The Bible teaches many wonderful things. In fact, it teaches the most beautiful news possible. It tells us that “God so loved the world, that he gave his Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
But is everything the Bible teaches good news? What about predestination—the biblical teaching that God chose, or elected, those he would save before he created the world?
For many people, predestination isn’t a wonderful teaching. Instead, it’s terrifying and sounds unjust. How can God choose to save some people and not others before anyone did anything right or wrong?
Predestination is a difficult doctrine. It confronts us with God’s almighty and sovereign power. It confronts us with his incomprehensibility. But predestination doesn’t contradict God’s justice. Instead, it magnifies his grace. It explains how a just God saves sinners who could never save themselves.
In fact, predestination is a great comfort for Christians. It assures us that no matter what dangers we face from enemies, circumstances, or our own sinful hearts, Christ will never let us go.
We belong to him forever because he chose us.
Is Predestination a Biblical Teaching?
Before Adam and Eve sinned (Gen. 3:6), and even before God said “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), God chose those he would save. The apostle Paul explains that this election happened before God created anything. God “chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). If we have trusted in Christ, it’s because God chose us as his own in eternity.
Other passages in the Bible confirm that our salvation depends on God’s eternal choice. In Romans 8:30, Paul teaches that Christians believe the gospel because they were “predestined.” He then explains God’s “purpose in election” (Rom. 9:6–24). Jesus says that God the Father gives him those who believe in him: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). Elsewhere, Jesus tells his disciples, “I know whom I have chosen” (John 13:18).
Predestination is different than God’s foreknowledge. In other words, God doesn’t just know ahead of time who will believe the gospel; he chooses who will believe. Some passages at first may sound like God predestines people because he foresees their faith: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). But God’s knowledge in this passage doesn’t refer to information. It’s personal knowledge. When the Bible talks about God knowing someone, it means he has a relationship with that person (Gen. 18–19; Jer. 1:5). It means he loves them. What Paul means here is that those God chose to love are predestined to become like Jesus, his Son.
Predestination and the Gospel
Paul links God’s eternal election with God’s grace: “In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace” (Eph. 1:4–5). God chooses to save people, adopting them as his children, as an act of love. This election leads to “the praise of his glorious grace.” Predestination and grace are linked because no one can earn God’s favor. No one can trust in the gospel without God’s grace enabling a person to believe (Eph. 2:8–9).
Without predestination, salvation wouldn’t be “the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). It wouldn’t be by grace alone. It wouldn’t be to God’s glory alone.
Elsewhere, Paul says that “God’s purpose of election” (Rom. 9:11) is to show that salvation “depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Rom. 9:16). What is God’s purpose in election? To reveal his mercy.
God chose us in Christ because he wanted us to know him as the God of grace and mercy.
Does Predestination Make God Unjust?
If predestination and grace are inseparably linked, why do people so often object to the doctrine of election?
At first, predestination may seem to make God unjust. Those who don’t believe the gospel and therefore face God’s eternal wrath seem to have been given no chance. Paul expects this objection: “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part?” (Rom. 9:14). Paul knows that we expect consequences to correspond with actions. If we choose what’s right, we deserve God’s reward. If we don’t, we deserve punishment.
That’s how God set up the world (Gen. 3:16–17). Adam and Eve could have obeyed God. If they had, they would have received an eternal reward.
But after Adam and Eve sinned, all people inherited their sinful nature. All of us are sinners. Therefore, Paul says, “All, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one’” (Rom. 3:9–10). Election doesn’t mean that God keeps good people out of heaven. It means that out of a world of sinners—all of whom deserve eternal death—God chooses some to believe.
The gospel tells us that, for Christians, God’s justice was served on the cross. Our sins were punished there. Through Christ’s blood, God showed himself to be both “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). The cross shows us how God is both just and gracious at once.
Why Is Predestination Comforting?
While predestination can be deeply troubling at first, it’s actually the foundation of our assurance that we belong to God. When we face dangers, temptations, and doubts, the knowledge that God has chosen us brings comfort. Paul writes:
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? (Romans 8:33–35)
If we’re elected by God, we know we’re justified in his sight. If we’re elected by God, we know that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. And, if we’re elected by God, we know we’ll persevere in faith and, on the last day, rise from the dead. Jesus said, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (John. 6:39).
But we don’t find this extraordinary comfort by asking God to tell us if we’re elect. We find it by looking to Christ. Who are God’s elect people? Who has God predestined to eternal life? All those who have trusted in the Son of God: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40).
If we have believed the gospel, we can be assured that God chose us.
What Does the Bible Say?
- John 6:37–40; 13:18; Rom. 8:29–39; 9:6–24; Eph. 1:4–5; 2:8–9
Recommended Resource
- Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, by J. I. Packer
