Often Doctrines of the Bible are Confusing and Difficult to Understand.

In this brief essay the subject of Calvinism and Arminianism are addressed in simple terms that most people can understand.

The primary verse that describes the doctrine of Calvinism is found in Romans 8:29 “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,” the subject of predestination arises.

But does this verse teach that God alone decides who is saved and who is lost? Those who say “Yes,” also cite a text where Jesus said to His disciples. “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you” (John 15:16).

Then Jesus also said: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him” (John 3:16).

In Deuteronomy 30:19, the Lord said: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live…”

In Joshua 24:15, he states: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

The view of free will and God’s Sovereignty by the Pharisee of the first century was a surprising mediating position between two extreme views.

The Sadducees argued that all of history was strictly determined by human free will. The Essenes stated that everything was determined by God before He created anything, and no human could change the plans of God.

The Pharisees argued a balance between the views of the Sadducees and the Essenes; that both human free will and God’s Sovereignty determined all things. Rabbi Akiba said: “Everything is foreseen (predetermined by God]) but freedom of choice is given.”

In these three views we see a modern parallel to the question of Calvinism and Arminianism[1]

• The Sadducees were the early Arminians
• The Essenes were the early Calvinists
• The Pharisees were the early view of Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel

This third view is my personal perspective on the question of Calvinism (all God) and Arminianism (all men). A balance between the two extremes: God is sovereign over all things, but He has given human beings the freedom of personal choice.

Josephus records an interesting commentary on the views of the Pharisees:

In The Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus states that the views of the Pharisees of the second century confirmed what the Pharisees believed in the first century.

“Though they (the Pharisees) postulate that everything is brought about by fate, still they do not deprive the human will of the pursuit of what is in man’s power.”[2]

It is interesting that our modern debate over free will and God’s Sovereignty was a major point of discussion two-thousand years ago. The Pharisees argued that human choice and God’s choice worked together to accomplish the will of God. Human decisions in their choice was a freedom bestowed to us by God at our creation that served to accomplish the perfect will of God in all of human history.

Josephus also wrote that one of his contemporaries, Paul, held an obsession for “regulations handed down by former generations and not recorded in the law of Moses.” Josephus said that this firm position has alienated the Pharisee from the views of the Sadducees.[3]

A further interesting comment made by Josephus said that the Pharisees were also respected for their ability to interpret the written law accurately. Josephus wrote that the Pharisees lived “by reason,” meaning that they applied logic to the interpretation of the Scriptures.[4]

For many people, these two facts of scripture are difficult to reconcile:  How can God choose, and we also choose?

We have the infinite mind of God and His purposes, and we have our limited human intellect, which is always lacking. It seems to many that the idea that God predestined some to be saved and others to be lost, is proven by certain scriptures. For others, it is completely the responsibility of human beings to hear the Gospel of Christ and decide to believe and be saved.

So, in the Bible, we see both the sovereignty of God, and the responsibility of men to choose. The Bible states that we must respond to God’s Grace, but it also says that “whom He foreknew, He also predestined.“

These seemingly conflicting ideas are why many people have difficulty in understanding predestination and choice. In our current human condition it is not possible for us to fully understand all that God knows regarding our salvation. What we can know, is what the Bible states.

In this regard, the Bible teaches both God’s sovereignty, and human responsibility

It does not say anywhere that salvation is all God, or salvation is all a human decision. The scriptures state both of these truths together at the same time. For this reason, all that we can know is that both are true. God decides who is saved, but we must also decide.

If salvation was all God and our decisions don’t matter, then God would be a monster, forcing people against their will to be saved. If God forced some people to spend eternity in hell, and didn’t regard their decision to trust Christ, He would also be a monster.

We never find in scripture that God forces people to believe, or that He ignores those who want to believe and decide themselves

When Jesus spoke to the rich young ruler, in Matthew 19:16-22, He told him what he needed to do to be saved, and let the young man decide. The young ruler could not make the choice Jesus stated, and he walked away without salvation. This was his choice. Jesus did not pursue him, He let this young man decide. Jesus also knew before He made the world, that this young man would make this choice.

When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, in John 4:1-26, He told her that salvation was in Him, the Messiah, and she believed. She went to her village and told her friends and family, and many of them also believed. The Samaritan woman and those she told, made their choice to believe. There is no evidence that they were forced, but that each made their own choice without pressure. As a result of their choice to believe, the texts states that many were saved on that day.

