Let me start off with a quick attack. If predestinationism is true, then evangelism is the most selfish act possible. You think God needs your help to bring someone to him? If it’s God who chooses how and when we will be saved, then he doesn’t need your help. If you say you helped bring someone to Christ, aren’t you taking credit for what God did? For what only God can do? If “Total Depravity” is true, evangelism is pointless. No one could share the love of God with an unsaved person because they are to “depraved” to accept or understand it.
Now that I got that out of the way it’s time for me to show you the verses in the Bible that prove my point. God does not choose who will believe in him, nor does he choose who will not believe in him. God does not predestinate individual people, but he does predestinate believers. What I mean by that is: God doesn’t say to himself before someone is born that, “I want Joey to be saved, therefore I will make him believe in me. I will pre-determine whether he chooses life or death.” What God does say before anyone is born is, “I have decided that everyone who believes in my name and the work of my son shall inherit the kingdom. I have pre-determined that anyone who puts their faith in me will go to heaven.” From now on I will show you verses that explain God’s will that all should be saved and verses that describe the choice God gives us: we believe in him or not, we choose life or death.
No one is more special in God’s eyes than anyone else. But, believing in predestination puts you on a pedestal. If you believe you are saved because God chose you to be saved, then you are saying that you (before you realized you were saved) were better than me. God does not do things randomly; therefore he must have had a reason to pick you over someone else. So, what makes you better? Why does God love you more than someone else who is not saved but is willing to seek him? John 3:16, the verse everyone knows says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…” Who does God love? The world! Who did God give his son for? The world! If God chooses who would be saved then this verse would read, “For God so loved the chosen elect that he gave his only begotten son.” Therefore, God does not choose who will be saved because we know that God gave his son to the world and not the chosen elect. Because God gave his son to the world, anyone can be saved. All you have to do is believe. The only way God could give his son to the world is if the whole world had a chance to receive the son.
Now I will offer a proof for free will based on this verse:
1. A person is not saved if they do not receive Jesus.
2. In order to receive Jesus, a person must have the ability to receive him.
3. Each person is part of the world
4. If something is given to an object, if the object has the ability to receive, the object can receive the given item.
5. God gave Jesus to the world.
6. God does not do meaningless actions.
7. Therefore- The world, each person, must have the ability to receive Jesus.
Conclusion: Since God does not do meaningless actions, then if God gave the world his Son, it must be because the world has the ability to receive his son. Each person is a part of the world, which means that each person has the ability to receive the gift God has given us. Predestination says that God chooses who receives his son, therefore not allowing/preventing some from receiving his Son. It follows that predestination stated that not all people have the ability to receive Jesus, since God chooses who has the ability. Therefore predestination is invalid.
1 Timothy 2:4 says, “God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved…” As you can see, God wants everyone to be saved. How are we saved? By believing in him. So, God wants everyone to believe in him. If God chose who would believe in him, then he doesn’t want everyone to be saved. Let me illustrate this with an example: I am in the mood to eat apples. So I go to the store to buy them. Now, the only apples that I will allow to come into my shopping cart are green ones, because I don’t like red apples. In order for apples to be green, it must have a green pigment in its cells. So, when I got to the store I only allow apples with the green pigment in them to get into my cart. Now, I love apples and am very hungry, so I want all the apples to be green (have a green pigment) because I want as many apples as possible. But, the apples have or do not have the green pigment independently of what I want. I did not make the apples green; I just chose the ones that were green. To relate that to humans. God (the hungry shopper) does not choose who has the spirit or believes in him (have the green pigment); he only chooses those with the spirit (green apples) to come into heaven (the cart). God wants all to be saved (the shopper is very, very hungry) he wants as many people to be saved as possible (wants all apples to be green and not red) but people have the spirit or do not have the spirit (have or do not have the green pigment) independently of what God wants.
1 Timothy 2:6 says, “Who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” Again, God would not give someone a ransom if they were not able to accept it, that would be illogical and pointless. Therefore all must be able to accept the ransom.
