Let's Talk About Predestination

How do I know for sure that I am saved? That is a question that has plagued Christians for centuries. The doctrine of predestination, which we’ll be talking about today, helps get to the root of that question.
The entire Word of God is intended for two things. The first thing is that it is intended to show us where we have sinned against God. This is what a Lutheran preacher would typically call God’s Law, and its main purpose is to bring the terror of judgment to those who feel comfortable in their sins. The Law wants to bring us to repentance.
The second intention of the Word is what we call in the broadest terms the Gospel, and its main purpose is to comfort an afflicted sinner. Whereas the Law brings terror and anxiety, the Gospel brings healing and comfort.
The whole Word goes back and forth between these two purposes, now rebuking, now offering comfort. That’s a good thing, because it keeps us at the cross where our sin and salvation meet. Each of those purposes—the Law and the Gospel—is important for our lives in Christ.
But there are a few passages in Scripture that present good, solid Gospel concepts—concepts that are to bring us a healing balm of comfort—that can be easily misunderstood. And when that happens, what is meant to be a word of comfort can become a thing of confusion. Because of our limited understanding, we can sometimes get caught up in dwelling on, even obsessing over, certain doctrines of the faith and become confused—and even terrified—over whether or not we as believers in Jesus Christ are truly saved or not.
One of those passages in Scripture comes up in today’s epistle lesson. We only get a few verses into the reading before we hear in verse five that God “predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ.” It all sounds good . . . except that one word, “predestined.” That can cause problems.
The word itself is simple enough. In the Greek it means to decide a matter from the beginning, from beforehand, to pre-ordain. We use the word to speak of God’s divine predestination of believers from eternity. The doctrine of predestination is intended to give great Gospel comfort to believers, for in this doctrine we recognize God’s hand in our salvation not just today, not just in the last year or ten years, but from before time began.
Has anyone ever had those thoughts, “But . . . what if I’m NOT predestined?” Has it made you wonder if you are truly saved? Has it made you wonder if you do have a place with Christ in Heaven or not? Has it made you wonder if your name is written in the Book of Life?
You’re not alone. I’ve wondered about that myself. I recall being in my twenties and having a conversation with my pastor, trying to get at the meaning of this idea of “predestination” and how that figured into my life of faith in Jesus Christ. At that time, the best answer that I recall hearing was to not think about it. Hardly satisfying.
So let’s talk about predestination. Let’s talk about what it doesn’t mean and what it does mean. Let’s figure out if we can truly be secure in our faith in Jesus Christ or not.
To begin with, let’s nail down a few wrong ideas about the nature of predestination. Let’s set the scene. Picture this: God is sitting around in eternity, thinking about creating the world. He looks down into the future and sees every single person that will ever live, and He starts to make two lists. One list is the Book of Life, the other is the Book of the Damned. And He starts to assign people to either of those books.
Now, to illustrate the problem behind this, I’ll need two volunteers. I’ll play God, and you two will be people entering into eternity.
“Well, ______, I see that you’ve spent your life searching for religious truth. Interesting. You tried Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age. Hmmmm . . . never thought that my Son Jesus Christ was the way of salvation. But look at this! Here’s your name in the Book of Life! You were predestined to enter Heaven! So c’mon in!”
“And you, __________, very impressive resume! Baptized into the church by believing parents. Took catechism classes and got very involved with the life of your local church. Very good! Faithful in receiving the Lord’s Supper, prayed diligently, and witnessed your faith to your friends and co-workers. Truly believed that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Well done, you good and faithful servant! But . . . oooooo . . . I don’t see your name here. Oooh, sorry. Your name isn’t on the predestined list. You’re in the book of the damned. Well, thanks anyway! The angels will show you to the door where Satan can pick you up.”
Now there’s a problem! There’s this idea running around that, if you’re predestined, then no matter what happens, no matter what you do, no matter what you believe, you’ll get into Heaven! And if you’re not . . . weeellllll . . .
There’s four points we need to refute in this wrong idea of what “predestination” is. The first is that God truly doesn’t want all people to come to repentance and believe in the Gospel. The idea reasons that if God chose some to eternal life, then those are the only ones that He truly desires to be saved. This idea results in the notion that the only ones we should witness to are the ones God has predestined, because He doesn’t truly care about the rest. In effect, it nullifies the Great Commission.
If it were true that God doesn’t really want all people to repent and believe in Jesus Christ, then why does Paul say in 1 Timothy 2:4 that God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” God desires that everyone be given the chance to hear of salvation through Jesus Christ.
