IS THE WILL OF HUMANS CONTROLLED BY GOD?

Si_monfaith said:

This question is about God's foreknowledge.

Does God foreknow a person's sin from His eternity past?

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Yet, you are not explaining those verses I presented on Free Will. If you want to be fair in handling the truth, you have to look at the whole counsel of God's Word, and make a case for your defense in all of what it says. God's foreknowledge = future foreknowledge. God can elect based on his future knowledge (or foreknowledge). So if God sees men doing something in the future of their own free will towards God, He can say that these men are "elect" or chosen ahead of time. God is one step ahead of man. We see God's foreknowledge and election mentioned in 1 Peter 1:1-2.

Si_monfaith said:

If God does not desire the death of the one who refuses to believe, what is the need to harden his heart?

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Sometimes a hardening of a heart leads fast to their own destruction, seeing that they have rejected the truth and never will accept it. If God knows that they will not accept the truth ever, then hardening their heart will serve in a way to protect God's people in some way. We see this happen in Exodus. Pharaoh hardened his own heart first, and then God hardened his heart giving him more of what he wanted. This action helped to lead the Israelites to go free. Pharaoh may not have done what he did if it was not for an increased hardening of his heart that he set into motion by his own hard heart to begin with. God knew Pharaoh better than he knew himself. Pharaoh ended up destroying himself by his refusal to accept the Lord's terms of setting His people free. Pharaoh did not have to harden his heart in the beginning before God hardened his heart based on him hardening his own heart. Nowhere will you find in Scripture whereby God hardens a person's heart without their initial refusal to hear the things of GOD and or without their hardening their own heart. God does not randomly zap people to have a hard heart based on nothing that they did prior.

In fact, what is the point of hardening a person's heart further if they are incapable of hearing the truth, and or understanding it? It makes no sense to harden dead men's hearts if they are already hard hearted and incapable of understanding truth.

Si_monfaith said:

This question is about God's foreknowledge.

Does God foreknow a person's sin from His eternity past?

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Of course God knows all things. But knowing about what will happen does not equate with God forcing them to do such a thing. God can know about an event that will happen, it does not mean He agrees with that event that takes place (even though He may allow for it to happen). It's why there will be a judgment. God will judge men later. But in Calvinism, the judgment does not really make any sense. It would be like creating a robot to kill and murder, and then later putting that robot on trial for murder and to punish the robot (even though that is what the creator designed it to do). In other words, in Calvinism, the judgment is not really a judgment but it is a joke or a farce. It's not really real because God is the one who has placed them there to be punished. Do you think a court trial that would convict a person for their crime would be wrong if the person did not actually had any control over what they did. For example: If the person was mind controlled or hypnotized to do a particular crime and they have no memory of the event, would it be fair to punish them? In your view, they must be punished and that must be fair.

Si_monfaith said:

Romans 9:29 "And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha".

The seed or the remnant were the predestined elect of God.

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Calvinists see the words "predestined" and "elect" and they interject their own Calvinistic bias into those words. Nowhere does Scripture define these words as Calvinists do.

Also, keep reading past Romans 9:29. The point here is about Israel's rejection of their Messiah. They are stuck in their false Pharisee religion that attempts to make salvation all about the Law with very little to no grace (and a rejection of their Messiah that they missed). Re-read the whole of Romans 9 again with Israel in focus and their rejection of the Messiah and the chapter becomes more clear. Do not read it with a Calvinist bias. Read the chapter in light of the context. The context of Romans 9 is that it is talking about Israel and how they rejected God's grace through faith in Jesus.

Si_monfaith said:

When God prevents a person from sinning & not prevents another from sinning, it is simply evident that He has predetermined the other to sin to fulfil His eternal plan.

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This is wrong. God is good (Matthew 19:17). There is no darkness in God (1 John 1:5). God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

You said:

Bible never says God prevented only Abimelech from sinning. That is your false assumption.

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*Sigh* I am not saying that there may not have been other occurrences throughout human history where God prevents a person from sinning as a part of God's greater plan for good. The point here is that others sin as a part of God's permissive will, and not as something that He has decreed must take place. God does not want people to sin because God is holy, righteous, and good. He that commits sin is of the devil. If God desired man to sin (as a part of His decree) in certain cases, then God would be guilty for breaking His own rules. But such a thing is not possible because God is good, and holy, and perfect and trust worthy.

You said:

Now, if you had no knowledge of good and evil inherited from Eve in Eden, you simply cannot differentiate between sinful & good acts.

