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John Calvin (1509-1564) was a French pastor and theologian who became known for the theology known as Calvinism, which includes the doctrine of predestination: the predestined fate of a human being concerning his or her salvation or damnation. This article will review the doctrine of predestination, expose its flawed logic, and declare it to be false.

John Calvin held a view on predestination, or double predestination, that God has pre-chosen some people for salvation and others for damnation. This view is based on Calvin’s view of the sovereignty of God, which is that God can do what He pleases, but Calvin’s view ignores the free will of man.

PREDESTINATION IN SCRIPTURE

ROMANS 8:29-30:
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.

EPHESIANS 1:3-12:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ), who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Messiah (Christ), just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ) to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Messiah (Christ), both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Messiah (Christ) should be to the praise of His glory.

In the epistles to the Romans and the Ephesians written by the Apostle Paul, Scripture does speak of the predestination of believers, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blame by God’s will and be adopted by God. When God created man, He had a preordained plan of salvation for man if man chose to sin: His Son Yeshua (Jesus) to atone for man’s sin.

1 PETER 1:20-21:
He [YESHUA (JESUS)] indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

ROMANS 5:18-19:
Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to ALL men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Salvation is indeed offered to all, but many – not all, will accept God’s free gift, be justified and made righteous, and will receive salvation.

2 PETER 3:9:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH but that ALL should come to repentance.

Calvin’s belief system incorrectly teaches the absolute predestination of man. Calvinism’s predestination doctrine greatly errs in assuming that predestination for salvation is for some people, but not all people. A predestination-minded Calvinist would say that only the elect, (themselves of course), are predestined to be saved, and if a person is predestined to be eternally damned there is nothing that he or she can do about it. Calvin’s predestination doctrine erroneously teaches that some persons cannot accept Yeshua (Jesus), repent, or live righteously in hopes of receiving salvation.

ROMANS 10:9-10,13:
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation… For “WHOEVER calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

God’s ability to peer into the future is different than man’s ability to understand it. God, through the prophets in Scripture, has accurately prophesied events before they have occurred. God lives outside of the confines of space and time, so He can see into the future and know who will be saved and who will not be saved. When Scripture speaks of those ‘predestined to salvation,’ all who are to be saved are predestined as such. All who were ever born are predestined to be either be saved or damned, because those are the only two ultimate destinies man has!

PROVERBS 11:30:
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

If a person’s fate was determined and sealed by predestination, then there could be no way to win a soul over to salvation or truth. Believers are to fulfill the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20), preach the truth, and win souls. Our works for the kingdom, to win souls, is not in vain. We will find out who is written in the book of life when it is the appointed time for us to know (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12-15, 21:27, 22:19).

No one will be turned away from God’s kingdom due to a ‘predestination to damnation’ if he or she, in this age, accepts Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ), repents, and lives righteously according to His commandments. Likewise, no one should be so assured of his or her ‘predestined salvation’ (or believe in a guaranteed ‘once saved always saved’ salvation) that he or she feels no necessity to repent and live righteously.