For hundreds of years, and perhaps even since the first century AD, Christians have debated an important question concerning how a person obtains salvation and eternal life. The specific debate I am referring to centers on two competing views of how a person comes to faith. One view says that God causes, or predestines, people before they are born to come to faith in his Son, Jesus, and that there is nothing a person does or can do to affect that outcome. This view is referred to as Predestination.
The opposing view says that people come to faith of their own free will—they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and choose of their own volition to either believe it or reject it. This view is referred to as Free Will.
It is common to hear these two views referred to by the names of the men credited for championing them. Predestination is often called Calvinism after a French theologian by the name of John Calvin (1509–1564), and Free Will is often called Arminianism after the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609).
The KJV Bible uses the word predestine/predestinate on four occasions. It is translated from the Greek word proorizō (Strong’s G4309). Strong’s Concordance describes this word in the sense of predetermining something, to determine or appoint something beforehand. The question of whether or not the Bible teaches the existence of predestination comes with a simple answer: of course it does! The challenge for the student of the Bible is determining exactly what the Bible means when it speaks of predestination. The real question, the question that for centuries has confused people and has caused debate and division among believers, is this: Did God predestine certain people to faith and salvation, thereby predestining others to unbelief and condemnation?
In his book Am I Predestined? Or Free to Choose?, Mr. Reid offers an abundance of scriptural evidence showing that God did not predestine people to faith (or unbelief), but that each person must make a choice to either believe or not believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Perhaps the greatest scriptural proof in favor of the doctrine of Free Will is the undisputable fact that God desires all men and women to be saved. First Timothy 2:4 says, God “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth,” and 2 Peter 3:9 says, God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” In his book, Mr. Reid presents many compelling arguments in favor of the doctrine of Free Will. In addition, he addresses numerous verses commonly used to support the doctrine of Predestination and explains the true meaning of those verses. If you have an interest in understanding what the Bible teaches regarding Predestination vs. Free Will, I highly recommend that you read this book. It is easy to read. It is very Bible-centric and God-honoring. And it is sound in its teaching that people come to faith in Jesus as an act of their own will …they hear the gospel, and they choose to believe.
