Foreordination

Does God by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass?

We should consider this false doctrine very close, because if indeed this false doctrine were somehow true, there is no doubt that it would be unnecessary to spend our time or labor to encourage the sinner to repent of his ways and turn to God. It would be fruitless to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19ff), because it would matter not; God has unchangeably fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass. We could actually ignore the commands of Jesus.

Actually, I think it would be impossible for man to err because whatever he does is compelled by God’s foreordination and therefore cannot be wrong. If God has ordained everything, then anything we do, good or bad, is ordained by God.

Think about it…

If it comes to pass that a man lies, God not only ordained it, but he unchangeably ordained it.

If it comes to pass that a man steals, God unchangeably ordained it as well.

What if a man kills his neighbor, well… God unchangeably ordained it.

Despite the fact that God does not tempt anyone...

James 1:13, 14 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Let’s consider for a moment the story of Cain…

Genesis 4:8-11 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.”

It came to pass that Cain killed his brother Abel and as we can read, God placed a curse on Cain for killing his brother. Why did God curse Cain? Was it not by the most wise and holy counsel of God’s will and did God not freely and unchangeably ordain that Cain should do the very thing that God cursed him for?

How does God deal with what He commanded in Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.” Yet, Cain murdered and it was by God’s will according to those who believe the false doctrine of predestination.

God further commanded…

Exodus 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery.”
Exodus 20:15 "You shall not steal.”
Exodus 20:16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

God has clearly forbidden things which actually do come to pass. How can it be that He has unchangeably ordained them? Considering the divine character of God, how is it that He would unchangeably ordain something to come to pass and at the same time forbid it? Then He threatens the guilty with everlasting punishment?

Psalms 145:9 “The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.”

Psalms 145:17 “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.”

Despite God is “good to all”, that “his mercy is over all he has made” and He is “righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works”, according to this false doctrine, those that do what He has unchangeably ordained for them to do will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction. How can any sane individual possibly believe this?

If God unchangeably ordained that a certain person on a certain day should do a certain thing, then that person has no power to resist doing that certain thing. If somehow that certain person were to avoid doing that certain thing, then that person would have changed God’s unchangeable decree. That person had more power to change God’s decree than God had to enforce it. Only the insane could believe such silliness.

Let’s not forget the false doctrine in question here… God has not only from all eternity ordained just some things… He has unchangeably ordained all things…. whatsoever comes to pass.

God has ordained that a person should not kill, yet people kill. He has ordained that a person should not steal or bear false witness, yet people steal and swear falsely every day.

God does not force anyone to keep his ordinances, but He will indeed punish them if they do not keep them.

Let’s consider what Paul wrote…

Romans 13:1,2 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”

There is no authority except from God… the authority that does exist has been instituted by God. As we see, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed/ordained. But how can anyone successfully resists that which God has unchangeably ordained as this false doctrine would imply?

Let’s now consider Jonah chapter 3…

Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you." So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish." When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:1-10)

God told Jonah to say, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!"

This was a decree or ordinance of God, yet it did not come to pass. Note that “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.”

What God ordained was in fact changeable… not unchangeable.

Consider 2 Kings 20…

“In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.'" (2 Kings 20:1)

It was ordained of God that Hezekiah would die… he would not recover from his sickness. Yet, what do we see happen?

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, "Now, O LORD, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: "Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD, and I will add fifteen years to your life. (2 Kings 20:2-6a)

Hezekiah prayed and God heard his prayer. What God had previously ordained was changed and fifteen years added to Hezekiah’s life. What caused God to change His mind? Hezekiah’s prayer and tears! What God had ordained was in fact changeable.

There are many other examples throughout the Bible of things ordained of God being changeable… which would thwart any theory that everything that comes to pass is unchangeably ordained. It is impossible to harmonize such a theory with the Bible.

This false doctrine would have God grieving over His own foolishness. Is God really foolish? Consider the following…

Genesis 6:5,6 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

If God fore-ordained everything that comes to pass, He fore-ordained every thing the early people did… why then did He grieve over their wickedness when every act was of His own absolute and eternal ordinance? God would be grieving over His own folly.

Let’s consider the following to further see the silliness of this false doctrine…

Jeremiah 7:31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

Jeremiah 19:4,5 Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind--

If in fact God fore-ordained every thing that comes to pass, He fore-ordained these things we read of in Jeremiah because they came to pass. God said He did not command them, he did not decree them, nor did they come into His mind.

Please, anyone supporting this false doctrine, enlighten me as to how God fore-ordained things which never entered His mind.

What sense could be made of the sin of Adam? God made him and placed him under law. It came to pass that Adam violated God’s law when he ate of the fruit that God commanded him not to eat. If God fore-ordained every thing that comes to pass, then He fore-ordained that Adam should eat the fruit, because it came to pass that Adam did in fact eat of the fruit. God and the law decreed that he should not eat, yet God ordained that he should eat. Either Adam eats and violates the law or he does not eat and changes the unchangeable decree of God. It is apparent to eat and violate the law was a necessity, yet God punished Adam for it.

If this false doctrine is true, then the entire theory of sin, accountability, rewards and punishment, which are all in harmony with God's justice and mercy… is totally and utterly incomprehensible. Clearly this false doctrine is at war with the Bible and is in fact proven to indeed be a false doctrine.

God bless you!
Sonnie Parker