Predestination is something I've chosen to write about continually over the past few years now as the questions that surround this topic return to gnaw at my brain every time I discover another passage in Scripture that alludes to God's omnipotent nature. 2 Peter 2 has several verses that contain key language in deciphering how God controls the destiny of man.
2 Peter 2:3 he is writing about the condemnation of those false teachers who preach the prosperity gospel in order to cheat naive believers out of their money. He says "In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed." I focused in on the LONG AGO part if you didn't notice my clever use of italics. All sarcasm aside, think about the weight of that statement. It sounds like, to me, that long ago, in a galaxy far far away, God predestined (notice the clever italics again) certain people to be evil, deceitful, false prophets who would upon death suffer the wrath of hell.
2 Peter 2:12 continues to talk about the destiny of false teachers. It is written "These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed." This verse says it even more clearly than the first. They were BORN for the sole purpose of being DESTROYED. That seems a little unlike that God of The Shack that I fell in love with recently. I thought we were all predestined for a loving relationship with the creator God? Or maybe I've just been hoping that's the way it is.
I always seem to come back to Romans 9:14-24 which says,
14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses,
“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”[i]
16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.
17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”[j] 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.
19 Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven't they simply done what he makes them do?”
20 No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22 In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. 23 He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. 24 And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.
The reason I focus so heavily on this topic is because I can't understand how I would present these beliefs to a secular audience... "Oh hey there, you wanna know about my God? Well for starters He creates some people, possibly one of your very own loved ones, for the sole purpose of being sent to Hell so that I may see their demise and go to Heaven. He's a little rough around the edges, I know, but once you get to know Him you'll become one of His 'chosen ones' too, and then the benefits are grrrreat!"
It's all hard to sort out and I think I know what I believe but I don't want to. There has to be some explanation that reasons out how God is entirely loving therefore everything He does is out of Love. Ya know? This is all just my continued, predestined shot in the dark.
To be continued....
I don't think this passage suggests that God caused these people to act in this way. They were condemned because they had already made up their mind, they had already made their choice in how they would live. Even if they did not, their ancestors did, so any condemnation they receive is a consequence of their ancestor's choice. Verse 15 talks about how they left the straight road and went astray. It was their choice.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, to think of God in this manner actually limits him. I won't actually argue for predestination or against it; rather, I argue that all things concerning this topic function under the assumption that God exists within the spectrum of time, which he does not.
Augustine argues:
"God created time along with the universe. In other words, 'before' the universe there was no time. The universe is like a series, which may or may not extend infinitely backward and forward in time. But god stands outside the series, and this is what we mean when we say God is 'eternal.' Eternal does not mean 'goes on forever'; it means 'stands outside of time.'"
It's not like before someone was born God said, "you will be evil", nor is it that God said, "we will see which way you choose." While it is difficult to conceive, this spectrum of time just doesn't exist for God. It is like all of the universe and time and space and everything is just one, giant, single act of God.
While God does not exist in the spectrum of time, He does work in our world which does operated within that spectrum. It is a very complex issue to discuss but I don't think that it quite translates to the topic of predestination.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't think this 'limits God' because I am not saying God HAS TO choose certain people. I am saying that He DOES choose certain people. It is not limiting to look at a series of actions and deduce a consistent characteristic that exists within God. He can still choose to do whatever He wants to do, but it would seem as though He prefers to choose certain people.
The spectrum of time argument also does not apply to the cases of those Biblical figures who God chooses to be leaders of His people. Abraham was CHOSEN by God. Whatever you think about God's interaction with time, you have to admit that God CHOSE him. That would be an instance of predestination. I was simply posing the argument that it seems that choice goes both ways. That some people get the Yes and others get the flip side NO when it comes to having a destiny that leads to great things under God.