Timely Message in Chapel today

For the past week and a half, I have been pondering one concept: the nature of predestination. It is clear that predestination is a doctrine that is taught in the Bible but there is very little that is included about the nature of it. My mind was stuck in the nihilism that results from humans not having any impact on our eternal destination. Taking this to the extreme (and I am NOT recommending this!!!), why should we bother living a good life if God has our life mapped out? Someone may respond that God commands us to spread the Gospel. My reply is that I cannot effect the eternal residence of myself, let alone someone else. Thus, God will make it happen without me. God says he is preparing a place for us in heaven. Even if my place is under the bridges in heaven, it is better than in Hell. And since I cannot determine where I go, why suffer pain, hardship, and disappointment in this life? While I do not hold to this belief myself, I am trying to be ready to answer objections to this belief.

I was very encouraged by the chapel message today by one of the professors here at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS - it reminds me of "The Ohio State Buckeyes" when NFL players say where they went to college). The text was Galatians 6:7-8.  

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (ESV)

The sowing is obviously our choices that we make in our lives. At first, I thought that the reaping is the consequences in our life but since the "good" result is eternal life, that must mean the reaping is the final judgment. That puts a different spin on things. The speaker also did a good job of saying that this is in Galatians, the book about grace. Does this text contradict the doctrine of grace? No. Grace saves but doing good works is evidence of the grace of God in your life. If we do not clean out the sin in our lives, we will not be saved (see Gal 5:19-21)

Sometimes we get caught up in our own squabbles and use arguments that may go to far. For me, this made sure I did not get lost in the fatalism that I was pondering. The Bible says we are predestined but it also says that from the perspective of humans, it is an active choice to trust Jesus or not. While this did not resolve the original question in my mind, it pointed out that the Bible uses the language of both sides of this debate.