Predestination

Election is an awesome truth. It is the greatest implication of grace and love ever revealed. Let us continue to follow the trail of this great grace.

Romans 8:29-30

29 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.

30 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.

Having known us beforehand, the Lord selected or elected us to be partakers of His grace or divine favor. The presentation of that grace is Jesus Christ. He is the grace to all generations. It was He who retrieved the souls of the elders of old. It is He who will apprehend and preserve our souls today.

If we are going to truly understand this grace, we must remember that election is strictly according to the love and foreknowledge of God. Having known us before, He predestinated or pre-determined that we should be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. He determined that we would be made in the likeness and image of Jesus, forsaking the image of Adam.

IMAGE

(b) of regenerate persons, in being moral representations of what God is,

Colossians 3:9-14

9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

Ephesians 4:24

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

(c) of believers, in their glorified state, not merely as resembling Christ but representing Him, or rather manifesting Him.

Romans 8:29

29 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.

1 Corinthians 15:49

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Here the perfection is the work of divine grace. Believers are yet to represent, not something like Him, but what He is in Himself. This is done both in His spiritual body and in His moral character.

(d) of Christ in relation to God, , "the image of God," i. e.,

2 Corinthians 4:4

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Colossians 1:15

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

John 14:9

9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;

This is essentially and absolutely the perfect expression and representation of the Archetype, God the Father; in Col. 1:15 "the image of the invisible God" gives the additional thought suggested by the word "invisible," that Christ is the visible representation and manifestation of God to created beings; the likeness expressed in this manifestation is involved in the essential relations in the Godhead, and is therefore unique and perfect; “he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father,"( John 14:9).

(From Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c) 1985).

EXAMPLES OF PREDESTINATION

I believe once again that the Apostle Paul taught the most vivid accounts of predestination. Let us look to him again for more clarity on this subject.

Romans 9:10-16

10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;

11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)

12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

If we read this story alone, we might miss the intent of the writer here. Before the children were born, the Lord declared that He loved one and hated the other. Now for all practical purposes, the Lord has to have a reason to hate anyone. This is the work of His foreknowledge. He knew these fellows before they were born and merely responded to their disposition. The Father knew that they both would be sinners and devious in their ways. However, He also knew that Esau would have no respect for God’s grace in his life, which was given with his birthright, whereas, Jacob would wrestle with God all night long to receive a divine blessing.

Therefore, the Lord predetermined how He would use each of their lives to work inside of His eternal purpose. Thus, the purpose of God will stand by election and not of works. The will of the man, or the strivings of man, matter not. It is the election of God according to His divine purpose that prevails. Based upon His foreknowledge, God will have mercy on whom He will and likewise destroy whom He will.

Romans 9:17-21

17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

These same principles of predestination apply here. The Lord knew the heart and mind of Pharaoh before time. Therefore, He simply used him to fulfill His purposes. Here He tells us of His purpose, “To show forth His power and that His name might be declared throughout the earth.” Beloved, the Lord knows every heart and mind that will live upon this earth. With this knowledge, He is able to use His power over us to predetermine how we will fit inside His eternal purpose. The choice of whether we will be vessels of honor or dishonor still remains with us. Therefore, it is not profitable to be angry with God for decisions we make concerning our attitude toward Him and righteousness.

Romans 9:22-23

22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

The Lord long-suffers with vessels who have rejected His ways. These are fitted or prepared for destruction, while He uses their rejection of the truth to magnify that same truth in the vessels of mercy. He is an awesome God! It is already predetermined that the chosen are to be conformed to the image of Christ Jesus. All died in Adam and all live in Christ. This is the loving opportunity the Father gives the sons, to live again. The plan is for the Church to manifest Christ on the earth. It is to make men aware that God is real, Jesus is alive and life can only be found in Him.

To fulfill the call, we must walk in the Christ who has apprehended us. There is no other way to manifest Him in the earth. God is no longer winking at the sins of man. He is calling all to repentance, for time is running out for the world. These are the last of the last days (the last days being the last two thousand years of a six thousand year human occupancy of planet Earth). Beloved, I truly desire that the testimony of my brother Paul becomes that of my own. “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” I love you so much, Mary Banks, Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