Predestination
Question: What did the Presbyterian lady say when she fell down the stairs?
Answer: Glad that's over.
Now, as fun as it seems to be among American Evangelicals to make fun of the concept of predestination, it's a very biblical topic. Now, Romans deals with predestination, and so does Ephesians, but I think that the best way to see how predestination "works" is by reading the story of Joseph.
The story of Joseph is what convinced me of a Calvinistic understanding of predestination, namely that everything that happens, God intends it to happen for his own glory and purposes. Now, some may read that statement and say, "hold on there chap, what about free will?" to which I respond thusly: free will and predestination are no more contradictory than infallible books written by fallible men, or a person being both God and human.
So what about Joseph's story convinced me of individual predestination? After all, predestination never appears in the text. Well, let's count the variables that are necessary for Joseph's story to happen.
1) Joseph needs to make his brothers jealous enough to sell him into slavery. 2) Joseph has to be sold to Potiphar. 3) Potiphar's wife has to be attracted to him enough to try to seduce him. 4) Potiphar's wife would have to tell so many lies about her servants that Potiphar doesn't believe her, and throws Joseph in prison instead of killing him on the spot. 5) He has to be thrown in jail with two other men. 6) Both of those men have to be thrown in jail. 7) Those men needed dreams to be interpreted. 8) A famine has to take over the then known world. 9) Pharaoh needs to believe in Joseph's interpretation of the dream. Most of these things are completely and entirely out of Joseph's control. But Joseph says two things that would imply that God is the one doing the work, not him, not anybody else.
The first is: "And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about." 41:32.God had prepared this famine. That famine was necessary and plays a big role in salvation history. Without that famine, Israel would never be enslaved by Egypt. And if they were never enslaved by Egypt, the whole message of scripture would be entirely different. This famine was part of God's plan to save the entire world through Jesus Christ.
The second is this: "You intended it for evil, but God intended it for good." Joseph is saying that the true force behind his brother's actions was God. Now, he does not deny that they sinned. He does not deny that their intentions were evil. But God had planned, and motivated their evil intentions for the good of the whole world. Joseph does not see a problem between God exercising his sovereignty and men exercising their free will. He holds them as non-contradictory.
Also, keep in mind that God had warned Abraham that his people would be enslaved by Egypt for 400 years. God had planned that to happen. And in Joseph's life, God set that plan into motion. Again, the ultimate goal of God's predestination was salvation for the elect.
Growing up Pentecostal, I had believed that nobody was filled with the Holy Spirit until Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is, by far the most exhilarating, amazing experience that anybody could have. And part of being filled with the Holy Spirit is to be used by the Holy Spirit. To be His instrument in bringing about change in the world, sometimes by miraculous means. Some of these gifts were healing, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, faith, knowledge, wisdom, dreams, and visions, among others.
But I am confronted by Pharaoh's confession of Joseph. Pharaoh believed that Joseph was filled with God's spirit, and that enabled him to interpret dreams and have prophetic dreams. And of course he's right. Joseph indeed was filled with the Spirit. So what does that mean for Joel 2:28-32 and Peter's sermon in Acts 2? Perhaps the idea isn't that the Holy Spirit is being poured out on people, but that the Holy Spirit was available to all of God's people, instead of a select few.
Answer: Glad that's over.
Now, as fun as it seems to be among American Evangelicals to make fun of the concept of predestination, it's a very biblical topic. Now, Romans deals with predestination, and so does Ephesians, but I think that the best way to see how predestination "works" is by reading the story of Joseph.
The story of Joseph is what convinced me of a Calvinistic understanding of predestination, namely that everything that happens, God intends it to happen for his own glory and purposes. Now, some may read that statement and say, "hold on there chap, what about free will?" to which I respond thusly: free will and predestination are no more contradictory than infallible books written by fallible men, or a person being both God and human.
So what about Joseph's story convinced me of individual predestination? After all, predestination never appears in the text. Well, let's count the variables that are necessary for Joseph's story to happen.
1) Joseph needs to make his brothers jealous enough to sell him into slavery. 2) Joseph has to be sold to Potiphar. 3) Potiphar's wife has to be attracted to him enough to try to seduce him. 4) Potiphar's wife would have to tell so many lies about her servants that Potiphar doesn't believe her, and throws Joseph in prison instead of killing him on the spot. 5) He has to be thrown in jail with two other men. 6) Both of those men have to be thrown in jail. 7) Those men needed dreams to be interpreted. 8) A famine has to take over the then known world. 9) Pharaoh needs to believe in Joseph's interpretation of the dream. Most of these things are completely and entirely out of Joseph's control. But Joseph says two things that would imply that God is the one doing the work, not him, not anybody else.
The first is: "And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about." 41:32.God had prepared this famine. That famine was necessary and plays a big role in salvation history. Without that famine, Israel would never be enslaved by Egypt. And if they were never enslaved by Egypt, the whole message of scripture would be entirely different. This famine was part of God's plan to save the entire world through Jesus Christ.
The second is this: "You intended it for evil, but God intended it for good." Joseph is saying that the true force behind his brother's actions was God. Now, he does not deny that they sinned. He does not deny that their intentions were evil. But God had planned, and motivated their evil intentions for the good of the whole world. Joseph does not see a problem between God exercising his sovereignty and men exercising their free will. He holds them as non-contradictory.
Also, keep in mind that God had warned Abraham that his people would be enslaved by Egypt for 400 years. God had planned that to happen. And in Joseph's life, God set that plan into motion. Again, the ultimate goal of God's predestination was salvation for the elect.
Pneumatology
"Can we find anyone else like this - one in whom is the spirit of God?" 41:38Growing up Pentecostal, I had believed that nobody was filled with the Holy Spirit until Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is, by far the most exhilarating, amazing experience that anybody could have. And part of being filled with the Holy Spirit is to be used by the Holy Spirit. To be His instrument in bringing about change in the world, sometimes by miraculous means. Some of these gifts were healing, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, faith, knowledge, wisdom, dreams, and visions, among others.
But I am confronted by Pharaoh's confession of Joseph. Pharaoh believed that Joseph was filled with God's spirit, and that enabled him to interpret dreams and have prophetic dreams. And of course he's right. Joseph indeed was filled with the Spirit. So what does that mean for Joel 2:28-32 and Peter's sermon in Acts 2? Perhaps the idea isn't that the Holy Spirit is being poured out on people, but that the Holy Spirit was available to all of God's people, instead of a select few.
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