Predestination and free will

We had a class debate on God's sovereign predestination and human free will. While discussions on what we can decide about ourselves and our surroundings are obviously the most practical aspects of this debate, the most significant from a Christian perspective is salvation itself: do we have a choice in our salvation or did God predestined our salvation?

Page 205 of the textbook has a good summary. "Particular" or "limited" atonement means Christ died for the "elect". This is the basic position of the "Calvinist" (after John Calvin). They are supported by many biblical verses. (Mt 22:14, John 15:16, 1 Pet 1:1-2, Eph 1:4, Rom 8:29-30, Mk 13:20, 1 Pet 2:9, Mt 1:21, John 10:15, 26-27, Rom 8:32,33, John 17:24, Mt 20:28).

"Unlimited" or "universal" atonement interprets the verses on election and predestination as meaning the "elect" as those who have chosen belief in the atoning work of Jesus. We distinguished between, atonement which is the work of Christ and salvation, which is our personal acceptance of Christ's atoning working. There is no debate that belief is required for salvation and that God "elected" some. The debate is who is the "elect" and whether we had any choice in whether we believe or not. This is the "Arminian" position and they too are backed by many verses. (John 1:29, John 3:16, 2 Cor 5:14, 1 Tim 4:10, Heb 2:9, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 4:14, Is 53:6, 1 Tim 2:6; even died for those who sinned (Rom 14:15, 1 Cor 8:11, Heb 10:29, 2 Pet 2:1), we need to evangelize: (Mt 24:14, 28:19, Acts 1:8, Tit 2:11), salvation is offered to all (Mt 11:28, 2 Pet 3:9) and Christ died for us “while we were still sinners” Rom 5:8)

"Universal" atonement should not be confused with universal salvation; not all will be saved. The class quickly reconcilled the two points of views: God's absolute omnipotence is not debatable. That foreknowledge, however, is unknown to us and thus we still have free will to choose.