Here read John 6:37 Romans 10:13 Revelation 22:17 John 10:9 John 10:14 John 10:25-27 Romans 8:29-30 Ephesians 1:3-5 Ephesians 1:11 (KJV)
The question of free will versus predestination has divided the Christian faith into several denominations. On one extreme are those who hold that there is no free will and that the church comprises those who were predetermined by God to be saved and all others are lost. On the other extreme are those who maintain that free will obtains, and the church comprises only those who choose to believe and all others are lost. In the middle are those who try to achieve
a balance between these two extremes.
In the book of John, Jesus seems to have taught both points of view. The opponents of Christianity take this as an example of a contradiction in the scripture which invalidates Christianity. However, there is no contradiction to those who have faith because in some mysterious way that only God can really understand, both points of view are true at the same time. To man's limited mind, free will and predestination are mutually exclusive, which accounts for the splits within Christianity over this question. On one extreme the question is: How can a person choose to be saved when he or she has already been predetermined by the foreknowledge of God to be either saved or lost? On the other extreme the question is: How can a person avoid making a choice since God's Word clearly teaches that He has granted free will to mankind? Those in the middle simply try to maintain a balance by jumping back and forth between these two extremes.
In John 10:9, Jesus endorses the free will point of view because the word "if" means that a person may or may not "enter in." In John 10:14, Jesus endorses the predestination point of view because He knows who His sheep are and they know who He is. Choice cannot matter because He already knows who His sheep are. In John 10 verse 25, Jesus endorses free will, but in verses 26 and 27 He validates predestination.
Some of those who take the middle position try to avoid eternal predestination altogether by claiming that Romans 8:29-30 and Ephesians 1:3-5 and 11 refer only to the sanctification of saints and not to their moment of salvation. While it is true that predestination also applies to sanctification, it must also apply to the moment of salvation since Romans 8:29 refers to the foreknowledge of God prior to predestination, and Romans 8:30 reveals God's predestination prior to saints being called, justified and glorified. Moreover, Ephesians 1:3 states that God chose His saints from "before the foundation of the world," and therefore His foreknowledge must apply to the moment of salvation as well as sanctification since sanctification begins with the moment of salvation. Ephesians 1:5 states that predestination occurs prior to adoption, and adoption refers to the moment of salvation. In addition, Ephesians 1:11 reveals that saints "have obtained an inheritance" because of predestination. All saints "obtain an inheritance" at the moment they are saved.
On the other hand, Romans 10:13 and Revelation 22:17 clearly teaches that one must freely choose to receive Christ at the moment of salvation in order to be saved. In the third chapter of John's gospel, Jesus calls this moment of salvation being "born again." This choice to be "born again" must be truly free and independent of God's foreknowledge because if God knows the choice beforehand then the choice cannot be truly free. Foreknowledge, of necessity, overrides free will.
Do these facts reveal a contradiction in the Bible (KJV) over this controversy? No, because Jesus Himself has resolved this seeming contradiction.
Various denominations have split over this controversy because of a failure to realize that there exists a perfect solution to it in something Jesus taught in John 6:37. The first phrase that Jesus used in John 6:37: "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me," definitely refers to predestination. The second phrase: "And him that cometh to me," definitely refers to free will. But the third phrase: "I will in no wise cast out," completely resolves the conflict.
The conflict must exist at the moment a person who is under the conviction of the Holy Spirit must decide whether or not to receive Christ as his Savior. But the moment that person decides to receive Christ by faith, the conflict is resolved by God's foreknowledge that that person has belonged to Him from all eternity. When a person decides to accept Christ as his or her Savior, God guarantees that that person will be accepted by Him for all eternity. This guarantee validates the reality of free will because the choice always works. God guarantees that the person making the choice will not be turned down. Thus, any person under conviction must possess free will because if he chooses to accept Christ then God cannot refuse him. Therefore, God can wait for a lost sinner to make his or her decision to accept or reject Christ knowing that those who accept Him have already done so from all eternity. In a sense, a person's decision to accept Christ and his predestination are the same event.
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