Sermon Audio Archive

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

  

FROM: 11/24/02 Radio Program

Question:

Some members of my family say God knows what we will do (and therefore we have no free-will). Others say that we choose which path to take in life. Could you help clear up the confusion?

Answer:

First of all, do not allow people to say things for which they have no Scriptural support. If one tells you that God somehow predetermines a man's life without his consent, then challenge this one to prove it by the Scriptures. (I Peter 4:11; Colossians 3:17)

In truth, God's foreknowledge has no bearing on whether or not man has free-will. The Bible states that man has choices to make in this life. Moses spoke to the Israelites and said, "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19). At the end of his life, Joshua said to the people: "choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15). Not only did Joshua tell the people to "choose," but he told them the choice he and his family had made.

Foreknowledge and predestination are two separate things. I know the "religious" world likes to lump them together as if there are the same, but they are not. When the Bible speaks of predestination (Ephesians 1:4-5), the context declares that God predestinated the Savior. He did not personally "hand-select" people to be saved. Ephesians 1:3-14, which speaks about predestination, places great emphasis not on men, but on Christ through whom redemption is made possible. We see this as we note such phrases as: "in Christ" (v. 3, 10, 12), "in Him" (v. 4, 10), "Before Him" (v. 4), "By Jesus Christ" (v. 5), "In the beloved" (v. 6), "In whom" (v. 7, 11, 13), and "through His blood" (v. 7). The emphasis is not on men, but is on Christ our Savior, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy!

When we think of predestination, the prophecies of the Old Testament are a good example of what we are talking about. Though God predestinated that a Savior would come into the world, He did not force men to obey or disobey in order for prophecy to be fulfilled. God had the foreknowledge to see men voluntarily obeying his will (Just as He can see men voluntarily disobeying His will!) and through these obedient ones, He predetermined that Christ would come, and die for us that we might have a home in Heaven. God's foreknowledge did not deny anyone their free will then, and it does not do that today. Sometimes subjects like this are hard for human minds to comprehend. Please understand that this is OK. We're not expected to know every nuance of God's power in order to be saved. Our responsibility is to "fear God and keep his commandments" ( Ecc. 12:13; Acts 10:35). Our responsibility is to accept God's word "as is" and follow it to the best of our ability. Thank God for the plan of salvation He has predestinated since the beginning, and let us be thankful to God that He has given man the choice to obey Him and be able to go to Heaven when this life is over!

* Related Articles *

If The Lord Knows Us Before We're Born, Does He Know What We Will Choose?