PREDESTINATION
Does the Bible Teach It?
by Herbert W. Armstrong
1957, 1973 edition
Is your ultimate fate decided for you in advance? No subject has
baffled, perplexed, and worried people more. Here, for the first
time, many will read the astonishing truth, so plain all can
understand.
THE very fact of wartime casualties and accidental deaths has
caused a great deal of added sorrow and grief that is entirely
unnecessary -- if we understand! Many have grieved in the belief that
loved ones died eternally "lost" -- when, if they understood the
truth, these probably were not lost at all.
The Common Conception
Several years ago, a man, quite worried over the subject of
predestination, went to a certain minister.
"Do you believe in predestination?" he asked.
"The Bible teaches it, brother," was the minister's reply.
The minister tried hard to explain. "But that doesn't really
mean," he said, "that you have nothing to do with your own
salvation. It doesn't mean that it is all set -- your decision and
eternal fate all determined for you in advance. You are to make
your own decision. But God knows all things, even in advance. And
so He knows beforehand how you are going to decide."
This didn't satisfy the troubled man at all.
"If God knows beforehand how I am going to decide," he
reasoned, "then it is all predetermined. If He knows in advance I
am to be LOST, then that's the way I'll have to decide in the end.
And since I'll lose out anyway, why try? On the other hand, if He
knows now I'm going to repent and accept Christ and be saved, I'll
have to do it in the end anyway, whether I try or not. Then my
ultimate fate is predetermined. Isn't that what predestination
means -- that the ultimate fate of each one is PREdestined -- destined,
or determined, in advance? And if that's so, then we simply are not
free moral agents, and we have nothing to say about it."
The poor man was more discouraged than ever.
And no wonder. Neither could convince the other, because both
were arguing from a false premise -- that predestination has to do
with whether each individual shall be lost, or saved.
Does the Bible teach that your ultimate fate is already
predestinated?
Neither the preacher nor his perplexed questioner had read
carefully what the Bible does say.
What confusion we are in today -- what Babylon! Let's understand
this!
All Unsaved Not Finally Lost
But all this perplexity and worry has arisen from another
general assumption -- one of the greatest errors of this time, yet
almost universally taken for granted without so much as a thought
to inquire into it.
That is the assumption that there are only two classes, living
or dead -- the saved, and the lost. How many sermons have you heard
based on the theory "there is no middle ground. Either you are this
minute saved, or you're a lost soul!" This teaching has led to
untold suffering and unnecessary grief.
Thousands are grieving over departed loved ones who had never
made a profession of Christ. Perhaps over one who really lived
wickedly; perhaps over one who lived a "good" life in the worldly
sense, but still had never accepted Christ or been converted. Still
others grieve because of a doubt -- they are not sure whether some
loved one died saved.
If this booklet does no more than dispel some of this needless
grief, and bring a little enlightenment and comfort to some of our
readers, it will have been worthwhile.
So listen! Notice carefully. It's important that you
understand.
Supposing this universal assumption were true, see where it
leads us.
This teaching comes from the supposition, also generally taken
for granted without question, that this is the one and only age and
time when God is trying desperately to save the world -- that the
mission of the Church is to save the world -- that this is the only
day of salvation, and it is now about over. "Probation" is about to
close. Soon it will be too late.
What of the Ignorant Heathen?
We know, of course, the Bible plainly says there is but one
name given under heaven among men whereby we may be saved -- the name
of Jesus Christ.
Over in China, India, Japan, other parts of Asia and Africa
and many islands, are millions upon millions -- probably at least two
billion souls -- who, in spite of the comparatively few missionaries
sent to heathen lands, have never so much as heard that only name!
Think of it. Two billion souls -- two thirds of the earth's
population have never heard of Christ! They simply do not know
about salvation from sin -- God's plan for eternal life -- have never
heard the true gospel.
They cannot be saved! And now let us ask, can we believe that
a God of love brought these individuals into the world without
their knowledge or consent, permitted them to live and die without
ever having heard the precious gospel -- that God has simply
consigned them to eternal punishment because they never had a
chance?
Or, do we believe that in some manner God saves them, if they
live up to the best they know, without having known and accepted
Christ -- without having been converted? Is there, then, some other
name -- some other way to salvation and life eternal, than through
Jesus Christ our Lord? Certainly we can find no such teaching in
the Bible.
Then what is the truth?
