My View on Free Will vs. Predestination (And why it shouldn't matter)

It's been over a year since I posted here. Actually, I briefly forgot that I had even started this blog. But, being that I am now back in effect here, I'd like to share about something that has been on my mind lately, because it's been a frequent topic of discussion in my life recently. And that is the subject of Free Will vs. Predestination.

From the beginning of time, thinkers have puzzled over the paradox of fate vs. free will, or predestination vs. free choice. In theological terms, this leads to the struggle between Calvinism and Arminianism. The more I explore this paradox, the more I find that examining the fruit of each position reveals that the River of Life seems to flow between these two extremes, and that as usual, truth involves a careful balance.

DISCLAIMER: Before I continue, I should note that I do not intend to espouse a particular viewpoint. I will highlight the viewpoint I hold on the subject, as well as the reasons for it. Yet I will leave it to you to come to your own conclusions through your personal study of the Word.

Then, I will explain why it shouldn't matter what view you choose to hold on this subject.  

Anyways, In case you are unfamiliar with the views of the 2 camps in question, here is a quick summary:

From About.com:

God’s SovereigntyCalvinism – God’s sovereignty is unconditional, unlimited, and absolute. All things are predetermined by the good pleasure of God’s will. God foreknew because of his own planning.
Arminianism – God has limited his control in correspondence with man’s freedom and response. God’s decrees are associated with his foreknowledge of man’s response.

Man’s DepravityCalvinism – Because of the Fall, man is totally depraved and dead in his sin. Man is unable to save himself and, therefore, God must initiate salvation.
Arminianism – Because of the Fall, man has inherited a corrupted, depraved nature. Through “prevenient grace,” God removed the guilt of Adam's sin. Prevenient grace is defined as the preparatory work of the Holy Spirit, given to all, enabling a person to respond to God’s call of salvation.

ElectionCalvinism – Before the foundation of the world, God unconditionally chose some to be saved. Election has nothing to do with man’s future response.
Arminianism – Election is based on God’s foreknowledge of those who would believe in him through faith. In other words, God elected those who would choose him of their own free will. Conditional election is based on man’s response.

Christ’s AtonementCalvinism – Jesus Christ died to save only those who were given to him (elected) by the Father in eternity past. Since Christ did not die for everyone, but only for the elect, his atonement is wholly successful.
Arminianism – Christ died for everyone. The Savior’s atoning death provided the means of salvation for the entire human race. Christ’s atonement, however, is effective only for those who believe.

GraceCalvinism – While God extends his common grace to all mankind, it is not sufficient to save anyone. Only God’s irresistible grace can draw the elect to salvation and make a person willing to respond. This grace cannot be obstructed or resisted.
Arminianism – Through the preparatory (prevenient) grace given to all by the Holy Spirit, man is able to cooperate with God and respond in faith to salvation. Through prevenient grace, God removed the effects of Adam's sin. Because of “free will” men are also able to resist God’s grace.

Man’s WillCalvinism – All men are totally depraved, and this depravity extends to the entire person, including the will. Except for God’s irresistible grace, men are entirely incapable of responding to God on their own.
Arminianism – Because prevenient grace is given to all men by the Holy Spirit, and this grace extends to the entire person, all people have free will.

PerseveranceCalvinism – Believers will persevere in salvation because God will see to it that none will be lost. Believers are secure in the faith because God will finish the work he began.
Arminianism – By the exercise of free will, believers can turn away or fall away from grace and lose their salvation.

At the heart of the controversies between Calvinism and Arminianism is the emphasis on the sovereignty of God by the Calvinists and on the sovereignty (free will) of man - or human responsibility - by the Arminians. Calvinism emphasizes that God is in total control of everything and that nothing can happen that He does not plan and direct, including man’s salvation. Arminianism teaches that man has free will and that God will never interrupt or take that free will away, and that God has obligated Himself to respect the free moral agency and capacity of free choice with which He created us.