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I am aware of this. I don't see what that has to do with the point you are making here. I believe Adam and Eve were like golden retrievers before the Fall. I believe they were generally good natured because God said His creation was good, but that does not mean they were not capable of making an error in judgment. This does not mean God would allow Adam and Eve to do evil things that they would not be aware of. I think God would have protected them if they kept the one command. This is not a case for Calvinism because Adam and Eve had to keep God's command of their own free will. God being upset with them shows that God did not want them to sin. God allowed them to sin as a part of His permissive will, and not as some kind of decree that they must sin. God is good. You gotta believe that. God cannot decree evil or sin.

Si_monfaith said:

"You" is different from "jerusalem (Jewish leaders)". "You" is not "jerusalem". Let it sink in deep in you.

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It is talking about Jerusalem. Just read the beginning of the verse. He says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem." He is not addressing God the Father here or anyone else, but Jerusalem. But of course, this verse is problematic for Calvinism, and so you have to find a work around so as to make it say something else so as to fit Calvinism.

Thomas White said:

Repentance is the realization.

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I disagree. Here is my Biblical Case for Repentance mentioned on Christian Forums.

Bible Highlighter said:

You said, "Free will is a false ,carnal, philosophical notion.
Men have self will that is bound by sin." and yet you did not post any verses to back up this claim. Just giving your opinion is not the same as Scripture.

By your mention of John 8, I imagine you wrongfully read Calvinism into John 8:44 and John 8:47.

44 "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do."
47 "He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God."​

But is verse 44 saying that they are incapable of moving beyond the kingdom of the devil?

Is verse 47 teaching that they are not capable of hearing God's Word?

Not at all.

To address verse 44: Let's look at 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

9 "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).​

In Calvinism: God is the One who made them to believe not. But we learn from the Scripture here that they were damned because they believed not the truth. God is punishing them because THEY did not believe the truth. The point here is that they were damned because they believed not the truth, and they prefered to have pleasure in unrighteousness; They did not receive the love of the truth that they MIGHT be saved. So when we read the whole counsel of God's Word, we know that John 8:44 is not declaring that the Pharisees cannot move beyond the lusts of their father the devil.

As for John 8:47:

Let's look at Matthew 13:15:

"For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest [for fear that, or unless] at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." (Matthew 13:15).​

Understanding the definition on the word "unless":
https://www.quora.com/What-does-lest-mean-and-how-is-it-used-in-sentences

Okay, first, this verse above reads most naturally with the word "uness." Especially when you read the verse in harmony with the whole chapter. The point of this verse is saying that their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have close.... UNLESS.... at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears and they should be converted. There is no mention here about how God must convert them so that they can see and hear. In fact, a Calvinist does not even believe a person can see and hear without being converted first. Yet, this verse says the exact opposite. It says they can hear and see before they are converted.

Second, in John 8, it would be pointless for Jesus to tell the Pharisees anything if they had no capability to even hear, or do anything to change their situation. Why bother to preach to dead men? It would be like trying to preach against a wall or a rock. We also know that in Matthew 23:37 that Jesus said this,

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me." (Matthew 23:37) (NLT).​

Jesus desired to gather Jerusalem as a hen gathers its chicks beneath her wings, but those in Jerusalem would not let Him to do so. So those in Jerusalem were thwarting the will of Christ (Who is GOD).

So yeah, Calvinism does not make any sense when we read Scripture. From my perspective: You have to change, and or ignore Scripture in order to make it work.

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A fundamental Christian teaching must explicitly be stated which is man's default nature being carnal and unrighteous.

Our merciful and loving God is Benefactor, and we believers are beneficiaries

God is mercifully loving to save any of the rebellious persons, we beneficiaries

FOR the first nature of all men is enmity against God

MOREOVER, that first nature, the default nature, the enemy against God nature is sometimes referred to as the sin nature

AND that is just like the first man, Adam, from the earth, earthy (1 Corinthians 15:47)

FOR through Adam sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men (Romans 5:12)

AND respecting the first nature all people have no choice in the matter, all people enter life with the sin nature (Colossians 1:13-14, Colossians 1:21-22)

YET people in the first nature are incapable of pleasing God (Romans 8:8)

AND people of the sin nature cannot understand spiritual things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14)

SO God's regeneration of men in the renewing by the Holy Spirit results in a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17, Titus 3:5)

AND by the act of God, the old things passed away while the new creature has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)

AND the "old things", the first and default nature, is carnal/darkness/wicked/evil/dead/natural - in/by/of/for man

BUT the "new things", the God imparted nature, is Spirit/Light/righteous/good/life/eternal - in/by/of/for Christ

