The Heart of the Debate

The basic question at the heart of the debate between the prescience and Augustinian views of predestination is this: What, in the final analysis, is the decisive factor on which a person’s salvation ultimately depends? Is it a human decision that God foreknows and that prompts Him to act in a certain way? Or is it a divine decision that finds its genesis in the desires and purposes of God Himself?

As we saw earlier this month, Paul in Romans 9 gives his readers a lesson in redemptive history, specifically God’s choices. He speaks of Abraham, the founder of the Israelite nation, who was chosen by God from among all people in all nations to be the recipient of God’s covenant blessings. Abraham received a measure of divine grace that no one else received. God then chose between Abraham’s sons, designating Isaac over Ishmael as the one to inherit the blessings. Thirdly, and most tellingly, God chose Jacob over Esau, selecting one twin (and the younger one at that) to receive the covenant blessings over his brother. Now the prescience view of predestination would say that God chose Jacob over Esau because He looked ahead in time and saw Jacob responding favorably to the covenant promises. But this view flies squarely in the face of what Paul teaches in this passage. God’s choice of Jacob and His rejection of Esau, the apostle says, were “not of works but of Him who calls.” In other words, no foreknown future response of Jacob to the external call of God played any role in God’s decision to save the patriarch. The decision was solely “of Him who calls,” that is, of God, who issues the internal call that changes the heart of a sinner and unfailingly causes him or her to come to God in faith. Neither the salvation of Jacob nor the rejection of Esau was due to foreseen actual or potential deeds. Both divine actions were due to the sovereign purpose of God to show forth His grace.

Dr. Roger Nicole has said that all people naturally believe, despite the Fall, that man retains the power to decide to follow Christ. He also has said that regeneration does not automatically eliminate this kind of thinking from our minds. We see this belief lingering among many contemporary evangelists, who suppose that sinners can incline their hearts to the gospel. But as Paul teaches here, God’s decision as to whether to call ultimately decides each person’s eternal destiny.