Expert: Cooper P. Abrams III - 11/5/2010

Question
my friend goes to a church called compass bible church in aliso viejo. his church believes in predestination and that God choose few people to go to heaven and most of the world to be condemned to hell. he uses i believe a verse in romans and Ephesians 1 to say that we are dead in sin and that we have no choice in the matter of our salvation. and that we have free will in the sense that we, no matter what will choose sin. he believes that if god chose you to go to hell based on predestination,his response is a "sucks for you" thing.another thing he uses alot and so do other members of the church is that if God gave us the ability to chose him over sin, that that takes away glory from god. they says this because they think that if this we true, that in heaven we would say that we are in heaven because we only choose to and they claim that that is why predestination is true.

But i dont believe that Jesus would condemn people according to Calvinism and that God does in fact give people the choice to chose him over sin, and through him, we are able to do that.  he also believes in irresistable grace and that if we were gods choosen ones we are forced to go to heaven.

i read your blog at bible truth titled is calvinism or Arminiism biblical? i think it makes much sense and that it clearly states though verses from the bible that calvinism predestination is not biblical. my friends strongly argues that Calvinism is biblical and not my view. he uses convincing verses to that are on the compass bible church website under   what we believe on the right side of the site. click get to know us to get to what we believe section.

i hope that you can provide me with undeniable evidence thorugh the bible that calvinism is a lie and a misunderstanding of the bible  like in ephesians 1.

could your also state what you think the bible meant biblicaly by saying we are gods elect, we were predestined and choosen by god. and what foreknow and foreknoledge biblicaly means.

thank you and please respond quickly

Answer
Hi Robbie,
  Thank you for your good question.   The answer is this.   God is omniscience meaning there is nothing He does not know.    Does He know who will accept Him and or will reject His grace....certainly He does.
  However the problem with you friend's logic is that Calvinism teaches that because God is sovereign He can choose to send a man to heaven or hell.   Calvinism says that God withholds He grace from all but the few He chose in the past to saved.  He also chose in the past to send most of the world to the Lake of Fire and does not allow them to be saved.   That is totally inconsistent with God being love, meaning desiring the best for His creation.

  Further election and predestination are not to salvation but to what God's plan of accomplishes in the life of the believe.  God does not elect or predestinate anyone to be saved or lost.  A careful study of the verses where these two words occur will show this.  For example:  

    "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. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."   (Ephesians 1:11-14)

  Like the above passage God predistinates what salvation will accomplish in the life of the one who believes.  Above..."that we should be to praise of His glory...who first trusted in Christ."  Further believers are given an inheritance.    

 God's elect are those who believed....not those He chose to be saved by some decree in the past.  The elect are those who believe and by faith have trusted in Jesus Christ.  Therefore God saved them and placed in His plan, and the believer inherited God's purpose for what salvation would accomplish.  We are saved by grace....not election or predestination.

  Every where the words "election and predistanation" are use it is always to something that is the result of being saved....never to being saved itself, which is strictly by faith (Ephesians 1:8-9)

  I hope this helps....If you have further questions or comment please write.  I would also encourage you to carefully reread the article again.
Thanks
Cooper Abrams
Romans 12:1-2