Second Sunday after Christmas

Ephesians 1:3-14

January 5, 2025

Some of the greatest movies and television series ever made are about “destiny,” the idea that the gods or deities behind the scenes pre-plotted a person’s whole life, gave the person great purpose and made the person a champion among all is a Hollywood theme that people seem to keep coming back to. The whole Star Wars series has a “destiny” theme to it that’s hardly unnoticeable. The 1996 movie, “12 Monkeys,” with Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, toys with concepts of destiny throughout. Butterfly Effect, Interstellar, Predestination, Minority Report, The Matrix, even the Harry Potter series – destiny, that the protagonist, the main character, is chosen and set apart to save the world, and he can’t escape his destiny.

And it should not surprise us at all as Christians because even the Christian faith and teaching is chalk-full of destiny. For right away in our Epistle for today, Paul writes, “He predestined us.”

Predestined us to what, you might ask. Well, the answer to that question could be a little scary if you do not rightly understand the biblical doctrine of Predestination.

When I was younger, back in my late teens and early 20’s, I used to believe that every action, every twist of the tooth brush, every dollar spent was destiny; that God had preordained that it be done just that way, that no human soul had any freedom whatsoever, that we are all just preprogrammed computers doing what our coding tells us and even at the exact time we are supposed to. That at just the right time, God will send me the ‘perfect girl’ and we’ll fall in love and marry and it’s all worked out. That the job I had was God’s plan, the car I drove was because God wanted me to have that car. And I of course surrounded myself with those who believed similarly so that we’d all feel good about our false beliefs.

We can so easily go far too far with the doctrine of predestination. The French theologian, John Calvin, was one who went far too far with predestination. He was a generation or so younger than Luther; they both lived during the same time, but Calvin was born into the era of the French Enlightenment while Luther was born as a late Germanic Renaissance theologian. They did theology differently. Where Calvin believed that human reason played a part in biblical interpretation – the premise of the enlightenment after all was the notion that man can know all things through reason – Luther believed that interpretation was strictly by the power of the Holy Spirit through careful study and following the old churchly rules of biblical hermeneutics. And unlike Luther who wanted only to fix the broken Roman Catholic church, Calvin was more interested in starting a whole new church completely separate from Catholicism, with a whole different system of governance, and with the new theology of the enlightenment. And ultimately, John Calvin is more a father of modern Protestantism than Luther – Luther was conservative in his reformation efforts, Calvin and the other reformers were not.

And of course, as America was developing into a new nation, everyone wanted new and wanted to separate themselves from the old.

At any rate, John Calvin had no problem drawing conclusions from the Scripture even if the Scripture didn’t teach them. For example, the Scripture certainly teaches that we who are being saved are predestined from before the creation of the world to be God’s children. Ephesians 1 and even Ephesians 2 are all about this, as are Acts 2:39-41, 1 Peter 1, John 1:13, John 15:16, and I could go on.

But nowhere does the Scripture teach that God predestines people to hell. Nowhere. But Calvin said, “doesn’t matter – logical conclusion,” because he believed the rational mind could ultimately comprehend all the mysteries of God.

For Calvin, before the creation of the world, God predestined some people to heaven, and all the rest He predestined for hell. And it’s destiny, it can’t be changed. Those whom God decided to condemn will be condemned no matter what, and those whom God decided to redeem will be redeemed no matter what. So even if you think you’re a believer and you are baptized and faithful in church and receiving the Sacrament, if the Lord didn’t choose you, according to Calvin, you are not saved. And even if you think nothing of Christ and you live your life as a complete pagan and reject Christ, if God chose you, you are saved. Well, Calvin would say that if you are chosen, then your life will change and you will be regenerated so technically, the chosen can’t live like unbelievers. Regardless, you get my point.

It’s scary to think that, according to Calvin and the Calvinist theology of double-predestination which is alive and well in a huge amount of western churches today, you are either destined for eternal life or destined for eternal death because this is how the sovereign God set it up a long time ago.

Only problem is: this is not at all what the Bible teaches. Yet we must be absolutely careful that we don’t go from one off the narrow path pole to the other. The Scripture also does not teach Arminianism, which is really the ancient heresy of Pelagianism. Pelagianism, simply put, is that man chooses to be saved, that salvation is by the will of each individual who personally accepts, decides, or commits to Jesus. We hear that language all the time, don’t we? I call it the “butyougotta” doctrine. It’s the idea that Jesus’ death on the cross isn’t enough, but that it also takes an act of will from you, that you have to work to get it. This is also not at all taught in the Scripture, even though we find “butyougotta” theology everywhere. I mean it fits so well with the American experience of individualism and individual responsibility, so it’s only natural that we find it in the church as well.

