I would like, once and for all, to eliminate the division of predestination. I do not want to eliminate the idea or the talk of predestination, but rather the split between faiths. There are two groups of people all doing their called work by God, but are divided. One group says that we are in control of our destiny, and must be saved by a repentant heart. The other group says that there is nothing we can do to ultimately change the will of God, and in the end, He will choose who is to live, and who is to die.
I will be in prayer while I write this, and I hope that no one looks at this with a critical heart. I am not a learned scholar, and am going to miss points in each idea. My intention is not to define these two beliefs, but to join the people who believe in them. John 14:26 says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” The idea of the Holy Spirit coming down is so that we all understand that which is taught by Christ. Therefore, if we were all in an understanding of his teachings, then we would all be unified in that understanding as the body of Christ.
Now, since we are divided in this idea of predestination, that means that one, or both, of the parties are incorrect. That or they are both correct, and are divided over nothing, having created their own prideful misunderstanding. I worry that in some people’s attempts to bring glory to God, they are actually trying to bring glory to themselves, or that which is their understanding. I pray that this writing does not paint me into that light, as I am attempting here to express my understanding of scripture, and ultimately unify the church. We exist ultimately to bring glory to God the Father. As it says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Do not take lightly the scripture. Paul here says, “or whatever you do”, which very simply means “everything you do”.
Therefore, if the Spirit is here to unify the church, and we have created a division amongst the workers of God, how can we then be glorifying God? Does Christ then have two brides? Have not the Jews and the Gentiles both been presented with the promise of inheritance for those who believe? There is no division in the church!
Now, I must say this. Before Christ, people were saved by faith, as it was counted to Abraham as righteousness. If the path of righteousness is the path of salvation, then Abraham being righteous must be saved. It always has been, and always will be our faith that allows us to be saved. If, therefore, you have faith in the Father, that he sacrificed his son and raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved. In the Old Testament if you simply had faith in the promise, or faith in the father, and were obedient, you were saved. There was a time when there was no promise, and people simply lived with the knowledge of God, and either obeyed what he said, or disobeyed. If God calls to you to pick up a rock, and you do so, then you have obeyed God. If you do not pick up the rock, then you have disobeyed God. The key here is to always obey God. We have the Bible, which is full of commands and guidelines to obeying God.
God counts it as extremely important that we obey him. If we say we obey him, but do not, then we are lukewarm, and he spits us out of his mouth, and for us it would be better if we had not known the way of righteousness to begin with. If we then must obey God and do the work he called us to do, what difference does it make whether we were predestined to do it or not? The fact remains that we must do it. Romans 8:7-8 says, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” And the fact also remains, that the more we argue about the fact of being predestined or not predestined, the more we become divided. Romans 8:18-19 reads, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” And verse 23-25, “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
The word adoption is used in many places, but its use here is clearly stated as something we are waiting for. Paul does not have a history of including himself in his letters as the people he is writing to except in salvation or suffering. In correction, he speaks as a model, and sets himself apart in that respect. In this case, however, he clearly says “we”. Paul himself is waiting and hoping that he is saved, being driven by the promise that those who believe will be saved. It does not say that those who believe Christ are saved, but that it is simply righteousness which is the path to salvation. When the seventy-two return, Jesus does not tell them to rejoice because they are saved, but to rejoice because their names are written in heaven. They can rejoice because they have the hope of being saved, as it says in Romans 12:12: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”
My point now is that we are all working towards salvation. We all have faith, which is defined in Hebrews 11 as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We are all struggling to be righteous, and this is an undeniable fact. “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”(Romans 2:12) For what are we being saved from? Are we being saved from sin, or from condemnation? If it is from sin, then I guess I am not saved, for the bible clearly states that we will “do what we do not want to do.” The Bible says that “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”(James 4:17) If we are sinning, then we apparently have not been saved from it. One who is saved from drowning does not still drown.
No, we are saved from condemnation, which means that we will not truly know if we are saved until condemnation is upon us, which happens on the Day of Judgment.
Therefore, it is established that we have a common purpose! “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”(Matt. 28:19) What then is the predestined man? Praise God! What then is the repentant heart? Praise God! Let us then come together, “confess[ing] your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”(James 5:16)
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