Here is a summation from a detailed study;
The concept of predestination falls very neatly into the overall plan of God. God knows every choice that we will make and under every circumstance that we will make this or that choice. He knows in advance who will believe in Jesus Christ. His foreknowledge of such things is like a mother who knows her 5-year-old son. Every parent knows at a very early age that their son or daughter has free will. We may know this child’s predilections, but their free will is all theirs. We know that when we tell this 5-year-old son, “Do not touch the burner on the stove” that, 3 minutes later, we will find him moving a stood over next to the stove so that he can pull himself up to stove level and touch that burner. Our foreknowledge of what he will do does not mean that we have control over this child’s free will. We just simply know our own child and what he will do, and often, we account for that when it comes to guiding him in life. A clever parent may tell his son, “Now, Johnny, listen to me carefully; I do not want you to do...” And, as we expect, 3 minutes later, he is doing exactly what we told him not to do, and he hurts himself, and while we comfort him, we remind him, “Now, I told you not to do that. I am your father [or mother] and you need to listen to me and obey me when I tell you not to do something.” And children like me, after we burn our hands for the umpteenth time (or whatever), we finally catch on. Just like a mother knows her own son and what he will do, God knows us perfectly and how we will respond to His calling. Since He knows how we will respond, he predestines us to be conformed to His Son and He predestines us to function according to His purpose and His plan. Predestination is not a difficult topic; we just have to read what the Bible actually says on this subject, in context, and apply a little common sense.
The concept of predestination falls very neatly into the overall plan of God. God knows every choice that we will make and under every circumstance that we will make this or that choice. He knows in advance who will believe in Jesus Christ. His foreknowledge of such things is like a mother who knows her 5-year-old son. Every parent knows at a very early age that their son or daughter has free will. We may know this child’s predilections, but their free will is all theirs. We know that when we tell this 5-year-old son, “Do not touch the burner on the stove” that, 3 minutes later, we will find him moving a stood over next to the stove so that he can pull himself up to stove level and touch that burner. Our foreknowledge of what he will do does not mean that we have control over this child’s free will. We just simply know our own child and what he will do, and often, we account for that when it comes to guiding him in life. A clever parent may tell his son, “Now, Johnny, listen to me carefully; I do not want you to do...” And, as we expect, 3 minutes later, he is doing exactly what we told him not to do, and he hurts himself, and while we comfort him, we remind him, “Now, I told you not to do that. I am your father [or mother] and you need to listen to me and obey me when I tell you not to do something.” And children like me, after we burn our hands for the umpteenth time (or whatever), we finally catch on. Just like a mother knows her own son and what he will do, God knows us perfectly and how we will respond to His calling. Since He knows how we will respond, he predestines us to be conformed to His Son and He predestines us to function according to His purpose and His plan. Predestination is not a difficult topic; we just have to read what the Bible actually says on this subject, in context, and apply a little common sense.
