EE: Does the Bible teach predestination? That is, has God already ordained who will be saved and who will not? Do we have free will?
DMP: The Apostle Paul writes that God ‘chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will’ (Ephesians 1:4–5).
And again, ‘Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified’ (Romans 8:29–30).
Because God is not bounded by time, He can see into the future and the past. He knows who will be good material for His Kingdom. In Romans 9:21 He is likened to a potter selecting clay for different kinds of pottery. We are the clay. He puts the clay on His wheel and starts it spinning. How we respond to the pressure of His fingers will decide how we turn out. If we are hard and resistant (as were Israel, for example, in the analogy of the potter in Jeremiah 18:3–10), we shall be downgraded or thrown on the rubbish heap. If we accept the discipline of the Lord, we will turn out as a beautiful vase.
The point is, although God knows how we will turn out, He also knows that we do not know the future, so our responses to the crises in our lives, the temptations and the calamities, are entirely our own decisions. Remember, even God cannot make us love Him and obey Him. It has to be voluntary. And our voluntary love and obedience give Him pleasure.