Predestination, Election, and Free Will

I recently interacted with a young man named Ryan who has been studying the topics of Predestination, Election, and the will of man.

What follows is my response to his concerns/questions.

This first link below is Ryan's email to me. I then responded to his email in piece meal fashion.

Due to the length of my response, I have provided each of those piece meal responses separately below for more of a bite-size effect, and arranged them according to topic.

May the Lord bless your study, and please feel free to email me with questions/comments/concerns: johnandursula@comcast.net

1. Ryan's first email - Here Ryan outlines his specific concerns/questions.

2. What is Predestination? - Ryan says his background is Nazarene, and that predestination came to his mind while reading Romans. I attempt to provide some background on what the term predestination refers to, and also some initial historical information and definition of the term "conservative Evangelical."

3. Historical Background - Ryan says, "I recall in your correspondence to our email that you said you were a predestinationalist and I had some questions... " I make some introductory comments about that, and then I provide some historical information on the Reformation, as well as some information on Augustine, and the Reformers such as Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli. I do this to provide some background on the discussion in church history.

4. What is Free Will? - Ryan says, "Having been a full blown free will believer, my world has been rattled to say the least." I respond by explaining the need for folks to provide clear definitions concerning such things as "free will," and then I provide information on the different views on the will of man such as Libertarian Free Will, and Compatiblism.

5. What is Election? - Ryan says, "Personal studies have led me more to believe we are chosen." I respond by presenting the various views concerning the doctrine of election (conditional, unconditional, and corporate), and then give some reasons why I hold to unconditional election. There are also some more comments about free will and man's bondage to sin.

6. Is God To Blame? Ryan says, "Predestination sounds like it places a little too much blame on God." I talk about foreordination and human responsibility and how God is not the author of sin.

7. Election and the Great Commission - Ryan says, "I believe we (Christians) are chosen by God before He created the world and at any point in time, a nonbeliever can become a believer (thus Christ gave the great commission)." I talk about the nature of election, the fact that even the elect are born as believers and need the Gospel preached to them, and how God has ordained the end as well as the means to the end.

8. How Does God Know the Future? - Ryan says, "However, I believe we choose sin. I think God gives a choices to make however I totally believe He knows what we are going to choose beforehand (foreknowledge). " I refer back to the comments I made about the will of man, and then speak about how it is that God knows the future.

9. Hardening Pharaoh's Heart - Ryan says, I think predestination is God physically doing it Himself or Him promising something. For example, in Exodus, God (Jesus??) in the burning bush promises to harden Pharaoh's heart 5 times and Pharaoh hardening his own heart 5 times." Ryan goes on to make other comments about the return of Christ and how he knows it was God that chose him. I talk about how God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and briefly address Ryan's other comments.

10. Why I'm a Calvinist - Ryan asks, "So, my question is why do you think predestination is the right way?"

11. Do I Leave My Church Over These Issues? - Ryan says, "With my current Pastor and all y friends from this Church, I stand alone. They all believe in free will and that is fine. IT isn't what i like to call a "faith hinderer" of which i have only encountered one ( Dead Sea Scrolls discussing Christ killing animals as a boy)...I realize that I may have to leave my Nazarene Church and my Methodist upbringing over this but that doesn't bother me too much. God will place me where He sees fit." I try to provide a balanced response to these very practical and difficult concerns. I also provide some info on the Dead Sea Scroll issue he raised.

12. Resources - Ryan says, "I am just looking for more Biblical support than what I have managed to find on my own." I provide a number of great resources: books, videos, audio files, articles, etc., for Ryan to check out as he continues to study these things.