Predestination and the Extremes: Understanding God's Plan for Sonship and Inheritance
Orientation
Predestination unsettles many not because of Scripture, but because theological extremes distort justification and rob believers of assurance.
- Extreme Calvinism and Arminianism, when taken to their logical ends, undermine the gospel's foundation.
- The historic debate is not merely about fate versus free will, but about the security of the believer.
- Both systems can collapse justification by faith into a subtle form of works, destroying assurance.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)
— Romans 8:29-30
Clarification
Predestination in Scripture is never about arbitrary fate, but is God's eternal purpose concerning adoption, inheritance, and being conformed to Christ's image.
- The word 'predestination' is used only five times, and every instance points to sonship and inheritance.
- It is the guarantee that God will finish what He started, according to the good pleasure of His will.
- It is not a cold decree about salvation from judgment, but a loving plan for glory.
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. (Ephesians 1:5)
— Ephesians 1:5
Structure
God's predestination is a comprehensive divine plan that begins with regeneration and culminates in glorification, transforming believers into mature sons who share Christ's eternal glory.
- The process starts with the impartation of divine life (regeneration) and ends in resurrection and reigning with Christ.
- Believers are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son, partaking of the divine nature as co-heirs.
- This reveals the riches of God's grace across the ages, unto our glory.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory. (1 Corinthians 2:7)
— 1 Corinthians 2:7
Weight-Bearing Prose
The core assertion is that predestination pertains to sonship and inheritance, not to a selective decree of salvation. Pauline categories are definitive: in Christ, we are predestined unto adoption (Ephesians 1:5), we obtain an inheritance (Ephesians 1:11), and we are foreknown and predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image, which leads infallibly to calling, justification, and glorification (Romans 8:29-30). This chain is God’s unilateral work. The objection from both Calvinist and Arminian systems is that they make predestination about the mechanism of initial salvation, which distorts justification into a work and destroys assurance. The counter-position is that God’s predestination is His eternal, loving purpose to bring many sons to glory, beginning with the impartation of divine life in regeneration. This is not deification as becoming objects of worship, but as being made like Christ in every respect, sharing in His inheritance as brethren. The inheritance is Christ Himself, and all who are justified are qualified to reign.
Integration
Your assurance rests on Christ, not on deciphering a decree. God’s predestination is His guarantee that He will finish His good work in you. It is the ‘good pleasure of his will’ to adopt you and conform you to the image of His Son. This is not a pressure to advance or a hidden hierarchy to uncover. It is the secure declaration that you are a child of God, an heir with Christ. The process from regeneration to glorification is His work. You are safe. The destination is Christ Himself, and you are already in Him. There is no condemnation, only a sure inheritance. Rest here.