Pre-Destination, God's Foreknowledge and Choice

God is not offering limited anything. If you think you are limited, you probably are, but God is not.

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John

You are simply spinning on the roundtable of TULIP now and it is not a pretty song.

I do understand though, that you cannot change your mind at this point. Even a fish needs help to pull out the hook when it is caught.

You cannot offer a biblical response to this confessional statement.
These gifted men knew the Lord and His word much better than you,that is why you cannot respond line by line.

You can repeat this passage over and over, but the exact same number of people are going to be saved.
God has already elected a multitude that He has purposed to save.
It is limited, but definite God has a plan that is infinitely wise.
No one alters Gods plan.

No one alters Gods plan.

You can repeat this passage over and over, but the exact same number of people are going to be saved.
God has already elected a multitude that He has purposed to save.
It is limited, but definite God has a plan that is infinitely wise.
No one alters Gods plan.

Have you looked into Molinism? It seeks to reconcile the apparent tension of divine providence and human "free will."

Here is a short study of mine which had been previously posted on this subject.

Predestination (based upon the foreknowledge of God)

Premise: God knows the beginning and the end, so therefore he must also know all that will occur within the entire expanse of time including everything that will occur in the middle, between the beginning and the end of time.

Predestination as discussed in the bible (below passages) can therefore be easily explained when taking into consideration the foreknowledge that God possesses as also noted in scripture, which factor is germane to the proper understanding of predestination but is most often, if not always, overlooked and not considered when examining/discussing predestination.
Further, based upon God’s foreknowledge, all things must therefore then be already determined (destiny/fate); how can they not be if God knows the future? How can God know the future if it is fluid, dynamic, and changes, unless such fluidity and change is part of His foreknowledge, which it obviously must be? If things were fluid, dynamic, and/or random and subject to unexpected or unknown constant change to God, God would not know what was going to happen in the future and would not be able nor have been able to predict future events through His prophets. So, if God does know what will happen in the future, the future must already be set or determined and unchangeable (destiny/fate).
This premise further has profound implications when considering things such as prayer. This would have to then mean that God knows that you will (future) be praying for something before you pray for it. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pray for it then, it simply means that the future is already known or has already been determined (due to God’s ‘foreknowledge’ of it), and your prayers, are simply fulfilling that which is already known to God and will occur as does everything else that occurs or will occur (also due to the “foreknowledge” of God). Whatever influences we think we have upon any given thing or subject through prayer or other actions, may in fact be as such, however, such influences are already known to God by His foreknowledge, and have therefore already been determined and are just the fulfillment of that which has already been determined will/should occur.
If God knows the beginning, the end, and as stated everything in between, then one can only conclude that all things have already been determined and are NOT able to be changed (destiny/fate) by prayer or anything else (once again due to the “foreknowledge” of God) and that all things that are done are so done in accordance with God’s plan and predicated upon and consistent with His “foreknowledge”. This is not to say that certain individuals were chosen first as being special or better than others and predestined accordingly, but rather means that once the plan was set into motion (the creation of all things), that the creation itself and related natural unfolding, sequential events, including the actions taken by individuals pursuant to the exercise of their own free will, would result in various things being done and events unfolding as a result thereof, but because God knows what those things will be in advance of them happening due to His “foreknowledge”, and predestination then being consistent with said “foreknowledge. Predestination then is successive to and in harmony with the “foreknowledge” of God.
Jer 1:5 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Rom 8 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
1 Pet 1:2 2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
Eph 1 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

Predestination isn't determined by the foreknowledge of God.

The explanation I heard at such a funeral was that "there are some things beyond our understanding", which is nothing more than a non-answer at best, and at worst an acknowledgement that God would predestine such a thing

I do not believe that God has a plan.

God has already elected a multitude that He has purposed to save. It is limited, but definite God has a plan that is infinitely wise. No one alters Gods plan.

How did you come up with this doozy? The Bible refutes this: Elect [predestined] according to the foreknowledge of God the Father... (1 Peter 1:2).

This is how man-made doctrines originate. Someone contradicts the Bible. No one bothers to correct that person. So he goes on to establish a false belief. Then someone else comes along and changes the plain meaning of "foreknowledge" (or some other critical word).

I never made a comment on what predestination means or how it manifests.

Predestination isn't determined by the foreknowledge of God. It is determined by the sovereignty of God. God has made choices which He then decrees. And because He has purposed a thing, it will come to pass. This also speaks to the omnipotence of God. Not only does He make sovereign choices, He possesses the power to bring them to pass.
It is not the omniscience of God that should be considered when broaching the subject of predestination, but the sovereignty and omnipotence of God.

Of course you did. This is what you said: "Predestination isn't determined by the foreknowledge of God." That plainly contradicts Scripture.