What DOES the Scripture say about predestination?

First, predestination is always within the context of God’s redeemed people. You were chosen, you were predestined, you were elect before the foundations of the world! This isn’t only good news, but this is GREAT news! You don’t have to worry because God chose you. You don’t have to worry if your motivations were sincere when you “chose Him” or “decided to follow Him,” because you didn’t. He chose you and decided to save you, and His motivations are always sincere, because His motivation is pure, perfect love, so there’s no reason to fear. You have hope, confidence, joy, comfort, peace, and every other fruit of the Spirit because God set you apart – undeserved – but He did it because of His great love for you.

Second, predestination is not what saves. We are saved by grace through faith, not through predestination. This is important, I think. See, God has always planned to save His people, for whom He chose before creation. But His salvation is received through faith. Now don’t get this confused. God has not predestined us or chose us BECAUSE of faith.

See, there is a teaching among some Christian circles that God looked forward in time to see who would be faithful, who would choose Him, and He then elected them before creation. But this is false teaching. It is not what the Scripture says. Scripture says that God chose us and predestined us and elected us before creation, period, and the only motivation tied to His choosing is His love.

Scripture also doesn’t say that God might choose us or wants to choose us…if only we’d choose Him or submit to Him or surrender totally to Him or any such thing. No, Scripture says that God has chosen us in spite of our sin.

Now, if we are to believe in this way, and not rationalize or draw conclusions which the Scripture does not draw, then it leaves us with an uncomfortable question. We’re chosen, we’re predestined, we’re set apart to be His holy and beloved people, right? But what about unbelievers? After all, Scripture does proclaim that God desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. And yet, Scripture also says that only a small number will be saved in the end. How can it be true that God wants all people to be saved while at the same time true that not all people are saved?

This haunting question is called the crux theologorum, or the cross of the theologian. Before Calvin and Arminius and Zwingli and Muenser and John Smyth who started the Baptist church, this question was on the minds of all theologians of the cross, all believers because there is no answer given in Scripture. Why are some saved and others not? I would be unfit for my office if I were to try and answer that question. Rather than rationalizing, may we shed tears for the unbelievers and pray that God see fit to draw them to repentance and faith.

Scripture is clear, those who are being saved were predestined before the creation of the world, to be God’s beloved children. But Scripture is also clear that those who are living in sin and darkness, it is their own fault and their own refusal to abide in Christ that may lead ultimately to their damnation.

For you see, we are all born sinful – believers and unbelievers alike – we are all born sinful. We are born enslaved to sin, death, and the devil and destined for damnation. But from the cesspool of the damned, God has chosen us to be His holy people. He has baptized us and given us a new name, He has brought us up in a Christian family surrounded by Christian parents and a fellowship of Christians in church, He has filled us with His Holy Spirit and taught us His ways. And He has predestined us to be brothers and sisters in Christ. Christ Jesus came and died on the cross and all those whom God has called out of darkness are now bound to Christ and Christ to them, and our sins are forever forgiven, not because of any work or will on our parts, but only because of the work of Christ who died and rose again.

And here’s the point for you who are a child of God. Do you doubt your salvation? Have you sinned so greatly that you don’t think God could love you or save you or forgive you? Look to your baptism! God made a promise to you in your baptism, He staked His name and reputation on it! He called you His child and clothed you in Christ and has taken away your sins. He will not go back on His promise to you. It is not in His nature to break His promises, even though we break our promises to Him all the time.

Now, don’t abuse His promises or scorn His grace and ultimately reject His promise and return to the living dead existence. Paul warns us in his letter to Timothy that near the end, many will chase after teachers who tickle their ears, and John warns us in Revelation that many will fall away in the end. Look to your baptism. Remember God’s promise to you, and do not be once more so enticed by sin and sinful living that you forget what God has done for you.

By His Holy Spirit, continue to draw near to God as He has drawn near to you. As you remember your baptism and what God has done for you, grow in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward one another. Make this gift of salvation your reason for living, for being, and make it your hope and comfort as you daily prepare for your sleep of death. You are a chosen people, set apart, destined for an eternal life in the new heaven and new earth where Christ shall be your light. Amen.