Jesus also knew before He made the world, that this would happen. The young ruler was not chosen for salvation, because He did not choose Christ. The Samaritan woman was chosen for salvation, because she did choose Christ.

God is love, grace, and kindness, and He is perfect in every way. There is nothing He needs to learn, He knows everything. God knew who would be saved because they would choose Jesus as their Savior. He knew this before He made anything. Because He knows who will choose Christ, He predestines these persons to salvation and all of the benefits this choice entails. Predestination is not a statement of action inflicted upon a person, but the reaction of God because  He knows a person will believe. We have the choice, God knows the outcome, these are predestined to eternal life.

Predestination is a statement of God’s observation of all things that will happen on earth concerning salvation. Because He knows the outcome, He decides ahead of the actual events, these person are saved, but His decision is based upon the faith of those whom He knew beforehand would believe.

God knows who will trust Christ for their salvation, and they will be saved; God also knows who will never trust Christ for their salvation, and they will be lost

It’s not that God forced these two groups to act as they did; these persons individually made their choice. Because God knows all things, He can describe the saved as “always His,” as in Jesus prayer to the Father in John 17:6. If a person is, “always His,” then there can never be a time when they are not His. This is a statement made from God’s view of all events in the eternal realm. In the realm of linear time, we see our choice, and God’s choice to predestine some people to salvation, as contradictory. Despite this alleged contradiction, we find the following:

1. Our salvation is not based on our choice but on God who knew our choice—before He created us.
2. Even though God knew who would believe before He made us, He still sends us to tell everyone about Jesus so they can make a decision.
3. God’s Grace and Kindness in choosing us for salvation is based upon His knowledge of who would hear about Jesus, repent, believe in Jesus for salvation, and continue to believe for all of their life. God knew these things about each one of us, before He created us.

Because we see both the choices of people and the sovereignty of God, we must conclude that both are true

To state emphatically that salvation is one hundred percent God and we have nothing to do with it (Calvinism), or that God has nothing to do with our salvation, only our choices cause us to be saved (Arminianism), these two extremes are not taught in the scriptures. We see in the Bible that both God’s choice and our choice, work together.

If it is true that either Calvinism; salvation only depends on God, or Arminianism; salvation only depends on human decision, then why did the Father send Jesus to earth to die for us and then call disciples to tell the world about Jesus? The New Testament calls everyone of us to make a decision for or against Jesus.

If God will decide who is saved and He has already decided before the universe was created, irrespective of our choice, God could have accomplished this without sending Jesus and giving us a choice to either receive or reject Jesus. Jesus paid for our sins, but this payment is not credited to our account until we believe.

It is clear that both God’s sovereignty and our choice, are necessary in the salvation of all people.

• The Mystery Of Salvation: Who Will Be Saved; Who Will Be Lost?
• The Fundamentals Of Salvation: God’s Responsibility; Our Responsibility
• Repentance Is Not Required For Salvation; A Fundamental Progressive Christian Doctrine

NOTES:

[1] m. Avot 3:16. For a warning about using rabbinic literature to establish the views of first-century Pharisees, see S. Mason, “Pharisees,” DPL, 786. Mason states, “Rabbinic literature should no longer be used … as transparent evidence for the Pharisees.” In this case, however, the Mishnaic evidence is confirmed by the testimony of Josephus.
[2] (Josephus, Ant. 18.1.3 §12; 13.5.9 §172; J.W. 2.8.14 §162–63.
[3] Josephus, Ant. 13.10.6 §297.
[4] Josephus, Ant. 18.1.3–4 §12. In the Illustrated Life of Paul: “This may also have meant that the Pharisees found means of relaxing the standards established by laws that were impractical due to new challenges that resulted by distance in time or place from those for whom the law was originally intended. Jews living outside of Palestine or in a culture significantly different from that in which the law was given might find it impossible to keep some Old Testament commands. The Pharisees were masters at discovering loopholes in these laws.” See D. J. Silver and B. Martin, A History of Judaism (New York: Basic Books, 1974), 1:226.

Categories: Agnostics and Skeptics, Alleged Contradictions, Arminianism, Calvinism, Chosen/ Elected, Leading People to Jesus, Must Be Born Again, New Testament Apologetics, New Testament Criticism, Not understanding salvation, Predestination, Principles of Biblical Interpretation, Reasons For Unbelief, Repentance Necessary, Resolving Conflicts, Robert Clifton Robinson, The Sovereignty of God, True Repentance

Tags: Biblical Interpretation, Chosen For Salvation, How Salvation Takes Place', Predestination Salvation, Salvation a free gift