Recently, my friend and brother, Mac sent two links to YouTube on the Roman Catholic view of Predestination. I will create two posts, one for each video. My comments are in the accordion below the video. At the onset, it is worth mentioning while I disagree with some of Dr. Bergsma’s approaches I believe we would be good friends if we knew one another.
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I have previously mentioned that all Christian denominations teach predestination because the Bible teaches it.
Dr. Bergsma admits this is true for the Roman Catholic Church or RCC abbreviated, and starts at Ephesians 1:11 Starting at Ephesians 1:3 puts it in a fuller context. Click here for the whole chapter.
Dr. Bergsma then introduces the term “free will” without a single bit of evidence for it. To him, it may be viewed as a given. Since he does not explain or justify the thought by the scripture I am at a loss.
There are many other passages that speak about predestination that I have covered in the past. Here is a link to 25 Bible passages that speak to this subject. It includes Old Testament and New. Jesus, Peter, Paul, and Luke all spoke on the subject.
One of the most direct is Romans 9 where Paul anticipates the objection of those who thought they were in control. He then answers them. Why would Paul anticipate the objection and answer it if we were not talking about predestination related to the judgment?
19One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?”
Please read all of Romans chapter 9 in any Bible version you prefer. Here is a link to NIV but there are others available.
If this passage in Romans 9 does not settle the question for people I do not know what will. As a person that believes the Bible, not man, is the final authority it is clear. There is no question of interpretation or any other passages in the Old or New Testament that contradicts what Jesus, Peter, Paul, and others say.
Since I believe God has predestined us I also believe if you do not believe then you are predestined to not do so. It might sound a bit crass but put another way, it is not my problem. All I know is I have done my part. The part I was predestined to play.
Do not get me wrong. I fully understand the difficulty of accepting what the Bible has to say about predestination. That is because we make choices all the time. The only real question is are those choices free? Are they free from influence? No. Then they are not free at all. God is the only one who is totally free.
Another hard part is our culpability. The Bible speaks as though we are held responsible for those things that were predestined. That is the objection in Romans 9! Nobody is whitewashing this. It is a hard teaching, very hard.
The only thing harder to accept might be Jesus’ atonement for our sins. It is offered freely by God but we humans cannot even receive a free gift unless God moves us to do so. Isn’t that strange?