Created for Glory (Part Two)
Knowing the God who Predestines
By Jay Wegter
Our human perspective on things tends to make God far smaller than He is. We need regular recalibrations by beholding His majesty in the Word that we might be jarred out of our finite, shrunken God concept (Is 40). We need to comprehend afresh that there is nothing manageable about Him. We can’t appease Him, obligate Him, take His measure, or transact with Him. It’s impossible to box Him in. His creation and creatures are utterly dependent upon Him.
I heard recently from an aging grad’ of DTS that their remarkable professor, Dr. Walt Hendrickson used the following criterion to decide which students he would invest in. Said Walt, “There’s two kinds of ministerial students, ‘little God-ders’ and ‘big God-ders’. I only invest in the ‘big God-ders’. They are the ones through whom God will do significant things.”
God’s sovereignty is loved by ‘big God-ders’. They find great solace in His rule over all things, and they regard His sovereign control as an essential aspect of His glory. We think of the love and joy within the Holy Trinity in eternity past, before the creation of the universe—and that God purposed to make the cosmos for His own glory. In view of this, one of the greatest questions the Bible answers is this: “Did the entrance of sin thwart God’s plan to do all for His glory? Did sin’s entrance rob Him of the glory He planned to receive from His creation? Jonathan Edwards, in one of his greatest sermons, “The End for which the Creation exists” argues from Scripture that it is inconceivable that God should make a universe out of nothing, every electron, atom and molecule—and then have human and angelic sin rob Him of glory. The entrance of sin did not cause God’s purposes of glory to miscarry.
Another way of asking this question could be posed is this: ‘since the fall, is God trying to make the best out of a bad situation?’ Part of the answer to our question: did the entrance of sin cause God’s purposes of glory to fail—is found in Romans chapter 9. The apostle Paul states in that passage, that from the same lump of corrupt clay (fallen humanity), God is forming vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. For He has determined to demonstrate both mercy and justice, both His grace and His wrath, and, He will be glorified by both demonstrations. And, the highlight of how His grace is exalted in that chapter is that the vessels of mercy did not make themselves vessels of mercy, for it is solely sovereign mercy. Key to Paul’s argument is the term, ‘same lump’—from the same lump of defiled clay, vessels of wrath are formed, and vessels of mercy are formed. What is significant is that it is God’s gracious choice. This section in Romans 9 is taken from Exodus 33 wherein Yahweh shows Moses His essential glory. “And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion” (Ex 33:19). This section in Romans chapter 9 is also taken from Jeremiah 18 wherein God speaks of His right over His creatures—comparing it to the right of a potter over His clay. “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel” (Jer 18:6). (Also note Romans 11:32; “For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.” The subject of predestination raises hackles. It angers some and frustrates many. It is like a downed power line no one wants to touch. But, my friends our God is the God who predestines. He is the God of the Bible. He predestines according to His infinite love, wisdom, and holiness. His work of predestination is inseparable from His character, attributes, and purposes. History is ‘His story’. He tells us precisely how history will be consummated—He is actively fulfilling the prophecies He has given in His Word; this is a function of His sovereign control and involvement. It is inseparable from His rule, ownership, and majesty. Those who have sought to attack God’s work of predestination, have raised a straw man which they whack over the head. They’ve attempted to divorce predestination from God’s character and purposes—reducing it to fatalistic determinism in which men are mere puppets. They’ve attempted to reduce His predestination to arbitrariness—as if God is like a man who tosses a stack of papers down a flight of stairs and then allows where the papers have landed on the stairs to determine their order. But, in stark contrast to the charge of arbitrariness, the Word of God keeps God’s decree and God’s character joined. God’s decree and character are joined, because He foreordains all things unto the achievement of a goal. History is moving ineffably toward this divine objective, namely that the entire cosmos will be subject to Christ Jesus forever, with His church at His side as His Bride and as His co-regent (Rev 5:9-14). Every major and minor beat of history is dove-tailing toward this goal—even if we do not see it. The Israelites’ rejection of the gospel, recorded in the book of Acts opens the door to Gentile conversion. Once the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Rom 11:25-27), God will do a mighty work among ethnic Israel, even using the wicked campaign of the Anti-Christ in connection with that purpose (Rev 17:14-17). God’s providence is inscrutable. We can know His purposes from Scripture, but His ways are past finding out by inquiry and investigation. As a new believer, I sat in a church in Palo Alto and heard Corrie Ten Boom speak about God’s providence. Several times during