SO the "new creature" is made holy by the Holy God named Jesus Christ

AND the "new creature" is in Christ, and only the "new creature", we born again by God, are in Christ

AND in Christ all will be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22)

God's merciful and loving actions as Benefactor are beautiful

FOR the Son of God established the Testament (Hebrews 9:16, Luke 22:20)

THUS Jesus the Lord proved His position of Benefactor in the Testament (John 12:31-33)

Our gracious Benefactor produces divine choice of we beneficiaries unto salvation, for the Christ of us Christians says

"you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16) and "I chose you out of the world" (John 15:19)

SO, clearly, Jesus' words in John 15:16 and John 15:19 state God exclusively chooses us believers by/of/through God

Our gracious Benefactor produces beneficiaries' faith/belief in Lord Jesus, for the Christ of us Christians says

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29)

SO, clearly, Jesus' words in John 6:29 state for us believers to believe in Jesus whom the Father has sent is by/of/through God

Our gracious Benefactor produces beneficiaries' fruit of the Spirit/righteous actions/good works, for the Christ of us Christians says

"he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God" (John 3:21)

SO, clearly, Jesus' words in John 3:21 state fruit in we believers is by/of/through God

Our gracious Benefactor produces beneficiaries' birth by the Holy Spirit, for the Christ of us Christians says

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:5-8)

SO, clearly, Jesus' words in John 3:5-8 state we believers being born again is by/of/through God

We beneficiaries are blessed receivers from the amazingly awesome Benefactor

THE BENEFACTOR ESTABLISHES A DEEPLY LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BENEFICIARY. PRAISE BE TO THE LIVING GOD!

There is no level that a person can choose Lord Jesus

BECAUSE He said "You did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16) and "I chose you out of the world" (John 15:19)

AND Jesus, Lord and God (John 20:28), did not provide any exception for choosing toward Jesus

AND Lord Jesus speaks to all believers in all time because He also said "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word" (John 17:20)

AND All these words of Jesus are at the same supper

SO all glory is God's

AND with man, salvation is impossible (Matthew 19:25-26)

AND all glory in the salvation of man is God's (John 15:5, Isaiah 42:8)!

CharismaticLady said:

Two different things. Man has free will and there is no assurance it will agree with God's will seeing as not everyone is saved, but it is not God's will that any should perish.

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There is no free will,and it is God's will that multitudes perish.

The context of Romans 9 is Romans chapter nine properly exegeted (post in this thread).

Lord Jesus decisively states "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29).

Your explanation is an attempt to void the Word of God. Faith/belief in a believer is the work of God, thus says Jesus Christ.

Your word "accept" in reference to Peter means that you claim Peter chose Jesus; however, Lord Jesus said "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16).

Your explanation is an attempt to void the Word of God. Jesus Christ left no latitude for a person to choose Jesus - it cannot be done.

God said "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED", and God meant what God said.

Your explanation is an attempt to void the Word of God. You try to disassociate the individual salvation aspect.

Your final paragraph is replete with your imagnination, not the Word of God.

Bible Highlighter said:

The context is again Israel. Just read the beginning of Romans 9. Yes, this does include a point for individual salvation because Paul desired for Israel (Which is made up of individuals) to accept Jesus as their Savior. The whole point of the chapter is their not accepting their Messiah, Jesus, and His grace over their false Pharisee religion. Both Jews and Gentiles can now be saved by God's grace. It is true that God's grace (Justification) is not an aspect of salvation that involves works of righteousness that we have done, but it is based upon primarily by His mercy and grace by faith. Yet, Jesus does essentially say that the work of God is to believe in Him. "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6:29) (Note: This appears to contradict Paul's statement in Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4:2-5, and Titus 3:5 but Paul was referring to "Man Directed Works Alone Salvationism" that did not include God's grace; Also while God's grace through faith is called a work by Jesus, when looking at this aspect of salvation in light of Sanctification, it is an aspect of salvation that based primarily upon God's grace and mercy and not a major work of effort on our part like in doing works of righteousness so as to live holy in the Sanctification Process (that follows after being saved by God's grace). So in this sense, Grace through faith (Justification) is not a work even though it is called a work of God by Jesus.). But why would Jesus call believing in Him a work? Because faith in Jesus is something that you technically have to do in order to be saved. Belief is a mental action or work on our part, but it is not exactly like a physical work like works of righteousness in Sanctification.

So how can God say Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated?
Because 1 Peter 1:1-2 says that Peter was "elect" (chosen) based upon God the Father's foreknowledge. Foreknowledge means future knowledge. God the Father knew that Peter was going to accept Jesus as His Savior, and so Peter was elected by God the Father ahead of time in the fact that GOD knew what Peter was going to do. God could say ahead of time what Peter's choice was going to be. In this way, God can declare before Jacob and Esau were even born his preference over one or the other because GOD knew ahead of time what they were each going to do.

