Predestination (Genesis 25:22-28)

For many Christians, the topic of predestination is a difficult one. We struggle with questions such as:

“If God chooses who will be saved beforehand, then how can He also justly punish those who aren’t saved?”

Or “How can God decide beforehand what will happen, if I feel like I am free to make my own choices? Am I truly free? Do I have a free will?”

These questions are not easily answered, but they are also not an excuse to deny the doctrine of predestination that is so clearly taught in Scripture.

God encourages Christians with the knowledge that “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,” and “in love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ.” While we may not understand all of this, it was all “according to the purpose of His will.” (Ephesians 1:4-5)

Regarding today’s Scripture passage, Paul notes that God predestined Jacob to be used to continue the godly line of the promise and not Esau. God did this “though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls” (Romans 9:11).

Please read Genesis 25:22-28.

Notice at the end that Isaac chose to love Esau “because of his game,” while Rebekah loved Jacob. It’s not said why Rebekah loved Jacob. Perhaps it is because her husband so favored the other twin that she sought a fair distribution of love. Perhaps she simply adored the fact that Jacob was less masculine than his brother. Perhaps she had a bias against Esau’s red hair—we just don’t know! But we do know that Isaac loved Esau because of Esau’s works—because of his masculinity and skill at hunting the kind of food Isaac liked.

Sometimes, we like to think that God loves us because of something that we’ve done. Whether it’s a good work that we did, a kind word we spoke, or a refusal to give into temptation, we like to think that our actions please our Father. We are like little children who have colored a picture and want our father to hang it on the fridge.

There is nothing wrong with this desire. There is nothing wrong with trying to live in such a way that pleases our Heavenly Father. What is wrong is when we take it to the extreme and believe that God is only pleased with us because we did something good in the past. While we know that our good deeds can’t save us, we somehow believe that we are saved because we chose to believe in Jesus Christ, and our decision pleased the Father so much that He saved us. This is the childlike understanding that my father is pleased with me because of my colored drawing on the fridge. But this begs the question: if I had no colored drawing on the fridge, would my father still be pleased with me?

When we believe that salvation is based on our decision or action, there is always a fear that we might not do the right action or make the right decision in the future. But God doesn’t want us to fear. The reason that our salvation will always be secure in the future is because it has always been secure in the past. Before we even heard the Good News of Jesus Christ, God elected us for salvation. Before we were even born, God elected us to salvation. While Jacob and Esau were still in the womb, God declared “the older shall serve the younger.”

Does this answer all of our questions about free will? No. Does this explain why some are chosen and others aren’t? No. But this is a truth that is taught in Scripture, and one that we must ultimately accept: if I am a believer in Jesus Christ today, then it is only because God chose me for salvation.

This is a great encouragement! God chose me! God loves me! God saves me! Before I ever knew Him, before I ever wanted anything to do with Him, before I even thought about loving Him, God sent His Son to die specifically for me. Praise God for predestination!