"Predestination" means that God chooses His People

When the Bible speaks of predestination, which it does in several places, it always indicates that God has chosen some people to be his own. Those people will be saved from condemnation because He chose them (or, elected them) to believe in Jesus Christ. He gave them the light in their heart and the faith to trust in His Son. Necessarily, that leaves the rest of the people excluded. Bible students have held many views on this subject over the centuries, and some of those views were more or less faithful to the Bible's language on the subject, and the meaning of even the words themselves.

For an example, take Romans chapter 9, a chapter that deals very clearly on this subject – using examples from earthly life but in reference to God's choice in salvation. Here is an excerpt:

For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. (Romans 9:9-16)

So then, that “the purpose of God according to election might stand”, it is written that He chose Jacob before he was born, but He rejected Esau, Jacob's twin brother. This is shown to have been decided before the children were born, thus ruling out that their own goodness or actions were in any way part of the decision. God chose Jacob, and He chose him because He wanted to. That is God's privilege in being the creator. He may show mercy to anyone He wants to.

Now, we know that Jacob was a rascal during many episodes in his life. God perhaps could have chosen a more honest person. Yet in the end, Jacob trusted in God and really did own Him as his Lord. He knew God, and his faith in God's promise held up. God was not ashamed to be called his God.

I hope that you will note that God's choice is not that He looked into the future, saw those who would believe in Him, and then chose them based on that foreknowledge. That teaching is widespread today, but it does injustice to the Bible's words on the subject. We read above that God chose Jacob before he had done any good or evil. God, of course, knew what evil or good that Jacob would do in his lifetime. The emphasis here, however, is that that type of foreknowledge was not taken into account in the decision-making. God's choice was simply that He singled out Jacob and purposed to show His mercy and love to him without any prior qualifications on Joseph's part. Jacob would later come to believe in God's promise as a result of his being chosen by God beforehand.

Esau, unfortunately, was rejected. He would not be saved. We might say it was not his fault, since he was rejected before he was born. But the Scripture stops us here from criticizing the election of God, by saying that God is not unrighteous – He shows mercy on whom He wants to show mercy. God's mercy is free and by His own choice. If He shows mercy, the object of His mercy will be pardoned and saved. If He withholds His mercy, the unpardoned person will remain in his sin, and will be judged for his sin. Esau, of course, did sin, for the Bible teaches that all people have sinned against God. God showed his forbearance and kindness to Esau by allowing him to live and prosper, but He did not pardon Him nor choose him to be one of His own people.

Allow me to briefly interject that God's choice is not racist (Jacob and Esau were twins). We are not advocating any kind of racism or pre-judgment on persons, for we have no idea whom God has chosen until He has made it known. We know that all who trust in Jesus Christ and remain faithful to him were chosen by God before the foundation of the world. But we cannot look at anyone and know whether he will be become a believer or not. Some of the worst characters in history later in their lifetime became meek and humble servants of Christ (Paul the apostle, John Newton, etc.).

Shall we look at one or two more examples? Here is a passage from Ephesians chapter 1:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

Did you see that this passage is written to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ? God chose them to be in Christ before the world was made. That was long before we ever had a chance to do good or evil, or to sway His decision in any way. He made His choice by His own good pleasure, and those whom He chose would be destined at some point in their lifetime to become and remain the true followers of Jesus Christ. We would become His own people, holy and upright. It does not say that He chose us because we would become holy nor because we would accept Him, but so that we would become holy and so that we would be accepted by Him. His choice is what alters our lives and steers us to having real faith in Christ. The result is that we praise Him for His wonderful mercy and love, that we who have done unspeakable things in our lifetime would actually receive full pardon and a rich welcome into God's family.

Also, in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, a very clear chapter, it says:

...God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:27-31)

God appointed His own people, and for His own purposes, so that we would humbly and joyfully glory in Him and not in ourselves. The passage above points out that God does His choosing in such a way that no one can glory or take pride in himself. It does not say, “We chose God because we are wise”. It also does not say that God chose us because we are wise. Rather, we were chosen by Him, and called at a certain time to believe in His Son Jesus, so that we might receive His mercy, righteousness, and salvation. “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus.” Thanks be to God for His undeserved love toward us!

Let us who have known this election and calling of God draw near to Him, and live worthy of the special mercy that we have received, knowing that we could easily have been left on the road to perdition. Let us live in holiness, love, joy, and sincerity, to show thanks to our Father in Heaven.

For Further Study:
If you would like to read more on this topic, you might enjoy Romans chapter 9, 1 Peter 1:2, James 1:18, Acts 13:48, Galatians 1:15-16, 1 Thessalonians 1:4-6, Romans 8:28-30, 1 Peter 2:6-10 and Ephesians chapter 1. You can also find more in-depth articles at www.monergism.com.