Predestination: Am I Saved or Damned? (Romans 9-10)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Do you struggle with terms like foreknowledge, predestination, and election?

While these words might sound intimidating, they’re critical concepts to understand because they give a unique insight into the heart of God. In Romans 9:14-18, the Apostle Paul speaks about how Jacob was favored over Esau. This leads Paul to ask,

¹⁴ What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! ¹⁵ For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ¹⁶ So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth. ¹⁸ So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

While many Christians see these verses as proof that God predestined some souls to be saved and others to be lost, it’s essential to keep track of the context. When Paul quotes from Exodus 33:19 and says, “I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion,” he’s speaking about national election and not personal election.

God raised Israel to be his chosen people for a specific purpose. However, Paul is not saying that this is God’s same approach to personal salvation. This helps us understand verses 21-23, where Paul states:

²¹ Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? ²² And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? ²³ And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory.

Again, while some look at this passage and say this is evidence of God damning or saving without an individual’s consent, the fact that Paul uses the middle voice in Greek suggests he is talking about those who have fitted themselves for destruction through their actions. God has merely fulfilled their true heart’s desires. To understand the broader context of Romans 9, it’s important to understand three concepts—foreknowledge, predestination, and election.

Foreknowledge refers to God's omniscient ability to know all human choices and events in advance without determining them. God, in his infinite knowledge, foresees who will respond to his grace and choose to believe in Christ. Romans 8:29 says, “For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” However, this foreknowledge does not override human free will.

Predestination is based on God's foreknowledge of those who will choose to believe in him. Rather than unconditionally deciding who will be saved, God predestines individuals to salvation based on their freely chosen faith in Christ. Election is the process by which God selects individuals for salvation, again based on his foreknowledge of their future faith response. Thus, election is conditional and dependent on human free will. God's grace is available to all but only effective for those who choose to accept it.

This is backed up by Ephesians 1:4-5, which states, ⁴ “For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. ⁵ He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”