When the Predestined Reject Salvation

Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: 'do not commit adultery,' 'do not murder,' 'do not steal,' 'do not bear false witness,' 'do not defraud,' 'honour your father and your mother.'" And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth." Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"

(Mark 10:17-23)

I mentioned earlier in this series that because of God's predestination of unbelievers, there are none in heaven today who should be in hell. But at the same time, I also mentioned that God's predestination of believers, compared to His predestination of unbelievers, is substantially different. Sadly, it is precisely because of this difference in the predestination of believers that there are some in hell today who could have been in heaven.

Why is this the case? The reason lies in the difference in the involvement of free will. What do I mean by that statement? As we have seen earlier, all unbelievers already believe the lie that the gospel is not true, and so God does not have to open their understanding to the truth so that they can change their thinking, repent from believing the lie, and thus believe and act on the truth.

As far as believers are concerned, however, the reverse is true because they have to repent of their wrong thinking, and that involves the use of their free will. Even though God opens their understanding to the truth, He does not force them to repent and now believe and act on the truth. In other words, even though they now understand the truth, they still have to exercise their free will to either act on or reject the truth that is revealed to them.

As we will see in this section, there are numerous reasons why some who have been predestined for salvation—and are thus given understanding of the truth of the gospel—nevertheless still reject it of their own free will.

The above passage of Scripture is an example of that exact scenario. We see that the young man had asked our Lord in all sincerity what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. In response to his request, our Lord revealed to this rich young ruler what he needed to do to be saved.

All who come to Jesus must be prepared to give up everything for Him (Matthew 10:37-39). That's what it means to confess Him as Lord. However, even though Jesus expects us to be prepared to give up everything and follow Him, He seldom instructs us to physically do so. In this instance, however, that's exactly what Jesus wanted him to do. When the young man was confronted with that truth, he walked away from it, for he deemed the cost of eternal life to be too high a price to pay.

It was not because he did not understand the word that the Lord spoke to him that caused him to reject the gospel—he understood the Lord perfectly. Rather, as an act of his free will, he decided that the riches of this life were better than the gift of eternal life. In other words, this rich young ruler had been predestined for salvation, because of which Jesus gave him understanding of the truth of the gospel. But even though this young man understood the gospel message, he chose of his own free will not to repent and act on it, and God was not going to force him to change his mind.

This young man is in hell today, whereas he was predestined by God to be saved and be in heaven. Jesus confirmed the truth that this man did not enter the kingdom of God, for He used this man as an example to teach us that it is hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God.

Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

(John 12:42-43)

In this section we are discussing the sad truth that some whom God has predestined for salvation, for various reasons, end up rejecting that salvation as an act of their free will. The above passage of Scripture is another example of this particular truth.

In this passage we see that when Jesus walked the earth, many of the rulers in Israel believed that He was the Messiah. The reason they could believe that was because God the Father had given them understanding of that truth, for our Lord taught us that it was only God the Father who revealed that truth to men (Matthew 16:17).

But we also learn from this passage that even though these men had understanding of the truth of Jesus being their Saviour, they refused to confess Him before men. Salvation is dependent on both—believing in Jesus and also confessing Him as Lord (Romans 10:9). Jesus also taught us that if we refused to confess Him before men, He in turn would not confess us before the Father. In other words, the action of refusing to confess Jesus before men carries the penalty of eternal damnation (Matthew 10:32-33).

Just like the rich young ruler, these men also deemed the cost of eternal life to be too high a price to pay. It was not because they did not understand the truth that Jesus was their Saviour that caused them to reject the gospel—they had perfect understanding of that truth. Rather, as an act of their free wills, they decided that the praise of men in this life was better than the praise of God in eternal life.

In other words, these rulers had been predestined for salvation, because of which God gave them understanding of the truth of the gospel. But even though they understood the gospel message, they chose of their own free wills not to repent and act on it, and God was not going to force them to change their minds. These rulers are in hell today, whereas they were predestined by God to be saved and be in heaven.

We see clearly from these passages that it is not only unbelievers who reject the salvation of God, but that even some who are predestined for salvation reject the salvation of God as an act of their free will.

Michael E.B. Maher

Predestined to His Purpose

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