QUESTION:
"Could you point me to the specific chap/verse of Romans that points out 'Predestination'? A long-time friend (she is a Christian) is having trouble accepting the fact that her daughter who 'is a wonderful, caring, generous GOOD PERSON' but has not accepted Christ - is not, in fact, "saved" - will not go to Heaven. I think this goes beyond "not by your works will you be known" and is more accurately a tenant of 'Predestination'. I'm reminded of Romans, and I was having trouble with this same principle. I told her that I would ask because I believe I understand it, but cannot explain it."
ANSWER:
One of the illustrations I often use is that developing our theology is like building a house. There are foundational truths that we build upon, then the first floor, then the second, then a roof, etc. If the foundation is not solid, the entire house is in jepardy and can fall apart quite easily.
"Predestination" is what I call Upper Floor Theology, to get there you have to build quite a bit of your theological house first. The foundation of our theology should be be God. And since "theology" literally means "words about God", we all have our own theology. A few of the foundational truths about God are that He is:
- Eternal
- Good
- Holy
- Creator
- Personal
Long before we get to predestination we need to understand who God is. The most important facets of God's nature, in regards to your question, are His Goodness and Holiness. God is perfectly and infinitely Good and Holy. He cannot tolerate sin.
Built on the foundation of a correct theology about God would be a right understanding of man. When Adam was created he was good, "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." (Gen 1:31). But when Adam sinned God placed a judgement and a curse on him, and he became spiritually dead. A transformation happened and Adam's very nature became corrupt and detestable to God. Sin became part of Adam’s DNA. ”Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom 5:12). Adam's curse was passed along to all of his offspring, so God rightfully became very angry with every single person.
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" (Rom 1:18) God is angry. The word "men" means "mankind", it's all of mankind, every single human that God is angry with.
"for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury." (Rom 2:8) God is not just a little frustrated with us, but He has "wrath and fury".
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins" (Eph 2:1) Before we became born-again Christians we were spiritually dead.
"we were by nature children of wrath" (Eph 2:3) Our very nature makes God angry.
"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." (Rom 3:10-12) Paul is quoting from the Psalms to show there is not one single human who is good. In fact Paul says that we all have become "worthless".
"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isa 64:6) We are so bad, in God's eyes, that even the good things we do are disgusting to Him.
"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Ps 51:5) David is expressing that he knows he was sinful even before birth, right from conception.
The reason I’m pointing all of this out is that your friend is struggling with an incorrect understanding of who we are. She makes a statement that simply cannot be true from a Biblical perspective: “My daughter has not placed her faith in Jesus, but she is a good person.” In her eyes I’m sure her daughter is a good person, but in God’s eyes He sees sin. To paraphrase Romans 3, “There is no one who is good, no not one a single person”. And so we are separated from Christ, we “have no hope” and are “without God in this world” (Eph 2:12). “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36).
This is a bitter pill to swallow, especially when you are talking to someone about their children. Nevertheless it is a truth that we all must accept and eventually embrace.
Your question was directly about predestination, but I don’t think that’s the heart of the issue here. To jump right to predestination would be like someone saying “I’m going to build a house for my family and the first thing I’m going to do is build the 2nd Floor Bathroom.” We must start from the foundation and work up, even if some of the truths we encounter along the way are difficult for us to accept.
-KR