Now we know there is a preplanning with God. We each have a book written with our purpose in it. (Jeremiah 1:5, Acts 17:26-27, Psa 139:16-18)
But we see that this written book has multiple pathways depending upon our actions. (2Sa 12:7-12, Jer 15:19)
We also see that God does not have perfect knowledge of how man will act (Gen 6:6-7).
So the discussion will now focus on the scriptures used by Calvinism (a doctrine which I disagree with), to say that man is assigned as saved, or unsaved status before the earth was created. Let’s look at the first one.
Romans 8:29-30 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. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called*; whom He called*, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
*call, summon, invite
Foreknew, there is no denying that God foreknows each of us. That there is a degree of planning with God. But where this plan is laid down is not known, it could be one generation before we were born, or it could be at creation or both.
I argue that God calls all men, to the truth, all men to repent (Acts 17:30). I believe that all men are predestined to life, all men are called, but only those who respond are saved, some choose to blind themselves (John 15:24, Mat 23:37).
We see from the Greek definition of the word call, that it means to “call out to”, summon, or invite. The meaning to invite, or summon, fits with the idea of God calling out to men in Christ. We might all be predestined, but only those who accept the invitation will receive life.
Eph 1:4-11 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
Ephesians (above) also talks about this choice. Calvinistic thought will say that is a definite choice, that God selects some and not others. But the choice here could be referring to the method God will use to save men, faith. God still “chose us”, because of our faith, we were chosen by our response to Christ.
We know that Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world (1Pe 1:20). This does not mean his body was slain before creation, but rather the method was selected before creation. In the same way, the choice of who would be saved was chosen before creation began, we were predestined. We were called to “be holy and without blame before Him in love”.
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