The greatest of these is love...

Over the past few months, I have found myself enveloped in an ongoing discussion concerning a topic of great dissension in the body of Christ: predestination.

What challenges me most in this discussion is that the two sides are coming from two different seats of emotion: predestination has a more logical, analytical structure originating in the mind and in a direct interpretation of Scripture, while free will arguments tend to originate more in the emotive parts of our reasoning.

Now, as far as I am able to discern, the main verses in support of predestination is found in Romans 8, mainly verses 29-30, which in the NKJV read, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

I can see their point.

It makes logical sense to me that these passages could be interpreted to mean that God has called a select number to repentance and has put a cap on salvation. It even makes sense that God cannot have given us free will simply because He already knows what's going to happen, so what's the point?

But since when was anything in Christianity based on solely logic? The whole idea of faith is that it is "substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen."

John 6:40 records Jesus as saying, "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Everyone, eh?

I find it intriguing that Paul, who spoke so avidly of predestination in Romans 9 would write in Romans 10: "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For 'whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.'"

Whoever? Or only those who are called and predestined? A predestinatarian would say that this is explicable because only the chosen would feel compelled to call on the name of the Lord.

Again, I could see that.

But the one thing that I cannot agree with or even really grasp about the doctrine of predestination is the incongruency I see in the biblically-established character of God: 1 John 4:8 states that "God is love."

1 Corinthians 13, known for its poignant definition of love, leads me to isolate a few characteristics of Love; it "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."

This is the part where I depart from the strict use of scripture and begin to use a few concepts that I learned in geometry class: the idea of proofs.

If God is love, and love hopes all things, is it a stretch to say that God hopes that all might be saved? Too abstract, maybe?

Sidebar: If a believer in predestination is witnessing to someone, can they honestly say "Jesus loves you"? What if it turns out they are not "chosen"? If Jesus loved them, would He not have chosen them for salvation as well? Does God love those He condemns to eternal suffering by not choosing them as one of the elect? Just a thought.

How about the idea that we are all made in God's image (Genesis 2)? If God made each of us in His image, why would He who "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" decide that only a select few of His creation were salvageable?

A predestinarian friend of mine recently elaborated on the idea that because God is all-present and all-knowing, the notion of free will would insinuate that a human could change the mind of God.

In my mind I have an image of God that seems to be quite different from this description. I see God with a script of the future. I can hear Him calling to each person, telling each of His creations, "Here is the script. Are you sure this is what you want? This isn't how I want it to be! But as soon as it's sealed, the choice is permanent!"

For we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). At some point in our lives, we were all in that place of disgrace, in that separation from God. But that voice of Mercy calls out to each of us, telling us, "NO! This isn't how it has to be!"

As the old song says, "The love of God is greater far than tongue of men can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell."

I have decided after much consideration that I do not and cannot believe in the Calvinistic concept of predestination. And if I err, I err on the side of love. For "Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away" (1 Corinthians 13:8).

Maybe I'm simply an affective fool, but "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise" (1 Corinthians 1:27).

For these reasons, I will continue to love everyone and live in hope that everyone has the chance of being my brother or sister in Christ.

Blessings to all.