to crucify Jesus, Picirilli writes, “[T]he acts were contingent and the actors were free to crucify Him or not. Insofar as their moral responsibility was concerned, they really could have chosen not to do so” (80).
[4] Thanks to Phillip T. Morgan for suggesting this example from the Old Testament to illustrate the distinction between means and ends in relation to God’s pronouncements.
[5] Forlines, The Quest for Truth, 392.
[6] Taking the imagery of Jesus being the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, which appears in 1 Peter 1:19–20 and Revelation 13:8, the Orthodox Creed describes Jesus as the “Lamb fore-ordained, and so Predestined unto the Superlative Glory of the Hypostatical Union” (An Orthodox Creed: Or, A Protestant Confession of Faith [London: 1679; repr., Fort Worth, TX: The Center for Theological Research, 2006], 14 [“Of Predestination and Election,” art. 9]).
[7] Jacobus Arminius summarized well these two purposes of predestination from Ephesians 1 as “that of adopting believers in Christ to sonship and eternal life” (James Arminius, The Writings of James Arminius, 3 vols., trans. James Nichols and W. R. Bagnall [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1956], 3:488).
[8] Thomas Helwys, “A Declaration of Faith of English People Remaining at Amsterdam in Holland” (1611), in The Life and Writings of Thomas Helwys, ed. Joe Early, Jr. (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2009), 68, 69 (art. 5).
[9] Forlines, The Quest for Truth, 394, 393. Forlines also wrote, “The predestination Paul spoke of in Ephesians 1:5 was the predestination of us as New Testament believers to huiothesia (adoption) as explained above” (393). See also Picirilli, Grace, Faith, Free Will, 68; and J. Matthew Pinson, 40 Questions about Arminianism (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2022), 260.
[10] See also Pinson, 40 Questions About Arminianism, 247.
[11] An Orthodox Creed,14 (“Of Predestination and Election,” art. 9).
[12] Forlines, The Quest for Truth, 394.
[13] This statement is reflective of the Reformed Arminian view of perseverance: perseverance is indeed conditioned on the believer’s continuance in faith; however, if the believer does not persevere in the faith—that is, if he commits apostasy—then he was not among the elect. That is, the elect are believers but not all believers are elect because the elect persevere in the condition of faith whereas the non-elect do not. See Pinson, 40 Questions About Arminianism, 261.
[14] Pinson, 40 Questions About Arminianism, 258–59.
[15] Picirilli, Grace, Faith, Free Will, 76.
[16] Picirilli, Grace, Faith, Free Will, 40, 76.
[17] Arminius, The Writings of James Arminius, 3:314. Picirilli emphasizes the point of individual election, writing, “It [predestination] assumes the personal foreknowledge” (Grace, Faith, Free Will, 77). See also Pinson, 40 Questions About Arminianism, who states that “God predestines those he foreknows as believers” (260) and that they “are predestined to conformity to Christ’s image” (263).
[18] Pinson, 40 Questions About Arminianism, 260. See also Forlines, The Quest for Truth, 225, 394; and Picirilli, Grace, Faith, Free Will, 68, 77.
[19] Forlines, The Quest for Truth, 394 (italics removed).
[20] Picirilli, Grace, Faith, Free Will, 84.
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