Not the Only Day of Salvation
The amazing, startling truth is that this is not the age in
which God is trying to save all the world! It is not the only day
of salvation.
Rather, we are nearing, now, the end of the six working days
of the millennial week allotted to Satan.
Scripture plainly reveals Satan as the god of this world -- this
age; the prince of the power of the air; the actual spirit ruler of
this present world. He is in power! He offered to turn over this
power to Jesus, if He would only worship Satan. Jesus actually won
the right to that power -- to dethrone and replace Satan in power -- by
resisting him in that temptation. When Christ comes to rule, Satan
shall be dethroned and utterly shorn of power. But he has power,
now!
Satan's Millennial Week
Satan retains that power only by God's express permission. God
has, for all practical purposes, turned over six days of one
week -- an approximate millennial week, each "day" an actual thousand
years -- to Satan. A day is as a thousand years with God, and a
thousand years as a day. It forms an overall period of time (II
Peter 3:8).
God's principles never change. Applied to this millennial
"week," God has said to Satan, in effect: "Six 'days' shalt thou
labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of
the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work."
Satan's work is a labor of deception -- of deceiving mankind
upon earth -- of turning God's truth upside down -- causing honest
sincere people to accept a counterfeit for the genuine -- deceiving
the people into sin. And how successfully he has worked at his
occupation for six thousand long years!
We are nearing, now, the end of the first six days of Satan's
"week." And the coming seventh millennial day shall be the Sabbath
of the Lord our God. The first six days God has turned over to
Satan, and given him free reign to influence and to deceive. But
the coming seventh millennium is God's Day -- it shall belong to Him.
In it, Satan shall not do any work -- he shall be chained,
restrained, thrown into the symbolic "bottomless pit" (Rev.
20:1-4) -- he shall not deceive a single soul. That day shall not
belong to him, thank God -- it shall belong to God, who shall rule
through Christ!
Jesus plainly said He is "Lord of the Sabbath." And as this
millennial Sabbath dawns, Jesus shall return to earth in person -- as
King of kings not only, but Lord of lords. He is coming not only to
reign and to rule, as King of kings. But as Lord of lords, He is
coming as High Priest to SAVE!
The fact we must now see -- the astounding fact, almost
unbelievable in the light of erroneous traditions, yet true -- is
that we have been living in the age of Satan's dominion -- while
Satan, with God's express permission, has been ruling -- and not in
the age when God has set His hand to save the world!
Not Given to Many to Understand
Notice carefully, now. Shocking as this truth may seem to
many, yet it is the plain truth. During this time while Satan has
been permitted to reign, it is simply not given to all to
understand God's truth!
For instance, most people suppose Jesus spoke in parables in
order to make His meaning clearer. But He didn't. He spoke in
parables to hide His real meaning -- to cover it so they could not
understand. After Jesus had spoken the parable of the sower and the
seed, notice: Mark 4:10-12; Matthew 13:10-13.
Notice, Jesus plainly said that except to His disciples whom
He had called, "it is not given" to even know of the Kingdom -- even
to them who actually saw Jesus and heard Him speak in person. They
were not permitted to understand!
That's astonishing! But there it is, in your own Bible -- read
it!
Not All Called Now
But there is no injustice with God. He denies no one an
opportunity of salvation. These many are simply not called now -- at
this time -- in this, Satan's age. This is simply not the time when
God is trying to save everyone.
If He were -- and of course we know Satan is trying to deceive
people into loss of salvation -- then Satan surely would be getting
the better of the contest. But it is not a contest between God and
Satan, at all. God alone rules in high heaven, and what Satan does
he does not do in competition or in spite of God, or contrary to
God's will -- he does it only by God's express permission -- and God
gives that permission for an express and wise purpose. Some day we
shall fully understand!
But God denies no one a chance. There is no injustice with
God. Everyone is to have his full chance. But God does things His
way and in His time, and in His plan all are not being called now.
Millions who have died without a chance shall be resurrected and
given their full chance -- and without a devil to tempt them. The
space of this booklet does not permit a full explanation of this
here, but the 37th chapter of Ezekiel is one very definite
revelation of this fact. (Write for our free article "Is This the
Only Day of Salvation?" for a full explanation.)
Notice, I Corinthians 1:24-26: "But unto them which are
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the
wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men;
and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your
calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not
many mighty, not many noble, are called."
