Dr Paul Allen

Does God plan everything ahead of time? If so, does that mean humans lack free will, that we are like robots? Such topics lead to questions about salvation: Does God save only those he’s chosen in advance? And, if so, how is that fair? These are the kind of questions that pop up whenever we broach the doctrine of predestination. These questions are not just extra-biblical speculation. Christians mainly talk about the doctrine of predestination because they’ve encountered it in the Bible. The doctrine of predestination derives from several biblical passages, including Romans 8:28–30 Romans 9:9–23 and Ephesians 1:11Open in Logos Bible Software (if available): “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”1 To answer our questions correctly, we must first understand some key terms. The different categories used to explain predestination and its related topics, as well as how other...

The doctrine of “ reprobation ” is the teaching that God is sovereign not only over those who will come to eternal life, but also over those that will resurrect to eternal death (John  5:29 ). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church defines  reprobation  as “The act by which God condemns sinners to eternal punishment .” The concept of reprobation is biblical, and the actual word is used in a few places (Psalm 15:4, 1 Cor  9:27 , 2 Cor 13:5-7).   T he doctrine of reprobation is best understood in contrast with the doctrine of election .  Thus the discussion of the nature of reprobation is usually had by those who already believe in election—that God chose which individuals he will save before the foundation of time. And any consideration of reprobation leads to this question: “Does God predestine people to hell?” In other words: is reprobation like election in every way except the destination? If God chooses some for heaven befo...