Transcription
If God is omniscient and already knows everything that's going to happen, do people really have free will? I mean, if he knows everything, then he would already know who's going to heaven and hell. And if that's the case, then regardless of whatever we do or believe, if God knows we're going to heaven or hell, do we really have a choice?
These questions have caused a lot of debate in Christianity. So, before we dive into things, I need to advise you to watch the entire video. This video will contain five theological thoughts that all must be considered at the same time in order to see where we're coming from. And finally, I believe this subject isn't something to divide over and argue about within the church. If we can agree that Jesus is God, that he died for our sins, rose again, and believe that by faith in him we can have everlasting life, then we can have fellowship. The purpose of this video is to teach and to encourage, not to divide the body of Christ. So, let's get started.
Thought number one: God can do and will do whatever he wants to. Psalm chapter 115, verse 3: "Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases." First, in order to talk about this subject, I need to explain one attribute or characteristic of God, and that is that God is Sovereign. This means that he alone has the absolute right to do whatever he desires, and he answers to no one. And this is where I need to start defining terms, because many Christians use the term "free will" and will claim that they have free will. Technically speaking, though, the only one that has free will is God. Let me explain. You cannot choose to be in two, three, or ten places at once. You cannot choose to lift twenty thousand pounds or nine thousand kilos using only one arm. And many of you cannot choose to spend 100 million dollars on shopping today. The idea is that in order to possess free will, you must have the ability to have the freedom to choose anything. And the only one who has this ability is God. Why? Because God alone is infinite in power, knowledge, and wisdom, and has the strength and resources necessary to accomplish anything he wants. For us as people, we just don't have the means to do whatever we want, whenever we want, or however we want. But just because we don't have free will doesn't mean we don't have the ability to choose. So, moving forward, please note that I will not be using the term "free will," but instead will refer to man's ability to make choices.
Thought number two: People's choices can affect God's choice. In Matthew 23:37, Jesus says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." Jesus, being God, makes the claim that he wanted to gather Jerusalem's children, but he didn't because those people were not willing. So, is God sovereign and does he possess free will and have the ability to do whatever he wants? Yes. But what did Jesus want to do here? He wanted to gather the children of Israel, but he didn't because those people were not willing. So, in this passage, you need to see that people's choice can actually affect God's choice.
Thought number three: God chose certain people to go to heaven. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 to 5: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." Note the word "predestined." In this passage, this passage is saying that before certain people were born, they were chosen by God to be adopted into his family. In other words, they were destined to go to heaven before they lived their life on earth. Now, if you believe the Bible to be true, you cannot refute this. This is a truth of God's word, and it's true that God chose people to be saved. If God didn't know who would be saved, he couldn't be all-knowing. However, you need to pay attention to the next point.
Thought number four: God made it possible for everyone to be saved because he loves them. First John chapter 2, verses 1 to 2: "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." A key word in this passage is "propitiation," which means appeasement. Essentially, God is angry and has wrath towards sin, and Jesus's death acted as payment to appease God's wrath. Simply put, God has wrath and godly hatred towards sin, and that wrath was placed on Jesus, which led to his death. So now, even though I'm a sinner, God doesn't have any anger or wrath towards me and my sin because Jesus took all the wrath that I deserved upon himself. Now, please look back at the passage. Who was Jesus a propitiation or appeasement for? Notice the word "ours." You see, John wrote this letter to Christians, and he says that Jesus wasn't just a propitiation or appeasement of sins for the church, but also for the whole world. You see, people may argue that if God chose certain people to go to heaven, then it means that he chose people to go to hell. But if that's the case, I don't think John 3:16 can make sense. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." My argument is this: if God did predestine people to hell, why would God send Jesus to be a propitiation for them? These passages tell us two things, and it's that Jesus's death on the cross and access to salvation was given to everyone. And the reason why God did this was because he loves people and wishes for them to escape death. It says, "whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life." To have another look at God's heart, please look at Ezekiel chapter 33, verse 11: "Say to them, 'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways, for why should you die, O House of Israel?'"
Thought number five: God is beyond us. Isaiah chapter 55, verses 8 to 9: "For my thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord, "and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." These passages show the comparison between God and man, and it says that God's ways and thinking are infinitely beyond ours, and we as limited people cannot fully comprehend who God is, what he does, or why he does it. So, when it comes to this topic, I will say that this video is a very surface-level study of predestination. Predestination is largely debated, and this video can honestly go on for hours, but I will be as concise as I can on my stance on this topic. In the Bible, God has a choice, and people have a choice. Does God's choice influence our choices? Yes. And can people's choices affect God's choice? Also yes. My mentor once taught me that God's choice and people's choice are like two chains in a swing, and you need both in order for the swing to work. So, in this case, I believe that hyper-focusing on God's choice or people's choices can lead to inaccuracies. To us right now, it may seem like God's choice may contradict people's ability to choose, and people's choice may contradict God's sovereignty. But biblically speaking, both are correct. God has choice, and people have choice. How do they overlap? I don't know. But my mentor went on to teach me that if those chains that represent God's choice and people's choice, if they were to continue to the sky into the heavens, even if those chains look parallel and can never touch, God would see how they intersect and how they could possibly coexist together in harmony. So, to conclude, I know this sounds like a lot, but this question used to plague me, and I wrestled a lot with it. So, my final answer to this question is this: God, in his omnipotence and sovereignty, chose to give people the ability to choose. Or, in other words, God's choice was to give us choice. And since God has the means to do whatever he wants, giving us the ability to choose wouldn't be a big task for him. So again, when it comes to the matter of predestination, I would consider these five points: God can do and will do whatever he wants to; people's choices can affect God's choice; God chose certain people to go to heaven; and God made it possible for everyone to be saved because he loves them; and God is beyond us. Could I be wrong regarding predestination? Yeah. But this answer that I came to gives me peace on this matter, and I hope that it can possibly give you peace too. I would encourage you to continue to study this topic, and in your studies, to never lose sight of the fact that Jesus loves you.
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