Notice, "unto them which are called." Some are called. All are
not called, at this time -- during this age of Satan's dominion. "For
ye see your calling, brethren" -- Paul is speaking only to those he
calls "brethren" -- those who had been called -- "how that not
many" -- notice it, "not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble" -- not many of these in the world are called!
Gospel Preached for a Witness
Did Jesus say the gospel was to be preached to CONVERT all
nations? No, only as a news announcement for a witness! "And this
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" -- the end of
the age! (Matt. 24:14.) Then follows the new age when the reign of
Christ shall replace that of Satan.
While, during the present age, many in number are called, yet
it is a few comparatively. And those who are called are called to
a calling, and what is it? First, a calling to a changed life -- a
life of overcoming sin and self. And notice what Jesus said of
those now called, who do grow in grace and in knowledge, who endure
unto the end, and who overcome. Notice their ultimate calling.
Revelation 2:26-27: "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my
works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and
he shall rule them with a rod of iron ...."
When Jesus was here on earth it was His custom, as recorded in
Luke 4:16, to preach the gospel every Sabbath day. And when this
great millennial Sabbath dawns Satan will be imprisoned, and Christ
will come not only to rule -- He shall also preach! The Pharisees
thought it wrong for Him to heal on the Sabbath -- and the
religionists of this day, mostly, seem to believe it would be wrong
for Him to heal sin-sick people during the millennial Sabbath! But
He shall do it, just the same.
When Most of Israel Shall Be Saved
One of the most wonderful chapters in the Bible is the
eleventh of Romans. Few seem to understand it -- yet it's plain.
Some, today, say God has rejected and utterly cast away the Jewish
people. They suppose the Jews are Israel, whereas actually they are
of the House of Judah, which separated from the House of Israel in
the days of kings Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Nevertheless, Romans 11
speaks undoubtedly of all the tribes of Israel.
This marvelous chapter says God has not cast away His people
Israel. But it reveals that only a small portion of Israel (our
English-speaking peoples are the birthright tribes of Israel) are
of the election of GRACE at this time.
The rest are blinded spiritually, and GOD blinded
them -- deliberately and for a purpose -- not permanently, but until
the "fulness of the Gentiles be come in" -- and then what?
Then, we read in Romans 11:26, "all Israel shall be saved: as
it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer" -- Christ,
at His second coming -- "and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."
Israel is spiritually blinded, now. God blinded them. They are not
now being called to salvation. They are not being given any chance,
now, at all! The wonderful opportunity that shall come to them
after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in -- after the Deliverer
comes, and they are no longer blinded -- shall not be a second
chance -- they have never yet had any chance.
And, if we can but understand, this chapter dealing with
national fleshly Israel refers to our own race -- our American and
British Commonwealth peoples, as well as to the Jewish people. (For
proof, write for our free book "The United States and the British
Commonwealth in Prophecy".) It includes, undoubtedly, most of these
departed loved ones who died without having accepted Christ and
becoming converted. They may have heard the name of Christ, but
they did not understand. God never called them, during their
lifetime in this age. Of course they did not die automatically
saved -- but, on the other hand, neither did they die lost!
That's the comforting truth. The overwhelming majority of our
peoples, today, are neither saved nor lost -- they simply have not,
yet, been called.
The Purpose of the Christian Calling
But if God is not trying to save the whole world now -- if most
are not now called, or given opportunity for salvation -- why does
God call any during this age? What's the purpose of calling some
now?
That great purpose is to be trained to rule with Christ, and
to teach, under Him, when He comes in His Kingdom -- when all Israel
shall be saved. We are being trained, prepared, fitted, through
trial and test, through hardship, through persecution, through
tribulation, with continual Bible study and prayer, growing in
grace and in knowledge, to be able, then, to fill the high office
of a king or a priest -- either to rule in the civil sense, or to
preach God's truth when the time comes that all may be privileged
to understand, and to be called.
What a glorious mission is the true Christian life!
So don't grieve over departed ones you have felt were lost.
The chances are they were simply not then called -- it was not given
to them to understand -- their chance had not yet come. But they
shall be resurrected, their spiritual blindness removed, and, if
you are one of the called, and if you are faithful and finally
chosen, you may be used then to minister to them, and to lead them
into salvation and life eternal.
Oh, what a glorious hope! What truly good news, is the true
gospel of Christ, which most people today simply have never heard.
They are hearing a false gospel today!
