Why Predestination is Good News

As a child, I loved the Greek myths - rural England was far too short of jeopardy for a young boy. Perhaps, had I lived in Australia, the local flora and fauna would have presented enough dangers for me not to retreat elsewhere, but so be it.

For myself, above and beyond the Hydras, Minotaurs, Harpies and Sphinxes, the most terrifying creatures were the Sirens.

These nymphs, who lived on an island, were the most beautiful creatures in the world, and sang so beautifully that all men who heard them could not resist going towards them... such sailors would then be dashed on the rocks and the sirens would devour their flesh.

Only two men ever passed that island alive: One was Odysseus, who so desired to hear the voice of the sirens that he instructed his men to block their ears with beeswax, and lash him firmly to the mast, but with his ears uncovered, as they sailed past.

He was in agony: as he heard the music he strained against the ropes, crying and gurgling, and his wrists and arms were bloodied as they scraped against the knots that held him down.

But he passed the sirens, and reached safety.

Irresistible Grace

The doctrine of irresistible grace is one that has caused great consternation amongst many Christians. The image is one of people being dragged, kicking and screaming into heaven.

C.S. Lewis describes his conversion: 

"You must picture me alone in that room at Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England"

(Surprised by Joy)

Yet, do we think his free will was triumphed over by God? By Him who set two trees in Eden, by Him who returned to His people again and again as they whored themselves to other gods; by Him who made man even while already surrounded by adoring angels? This is no God with an implanted 'believe' switch in the head of every human, but one who bears patiently with those whom he loves.
And we can only love Him because of this.

Let us return to the sirens. The other man to pass them was Jason, along with his Argonauts. The goddess Hera had told him, before he sailed past the sirens, to pick up a man called Orpheus.

As they passed the island and the creatures started to sing, Orpheus pulled out his Lyre and began to play.

The music he played was so sweet, that the sailors sat, entranced, oblivious to the sirens' ever more desperate wailing as the winds took them out of earshot.

This is irresistible grace. Not irresistible strength, nor deceptive allure - but they were exposed to the truest joy, and no longer desired that which brought only death.

Lewis himself said in a paper that God finds our desires "too weak":

"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea."

So tell me, when I show such a child what the seaside looks like... have I taken his free will away?

Of course not. I have simply opened his eyes and made him a guest of reality.

The choice

Before I go on to further demonstrate why this is good news, I must emphasise also, that it is the only option over and against some severely awful news.

To illustrate, let's play every child's favourite game: asking the question 'Why?' until blood comes out of daddy's ears:

Why are you a Christian and your best friend is not?

Because I believed and trusted Jesus and they didn't

Why?

Because I understood that I was sinful and needed forgiveness and they didn't

Why?

Because I saw that Jesus was perfect and my life was destructive and they didn't

Why?

And so on, and so forth.

Eventually though, you will answer in one of two ways:

a) Because the Spirit opened my wicked heart and turned me t'ward my Saviour

or

b) Because I was humble enough / intelligent enough / good enough to see what I had to do... 

...and they weren't.

Put frankly, there are only two options - predestination, or a gospel of works.

Why does God love you?

(and are you still doing it!?)

Either God is entirely in control of our salvation and draws us to him, or there is something within us that either qualifies or disqualifies us. 

If you can suspend disbelief long enough to imagine that I am married, then I will at least make the story more realistic by asking my wife, "Why do you love me?".

Well, if she answers that she loves me because of my patience, then I live in fear of the fast-approaching day when I will snap at her. Or for my humour, the fast-approaching day when I've used all of my jokes and begin to recycle. Or for my wisdom, the day she witnesses me making a mistake. Or for my body, the day she goes to Specsavers. 

The only way to answer that question is "I just do."

Moving on from my hapless, imaginary wife - how does God answer that question? In the same fashion in which he answered Moses's question of who he is: "I love you because I love you."

If the answer is anything else, then the Christian life becomes all about keeping that thing, that reason he loves you, going.

Odysseus straining against the ropes is not a caricature of irresistible grace, but one of the Christian life without a firm belief in predestination. Martin Luther, before he understood that justification did not come from any of his own merit, realised that he could have no confidence that he had ever done enough - he sinned, and so could have no assurance. In penance he pilgrimmed up the 491 steps of St Peter's basilica on his knees, and, reaching the top, grazed and bloody, knew still that he had no confidence.

If the only call we receive is from the world, then all we can do is strive and strain and grasp at assurance like a fool at the clouds.

Non-belief in predestination and not having assurance does not affect, of course, whether or not you are saved. But I would that all my brothers and sisters, as long as they are on this ship, would listen to that glorious music, rather than bind themselves with worldly knots against worldly pleasures.

Because it is not just the world who calls out to us. Because we are predestined from the dawn of time:

"...and those he predestined he also called; those he called, he also justified, those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:30)

This is perhaps less than half of what I wanted to write on the matter. As well as the caricature of people being dragged kicking and screaming into heaven, there is the equally, if not more, troubling image of them being dragged kicking and screaming into hell. I hope that much of this has dispelled both of these, but I shall be attentive to any comments and glad to continue the conversation.