DO YOU FOLKS BELIEVE IN PREDESTINATION?

The answer to that question is "Yes" and "No". No, we do not believe what many people say we believe about predestination. But, yes, we do most assuredly believe what the Bible teaches about predestination. God predestinated us to be his children (Eph. 1:5). He predestinated us to an eternal inheritance in Christ (Eph. 1:11). And he predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29).

                According to the Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 1:3-14, all the blessings of Divine grace flow to us through the hands of Christ by God's eternal,  loving purpose of predestination. That is to say, our election, our adoption, our forgiveness, our regeneration, our acceptance, our redemption, our faith, our perseverance, and our eternal glory are the result of God's eternal purpose of predestination.

                We know that God's purpose will stand, because he has both power and wisdom sufficient to accomplish what he has purposed. He works all things after the counsel of his own will. The salvation of his people is not left to chance, or to the fickle will of man. It is accomplished by the power of God, according to the eternal purpose of God. Child of God, your salvation may have taken you by surprise; but it did not take God by surprise. In eternity he loved you and chose you as an object of mercy. In sovereign predestination he purposed the time of your salvation and all the circumstances required to bring it to pass. Then, in the fulness of time, he accomplished his eternal purpose and saved your soul.

                You see, in this matter of saving sinners, God has so arranged things that every detail will be, "To the praise of the glory of his grace". Divine predestination is a glorious doctrine. Do not be afraid to embrace it. This is a solid foundation for every believer's faith, hope, assurance, and security. And it magnifies the Lord our God.