But Paul in Romans 11 shows that salvation has come to the
few, the elect in Israel, and to some of the Gentiles. And why? He
explains it in verse 31. They are blinded, now, that through our
mercy who are now called, they may obtain mercy and salvation
then -- when Jesus comes as the great Deliverer. How plain, and how
wonderful!
Great Harvest of Heathen People
But now, how about the hundreds of millions of heathen who
never heard?
Will Gentiles -- heathen Gentiles -- have a chance of salvation
after Christ returns? -- after the Kingdom is set up to rule over all
nations?
Flesh and blood, remember, cannot inherit the Kingdom. Only
those finally born again -- born of the Spirit -- those who shall have
become Spirit, and no longer flesh and blood (John 3:1-8) shall be
in the Kingdom.
And they are the saints of this time, now called, changed,
then, to immortality. (See I Corinthians 15:50-54.) They are those
called during this dispensation who have endured unto the end, and
proved overcomers. And they shall rule, and teach, the nations
(Rev. 2:27; 3:21; Dan. 7:18, 22, 27). They shall reign on the earth, not up in heaven
(Rev. 5:10). They shall rule the nations -- ordinary mortals of all
races, on earth (Rev. 2:26-27). They shall thus rule, and teach,
for one thousand years -- Christ's millennial "Sabbath" (Rev. 20:4,
6).
INSET:
II CORINTHIANS 6:2
Is this the one and only age and time when God is trying
desperately to save the world? Some have been confused by II
Corinthians 6:2 which seems to say that now is the only day of
salvation.
This verse reads: "For he saith, I have heard thee in a time
accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee:
behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation."
But the word "the" in the King James Version is actually
misleading, because it is absent in both the Hebrew and the Greek.
Actually, II Corinthians 6:2 was quoted by Paul from the Old
Testament. Paul is quoting Isaiah 49:8: "Thus saith the Lord, In an
acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have
I helped thee ...." The Hebrew text of Isaiah 49:8 does not have a
definite article. Neither does the Greek text of II Corinthians
6:2. The first part of the verse is more correctly rendered as
follows: "I have answered thy prayer, he says, in a [not the only
one] time of pardon, I have brought thee help in a [not the only
one] day of salvation" (Knox translation).
Certainly, this is the day of salvation for those who have
been called and whose minds have been opened to His truth by God.
Now is their chance -- their opportunity to qualify for His Kingdom.
This is the day of salvation for them. But it is not the day of
salvation for the vast majority. They will receive their
chance -- their first and only chance -- at a later time. It is a day
of salvation, but not the only day of salvation.
Consider also that if it were the only day of salvation in
Paul's time -- then it is closed to us today. But Paul was quoting a
scripture hundreds of years old. Was that time -- in the days of
Isaiah -- the only day of salvation? Obviously NOT. Today, as in the
time of Paul, it was only one of several times of salvation.
Those now called, during this time, are called to a life of
training -- spiritual character training, -- to fit them for positions
of high responsibility in the Kingdom. The one, for example, who
multiplies ten times over in spiritual character what God gives him
at conversion shall be qualified to rule ten cities. The one who
overcomes, and grows in grace and knowledge only five times shall
be qualified to rule over five cities. The one who thinks he "got
saved" merely by "accepting Christ" and, deceived by the "no works"
teaching, did not grow or develop in his Christian life at all,
will have taken from him even the salvation he thought he had. See
the parable of the "pounds," Luke 19.
But who shall these converted immortals reign over?
One glimpse into this millennial rule is found in Isaiah 11.
It portrays Christ ruling the world in righteousness. It is a time
when wild animals are tamed. Babies are being born, and nursing
babes and weaned babies shall be playing with wild animals and
deadly snakes -- now tamed and harmless. Now notice:
Isaiah 11:10-11: "And in that day there shall be a root of
Jesse [Christ], which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to
it [the Root -- Christ] shall the Gentiles seek ... and it shall come
to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the
second time to recover the remnant of his people [Israel] ...."
To Christ, then ruling, shall the Gentiles seek! And then, as
the returned Deliverer, shall He set His hand again the second time
to recover Israel and Judah -- the time when the spiritual blindness
is removed!
Notice again Micah 4:2, "And many nations shall come, and say,
Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Eternal, and to the
house of the God of Jacob [the Kingdom of God]; and he will teach
us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths ...."
And now what of those Gentiles who never heard? Notice!
