I've been listening to podcasts by Scott J. Norvell over the last three weeks. Hours and hours and hours of sink-your-teeth-into-this-meaty-stuff teachings. So many points to talk about. So many things to share. But I'll settle on this point.
Choice and Predestination.
In the "Christian community" there is so much debate about what the Bible means when it's talking about predestination. You have various and diverse thoughts on the subject. You have Calvinism (God has predestined who will be saved, so we really have no choice at all) and Arminianism (We chose to accept Jesus, therefore we are predestined) and varying shades of in-betweenism and a lot of people who simply say "I have NO idea." I have always leaned more toward Arminianism because I believe that we have free will. Adam and Eve in the garden displays that will to choose. Life in Eden was perfect, and yet Eve was deceived and Adam (with his wife) chose rebellion. That one point right there always sealed it for me. I have never doubted God's sovereignty or His omnipotence, and I dare not shorten his arm by saying He couldn't or wouldn't be sovereign in certain situations. And I most certainly will not argue that when Jesus says, "you did not choose me, but I have chosen you," He wasn't talking about the fact that the disciples were hand-picked by Him. Nor will I say that He did not also choose me. That would be presumptuous and erroneous...not to mention egotistical.
So, how do you balance THIS: "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." Romans 8:29-30.
with THIS: "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;"
Deuteronomy 30:19
These two verses seem to contradict themselves. In Deuteronomy, we are told "YOU CHOOSE." In Romans were told "GOD CHOSE." I have very good friends who believe that we have absolutely no say in the matter of our salvation, and that if we're going to be saved it's because God chose for us to be saved and only us. As though we are an elite society or something. As though God lined us up in gym class, looked at us in a row, and picked his buddies to be on His dodge ball team.
But that can't be true.
James tells us "but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors." James 2:9. So if it is sin to be partial, obviously, God can't be partial. Because He CANNOT sin.
And Paul tells us "for this is good and acceptable in the sight of our God and Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:3-4.
So how in the world can choice and predestination go hand in hand? As I was listening to one of Mr. Norvell's podcasts, he spoke of predestination and perfectly expressed predestination and free will work together in the kingdom. This is what he said: "Our callings are predestined. Our choices are not."
And my skullcap went flying. The statement literally blew my mind. It was this fantastic light bulb moment. Everything that we argue about in "predestination versus free will" is solved by those two little sentences.
Romans 11:29 says that the gifts of God and the calling of God are irrevocable. If God gifts a man named Jimmy with the ability to write books, then Jimmy will always have that gifting. God is not an Indian giver. If Jimmy does something stupid or selfish with that gift, God will not take it back. His gifts are free and eternal.
If God calls Jimmy to write Christian novels and books, that call is always there. BUT Jimmy has the right and the ability to say "yes" or to say "no." If Jimmy says yes, everything is fantastic and he is fulfilling the calling God has for his life and seeing the fruit of the labor. If Jimmy says "no," the call doesn't go away...but the blessings and the fruit do, and Jimmy will (perhaps) spend the rest of his life running away from the call.
Look at the story of Jonah. In Chapter One God called Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah said, "no" and ran away from the call. He ended up in the belly of a great fish, where he finally repented and accepted the call. The call never went away. God didn't renege or change His mind. In chapter three, Jonah stepped into the calling that had always been there. The gift and the call endured, even though Jonah fought tooth and nail to keep from having to do it.
So, you see, there is no reason to argue about predestination anymore. We are all predestined to have talents and abilities and callings. But we still have the free will to be rebellious and say "NO" if we so choose, or to be obedient and say "YES" if we so choose.
If you look at the scripture in Deuteronomy 30:19 again, with this revelation, you'll see that God has predestined the life and the death. "I have set before you this day life and death, blessing and cursing." Both paths are laid out. There is the path of life and blessing, and there is the path of death and cursing. "Life and Blessings" is a narrow path that leads to salvation through Christ. "Death and Cursing" is a wide path that leads to outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The courses are marked, the finish line determined, the mode of transportation set. At the starting line Jesus calls out to everyone, "Take the narrow path, heed the call which I am calling you to, use your gifts to glorify the Father, and receive salvation through the Son."
Both paths are made available. Both paths lead to real and legitimate finish lines. Both paths are predestined.
But we must choose which path we take.
And our CHOICE determines our destiny.
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