And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28-30.
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.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined
This is one the passages that confuses readers the most. Readers often end up thinking that there is a predestination as soon as you are born. For some reason after talking to many Christians they end up thinking that their destiny is set to go to hell. Although there is truth to that, they seem to think that no matter what they do their destiny can not be changed. In this article we will try to explain and explore this passage to understand what predestination is.
One of the mistakes we often do when reading the Holy Scriptures, is read lightly not paying attention to the context of the verse or even the text after. This is one of the causes that creates different beliefs and religions, because we read without understanding.
Predestination in the Bible
There are two passages in the Bible that talk about humanity being predestined for salvation. Romans chapter 8 and Ephesians chapter 1. However, in Romans 3:23 we read ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’, which means we since we are sinners, we have no access to heaven (glory of God).
Nowhere in the Bible do we read that our destiny is set and no one can change it, so how does this predestination work? Romans 8:30 says ‘whom he predestined, these he also called’. If we are predestined to go to hell and there is no way to change that then, why are we called? And, from where are we called?
Simplest explanation
There are two destinies one with God and one without. If we chose to live a life without God then our destiny is hell otherwise our destiny is heaven. In other words, our future is predestined depending on our choice to follow or not follow God.
What if this wrong concept of predestination were right?
Let’s accept for a moment that we are predestined to go to hell and no matter what we do nothing we can’t change it. What does this mean?
- This would mean that God is unfair.
- It would mean that Jesus’ sacrifice is ultimately useless.
- It would mean that none of us matter.
Good news
The good news is that God is fair, he gives you the choice to accept him or reject him. You might ask, if it’s a choice why do we go to hell if we chose not to follow God?. Jesus’ sacrifice means that God gave us access to heaven thru Jesus Christ. You matter to God, he would like to have a relationship with you for an eternity.
