“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
Predestination or freedom of choice – which is it? This is a question that has been raging for centuries. Calvinists and Armenians continue to debate this topic, with no apparent end in sight. There are verses in the Bible that support both sides of this debate. They both make excellent cases. It is hard to choose between the two, and for the human mind, we feel like we must choose one or the other. But I propose a third alternative. It is both. We are saved by GRACE through FAITH. God’s grace saves us, and our faith brings us into a relationship with Him that allows His grace to be applied to our life. God’s grace is like a bowl of soup at the dinner table, it does us no good until we partake of it. We use a spoon to partake of the soup. We use faith to partake of God’s grace.
Nothing can alter God’s plan, and at the same time we are free to make choices every day. Whether we experience God’s plan from a prison or a palace often depends on the choices we make, but either way we will experience God’s plan for our life. This begins to illustrate the importance of being led by the Holy Spirit. By His leading we stand a much better chance of choosing wisely, albeit unknowingly much of the time. Because we have freedom to choose, it makes being led by the Holy Spirit the most important thing in our lives. To make choices without His guidance is like walking along a ridge line blind – ultimately we get hurt, possibly fall to our death, and maybe even hurt those around us as well.
The story of Jonah is a good example. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn them of the coming destruction. But Jonah did not want Nineveh to be forgiven, he wanted Nineveh destroyed (he had his reasons). So instead of going to Nineveh, he went in the opposite direction, traveling away from Nineveh. But God REALLY wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh, and before long Jonah found himself headed to Nineveh, and we can safely say that his means of getting there could be described as less than first class accommodations. Jonah had the choice of how God’s plan was going to work out in his life. But God’s plan in Jonah’s life was immovable, it was going to come to pass, Jonah just needed stronger convincing. Like a child arguing with its parents, Jonah in essence was arguing with God. But God persisted, and Jonah finally did what God desired for him to do.
The same can be said of us. God’s will is going to be accomplished in our lives, with or without our cooperation. He will never cross our will, just as He did not force Jonah to preach in Nineveh. But He persists with us until we finally choose to go along with His plan, just as Jonah finally chose to preach to Nineveh after he found himself on the Ninevite shore. God could have taken Jonah’s free will away and zapped him with the suggestion to go preach to Nineveh, like a hypnotist would do to one of their subjects. But God does not do this. He lets Jonah run away, he lets him jump into the sea to die (Jonah would rather have died than preach to Nineveh). At that point Jonah thought he had Checkmate. But God sent an Uber Fish to taxi him away to Nineveh. We can conclude from this that it is better for us to cooperate with God’s will for our lives than it is to fight against Him. Our lives will be more enjoyable if we will use our freedom of choice to go along with God’s Plan. Our stories may not be as interesting, but we will travel through life in a better way. We can go by boat or we can go by fish, but ultimately we are all going to Nineveh and carry out God’s will for our life. How we get there is our choice. I recommend you take the boat.
What is God calling you to do right now? Are you doing it, or are you going in the opposite direction? I encourage you to follow God’s lead in your life. Let His spirit guide you in all things and at all times. I promise that life goes better when we follow His lead. But even when we don’t, we still end up going to Nineveh – it is just a rougher ride to get there.
Lord God almighty, help me to be led by Your spirit more fully and to make wise choices in my life. I ask that Your hand would be upon me for good, and that I will choose to “go to Nineveh” by boat, rather than by fish. Give me a spirit that is sensitive to Your will for my life and Your calling upon me. Help me to clearly hear Your voice and be obedient to Your will for my life. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
How does God know my choices before I make them? For more info on how God knows the future, see this post.
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