Acts 13:48

[fuddy]

This one's a favorite with the predestination folks, and understandably so. It seems to clearly communicate a sequence:

1 - Some people are first 'appointed' to eternal life.
2 - As a consequence of that initial appointment, they then 'believe'.

Do all people believe? No. Apparently, according to this passage at least, one must first be appointed to eternal life in order for that person to believe and therefore be saved. No prior appointment, would mean no capacity to believe, with no possibility of salvation.

So if the only way to believe is to be appointed to eternal life by God, and God only appoints a few people to eternal life, why does God throw all the people he does NOT appoint into hell? They're condemned to hell because they don't believe - they don't believe because God won't appoint them to eternal life so that they can receive the ability to believe - so they CAN'T believe, because God Himself is denying them the ability to do so... HUH???

 

[VeritatisVerba]

This one's a favorite with the predestination folks, and understandably so. It seems to clearly communicate a sequence:

1 - Some people are first 'appointed' to eternal life.
2 - As a consequence of that initial appointment, they then 'believe'.

Do all people believe? No. Apparently, according to this passage at least, one must first be appointed to eternal life in order for that person to believe and therefore be saved. No prior appointment, would mean no capacity to believe, with no possibility of salvation.

So if the only way to believe is to be appointed to eternal life by God, and God only appoints a few people to eternal life, why does God throw all the people he does NOT appoint into hell? They're condemned to hell because they don't believe - they don't believe because God won't appoint them to eternal life so that they can receive the ability to believe - so they CAN'T believe, because God Himself is denying them the ability to do so... HUH???

Such doctrines make God out to be arbitrary. The bible teaches the opposite, that God is just.

As for being appointed to eternal life...

If you purchase a plane ticket, you, by virtue of that purchase, are appointed to airplane flight. The owners of the plane have determined, in advance, the plane's destination. They have "predestined" it to arrive at a particular place at a particular time. If you then board that plane, you share in it's predetermined destiny. If you fail to board it then you don't. The people who own the plane don't have to have known that you even exist much less whether you would choose to board the plane.

Likewise, the Body of Christ (i.e. the class or group) has been appointed to eternal life. If you become a member of that group then you share in that group's predetermined destiny. In short, all biblical predestination is about groups of people, not particular individuals.

 

[Frankj]

I would pose a question here before commenting since it it pivotal in my way of understanding scripture:

Does every part of the Bible have to be compatible, harmonious, with every other part of the bible for the Bible as a whole to be true?

 

[jswauto]

compatible, harmonious

✦ If God is the Author, the Bible cannot contradict itself​

If Scripture is “God‑breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16), then:

• God cannot lie (Titus 1:2)
• God cannot contradict Himself (Mal. 3:6)
• God cannot speak confusion (1 Cor. 14:33)

Therefore:

Every part of Scripture must ultimately agree with every other part in meaning, doctrine, and truth.​

Not because human writers were perfect, but because the divine Author behind them is perfect.