The Jews who rejected Jesus (Israel as a nation or whole) did not want to change and hear those Scripture verses that foretold of their coming Messiah. They did not want to see it. Not because God chose them to be blinded. It was their own choice to be blinded. For why even have a judgment if it was God who placed them there? It makes no sense. That would be like having a judgment for wolves because they ate some humans. The wolves cannot be condemned for something that is beyond their nature to do. It would be like a dog owner who kicks his dog across the room like a football because the poor animal poops on his nice white carpets because of an uncontrollable pooping problem. The dog owner kicks this poor animal even knowing that the dog is sick and cannot help but to poop. But the dog owner does not care. He simply kicks and punishes the poor pup even despite it having no control over its own capabilities. This is what you want me to believe about God. You want me to believe God is unjust and unfair. I mean, I shouldn't have to tell people that God is fair and just with a Bible, but if you need a Bible to teach you that, then by all means.... keep reading.

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CharismaticLady said:

A little of both I think. God predestined one nation to be His chosen people, but not all those who were among the predestined actually loved Him. The children of Israel were God's elect, yet some were cut off due to unbelief. Gentiles are not predestined, but foreknown.

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You do not seem to have any understanding of this, perhaps read up on it and check back with us.
Every elect person Jew or Gentile is predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son.

Bible Highlighter said:

Yet, you are not explaining those verses I presented on Free Will. If you want to be fair in handling the truth, you have to look at the whole counsel of God's Word, and make a case for your defense in all of what it says. God's foreknowledge = future foreknowledge. God can elect based on his future knowledge (or foreknowledge). So if God sees men doing something in the future of their own free will towards God, He can say that these men are "elect" or chosen ahead of time. God is one step ahead of man. We see God's foreknowledge and election mentioned in 1 Peter 1:1-2.

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That is an incorrect understanding of biblical foreknowledge.
It is wrong, mistaken, not true.
Biblical foreknowledge is of persons not events which has to do with omniscience.
In Roman's 8:29-30....4x is says WHOM He did foreknow....it does not say...What He did foreknow...but rather WHOM

ICONO'CLAST said:

You do not seem to have any understanding of this, perhaps read up on it and check back with us.
Every elect person Jew or Gentile is predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son.

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I don't study John Calvin, so no thanks. I study the Scriptures which you would do well to do also.

I am a Christian because I follow Christ.

I am not a Calvinist.

There is no rational thought behind your rebuttal here. The verses say what they plainly say as the no free will in the Bible post in this thread exhibits.

Joshua issues a series of commands:
- "Now therefore fear the LORD"
- "and serve him in sincerity and in truth"
- "and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt"
- "and serve ye the LORD"
(Joshua 24:14)

There is no mention of "choice" nor "free will" towards God in Joshua 24:14; furthermore, a command does not convey ability.

Next, Joshua expresses a conditional logic statement, and a conditional logic statement is normally an IF/THEN construct.

IF condition THEN predicate

Stated in a more focused fashion.

IF you_do_this THEN that_will_happen

Thus, the conditional expresses an action in the condition (you_do_this), and the effectual result in the predicate (that_will_happen).

A conditional does not convey ability to the recipient of the conditional.

Now, the conditional logic statement Joshua expressed was "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD" which contains no reference to "choice" nor "free will" towards God (Joshua 24:15). The conditional logic statement Joshua expressed states the condition/nature of the person.

In the predicate Joshua provides only false gods for those people whose nature is agains the LORD, for Joshua said "choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell" (Joshua 24:15).

Finaly, Joshua states "but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD", and there is no reference to "choice" nor "free will" towards God (Joshua 24:15).

All of your claimed proof texts fail to indicate free will - the words nor the concept exists in the verses including Revelation 22:17; therefore, you add free will to scripture thus you must be presented with the penalty specified by the Apostle John when he wrote "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book" (Revelation 22:18-19).

There is no level that a person can choose Lord Jesus because He said "you did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16) - Jesus, being God, did not provide any exception for choosing toward Jesus. Lord Jesus speaks to all believers in all time because He also said "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word" (John 17:20)! All these words of Jesus are at the same supper! All glory is God's! With man, salvation is impossible (Matthew 19:25-26)! All glory in the salvation of man is God's (John 15:5, Isaiah 42:8)!

