young Michael Servetus, executed by John Calvin for wanting to discuss doctrine
Few topics create more confusion among believers than predestination. Some have been taught that God has already chosen who will be saved and who will not—before they were ever born. Others read Scripture and see a God who calls all people to repent and believe.
So what does the Bible actually teach?
This article will walk through what predestination means in Scripture, what Calvinism teaches, and where we believe that system goes beyond the biblical text.
Our goal is not to attack people, but to stay faithful to the whole counsel of Scripture.
Before addressing debates, we want to be clear about what we affirm. We believe that God desires all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and that Salvation comes through faith (Ephesians 2:8). We believe that the Scriptures clearly teach that all people are genuinely called to respond to God (Acts 17:30), that God draws, convicts, and calls—but does not remove human responsibility. The question is not whether predestination exists, but what it actually means.
The word “predestination” appears in passages like Romans 8:29–30 and Ephesians 1:3–14. These are foundational texts—but they are often misunderstood. They anchor the idea in Messiah. In Ephesians 1, Paul repeatedly uses the phrase, “in Him”, “in Messiah” or “in the Beloved”. This is crucial. The passage does not say that God chose random individuals to be placed into Messiah. Rather, it teaches that God established beforehand what would happen to all those who eventually are to be in Messiah through their faith.
What Is Predestined?
According to Scripture, what predestined means includes: being adopted as sons (Ephesians 1:5), being conformed to the image of Messiah (Romans 8:29), receiving an inheritance (Ephesians 1:11) from God. In other words, God predestined the destiny of a whole people—not the arbitrary selection of individuals. Most of the Bible is written with a plural oneness in mind: “Kol Yisra’el aravim zeh la zeh.” We are not our own, but we are bought with a price, and we become a part of a greater, predestined, whole “Body of Messiah”.
The Scriptures teach we are to have a response to the call, and that God knew beforehand who would thus respond. Throughout Scripture, people are consistently called to respond, “Repent…” (Acts 17:30), “Believe…” (John 3:16), “Choose this day…” (Joshua 24:15). These are not presented as symbolic commands—they are real invitations with real choice and real consequences. This creates an important truth: God initiates—but humans are still responsible to respond.
What Calvinism Teaches (A Fair Summary)
Calvinism is a theological system that emphasizes God’s sovereignty in salvation. It is often summarized with five points (they use ‘TULIP’ to teach it and remember it):
Total Depravity to Calvinists means humans are unable to choose God on their own; Unconditional Election to them means God chooses certain individuals for salvation; Limited Atonement means Messiah died only for those chosen individuals (and thus not the whole world); Irresistible Grace teaches that God’s call cannot ultimately be resisted; Perseverance of the Saints to them means those chosen will never finally fall away (so they can get away with anything, the excuse to ‘live big’ and not worry about it).
This system is internally consistent when using Socratic, circular logic, and seeks to protect the idea that God is fully in control of salvation, and humans have no role in Salvation whatsoever, especially choice by free will.
However, we believe it reaches conclusions that go beyond what Scripture actually says.
Where We Believe Calvinism Goes Wrong
Calvinism Redefines “All” and “World”, whereas Scripture repeatedly uses universal language concerning the saved of the world: “God so loved the world…” (John 3:16), “Who desires all people to be saved…” (1 Timothy 2:4), “He is the propitiation… for the whole world” (1 John 2:2). To say “all” only means “the elect” requires reading a limitation into the text that is not naturally there.
Calvinism Removes Meaningful Human Response to a “Good News” that God tells all the world. If people cannot respond unless irresistibly changed first, then why would God command repentance at all? Why plead with people to believe? Why hold them accountable? Scripture consistently treats human response as real, personal, and solicited, and not automatic.
Calvinism Redefines Predestination by insisting that instead of God predestinating what happens to those in Messiah, God predestines which individuals will be in Messiah without regard to the call.
This is a significant shift.
It moves from a corporate identity in Messiah to a fixed list of individuals chosen beforehand, arbitrarily.
Calvinism Conflicts with God’s Stated Desire: Scripture clearly says that God is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9), and that God “desires all to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4)
If God has already determined that only some will be saved, then Scripture is invalidated concerning God’s desire toward all mankind. Are these statements genuine? Who redefined these plain statements, and on what authority?
Calvinism Struggles With Warning Passages: The New Testament contains serious warnings of loss of salvation: Hebrews 6:4–6, Hebrews 10:26–29, John 15:6.
These passages speak to real consequences for those who themselves turn away from walking in Messiah. If falling away is impossible, then these warnings become irrelevant, and Paul is discredited from an authoritative position. He is not an apostle.
A Better Biblical Understanding
We believe Scripture presents a more complete picture: God has predestined a people in Messiah, and that destiny includes adoption, transformation, and inheritance. God genuinely calls all people because He loves all of us equally. People are responsible to respond in faith, but only those who do are in Messiah, and they share in what God has already prepared for those who will inherit eternal life together.
In this view, God is sovereign, the invitation is genuine and universal, human response is meaningful and weighty, and the character of God remains consistent with His revealed heart.
Do we believe in predestination? Yes—fully. God knew each of us beforehand, and he did know who would respond to His call, before He uttered the first words of Creation. He sees the end from the beginning.
Do we believe God chooses? Yes—but in Messiah, because of a response in faith, not arbitrarily apart from Him.
Do we believe humans respond? Yes—Scripture consistently calls for a response from each individual, to come into the unity of God and His Son, and His Body of fellowship.
Do we believe salvation is limited to a preselected few? No! The invitation is clearly extended to every human on earth.
Final Thought
This issue ultimately comes down to how we read Scripture: Do we allow a manmade, philosophical system of logic to define the text, or do we let the full witness of Scripture shape our understanding? When we take the Bible as a whole, we see a God who calls, invites, warns, loves, and genuinely desires people to come to Him. That is the picture we seek to uphold.
Want a Deeper Dive?
This article is meant to be a clear and accessible overview.
For a more detailed and technical critique, you can read our full article here:
https://theword.link/2025/06/18/nocalvinno/