her message she held up the backside of large needle point. Gold, blue and purple threads were going every which way, with of many of those threads hanging loose. There was no discernible pattern. But, at the end of her message, she shared that when believers reach glory, God will disclose countless mysteries of His providential dealings with us. As she closed her message, she showed the front of the needlepoint for the first time; it was an image of beautiful crown. Telling the truth about God’s work in predestinating frequently produces more frustration than gratitude. This is primarily because we love our own opinions often more than we love the difficult truths of Scripture. We love the idea of control being shared with God, rather than God’s absolute control. When I was six years old, I started a truth campaign in my neighborhood. My mother was a new believer and had just told me that Jesus is real and Santa Claus was not. Well, my response was to go houseto-house telling each of my friends that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy did not exist. But, did I receive any appreciation for my myth-busting efforts? No, my playmates not grateful to hear that they had been deluded by a hoax. And, you can guess what happened; their mothers were angry at me and told me to stop. One of the purposes of this present article is to deconstruct a myth. It’s a myth believed by many in churches today. Here is the myth expressed in layman’s terms. God’s sovereign predestinating control limits man’s freedom and responsibility. No, my friends this is not so. God is not a large version of ourselves. He does not live in time and space. His ways are above our ways not by degree or magnitude but by an altogether different qualitative standard (Is 55:8-9). God has decreed events from eternity past, and what He has ordained is carried out in His works of providence.
There are innumerable passages which teach the infinitesimal level of detail found in His involvement in human affairs. I just love Jonah chapter 4—God appoints a plant, He appoints a worm, He appoints a scorching east wind—all to reveal that His mercy and compassion are infinite, and Jonah’s compassion is indeed very small. Are we to believe that God can appoint a tiny destructive worm, but does not appoint a destructive man? Scripture states that God raised up Pharaoh for His purposes (and this king was evil—he ordered Hebrew babies be thrown into the Nile). “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.’ So, then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires” (Rom 9:17-18).
The Lord tells Moses at the burning bush encounter that Pharaoh’s wicked obstinance is an important puzzle piece in the demonstration of divine power. “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go” (Ex 3:20). Now, the part that angers those who hear about predestination is not only God’s choice of whom He will save, but also that God is sovereign over the evil deeds of men. Please do not miss this, God’s control over what He has made is a precious gem in His sovereign crown. Those who fight against the truth that God predestines, are warring against the truth of Scripture. They wish to pluck that gem from His crown.
God works His plans by intertwining the smallest details, details which have no logical connection from our perspective. God saved the Mediterranean world, including the patriarchs from death by famine by allowing Joseph to be sold by his brothers. Joseph’s pathway to the throne in Egypt involved the heinous sins of his brothers, the favoritism of his father, the murderous jealousy and hatred of his siblings, the wickedness of Potiphar’s wife, and the crimes of Pharaoh’s baker. And yet God brings to pass Joseph’s calling without being a partner in those sins which brought him to the throne in Egypt.
It says in Genesis 50:20 Joseph says to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” That single verse embraces the entire scope of Joseph’s rise to power. God’s ways are not our ways. If you obtained a doctorate in every imaginable discipline on planet earth from yoga to yogurt, from physics to philanthropy—even if you had five hundred thousand doctorates you would not have gained any more knowledge of the ways of God. Those who argue against God’s work of predestinating think that they are operating by common sense when they state: “How could God ordain what He hates, and what He forbids in His moral law?” But in their arguments, they tend to make predestination into a caricature. We see these humorous distortions in caricatures in the images drawn in political cartoons. Obama was given ears like an elephant. And President Nixon, an immense nose that covered his face. Features are exaggerated to the point of being ludicrous. Here’s the caricature drawn by the opponents of predestination: “The elect will be saved no matter what they do and the non-elect will be lost no matter what they do.” What is left out of this statement is what makes this a caricature. For, by reduction and by deletion that statement winds up changing the doctrine of predestination from a precious vital truth to a horrid error. Here is what is intentionally missing in that ‘caricature’ about destinies. According to Scripture, people arrive at their final destination, Heaven or Hell by the use of means. Those predestined to life shall be saved by the use of means. Those means include faith, repentance, diligence, and gospel living.
Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. “But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Lu 21:34-36).
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God (Rom 2:4-10).
Do you see the use of ‘means’ commanded in each of these passages above? Those eternally lost shall be lost by their rebellion, complacency, impenitence, and willful rejection of the means of salvation. When they ultimately die separated from Christ, they perish by choice. They did exactly what they wanted to do; they lived a self-directed life and regarded the loving, rightful rule of Christ to be an unwanted intrusion; they loved their lives in the world (Jn 12:25). You see, God’s decree, His predestinating work did not make them rebellious, they acted out their moral connection to Adam by loving their sin, and by rejecting the merciful Redeemer.
Those hostile to the biblical doctrine of predestination say that it destroys freedom and responsibility. They suggest that God’s sovereignty represents an inverse proportion—the greater God’s control, the less freedom and responsibility men have. Here is an example of an inverse proportion: the greater the distance from a light source the dimmer the light appears (the sun is not very bright when viewed from Pluto). (An example of a direct proportion would be: the more you lift weights the stronger you will become.)
So, if we expressed the myth about predestination as an inverse proportion, it would go like this: The greater God’s sovereign control over the lives of men, the less freedom and responsibility people have. That, according the Word of God is a myth. Let’s be honest, there are things about predestination which scandalize our powers of reasoning; we cannot imagine how God can be sovereign over evil and yet be no partner in it. The Lord has given us numerous passages in His Word which comprise a kind of paradigm of understanding for us in terms of His sovereignty over evil. Consider what Peter said when he and John were arrested for preaching the resurrection:
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 to occur. “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:18-31).
This passage above, in verse 28, employs the Greek word, proorizo—to predestine, to predetermine, to foreordain. It is the strongest of the 16 N.T. words associated with the doctrine of predestination. Here is where we must bow in wonder at God’s control. For, God’s decree which foreordained the suffering of Messiah through the sins of Herod, Pilate, Judas, and the Romans, in no way compelled Christ’s enemies to do anything against their own wishes.
Why are so many so quick to limit God’s ability? It is because they cannot make His ways fit their own rationality. They want a god with no incomprehensibility. It is our refusal to be baffled that leads us to reject the mystery that God is in control of hearts and wills without violating the freedom of hearts and wills. Because we cannot fathom how God’s control is compatible with man’s liberty is no ground for rejecting this doctrine.
Just as God raised up Pharaoh for His purposes (Rom 9:17), God raised up Haman for His purposes and through him, showed forth His divine power and wisdom (see the book of Esther). Through Haman’s advancement and wicked genocidal decree to exterminate the Jews, God accomplished much. He put the world on notice that antisemitism will cost you dearly (Haman and sons were hung, bodies displayed). God prepared His people for repatriation to Judah after the exile. He deepened His people’s trust in Himself. He brought the enemies of the Israelites out into the open so that they could be destroyed. And He did what was humanly impossible: He turned the tables on an irrevocable Medo-persian decree to exterminate the Jews—preempting it with an irrevocable decree for the Jews to destroy their enemies (Esther 9:16ff.). And, He brought His people to a new level of trust in the God of the impossible; commemorating this incredible deliverance in the annual feast of Purim (Esther 9:26-32). In the book of Esther, the providence of God is on display even in apparently mundane things—for God has ordered these seemingly unrelated events as well. Note the following events: the refusal of queen Vashti to be ogled by the king’s intoxicated guests; Ahasuerus’ night of insomnia; the neglect to previously honor Mordecai for saving the king from an assassination plot; and Esther’s loss of her parents so that she is raise by her older godly cousin. When I refer to these events as mundane, I don’t mean that they are tiny events per se, but that they are events which appear in themselves to have absolutely nothing to do with the preservation of Israel. But, oh the matchless ways of God, in eternity past, He decreed that these events would be certain—there is fixity involved. How different this is from a finite god who may see into the future, but like a pin ball wizard must frantically adjust to every situation. This finite view of God pictures everything operating around human contingency (free will) in order to guard against making people into ‘divinely controlled puppets’. So how does God’s ordaining of events