Questions relating to predestination

***The following is my response to an email I received through AOMin.

Hello Jennifer,

It sounds like you're asking three different questions: (1) Does the Bible teach that God fore-ordained to save a certain group of people? (2) Does God desire to save all men? (3) If God fore-ordained all those He would save, why preach the gospel?

Each of these are excellent questions.

Does the Bible teach that God fore-ordained to save a certain group of people? Yes, it does. Ephesians 1:3-15, "³ 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, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love ⁵ He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight ⁹ He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him ¹⁰ with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him ¹¹ also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, ¹² to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. ¹³ In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. ¹⁵ For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints," (NASB)

In verse 3 Paul informs us that God blessed "us" with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Verse 4 explains that God chose the same "us" before the foundation of the world. Then in verse 5 we see that God predestined this same "us" to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. If you follow the pronouns you discover that the "us" and "you" are referring to the same group of people throughout: God's elect people.

Your next question: Does God desire to save all men? I believe that God desires that all men repent from their sins, that is, that God demands that all men everywhere should obey His Law (Acts 17:30-31). I also believe that God desires to deliver only His elect people from their sins (2 Peter 3:1-9 - God is patient toward "you" which refers only to believers). This means that God desires the end-result of His own fore-ordained will. Reformed theologians describe this as the "two wills of God."

Finally, If God fore-ordained all those He would save, why preach the gospel? The foremost reason Christians preach the gospel is because we are commanded to preach the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20). Secondly, God has not only predestined the ends, but also the means to accomplish those ends. So just as God has determined to save some underserving sinners, He also determined to save those sinners through the proclamation of the gospel (Romans 10:14-15).

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

In Christ,

Casey Ryan

AOMin