Isaiah 66:15, 19: "For, behold, the Eternal will come with
fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger
with fury [last plagues] ... And I will set a sign among them, and I
will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish,
Pul, and Lud [Gentile nations] ... and Javan, to the isles afar off,
that have not heard my fame, neither seen my glory: and they shall
declare my glory among the Gentiles."
The Great Fall Harvest
When Jesus, the Great Deliverer shall come, the dead in Christ
(those who have been called, and who have accepted the call and
been finally saved) shall be resurrected out of their graves
immortal (I Cor. 15:50-53); and together they shall be caught up
into the air to meet the coming King, with whom they shall reign.
Thus they shall be separated from all earth's mortals -- mark
that! The separation between mortal and immortal is made before
Christ ever touches this earth.
They meet the King Eternal up in the clouds. Where do they go
from there? The first four verses of Zechariah 14 reveal that in
that same day -- not a thousand years afterward -- Christ's feet shall
stand upon the Mount of Olives, from whence He ascended.
Then, upon this earth He shall take over His throne -- the
throne of His father David (Luke 1:32). That, then, is the throne
on which the saints made immortal shall sit with Him (Rev. 3:21).
And then what shall happen, during the thousand year reign
from then on?
Matthew 25:31-34, 41: "When the Son of man shall come in his
glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the
throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations
[Gentiles and Israelites]: and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he
shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you .... Then
shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire ...."
Notice, all those called and saved prior to Christ's second
appearing on earth had been separated from the unsaved before
Christ stood upon earth -- while still in the clouds of the
air -- before He sat upon the throne of His glory.
The separation going on after He sits upon that throne ruling
over the nations, therefore, is a different, and a succeeding
separation.
Here are earth's nations -- earth's mortals -- all nations. And
now begins a process of separation. It is according to the
decisions they make, and the actions they take. Those who turn to
a life of righteousness are set on the right hand. They are
converted -- given immortality -- because Christ says to them: "Inherit
the kingdom" -- and mortal flesh and blood cannot inherit that
Kingdom! (I Cor. 15:50.)
Those who do evil then receive the full penalty of the
law -- death! They are sentenced to depart into the lake of fire.
Certainly this passage pictures nothing but a process of
salvation going on, after Christ's return, during His millennial
"Sabbath Day."
That is the great "fall harvest of souls"!
The astonishing fact is that the present human harvest
corresponds to the early spring grain harvest of Palestine. It is
so pictured in the annual round of festivals God gave to Israel to
keep His people continually in the understanding of His plan. This
is the preliminary harvest of humans. This is the time of Satan's
dominion. And out of it God is calling a people for His name, that
through our mercy who now are called, the great majority not now
called may, then, obtain mercy. Those now called to salvation are
merely the "first fruits" of God's salvation (James 1:18). They are
called, now, to prepare for the office of "king" or "priest," to
become the instrumentality through which Christ will really save
the world, when His time comes. What a glorious plan and gospel!
Not a Second Chance
But, some will say, is not this the doctrine of a second
chance?
Absolutely not!
One text ought to make that plain. Hebrews 10:26-27: "If we
sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain
fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation ...."
Those to whom it has not been given to understand those not
now called -- have not received the knowledge of the truth.
Most do not really grasp it -- they do not really understand.
Because the truth is spiritual knowledge, and spiritual knowledge
cannot be transmitted naturally to a mortal human mind. Spiritual
truth is revealed! None receive it, though their ears hear the
words, or their eyes read them, except as God opens their
understanding, and by His Spirit reveals to them the truth.
But, if one has been truly called of God, convicted by God's
Spirit, his mind opened to the precious spiritual knowledge of the
truth, then if that man sins willfully, deliberately,
intentionally, without resistance -- that man is through! He has had
his chance. He shall have no other during the coming millennium.
Those who shall then be saved are those who have not, until
then, been called. They are those who never had a previous chance.
In God's own time, according to His plan, all shall have their
chance. But each in his order. Those who were born and lived first
receive theirs last. And those born last come in first. The
illustration of the "valley of dry bones" in Ezekiel 37 shows the
whole House of Israel -- those spiritually blinded who lived and died
without a chance -- resurrected in mortal bodies to mortal life, as
before. It shows their understanding being opened -- the knowledge
coming to them for the first time. Then God puts His Holy Spirit
within them, and they are saved!
