Trying to Understand Predestination, Part 1 (TMF:1768)

Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Peace to Live By: Trying to Understand Predestination, Part 1 (TMF:1768) - Daniel Litton
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       Now, verse 29 of Romans chapter 8: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29, ESV). “For those whom [God] foreknew.” What is Paul talking about here? We certainly understand and are aware that God knows the future. No matter what time he is looking from, he knows what is going to happen in the future from that time. In the theological world this is known as God’s omniscience. That is, God has knowledge of everything that can be known. And this is where the big debate comes into play with the Arminians versus the Calvinists. The Arminians take the viewpoint that God looks into the future and sees those who will willingly believe in him, and then predestines, so to speak those who will choose him. In other words, God sees who’s going to choose him in the future and then calls those people seeing that they choose him. The Calvinists believe that God actually decides ahead of time those to whom he is going to save, and then he works to save those people as time passes by.