2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is longsuffering (patient) to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance.” The KJV says God is longsuffering to us-ward and the NIV says God is patient with you. These verses tell us that God is patient with us! What is God showing? Patience. Who is he showing it to? Us. Why is he showing it? Because He is “not wanting anyone to perish.” From this we can conclude that it is our job “to come to repentance.” That is the only way in which God can be patient with us. If it was God’s decision whether or not we came to repentance, then God would only be being patient with himself. If it is God’s choice as to whether we are saved or not, there is not patience required toward us. God could put Jesus into our lives at any point – no waiting/patience necessary.
Next- I know that logically the absence of proof is not proof of absence but let me bring to light the way faith is portrayed as opposed to the way it is never portrayed. In Hebrews 11:1 it says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see…” [NIV] “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…” [KJV] Notice these things do not say “certainty FROM what we do not see,” nor “the evidence FROM things not seen.” Also notice that the bible never mentions faith FROM God or faith from Jesus, but faith in God and faith in Jesus! Romans 10:17 tells us exactly where faith comes from, “So faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” God does not give us faith; we attain faith by hearing the word of God. Also, the bible has never lead me to believe that I am justified by the constraint of God’s choice, or that I am justified through the will of God.
Titus 2:11 says “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” This verse alone disproves/refutes the Calvinistic doctrine of ‘Irresistible Grace.’ This verse tells us that God’s grace has appeared (been shown) to everyone. But as we all know, not everyone goes to heaven. This means that some people who have seen this grace have turned it down and not accepted it. Therefore God’s grace is resistible!
Deuteronomy 24:16 says “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.” In the T (total depravity) doctrine of Calvinism there is this theory of “Original Sin” and this theory basically says that because Adam sinned and we are all born of Adam, we are all guilty of that same sin. Therefore we are born sinful leading to our total depravity. But, as the verse in Deut shows, we are not help accountable for someone else’s sin. All will be put to death for their own sin! We don’t deserve death because of Adam’s sin; we deserve death because of our own sin. The Bible says “through one man’s sin death entered the world.” When Adam sinned, all his offspring now had a sinful nature, but are not guilty of sin until they commit their own first sin. There is also a verse in Romans that says “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Why do we all fall short? Because we all have sinned. This verse does not say “For Adam has sinned and all fall short of the glory of God.”
If the fact that we are descendants of Adam means that we are born sinful, then Jesus was sinful.
For my final points I will use three passages, 2 that show us it is our choice whether or not to choose God/life or death; and one that shows how God is not the one to plant the seed of faith in our hearts. The first comes from Deuteronomy 30:15-20 which says, “15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Here God is telling us to choose life! It is the person’s choice whether or not to choose God. This verse would be contradictory if God was the one to choose for us.
2nd passage, Ecclesiasticus (Ben Sirach) 15:11-20: “Say not: "It was God's doing that I fell away"; for what he hates he does not do. Say not: "It was he who set me astray"; for he has no need of wicked man. Abominable wickedness the LORD hates, he does not let it befall those who fear him. When God, in the beginning, created man, he made him subject to his own free choice. If you choose you can keep the commandments; it is loyalty to do his will. There are set before you fire and water; to whichever you choose, stretch forth your hand. Before man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be given him. Immense is the wisdom of the LORD; he is mighty in power, and all-seeing. The eyes of God see all he has made; he understands man's every deed. No man does he command to sin, to none does he give strength for lies.” This passage can also be found at http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/sirach/sirach15.htm. But, what this verse is saying is clearly evident. And though this book lies within the apocrypha, it is still used for teaching.
The last passage comes from 1 Corinthians 3:5-8: “5What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.” Now, was it God or man who planted the seed? Was it God or man that started the process? It was man! Someone plants the seed of faith in us by sharing with us the word of God, and once that seed is planted (once we believe) God then does the growing part by continually sanctifying us. It now makes sense to put 2 verses together- “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” and “being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil 1:6). You see, once we choose accept Jesus, once the seed is planted; God then helps us grow. He changes us, and then continues to sanctify us through his word.