The second point is that God isn’t truly serious about wanting all people to come when He calls. This view at least allows for the fact that the Great Commission is indeed to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” but it stops short of that being what God actually wants.
How does God call us? He calls us through what we call the Means of Grace—the Word and the Sacraments. Through the preaching of His word—either from the pulpit or the front porch—God calls us to Himself. In baptism and in the Lord’s Supper He offers us His forgiveness, He offers us His Son. And yet there is this notion that, although He may call out to everybody, He does so half-heartedly, not really wanting everyone to respond.
Is that what the Scriptures teach? That God doesn’t truly desire that everyone respond to Him? No. 2 Peter 3:9 gives us a picture of a serious God, one who is truly passionate about everyone—not just a few, but everyone—turning from their lives of sin. That passage says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
The third point is where we struggle with reason. We often figure that, if God has chosen certain people to eternal life, then it must be true that He has also by the same token assigned the rest to damnation. This just makes rational sense to us. I mean, we figure if you’re not on one list, then you MUST be on the other, right?
If that is true, then Jesus Christ did not die for the sins of the whole world. So nothing could be further from the truth! The best-known passage of all Scripture makes it clear that God hasn’t written anybody off to eternal damnation. Instead, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The fourth and final incorrect view of predestination is that, as God looked into history, He saw something in certain people that caused Him to write their names down into the Book of Life. That predestination relies upon something within us that God could see beforehand.
Now here we need to expand our explanation just a little. What are the things that God could see in us that would cause Him to choose us? One idea is that some people would be . . . well, good people. You know, the type of person that God would desire.
I think that view sells sin short. Ecclesiastes 7:20 makes it clear that “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.” God would see into each of our hearts and discover something ugly. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, so it can’t be that God sees something special in just a few people.
But perhaps it’s that God used His omniscience? That He looked into the future and saw those people who would put their faith in Him, and as such He wrote them into the Book of Life?
That at least makes a little more sense, but it confuses the idea of God’s foreknowledge with the doctrine of God’s election. There’s a distinction there. On the one hand, we do acknowledge that God knows all. He knows all things before they happen. But knowing is not the same as choosing. Foreknowledge is NOT the same as election. It is NOT predestination.
The problem with each of these four views is that we simply don’t have the information we need to get the answers we’re looking for. As a matter of fact, the question itself is an impossible one. How do we know what God did before time began? For that matter, how can we know anything about God at all?
We can make guesses about what God is like, but for real answers we have to admit that the only things we can know for sure are those things that God has chosen to reveal to us. We’ll never be satisfied probing into the hidden things of God, but when we look to the revelation of God, then we’re starting to get somewhere!
See, the things of God are a mystery to us. We can’t fathom His ways, we can’t understand His methods. The things of God are a mystery to us, and they remain a mystery to us unless He chooses to reveal Himself to us.
Where do we find God’s ultimate revelation? Certainly we have the Scriptures, but who do the Scriptures point to? Colossians 1:19 tells us that God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ. Colossians 1:27 says that God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Christ is the ultimate revelation of God, and so of course we look to Him for answers on those things that trouble us in our faith. Am I saved? Am I one of the elect? How can I know? Look again at what Paul says: God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world. It is through Christ that you have been chosen.
In other words, God didn’t make some arbitrary predestination before creation began, but He predestined you through Christ. Therefore, if we desire to know if we are among the elect, we merely have to look to the cross to find out. Do you believe upon the cross? Do you believe upon Christ? Then God has chosen you. He has chosen you through Christ.
Our Lutheran forefathers put it this way in the Formula of Concord: “An answer to the following question is necessary for the further exposition and the salutary use of the teaching of God’s foreknowledge to salvation: Since only the elect “whose names are written in the book of life”3 will be saved, how can and should one know, and wherefrom and whereby can and should one discover, who the elect are and who can and should comfort themselves with this teaching? 26 We should not pass judgment on the basis of our reason, or on the basis of the law, or on the basis of some outward appearance. Neither should we permit ourselves to try to explore the secret and hidden abyss of divine foreknowledge. Instead we must heed the revealed will of God. For he has revealed and “made known to us the mystery of his will” and has brought it forth through Christ so that it should be preached (Eph. 1:9, 10; 2 Tim. 1:9-11).
What comfort this is for us! We don’t have to waste any time speculating about what God might have done in eternity! We don’t have to waste any time wondering if our faith is in vain! Put those impossible questions aside and look to Christ! There is your answer! There is your Lord! There is your destiny! There is your pre-destiny. Am I saved? Am I one of the elect? How can I know? By looking to His revelation. By looking to the cross. And there we have all the answers we’ll ever need to know.