I may have bitten off more than I can chew here, but I want to explore some seeming contradictions in the Bible. In a recent article, I discussed how Christians use the term “called” by God. Examples include Biblical leaders like Abraham, Moses, prophets and apostles who were all called to their specific tasks. But then all Christians are told to be true to their own individual callings. Moreover, Jesus said that He came to call sinners — not the righteous — to repentance (Luke 5:32). It’s obvious throughout the Bible that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Are some destined by God to be saved, and others not?

That being the case, why does the Bible talk about Christians being predestined to their faith in Jesus (Ephesians 1:5-6, 11-12)? Why does it call them the “elect”, as in chosen by God (Matthew 24:22-31, Mark 13:20-27, Luke 18:7, Romans 8:33)? Jesus says “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44) but Exodus says that God hardened the Pharaoh’s heart so that he refused to let the Hebrews leave Egypt (Exodus 4:21, 7:3, 9:12, 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, 14:4, 14:8, 14:17).

Does that mean that God picks and chooses who will have opportunity to be saved? Will some be left out and not even given a chance? Or worse, will some be deliberately driven away?

Everything in me recoils from that thought. It is so contrary to the whole of the Bible’s teachings, like the well-known John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.“

So, how do we reconcile predestined, chosen elect with hardened and not drawn by the Father?

What does it mean to be predestined?

I’ll start with some word study. The Greek for “predestined” is proorizō, and means predetermined or decided beforehand. “Elect” is eklektos, or chosen, selected, picked out. “Hardened”, Hebrew ḥâzaq, is more varied. It is also translated as strong, stronger or strengthen, courage or encourage, and take, hold, or even repair.

Next, I’ll go with a personal experience. My husband can sometimes be convinced that I can read his mind. It’s kind of fun. 😁 Because I know him so well, I can predict his thought process even before he knows what he thinks. For instance, a common discussion is which restaurant to go to for dinner. He will truly believe that he is considering every place in town and coming to a unique, reasoned, decision. I know, though, that he has a select few places that he really likes. We’ve already been to two of them in the past week, so I miraculously “know” that he has decided on the third, even before he says so. He’s always impressed. (Shhh, don’t tell him how I do it!)

You could say I have “predestined” — I have decided beforehand — which will be the “elect” restaurant. But that is not because I cause it to be the choice; it is because I can predict that it will be chosen. This is a VERY rough example of what God can do. From before the dawn of time, He could look forward to my life and know that I would be willing to choose to accept Jesus. Knowing that, He drew me to Him, put the choice in front of me and let me do what I would with it.

Predestination ALLOWS for rejection, but doesn’t CAUSE it.

Conversely, if He had looked forward and known that nothing short of actual force — which He won’t do because He respects my free will ** — would cause me to turn toward Him, He would still have given me that same choice. But He would also incorporate my refusal into His plan, and work around me. As Esther was told: “if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place…” (Esther 4:14) Or, He could even make use of that refusal, as He did with the Pharaoh.

When God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, He didn’t take a soft, willing, obedient heart and cause it to reverse into the opposite. Rather, we see that besides the ten “hardened” verses listed above, there are another eight where Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, 9:7, 9:34, 9:35). God just took the stubborn heart that He knew was already there, and strengthened it.

Why? If the Pharaoh had been wishy-washy, hiding his refusal under a softer facade, God’s power and glory would not have been so apparent. There would have been room for “Well, God didn’t really do much to rescue us; the Pharaoh would have eventually let us go anyway.” With Pharaoh’s concrete-hard heart on full display, God’s glory was displayed also. It was unmistakeable that the Hebrews were freed to become a nation due solely to God’s power overruling the Pharaoh’s.

** God doesn’t use force to get us to turn to Him. But He does use pretty strong persuasion when appropriate. Just ask Jonah! In 1890, a poet named Francis Thompson wrote of God’s pursuit on his life no matter how hard he tried to escape “The Hound of Heaven” ^{1 2}. Many others have similar testimony of God’s relentlessness in loving them. But if the plagues in Egypt would not turn Pharaoh around, neither would Jonah-like adventures. God knows in advance who will respond to His pursuit, and who will not.

Bottom Line

This tension and interaction between my free will and God’s foreknowledge of how I will use it is something I will never fully understand. That shouldn’t be surprising: God is bigger than I am (Isaiah 55:8-9), so of course I can’t understand Him as well as He does me. Still, the part that I can understand includes:

• He loves me, as He loves everyone.
• He knows me, as He knows everyone.
• He gives me a choice, as He does everyone.
• He wants me to be saved, as He does everyone.
• He predestined that I would “elect” myself, would respond to His call, as He knew I would.
• Everyone is predestined: Their choice — even though freely made and unforced — is already known.
• Everyone can choose to be among the elect, unless they voluntarily harden their heart and refuse to be.

Note: A couple of similar articles on this site are the “Will of God” and the “Sovereignty of God“.

1. Here is a video of Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in the TV series “The Chosen“, reading this classic poem aloud.
2. The archaic language in the poem can be difficult to follow. Here is a modern adaptation that tells the same story.