Introduction
Being a relatively young Christian has led me to question many things in my journey with God so far. The most concerning one to me would be that of predestination. Being the only Christian in my family, I often worry about the salvation of my family and close friends. My worries eventually led me to a misconception of predestination and, as the days went by, convinced myself of it. As a result, I stumbled many times as I would often question the sovereignty of God and the plan that he has for me. Toxic questions such as “Does God plan save my family?” and “Did I make the right decision to follow Christ?” often crept into my mind which further reduced my faith in Him. Thankfully, God answered my prayers and put me in STEP where I came to realize many truths that eventually helped me out of this toxic pit. As such, I have decided to write about how I came to understand predestination in the right context which boosted me out of this pit and reaffirmed my faith in Christ.
The Great Commission
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, New International Version)
Of the many commands that Jesus has given us through his 30 years of ministry, the great commission is one of the most prominent. This is a command that none who has made the decision to follow Jesus is exempt from. Furthermore, the great commission requires disciples to not only lead someone to come to Christ, but also to accompany them in this journey of faith till they eventually become someone who is able to carry out the mission themselves (Bradley, 2017). However, the command itself is difficult to obey as it challenges Christians to step out of our comfort zones and be brave in spreading the Gospel. Personally, I have found this to be a struggle due to my lack of understanding of the faith which led to a lack of courage to even step out of my comfort zone for fear of rejection. To make matters worse, my misconception of predestination played a major role in further assuring my cowardly self to stay put within my comfort zone as I had somehow convinced myself that spreading the Gospel was unnecessary.
The Misconceptions of Predestination
God is omniscient and omnipotent; therefore, it is only logical to think that even before our creation he has already foreseen who will be saved and who will not. If that is the case, then is there a need for me to step out of my comfort zone and evangelize? For me, this misconception had assured me that it was simply pointless to spread the Gospel as the people who will be saved had already been decided. This eventually festered in my heart and twisted my view of living a Christ-like life. I was convinced that no matter what I did, God would eventually still save those he wants to save with or without my involvement. Therefore, there was no need in spreading the Gospel and I could just carry on doing what I enjoyed doing in church and in my life. The festering eventually took a toll on my faith in God as I could not see past this paradox, why send us out to all nations and make disciples when He already knew who would be saved? I struggled with this thought and it led me to question different areas of the faith and left me on shaky ground in my relationship with God.
What is Predestination?
Predestination, as the word itself suggests, is defined as “the act of God foreordaining every event from eternity” due to the omniscience of God ("the definition of predestination", n.d.). This includes the people who will receive salvation and those who will not.
In a lecture by Rev Peter Chan, I realized that like many others, I had misunderstood the concept. The concept of predestination should not be perceived through the lens of justice but instead through the lens of mercy and grace from God (Chan, 2018). This is because we must first accept that it was us who had sinned against God. Therefore, the lens of justice would not make sense as the just decision would have been to annihilate us. However, despite the sin that we committed against Him, God still chose to give us salvation which is why predestination is an act of grace and mercy from God. Through this understanding, it helped me fully realize that our salvation is truly a gift from God that no amount of human effort can ever earn. This realigned my faith in God and rebuilt my faith on solid rock.
Reconciling Evangelism and Predestination
After having understood properly what predestination meant for us, a mentor further explained to me how predestination plays an important role in evangelism. In 1Corinthians 3:6-9, it states that “6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building (1Corinthians 3:6-9, New International Version).” This became an encouragement for me as it affirmed me that no matter the outcome, I played a part in it. It is precisely because God has already predetermined the people who would be saved that I can go and spread the Gospel freely as God’s people were already among those that I would spread the word to. Furthermore, it allows me to glorify God through spreading the Gospel as He is the one who gives us salvation.
Conclusion
Throughout these three weeks, the lessons and fellowship that I had through STEP had reaffirmed my faith and helped cleared the doubts and queries I had about God. I had also learned much about the Presbyterian denomination as well as other important aspects of the faith such as apologetics and the importance of accountability. I pray that God will continue to use me and this fellowship of brothers and sisters in his kingdom and that we will continue to glorify God in all that we do.
References
Bradley, J. (2017). 40 Verses about Evangelism | Jesus Film Project. Retrieved from https://www.jesusfilm.org/blog-and-stories/40-verses-about-evangelism.html
Chan, P. (2018). What is Presbyterianism. Lecture, STEP.
The definition of predestination. Retrieved from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/predestination
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