Q. 11. What is God’s predestined purpose for the world?

• Belgic Confession 16
• AOR 17

Predestination. “Predestine” means “to determine beforehand.” The Bible speaks of things which are determined by God before they happen, even from eternity. All Christians believe in predestination. What some Christians reject is the view that certain individuals are condemned or passed over without any possibility of salvation. These Christians believe that individuals are predestined to salvation or reprobation in accordance with God’s foreknowledge of their grace-enabled faith or stubborn unbelief, as taught by early church fathers such as Irenaeus (Against Heresies 4.39.4), Origen (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans 7.7), and John Chrysostom (Homilies on Romans 16.6).

Decreed. God’s predestined purposes or prior determinations are viewed in Scripture as royal decrees. For example, God eternally decreed to create the world, permit the fall, and send his Son to be the Savior of humanity. Christians have held various views on the exact nature and order of these decrees. Since God’s decrees are eternal, their order is logical, not temporal.

To send his Son. God willed to create free creatures who could enjoy him, but knew that free creatures would fall; therefore, he predestined to create us and to send his Son to save us, rather than avoid creating us altogether. The atoning death of Jesus was “predestined to take place” (Acts 4:28). Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).

Elect in him. “Christ is the “Chosen One” of God (Luke 9:35). Believers are “elected and chosen in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Belgic Confession 16). God “predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:5).

Through the grace. Human beings after the fall are totally depraved, unable to initiate faith, and completely dependent on the grace of God for salvation (see Q. 12; 49).