As with most contested issues in the faith, I believe the actual Biblical truth lies in the middle of the two extremes of Calvinism and Arminianism. In other words - John Calvin was not a Calvinist, and Jacob Arminius was not an Arminian. Both doctrinal positions are reasonable and both have extensive Scriptures to back them up. Both are, in this author's opinion, both partially correct and partially overextended. As Philip Schaff has put it: 

"Calvinism emphasized divine sovereignty and free grace; Arminianism emphasized human responsibility. The one restricts the saving grace to the elect; the other extends it to all men on the condition of faith. Both are right in what they assert; both are wrong in what they deny. If one important truth is pressed to the exclusion of another truth of equal importance, it becomes an error, and loses its hold upon the conscience. The Bible gives us a theology which is more human than Calvinism and more divine that Arminianism, and more Christian than either of them."(Emphasis mine). 

Certainly, the Bible does teach that God is sovereign, and that believers are predestined and elected by God to spend eternity with Him. Nowhere, however, does the Bible ever associate election with damnation. Conversely, the Scriptures teach that God elects for salvation, but that unbelievers are in hell by their own choice. Every passage of the Bible that deals with election deals with it in the context of salvation, never damnation. No one is elect for hell. The only support for such a view is human logic, not Biblical revelation (which John Calvin did teach).

The concept of total depravity is consistent with Scripture, but the doctrine of limited atonement, that Jesus did not die for the sins of the whole world, is clearly contrary to Biblical teaching. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus died for everyone’s sins and that everyone is able to be saved if they will repent and turn to Christ. Limited atonement is simply a non-Biblical doctrine.

Election and predestination, however, are Biblical doctrines. God knows everything and therefore He cannot be surprised by anything. He is beyond the constraints of mass, acceleration and gravity, therefore He is outside time. He knows, and has known from “eternity past,” who will exercise their free will to accept Him and who will reject Him. The former are “the elect” and the latter are the “non-elect.” Everyone who is not saved will have only himself to blame: God will not send anyone to hell, but many people will choose to go there by exercising their free will to reject Christ. This principle is shown throughout the Gospels, as Jesus rebuked those who did not recognize them and held them accountable for it. If God had elected them for damnation, they could not be held accountable for rejecting Messiah.

On the other hand, no one who is saved will be able to take any of the credit. Our salvation is entirely God’s work, and is based completely on the finished work of the Cross. We were dead in trespasses and sins, destined for hell, when God in His grace drew us to Himself, convinced us of our sin and our need for a Savior, and gave us the authority to call Jesus Lord. 

But, is this grace, this wooing, this courtship, irresistible? No, we have free will and we can (and do) resist, even to the damnation of our souls, but God does everything short of making us automata (preprogrammed puppets) to draw us into His forever family.

Why you Shouldn't Care
Now, where does this leave us? Say, for instance, you are Calvinist, Bob down the street is Arminian, and I live somewhere in the middle like the meat in your theological debate sandwich. What substantially do these differences change about anything that matters in this life?

For example, you and Bob and I get together and we start talking about the mission of the church, we would find many similarities. We all should still be able to worship side by side. We would each talk about how we are to bring hope to the world by preaching the Gospel of Christ, baptizing, doing missions, loving the lost, serving the poor, and worshiping the eternal God. There is no substantial difference in the mission of you nor I nor Bob, nor do we love God any differently.  Calvinists and Arminians both assert the same essential doctrines of things like the Trinity and the Great Commission.  Yet there is such division over something we can never fully understand. It frustrates me greatly, because it seems like it is driven mostly by a Pharisaical "need to be right." After all "Only by pride cometh contention"(Proverbs 13:10a).

Admittedly, I struggled for many years with a need to be right. It is human nature. But after some time, I realized it is a matter of pride. Now, I often wish the church could find ways to see some things differently without the need to prove ourselves right or divide over things that don’t really make a substantial difference.  

Obviously we’re going to divide with groups that are decidedly non-Christian, but both Arminians and Calvinists ARE CHRISTIAN.  They simply disagree about something that A) We can never fully understand in this life, because God has not fully revealed it to us. And B) doesn’t change much about the way they live as believers. So,

In conclusion, don't listen to anyone's opinion on the subject (not even mine). Do your research and come to your own conclusions. And whatever you conclude, please don't let it divide you from your brothers and sisters in Christ, but:

"'In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity" - Augustine