I'm really struggling with the idea of predestination for a select few that God ahs set aside to be spared the torments of eternal hell-fire.
As i udnerstand it, all are guilty of sin and fall short of the glory of God. Therefore all deserve hell, but God through his mercy and grace has permitted some individuals to be with him in his kingdom, whilst all the rest burn in hell.
So before a person is born, God ah decided where they will go when they die, but what if a person who is pre-destned to go to hell becomes a Christian? is it in vain. Also, what if a person who is pre-destined for heaven becomes an athiest. Where is the justice, and mor eimportantly where is their room for free will?
You see, if we don't ahve free will then we are not responsible for what we do wrong because we are destined to do it and it is unavoidable so surely then we canot be held accountable, except for the fact that if we are destined for hell then we are held accountable for what ever we do, wether we repent or not.
I'm jsut struddling because pre-destination seems to horribly unfair and God is not unfair.
Clearly Paul believed it and Martin luther and John Calvin both believed it, so sicne it has a solid gorunding in scripture, i canot jsut dismiss it as some ind of invention of the reformation.
God is NOT fair. God is JUST.
To understand this is the beginning of an answer to your question. If you can't understand it, then you will never know the answer.
The Bible is full of examples proving God isn't fair. It's also full of examples showing God is just.
'Fairness' is a relative human term. It is not of God. Fairness doesn't even mean the same thing from one man to another. One man's fairness is another man's unfairness. God's ways are not man's way. God's justice is on God's terms, not those of humanity. If you would seriously pursue understanding of the doctrines of Calvinism vs. Arminism then you must abandon your preconceptions of human fairness. They do not apply to the ideology at all.
The basic concept for examination here is
free will. Can a man freely decide to accept or reject Christ as his savior or is he preconditioned and preprogrammed?
Calvinists say that man is preconditioned - no such thing as free choice (see TULIP - the 5 points of Calvinism).
Arminism states that man has the ability to freely accept or reject Christ. (see Prevenient Grace)
Both ideologies accept the idea that man is unable to desire, seek or accept God by man's own efforts. This is referred to as
the doctrine of total depravity. Man cannot of and by himself seek God. Man is completely and totally unable and unwilling to do so. All of man's nature is bent upon sin. Since man cannot will himself to love or seek God or to do so much as repent of his sins, man needs help.
Enter Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit convicts a man of sin, thus leading him to the first step in the process of redemption - repentance. Unless a man repents of his sins he cannot see God. Period. The Holy Spirit needs to show a man what his sins look like TO GOD.
The scholarly version of this is to examine the law. Breaking the law is sin in God's eyes. It shows man his sin - but cannot save. The law is like looking in the bathroom mirror to discover how dirty one's face is. The mirror of the law convicts of sin, but neither mirror nor law can save. You need soap and water for that. The spiritual equivalent of soap and water is the blood of Christ and the water of baptism.
Having repented, by means of Holy conviction, the man is led - again by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the point of accepting or rejecting Christ. Accepting Christ (enabled by Jesus' blood shed on the cross), results in salvation - the continuation of the work of redemption. Rejecting Christ ultimately results in damnation - hell.
Calvinists believe that God has determined AND MANIPULATES a certain group, called the elect, to accept Christ BEFORE the individuals are elevated by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to do so. Basically Calvinists state that the individual is preconditioned unto salvation. The word is predestined.
Arminists believe that man goes through the same process EXCEPT that when presented with the opportunity to accept Christ the man is allowed to freely choose to accept or reject Christ. Free will. The process of conviction before conversion remains the same as does the process of sanctification afterwards.
It should be clearly understood that Calvinists (Presbyterians/Lutherans) and Arminists (Baptists/nonDenominational) AGREE at all points except at the point where the person is elevated by the Holy Spirit to accept or reject Christ.
But where does divine justice enter into this process?
According to the doctrine of
total depravity ALL MEN deserve damnation. God's JUSTICE enters into the situation when God decides to save man from his own sin. Man deserves hell, but God's justice has determined to save.
Finally, it should be pointed out that scripture has been used like some sort of tennis ball or religious ammunition to attack both positions. The debate has raged for centuries and is no closer to resolution than the day Jesus died on the cross. Scoffers use nothing except a perverted sense of human fairness.
The truth may never be realized until Jesus returns. Even then, Our Lord may not choose to satisfy the debate at all or perhaps by saying something like 'what is that to you?' or 'it's none of your business'.
As an aside, I personally know men who have been elevated to the point of decision and who have said "thank you very much, this is all very nice but I don't want it." As for me and my family, we shall serve the Lord.
but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...