Predestination, and God's Sovereignty over his creation, and his own words, preclude humans having moral agency and free will above and beyond what God has said he has predestined, preplanned, due to his will for us, and due to his zeal for his own glory.
Do we really believe what God says in his word?
“All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitude in PARABLES; and without a parable spoke He not unto them.” Matthew 13:34
“But without a PARABLE spoke He not unto them…” Mark 4:34
“This PARABLE spoke Jesus unto them; but they understood not what things they were which He spoke unto them.” John 10:6
Why? Jesus tells us.
“And when He was alone, they that were about Him with the twelve asked of Him the parable. And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables.
“That seeing they may see, and not perceived: and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted and their sins should be forgiven them. And He said unto them, Know ye not this parable? And how then will you know all parables?” Mark 4:10-13
“And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why do you speak unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto YOU to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is NOT given.” Matthew 13:10-11
Which is then the meaning behind these words of Jesus:
“Many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14
Jesus said, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.” John 15:16
Acts 13:48 "When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.”
Ephesians 1:3-6 and verse 11 “Praise be to [God], who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. [...]11. In him we were also chosen having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”
Romans 8:28-30 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
Isaiah 29: 15 Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?” (*free will? Not according to this)
16 You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,
“You know nothing”?
Isaiah 45:9-11 (*For those who think to argue against the scriptures and claim, "God didn't mean it that way!" , take heed:
9.“Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker,
those who are nothing but potsherds
among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
‘What are you making?’
Does your work say,
‘The potter has no hands’?
10 Woe to the one who says to a father,
‘What have you begotten?’
or to a mother,
‘What have you brought to birth?’
11 “This is what the Lord says—
the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
Concerning things to come,
do you question me about my children,
or give me orders about the work of my hands?
How do we worship God, claim we read his word, and then argue he didn't actually mean what is said there? Maybe because our deeper consciousness from God knows he hasn't called us? And we, acting as the many (all) who are called, thinking insisting we're of the few he has chosen, predetermined in his Book of Life, makes it so?
Hearken back to Matthew 13:10-11 when reading this. Context is everything.
1 John 2:18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
How do we know we're his chosen?
When we're dead and at the judgment. Then we will know if we are one of the many. Or one of the few.
Meanwhile, it is given to us to judge, using righteous judgment, when we encounter one another as to which of those two categories we may fall into.
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.
Matthew 12: 36-37 “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned”
Hebrews 11
Proverbs 12:6
The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the mouth of the upright delivers them.
Particularly telling in forums:
1 Peter 3:15 “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”