Those Who Died Unsaved
And so it follows, now, that most of our loved ones who have
died unsaved in all probability did not die lost. In all
probability they were not called, during this age. But their call
is coming later. They shall be resurrected back to life, and given
their fair chance. And you, if you are called -- if God reveals this
wonderful truth to your mind -- are having your one and only chance
now -- your chance to prepare and fit yourself to be used of Christ
in the loving labor of helping to save them, then!
Oh, what great meaning we begin to see in the Christian life!
What glorious purpose! What grave responsibility! Will you make
your calling and election sure?
And now, in the light of this wonderful revelation of truth,
we should be able to understand this matter of "predestination."
What "Predestination" Is Not
Very few understand what "predestination" is. First, consider
what it is not. There is no teaching in the Bible that says the
decision you are to make -- your final fate of becoming either saved
or lost, is already pre-determined, and that you are destined
finally to arrive at that fate.
Absolutely no text anywhere in the Bible says anyone is
predestinated to be lost.
But doesn't the Bible say anything about predestination?
Certainly. But it does not say what people seem to think. People
seem to think it says we are predestinated to be either saved or
lost. Some to be saved -- others to be lost.
Let us read the only texts in the Bible speaking about
"predestination." And see if you can find anything in any of them
about anyone being predestinated to be lost. The difficulty is that
people have assumed and taken for granted what is not true.
There are just four places where the word "predestinated"
occurs in the Authorized Version.
Romans 8:28-30: "And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to
his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to
be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate,
them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
Ephesians 1:4-5, 11-12: "According as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the
good pleasure of his will ... in whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we
should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ."
Notice, none of the places in the Bible where predestination
is mentioned says anything about anyone being predestinated to be
LOST -- predestinated to reject Christ. No one is predestinated to
make a certain decision -- to accept or reject Christ -- to be saved or
lost. But some have been predestinated to be called to salvation,
now!
When We Were Called
Of those called now, in this age, notice when we were called!
II Timothy 1:9: "God, who hath saved us, and called us with an
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began."
And, as in Ephesians 1, quoted above, notice carefully what it
says:
God chose us in Him, when? "Before the foundation of the
world"!
"Having predestinated us" -- what for? To be lost? No, "unto the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ."
"Being predestinated according to the purpose of him who
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Were any
predestinated, then, to be lost? Is it God's will that any be lost?
He says it is not! Then can't we see that "predestination" has
nothing to do with whether we shall be lost or saved -- with our
decision -- with our ultimate fate?
Notice carefully, now!
"Being predestinated ... that we should be to the praise of his
glory, who first trusted in Christ." Those predestinated are the
first to trust in Christ -- merely the first preliminary
soul-harvest.
And now do you begin to see the glorious truth -- that
predestination has nothing to do with your making a decision or
your fate -- it has only to do with the time of your calling -- whether
you are called now, in this age, or later.
Notice it in the passage in Romans 8:28-30:
"For whom he did foreknow ...." How great is God! If you are
one now called, God "foreknew" you. And "whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate" -- to be lost? No, "to be conformed to the
image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many
brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also
called ...." Not will call in the future -- called, now, in this age.
There it is. Note it.
"Whom he did predestinate, them he also called."
Predestination has to do with being called. Not with being saved or
lost. Those now being called, in this age, were foreknown, and
PRE-destinated to be called now -- to be the first to put their hope
in Christ. All others have their call later.
God does not decide for you, in advance, whether you shall be
saved or lost. He did decide far in advance which ones He would
call in this first calling, to be a priest or a king in His Kingdom
-- to have part in the saving of others.
How wonderful are God's ways, when He opens our understanding
to reveal them to us.
Let us make our calling and final election sure. Let us not
grieve over departed loved ones who probably were not called, in
this life. God is able to raise them up again. They will come up in
the Great White Throne Judgment. And in that judgment, the book of
life shall be opened, and many shall then find it. Judgment, now,
is upon the true Church of God -- those now called (I Pet. 4:17). And
we are later to judge the world!
The overwhelming majority on earth today are neither saved nor
lost. Their chance has not yet come. This is not their time. But it
is coming as certainly as God's Word is true.
This is not the age when Christ is desperately contesting
Satan as to whether all humanity shall be saved or lost. If it
were, as most seem to believe, a controversy for souls now, between
Christ and Satan, then Satan surely is winning the contest, and a
one-sided contest it is.
But Satan is not more powerful than God. We near, now, the
close of the sixth working day of Satan's week. Soon will come "the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Satan shall be chained, Christ shall
rule -- and preach, and save! .