Bible Highlighter said:

There is no rational thought behind your explanations here. The verses mean what they plainly say. I will just address just one of your explanations to show the irrational nature of your disregarding what the text says (to show the flaw in your reasoning in defending Calvinism).

In Joshua 24:15, you are not looking at the context in verse 14, and you ignored some words in verse 15. I will highlight in the Bible (because that is my username) those parts you are ignoring so as to demolish your unbiblical belief in Calvinism (Which is based upon the Canons of Dort, and the works of John Calvin).

14 "Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
(Joshua 24:24-15).

Notice in verse 14, Joshua tells them directly to fear the LORD and to serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and to put away the gods of their fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt. Joshua again says, serve ye the Lord.

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To all:

There is no point in me trying to keep refuting people argument's here if people are not willing to see the Moral problem in their own belief to begin with. I believe Calvinism paints a cold hearted version of God because He creates some people specifically to be tortured for His pleasure and or will. I am guilty of doing this, as well. I used to believe in a cold hearted version of God at one time, too. I used to think God would torment the wicked in flames for all eternity. While my conscience said one thing, the Word of God as taught by the church today said another thing. I even defended Eternal Torment at one time. But when faced with someone pointing out the Moral problem in my belief, I started to then label it as an unknown and I started to research the truth of what the Bible really said. Sure, at first glance the argument for Eternal Torment seemed solid, but as I dug deeper into what the Scriptures say, I discovered in time that Eternal Torment was not biblical and it put to rest my ever gnawing conscience that kept saying it was not correct deep down. At first, I did not want to hear it. I wanted to be correct in the church's eyes. But in time, the more I studied the Word, the more I realized that much of what the church teaches is not always biblical or moral or good. My encouragement to all here who are open to the truth for real, they should pray and ask God that what they believe about God is really true or is it just propaganda that they were fed by within their own church or a belief system that sounds more in line with your own way of thinking. God is good. Folks here need to really grab ahold of that truth and not try to ascribe immoral actions to God.

We must also believe the whole counsel of God's Word, and not just those verses or words in Scripture that we want to see that defends a view that comes from religious men that we respect. Christ is the head of the body and His Word is above what any man says.

Anyways, I say all I do with love and peace;
Please do not take personally what I say against you here.
I am merely attacking what I believe is the unbiblical belief and not any particular individual.
While certain individuals can help us to understand what Calvinism teaches, I am more interested in what the Word of God says. Most people today would not come away with the conclusion of Calvinism if all they had was a Bible. Do not let anyone kid you; People believe Calvinism today because they either read the works of John Calvin, or the canons of Dort, or they read from Calvinistic websites, and or they attend a Presbyterian church (or a church that teaches Calvinism).

In any event, may the Lord Jesus Christ bless you all (even if we may disagree).
I am moving on.
Peace be unto you all, as well.

With loving kindness to you in Christ,

Sincerely,

~J.


Side Note:

Yes, I believe in a literal hell. But I just do not believe the Lake of Fire is eternal. This is called "Dualistic Conditional Immortality." Check out this thread here at CF to learn more:

The Dualistic Conditional Immortality View of Hell

CharismaticLady said:

God predestined one nation to be His chosen people, but not all those who were among the predestined actually loved Him. The children of Israel were God's elect, yet some were cut off due to unbelief. Gentiles are not predestined, but foreknown.

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Perhaps God simply chose them to use them as an example to the rest of the world of what happens when a people put their own will before the will of God.

BNR32FAN said:

I think a better question might be why would man need to repent if God controlled man’s will.

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Absolutely.
To be guilty of sin, man needs complete freewill to make that choice.

Francis Drake said:

Absolutely.
To be guilty of sin, man needs complete freewill to make that choice.

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Without free will we could not be held accountable for our disobedience not that our disobedience would make any sense in the first place if we are under God’s “remote control”.

HTacianas said:

That leads us to a question brought up by Romans 8:

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Rom 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Did God predestine some to love Him, or predestine those who would love Him?

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The key word is "those who God foreknew".

God dwells outside of time, therefore He foreknows anyone and everyone in the distant future who would respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit on their hearts. But that foreknowledge in no way indicates God caused them to receive him or caused others to reject him.

And of course, those who would receive him would become his sons!
John1v12But as many as received Him, He gave to them authority to be children of God—to those believing in His name,

"Predestination" in v29 is entirely and only concerned with those who are now or his future sons. And that predestination refers to those sons becoming conformed to the likeness of his other son, Jesus, his firstborn.

There is no evidence God caused unbelievers to love him.

timothyu said:

Perhaps God simply chose them to use them as an example to the rest of the world of what happens when a people put their own will before the will of God.

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Jesus didn't see it that way.