connect with nature, freedom, and grace? Much of that is a deep mystery from our standpoint. But, first, theology including predestination, is the study of God that we might worship Him aright, live wisely unto Him, and live God-ward oriented lives. When we define human freedom, or what is known as moral free agency, we are describing the fact that people are responsible moral agents and their behavior cannot be blamed on their environment. (Note, in Edwards book, The Freedom of the Will—the concept of ‘diminished capacity’ is a breach of justice that won’t play on Judgment Day). The sinful nature you were born with has cut you off from God (Eph 2:1-2). You must receive a new nature from God if you are to be with Him in heaven (Jn 3:3-8). Every baby born into the world has an invisible ‘spiritual death certificate’ attached to its birth certificate. You must receive a new nature by the new birth, be born again, born from above, regenerated (Titus 3:5), if you are to have life in God. This miraculous work of God in granting a new nature is associated with believing the gospel (Gal 1:15-16; Phil 1:29). For, if we die in a state of nature—apart from the new birth, we will be damned eternally (1 Cor 2:14). When we speak of freedom we do not mean that a person will, or can choose behavior contrary to their nature, habits, and inclinations. For, example, your pet cat is free, if it wanted to, to roll in the mud puddle in your backyard, but it won’t do so—for that is contrary to its nature. Freedom does not imply the will and power to do what is contrary to one’s nature, or beyond one’s capacity (flapping arms and ‘willing’ yourself airborne will not get you across town). Also, when we refer to human moral responsibility, we do not mean that responsibility is a measure of ability—for the natural man is dead in trespasses and sins (Col 2:13). For, in our fall in Adam, we lost our ability and desire to live obediently unto God, but we did not lose our responsibility to do so.
The power of God in the gospel is how spiritually dead sinners are made alive by the Spirit of God. Grace is not grace if man can save himself through his own wisdom, industry, and moral exertion. Grace is not grace if man has the innate power to trigger the grace of God. Or, if a man can do something to make God love him eternally. God commands what men can’t and won’t do apart from enabling grace. This why it is such an important part of the gospel to spell out man’s dilemma (his deadness, helplessness, and rebellion), his need of a new nature, his bondage to sin. No wonder, the effectual call by the Spirit of God is described by a series of metaphors which stress God’s power acting upon a spiritually dead sinner. These metaphors include: resurrection, birth, creation, fiat creation of light, etc. As John MacArthur has brought out in his book, “The Gospel according to the Apostles,” saving faith is a gift of God (Phil 1:29). MacArthur shows from Scripture that saving faith is neither innate (as if every man possesses it if he would just exercise it), nor is it inert (as if saving faith is one pure little island of righteousness in the depraved soul of man, separate from his pollution, rebellion, and spiritual deadness).
No, God set His love on the elect and He has told us of His sovereign mercy in His inscripturated Word that He might receive every bit of the credit for our salvation—and, so that there would not be a single occasion of boasting:
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD” (1Cor 1:26-31).
Every gift of grace is traceable to God’s predestinating love (Rom 8:28-30). Predestination commends the glory of God (Rom 11:36). Predestination intimately concerns eternal welfare and present comfort of God’s people (Rom 8:28-30). Biblically our posture toward predestination should be the following: Reverential fear (Eccl 3:14), Resignation and Honor to God (Dan 4:34-35), Humility (Rom 33-36), Comfort (Eph 1:4-5), Trust (Ps 115-2-3).
Christ spelled out His mission to fulfill His Father’s will in terms of predestination (Jn 6:36-39). Gospel centrality means that on our behalf Christ entered the sowing and reaping principle. He entered the cog works of God’s justice to be crushed on our behalf. This is brought out ten times in Isaiah 53. As our substitute, He willingly bore our penalty. To trust the gospel is to believe the guilt exchange planned by God the Father so that in our salvation God’s justice is upheld. Saving faith in Christ, His person and work affirms device justice. For God’s justice at the cross is the basis of the gospel.
In addition, the subject of prayer is intimately tied to predestination. Contact with God in prayer depends upon the following: God must be personal, present, able to hear answer prayer, and He must have unlimited power over His creation including the hearts and wills of men. Prayer without predestination is nonsense. For, in prayer we do not impose our will upon God, but we seek His will and align ourselves to it. Our prayers are written into His predestination. How else could we effectually pray for salvation, protection and healing of those we care about? (Pastor Tom Lyon).