Predestination is one of the most hated and debated doctrines in the Bible. Yet, Charles Spurgeon said, “I am persuaded that the doctrine of predestination is one of the ‘softest pillows’ upon which the Christian can lay his head and one of the ‘strongest staffs’ upon which he may lean in his pilgrimage along this rough road.” If that’s true, why is the doctrine of predestination avoided, demonized, and reserved for esoteric studies or theological debate? Consider these five reasons why predestination should be preached on Sunday morning to the gathered church.
The Church Needs Depth
The calling of a pastor is to feed God’s sheep. As the church is gathered together, God expects that the whole counsel of God will be preached—not just clever sermon series and topical studies.
Many churches have a shallow view of the way church discipleship should be approached resulting in evangelistic sermons on Sunday morning, more serious doctrinal sermons on Sunday evening (if the church gathers on Sunday evenings), and real serious doctrinal teaching on Wednesday evening when the majority of the church is not present.
This is the most popular structure for preaching and teaching in evangelical circles today and it has caused many local churches to be a mile wide and an inch deep theologically speaking. In other words, you can find many large local churches that know John 3:16 by memory and can walk you down the Romans Road, but they don’t possess a good handle on biblical theology. The idea that you have to grow your church by evangelism on Sunday mornings will have a negative impact upon the church in the long run.
While the church needs to grow bigger, it must grow deeper first! If the members of the church lack proper knowledge of key biblical truths (like predestination), how will they be able to make disciples in the first place? Remember, in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20), Jesus anticipated that the process of making disciples would involve teaching grand truths like the Trinity because he issued the Trinitarian formula of baptism (in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit) which implies that people would be teaching the Trinity early on—rather than several years after their baptism during a Wednesday evening Bible study.
Predestination is in the Bible
The word “predestinated” in Romans 8:29 comes from the Greek term “προορίζω” meaning “to decide upon beforehand, to predetermine.” It’s a compound Greek term made up of two words:
- Pro – Before
- Horizo – Determine
This word literally means to determine before hand. No matter what theological gymnastics are performed to get around it, predestination has a meaning that cannot be overlooked or sidestepped. It’s in the Bible for a reason and it’s not reserved for a seminary class.
A number of years ago I was serving as a pastor in Kentucky when a woman visited our church on a Sunday morning. She introduced herself to me after the service and stated her reason for visiting. She said, “I have come to understand that my pastor believes in predestination.” I kindly informed her that not only was predestination in the Bible, but I actually believe it as well. I never saw that woman again after our short conversation. I can hope that she returned to her church and sought to listen to her pastor as he preached the Bible. Far too many people are looking for pastors who will teach them what they want to believe rather than what the Bible actually says (remember Paul warned Timothy about that in 2 Timothy 4:3-5).
It may come as a shock to many believers who have been shielded from the doctrine of predestination as if it’s a dangerous doctrine, but it’s actually a biblical truth that must be preached to the church. It should be preached even on a Sunday morning. Likewise, it must be understood that Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus (and the surrounding cities) by encouraging them in the opening chapter regarding their salvation in Christ and he pointed to the core truth of predestination (Eph. 1:5). He didn’t save it until the last chapter nor did he avoid the subject altogether. It must be pointed out that Paul didn’t reserve the doctrine of predestination as a subject for a theological debate. Instead, he wrote about it and used it as a means of encouraging the church. That’s what biblical doctrine is designed to do by God—encourage the church.
Predestination Points to a High View of God
Have you ever visited a city where a large statue was standing tall in the town square or maybe you’ve visited the Statue of Liberty at some point? The statue appears large as you are a good distance away, but as you draw closer to the point of standing below the massive structure, the statues seems to get bigger and bigger. The more you study the doctrine of predestination, the bigger God seems to be. This is the way Bible truth works. We will never learn so much about God and his saving grace that he becomes small and casual to us.
The doctrine of predestination points to a high view of God. The truth of God’s ability to predetermine the salvation of wretched and guilty sinners who deserve hell is a glorious truth that reveals the bigness of God—a grand subject for a Sunday morning sermon.
We would not want to board an airplane where the pilot advertised to everyone that he only understood about 85% of the instruments on the control panel in the cockpit. We want a confident pilot who possesses a robust knowledge of the entire airplane. In a more serious way, we don’t want to paint a low view of God who doesn’t know everything nor does he have the ability to control everything. This is the view often taught within local churches through a faulty definition of foreknowledge in Romans 8:29.
The word foreknowledge has far more in mind than God looking through the tunnel of time to see what people will do. In fact, the focus isn’t on God learning anything (remember, God doesn’t learn anything) and it’s not focused upon the actions of man. Rather, it’s focused upon the fact that God foreknew people (see Gen. 4:1 and Amos 3:2 as examples of the use of know as more than intellectual comprehension)—not their actions. In other words, God chose beforehand to shower his love on specific people for his glory. This choice of God’s love is connected to God’s work of predetermining that they would be saved.
A high view of God’s sovereignty and his sovereign grace leads to joyful worship and faithful obedience and service to him. In other words, a proper understanding of predestination will increase the depth of our worship of God.
Predestination Crushes Pride
Sometimes people have specific privileges in life that cause them to boast about it. It’s common in the world to see people with great wealth boasting about it, bragging about it, or parading it openly through exotic vehicles, fancy homes, and exquisite boats. The doctrine of predestination should do the exact opposite.
A number of years ago after the salvation of a young man in our church, he was baptized and then presented as a member before the congregation. After the service, I heard a man in the church approach the new convert and say, “Congratulations on your decision to follow Christ.” While it is true that the young man decided to follow Jesus, what’s even more important is that God first decided to love him and worked out a million or more details to bring him to the point of a public profession of his faith in Christ. Before we choose to love God, we must remember that God first chose to love us (1 John 4:19).
A proper understanding of predestination crushes pride. The truth of predestination crushes the idea that we do our part and God does his part in salvation. God will not share in the glory of saving sinners. Salvation, as Jonah said, is of the LORD (Jonah 2:9). He alone will be praised for the saving of dead and helpless sinners.
Predestination is at the Core of the Doctrine of Salvation
The Christian life is a journey of faith whereby we study and learn about the God who has saved us. In fact, that’s what theology is—the study of God. As we study and learn about the saving grace of God, we must learn about the doctrine of predestination.
Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and for the glory of God alone. The study of predestination places the cause and effect of salvation squarely on the sovereignty of God. How can dead sinners cooperate with God to work out our salvation? The fact is, salvation is not a partnership between man and God. From eternity past to eternity future, salvation is a work of God.
- God the Father chooses us.
- God the Son dies for us.
- God the Spirit causes us to be born again.
- God the Spirit convicts us and convinces us of sin.
- God the Spirit draws us to Christ.
- God has predestined that we will be glorified in eternity future.
Salvation is not man made. We have no right to glory in the work of salvation. It’s totally a work of God and we are the recipients of grace and we respond to God’s work of salvation. Any true study of salvation will have a proper focus on God’s work of predestination.
What a great sermon subject for a Sunday morning!
