So do you believe this is the order of things:
1. God made us before the foundation of the world.
2. God looked at our future, in which he as absolutely no impact on, to see what we would do.
3. God then predetermines our reward or punishment based on what he foresaw?
Do I have that right? That seems to be what you are saying. First, to think God gives us freewill without his interfering doesn't seem correct when we can look at Jonah, Balaam and Paul and easily see that God can pull some mighty strings in our beliefs. These three (and there are plenty more) don't seem like they had free will in everything they did.
God doesn't have a whole lot to say otherwise on why or how people believe. I know he does at times give some strong influence to the issue, but for you to say God foreknows and then predestinates doesn't seem to have a lot of support. It is simply a statement of convenience to those who want "free will".
Not exactly. I'd say it goes something like this...
1. God chose to make the universe with free-will agents.
2. At the moment he made this choice, he foresaw all that would happen with that creation and thus his plan to redeem them and glorify himself in Christ.
3. He predetermined the final penalty of sin and the ultimate reward of those who put their faith in Him and in the work of Christ and foresaw all those who would put faith in Him and those who would not.
3. God created the world.
What needs to be understood is that God
does have an impact on our future. That is part of his plan. We were destined for destruction apart from his intervention in Christ, just as the Israelites were destined for destruction apart from his splitting the Red Sea. However, what needs to be understood is that God's intervention does not negate our free-will choices, in fact, it enables it. The reason the wicked are punished is because they have chosen to reject God and what is good. If the OT teaches us anything, it is that God's fury is aroused by sin and wickedness. God grieves the evil choices of men and this is why he judges them. The idea that God has foreordained man's evil acts makes all of the outrage from God in the Scriptures appear as mere acting. Why would God be outraged about something he determined/caused to happen? It would be like me going up and shoving a boy who then hits a girl and knocks her down. How could I get angry at the boy for knocking the girl down when I was the one who initiated the scenario and the boy was simply part of the domino effect?
The brilliance of God is that he does intervene and he does foresee all the future. Yet in all of his understanding and intervention, he does not remove human volition. We are accountable for our actions because they are our actions, not his. Yet, although our actions deserve death, he has made a way by which we can be saved. Although even in this salvation which is his work and not ours, he still provides us with the power to choose. I believe that part of being made in God's image is that we exercise a level of personal autonomy that allows us to exert personal will and free choice, just as God is free and not constrained by anyone else in his decision making.
First, to think God gives us freewill without his interfering doesn't seem correct when we can look at Jonah, Balaam and Paul and easily see that God can pull some mighty strings in our beliefs. These three (and there are plenty more) don't seem like they had free will in everything they did.
Yes, God does interfere. In fact, at times he removes free will. We see often in the OT that when the people of Israel or other nations rejected God's words, God hardened their hearts and made them blind to the truth so they could not repent. There does come a point of no return. However, these are part of God's judgments on rebellion and should not be confused with God causing human rebellion. As for Israel, Jonah, Paul, etc. .. God does select instruments for his purposes. Just as God chose Israel for a purpose, God does exert his authority in selecting peoples or individuals to push his plan for humankind. However, this plan and purpose of God should not be seen as removing free will. If anything, the examples you give show the opposite. God chose Balaam to be a prophet, yet, Balaam, by his own volition chose to try to use that calling for personal gain and he became an example of a chosen vessel of God falling away because of his own wickedness. On the other hand, Paul was chosen by God to be an Apostle to the Gentiles. Yet even Paul makes it clear in his writings that although he was chosen for a purpose, that he had a responsibility in the matter. In fact, Paul talks about how he beats his body and makes it his slave so that after preaching to others, he wouldnt be disqualified for the prize (1 Cor 9:27).
So, we see, that even these "chosen" instruments had the capacity to obey or disobey, and God's choosing them for a purpose did not mandate their salvation. God can use a person as an instrument for his cause (as he did Pharaoh) and still not save the person. This is what Paul is talking about in Romans 9. God chose Israel for his divine purpose, but that purpose did not mandate Israel's salvation. Salvation comes by faith and if a person (even a person chosen as an instrument for a specific purpose) does not seek grace through faith...they will not be saved. We must not confuse God's use of people to carry out his plan as removing free will or mandating salvation for those chosen vessels. This is what Israel's hangup was and why they were refusing to come to faith in Christ. They felt they were saved by virtue of how they were made rather than their free-will choices. Paul goes to great lengths in Romans 9-11 to show that God has always operated by faith and that "true Israel" has always consisted of those people who chose to trust God rather than merely those who were chosen by God to fulfill a purpose.
