Your question was Is it true that people have a destiny? I answered no, and as you pointed out, yes you do have a choice, therefore God does not cause or prevent you from serving Him, it is your choice. Deut 30:19,20
Deu 30:19 "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.
So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
NASB Eph 1:11 also we have obtained an inheritance,
having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
Net Eph 1:11 In Christ we too have been claimed as God's own possession,
29(G2820) since we were predestined (G4309) according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will
29 tn Grk "we were appointed by lot." The notion of the verb κληρόω (klēroō) in the OT was to "appoint a portion by lot" (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klēronomeō] meant "obtain a portion by lot"). In the passive, as here, the idea is that "we were appointed [as a portion] by lot" (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words "God's own" have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: "In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance." See H. W. Hoehner,
Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.
Word study G2820
κληρόω
klēróō; contracted
klērṓ, fut.
klērṓsō, from
klḗros (G2819),
a lot. To cast lots, determine by lot, i.e., to determine something, choose someone. In
Eph_1:11, it means, "in whom the lot has fallen upon us also, as foreordained thereto . . . to be" (a.t.). The idea expressed here is that Christians have become heirs of God due to the fact that God predestined them according to His purpose. In a manner of speaking, the "lot" fell to believers not by chance but solely because of the gracious and sovereign decision of God- Almighty to select them to be His heirs.
Deriv.:
prosklēróō (G4345), to give or assign by lot.
Word study
G4309
προορίζω
proorízō; fut.
proorísō, from
pró (G4253), before, and
horízō (G3724), to determine. To determine or decree beforehand (
Act_4:28;
Rom_8:29-30;
1Co_2:7;
Eph_1:5,
Eph_1:11). The peace of the Christian Church has been disrupted due to the misunderstanding which surrounds this word. It behooves the Church to consider the divinely intended meaning of this word by carefully examining the critical passages where it is used.
In
1Co_2:7 it has a thing as its obj., namely, the wisdom of God. The purpose was our glory, i.e., our benefits of salvation.
In
Act_4:28 the verb is followed by the aor. inf.
genésthai (
gínomai [G1096], to be, become), to be done. The action of Herod and Pontius Pilate in crucifying Jesus Christ is said to have been predetermined or foreordained by the hand and will of God.
This indicates that Christ's mission, especially His death and resurrection, was not ultimately the result of human will but originated in the eternal counsel of God which decreed the event determining all its primary and secondary causes, instruments, agents, and contingencies.
Joh 6:44
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws (DRAGS) him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
NASB Act 13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they
began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord;
and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
CEV Act 13:48 This message made the Gentiles glad, and they praised what they had heard about the Lord.
Everyone who had been chosen for eternal life then put their faith in the Lord.
NASB: Pro 20:24 Man's steps are ordained by the LORD, How then can man understand his way?
Net Bible: Pro 20:24 The steps of a person73 are ordained by74 the LORD — so how can anyone75 understand his own76 way?
Pro 20:24
73 tn
Heb "the steps of a man"; but "man" is the noun גֶּבֶר (gever, in pause), indicating an important, powerful person. BDB 149-50 s.v. suggests it is used of men in their role of defending women and children; if that can be validated, then a translation of "man" would be appropriate here. But the line seems to have a wider, more general application. The "steps" represent (by implied comparison) the course of life (cf. NLT "the road we travel").
74 tn
Heb "from the LORD"; NRSV "ordered by the Lord"; NIV "directed by the Lord."
sn To say that one's steps are
ordained by the LORD means that one's course of actions, one's whole life, is divinely prepared and sovereignly superintended (e.g.,
Gen_50:26;
Pro_3:6).
Ironically, man is not actually in control of his own steps.
75 tn The verse uses an independent nominative absolute to point up the contrast between the mortal and the immortal: "and man, how can he understand his way?" The verb in the sentence would then be classified as a potential imperfect; and the whole question rhetorical. It is affirming that humans cannot understand very much at all about their lives.
NASB Jer 10:23 I know, O LORD, that a man's way is not in himself, Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.
Net Jer 10:23 LORD, we know that people do not control their own destiny. It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them.
CEV Jer 10:23 I know, LORD, that we humans are not in control of our own lives.
NASB Rom 9:11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad--in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls-- she was told, "The older will serve the younger."
CEV Rom 9:11 Even before they were born or had done anything good or bad, the Lord told Rebekah that her older son would serve the younger one.
The Lord said this to show that he makes his own choices and that it wasn't because of anything either of them had done.
It's all destiny, you just don't know it!
Belief is a GIFT - Phil 1:29 - "For you have been
granted [the gift] to grant as a
favor for Christ's sake not only to
believe in Him, but also to suffer in His behalf."
Faith is a GIFT - Eph 2:8-10 - "For it is by free grace (
God's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [ the gift of]
faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [
not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [
It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.] For we are
God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [
born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [
taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which
He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
Paul
