Lutheran Christianity has always believed that faith is not a matter of reason. However, the idea behind this expression is not always easy to grasp.
On the one hand, reason is a term used to describe human thinking, and we all use reason all the time. And we should use it. Reason is a gift from God. On the other hand, according to Christian doctrine, humans are not capable of finding living faith through reason alone, because faith is not the result of logical reasoning or the recognition of facts. Faith can only be received as a gift through God’s grace, by hearing the gospel.
In the Bible, however, we encounter history, stories, events, life stories, and doctrinal concepts that easily baffle and confuse our reason. We try to find explanations for things that are difficult to understand. The most challenging doctrinal concepts are God’s foreknowledge and predestination.
God is hidden
According to the Scriptures, God is almighty and all-knowing. He is both of these things in His holy majesty, the depth and meaning of which He has hidden from us. Yet the matter fascinates, troubles, and often distresses us. Paul writes: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love” (Eph. 1:4). Before the creation of the world, God in his wisdom knew everything that would happen and how it would happen.
From this, it would be a short step to thinking about life fatalistically, that is, that the course of life is predetermined and that humans cannot influence it in any way. Things move toward a certain goal, no matter what we do. We would have to ask that if salvation is only possible for those chosen by God, can God change His decision? And on what basis did He make His choice? And then we would conclude: If I am not among God’s chosen ones, I have no hope!
We are therefore greatly tempted to examine God’s foreknowledge and choice by studying the characteristics of His hidden majesty. We know from the Scriptures that God knew everything before the creation of the world, as the apostle writes, but we know nothing more about it. According to Lutheran biblical interpretation and doctrine, we must focus all our energy on studying the Scriptures from the perspective of what God has revealed to us in them.
What does the Bible say about predestination?
According to the Scriptures, the people of Israel were God’s chosen people. The reason for this choice is revealed in the following text: “The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you…” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8)
The basis for the choice was not any characteristic of the people, but God’s love. It is also evident in the passage I quoted above: “He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love” (Eph. 1:4).
Through His election, God has established the order of salvation. We can only attain righteousness before God in Christ, who covers our sins with his purity and holiness. Paul says it clearly: “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Tim. 1:9).
Talk of God’s election can also sound frightening when we deviate into thinking that it is a matter of God’s order before our faith. Then we ask anxiously, what characteristic in me could be the basis for God’s decision.
However, as Paul says, it is the election of grace: “not because of anything we have done” And elsewhere he writes: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” Ephesians 1:3-7.
The expression “predestined” does not refer to an assessment directed at us, but to the order of salvation established by God. Everything is possible only in Christ – in fellowship with Him through faith. God’s choice does not apply to us after we have faith in our hearts, but when we have faith in our hearts, it is based on God’s choice. The Bible teaches: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). With the power of the Holy Spirit, He, through the gospel, works all this in our hearts.
Predestination is “single”
The meaning of predestination was hotly debated during the Reformation in the 16th century. Strict reasoning led to the idea that if only the chosen ones are saved, God must also have decided at some point who will be damned. The reason for damnation would thus be being rejected by God. Part of humanity is destined for damnation and part for heaven, and this doctrine is called double predestination. Calvinism and a significant part of the Reformed Church influenced by Jean Calvin support this doctrine.
Luther and the Lutherans came to a different conclusion. When we hold fast to the revealed word, we encounter God, who as a loving father speaks to us, calls us, draws us to himself, shows us mercy, blesses us, and directs all of this toward sinful people. If someone does not believe the gospel, their unbelief is not because God has predestined them to perdition, but because of their rebellion of heart and stubbornness. According to the Bible, the hearts of such people can become hardened, and in their hardness, God’s judgment is actualized. However, the reason is not predestination to damnation, but the hard-heartedness of the listeners.
As Luther and his followers taught, God’s predestination is therefore not double but single, in other words, God has predestined only those who will be saved, but not those who will be damned. The so-called “The Gospel in a nutshell” says: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Who is excluded from this promise?
The teaching about the election of grace thus becomes a great comfort. If and when I have the gift of faith in my heart, it is not based on any personal qualities or actions of mine, but on God’s choice in Christ.
Author: Kingdom of Peace
Image: Heikki Vuonokari, Credits: SRK