Question:
Dear Greg,
I’ve
been a Christian for about 15 years and I know I certainly don’t know
everything, but some things I felt I had a pretty good understanding of.
Well, today I had the rug pulled from under me.
I was talking to a Christian friend and somehow we got on the subject of
what God knows. We both agree that
he knows everything, but how we interpret “everything” is where we differ.
She says that he knows everything literally, as in from the moment I’m
born until my death. He knows every
single, solitary thing that I will do, think and say even before I am born.
My interpretation of “everything” is that he knows all possibilities
or all ways that things can happen, but since we have free will he doesn’t
know what we will choose in every circumstance.
Does that make sense? For
some reason I can’t see why we would have the life experience if he already
knew everything we would all do. I
feel as if he created us in his image and he wanted to see what we would do with
what he has given us. So while he
certainly knows all possibilities, does he really already know every single
thing? No pleasant surprises from
his children? Please share your
understanding on this subject.
Thank
you,
Alexandra
Answer: Dear Alexandra,
You
say that you have been a Christian for 15 years and how you have had “the rug
pulled from under” you. The issue
that you and your friend are discussing is a non-essential.
It is not an issue that is foundational.
It is certainly not a “rug puller”.
Many Christians live and die in the Lord without even considering this
issue, while others hear about it but determine that they cannot fathom it.
The
issue is usually referred to as predestination, or the sovereignty of God as
understood by a Calvinistic view, over against the topic as seen from an
Arminian view (both positions bearing the names of the people who popularized
these contrasting views).
It
seems that your friend is more in line with a Calvinist position.
Calvinists would see God as choosing those who will be saved and those
who will be lost. Those who believe
in single predestination believe that God determines only those who will be
saved. Other Calvinists (often
called five-point Calvinists) believe in double predestination—that God
chooses both those who are saved and those who are lost.
Arminianism
does not differ in the biblical truth that God is sovereign, he is Creator, he
inhabits eternity and that he knows the end from the beginning.
He is not captive to time and space, but exists outside of and
transcendent to time. That much is
biblical truth. But the question is,
as you ponder, how does God know these things—how does he determine the future
and what role do we as humans play?
Arminianism,
which you seem to favor, tends to see humans as a little less “robot-like”
and a little more engaged in God’s plan—expressing God’s sovereignty as
God’s foreknowledge (the idea that he foresees the faith of those who will
accept Jesus Christ). Calvinism
would say that the faith of the believer is a result of God’s choice rather
than causing God’s choice.
Calvinism,
for its part, argues that it is taking a strong stand for God’s grace—that
nothing we do has any consequence to our salvation.
Arminianism can, in a Calvinist view, lead to legalism—the idea that we
do things that influence God, that obligate him, etc.
PTM,
while strongly opposing all forms of legalism, would probably lean toward an
Arminian view, but that is only a “lean”.
Most importantly, we see this view as completely non-essential to one’s
Christianity and salvation. We see
that many become “puffed up” about one or the other of these two positions,
allowing this issue to divide them as Christians and becoming a source of
pride—all of which is a reason why it is completely a non-essential.
You
and your friend should discuss this, warmly and openly, but if it becomes a
point of contention, we suggest that the kingdom of heaven does not lie with
Calvin or Arminius.
In
Christ,