CHAPTER SIX

                            Predestination

The shortcomings of traditional teachings concerning Predestination
have been the cause of confusion among theologians as well as among
many religious and conscientious people.  Predestination, in its
broader sense, is a teaching that all things and events are
predetermined by God toward the fulfillment of his eternal purpose. 
In its narrower sense, the doctrine of Predestination teaches that
man's salvation or damnation is preordained solely by God and is not
determined by man's own efforts.  

The various theories of Predestination find their primary basis in the
New Testament, especially in Chapters 8, 9, and 11 of St. Paul's
letter to the Romans.  In those chapters, Paul puts great emphasis on
grace as the sole basis of salvation and election by God.  Other
passages in the Bible can also be interpreted as showing that all
aspects of man's life are predestined by God, that man's personal
happiness and misery and fortune and misfortune, as well as the rise
and fall of nations are all predestined by God.  

On the other hand, there are many passages that contradict this view. 
For example, when we see that God commanded the first man and woman
not to eat of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen
2:17), it is evident that man's fall was not predestined by God, but
rather was the result of man's disobedience.  Jesus said "'... God so
loved the world he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life'" (Jn 3:16).  By using the
word 'whoever', Jesus shows that salvation is open to everyone, and
therefore no one could be predestined for damnation.  In Matthew 7:7
Jesus says, "'Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives,
and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened'",
clearly showing that human effort plays a decisive role in shaping
events, that life is not determined solely by divine predestination.

If we were to accept unconditionally the traditional teachings of
absolute predestination, then prayer, evangelism, charity, and all
other human effort would be of no value in God's Dispensation for
Restoration.  After all, in everything is absolutely predestined by
God, then human effort cannot possibly alter the preordained course of
life.  Now let us answer these questions concerning predestination
based on The Principle.  

                 I.  The Predestination of God's Will

God's Will is to fulfill his Ideal for the Creation.  As a result of
man's fall, God's Will has remained unfulfilled, and God had to work
to accomplish this same Will by an alternate means: the Dispensation
for Restoration.  Since God is Good, his original Purpose for the
Creation is good.  God could not possibly have predestined anything
that would contradict his own Will.  In this light, we can see that

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God could not have predestined such things as the Fall of man, sin,
and the judgment and punishment of man.  

If God had predestined man's fall, then why would he look at fallen
man and say that he was sorry he had made man (Gen 6:5,6)?  If all of
man's actions are predestined by God, then whenever man sins or is
disobedient to God, these actions must also be the result of God's
predestination.  And if all sins and acts of disobedience to God are
predestined by God, then why would God have been displeased in the
case of King Soul's disobedience, and why would he regret having made
Saul king (I Sam 15:11)?  Neither man's fall nor King Saul's
faithlessness were predestined by God; they were the result of man's
failure to fulfill his responsibility.  Nor did God originally
predestine the judgment and punishment of fallen man.  God has no
desire to see man suffer, as evidenced in the following verses: "'Say
to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn
back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O House of
Israel?'" (Ezek 33:11).  Thus, when the people of Nineveh turned from
their path of evil and repented of their sins, God did not fulfill his
prophecy that their city would be overthrown (Jon 3:10), for as God
said in Ezekiel 33:14,15, "'... though I say to the wicked, "You shall
surely die", yet if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and
right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken
by robbery, and walks in the statues of life, committing no iniquity;
he shall surely live, he shall not die.'"

Then, to what extent has God predestined his Will, namely, his Purpose
for the Creation and the purpose of the Dispensation for Restoration? 
God is absolute, eternal, and unchanging; God's Purpose must also be
absolute, eternal, and unchanging.  Therefore his Will, which is to
fulfill the Purpose of the Creation and the purpose of the
dispensation for Restoration, must also be absolute, eternal, and
unchanging (Is 46:11).  Since God's Will is absolute and unchanging,
if a person chosen by God fails to fulfill his responsibility, God
goes on to fulfill His Will by selecting another person as his
replacement.  

                   II.  God's Predestination of the
                      Accomplishment of His Will

As explained in "The Principle of the Creation", the Purpose of the
Creation is fulfilled only when man fulfills his responsibility, which
is to live in accordance with God's commandments.  God's will for the
Dispensation for Restoration, which is to fulfill his Purpose for the
Creation, is absolute, and is therefore beyond human influence. 
Nevertheless, the fulfillment of his Will depends on man's fulfilling
his responsibility.  Then to what degree does God predestine the
fulfillment of his Will?  God's Will is absolute, but the realization
of his Will depends upon man's fulfilling his responsibility.  God
predestines that his Will is to be accomplished -- but only through
the accomplishment of both God's responsibility and that of the

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central person.  We can say that man's responsibility is "5 percent"
and God's "95 percent" as a means of indicating that man's
responsibility in fulfilling God's Will is very small compared with
God's.  However, in order to accomplish this "5 percent", man must put
forth his 100 percent effort.  

Thus, God predestined that his Will was to be fulfilled when Adam and
Eve fulfilled their responsibility not to eat of the Fruit of the Tree
of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 2:17).  In the dispensation for
salvation through Jesus, God predestined that fallen man would fulfill
his responsibility when he believed in Jesus as the Messiah and
followed him (Jn 3:16, Mt 19:21).  Yet man has rarely carried out his
small portion of responsibility, and this has caused the fulfillment
of God's Dispensation for Restoration to be delayed again and again.  

As the following Bible passages show, even in our day-to-day life we
receive God's saving grace only when we do our part: "... the prayer
of faith will save the sick man ..." (Jas 5:15); "'... your faith has
made you well ...'" (Mk 5:34); "'For everyone who asks receives, and
he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened'" (Mt
7:8).  Clearly, God predestines that his grace can be received only
when man accomplished his responsibility.  

           III.  God's Predestination of the Central Person

In order for God's Will to be fulfilled, God must select someone to
fulfill man's responsibility (as will be explained in "Overview of the
Principles of the dispensation for Restoration").  However, the person
chosen by God may either fulfill his responsibility or fail to fulfill
it.  Thus, God does not predestine that a person will fulfill the role
(mission) that God desires him to have.  Then, does God predestine man
at all, and if so, to what degree?  

Yes, God does predestine man.  When God predestines someone for a
mission, he predestines that person "95 percent".  In other words, he
predestines a person to the extent that when that person carries out
his "5 percent" portion of responsibility, he is fully able to carry
out the mission for which he was chosen.  Should a person fail to
fulfill his responsibility, he cannot become the person that God
wanted him to be, nor can God's will to fulfill things through him be
realized.  

For example, on the foundation of God's "95 percent preparation", God
predestined that Adam and Eve become the True ancestors on the
condition that they fully carry out their responsibility.  However,
because of their failure to do so, God's Will was not fulfilled.  As a
result of this failure, it became necessary for God to send the
Messiah as the True Father for mankind.  God also predestined that
Judas Iscariot be Jesus' apostle on the condition that he carry out
his responsibility by being loyal to Jesus.  However, when Judas
betrayed Jesus, God's will remained unfulfilled, and God replace Judas
with Matthias (Acts 1:15-26).  

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Next, let us examine the factors which qualify a person to be chosen
by God as the central person in the Dispensation for Restoration.  

First, the person must have been born of the central nation, the
nation chosen to carry out the dispensation for Restoration.  This is
because the chosen people are closest to God in heart.  

Second, that person must be descended from ancestors who have a
history of righteousness.  It is natural that for the fulfillment of
the Dispensation for Restoration God would choose those who have a
long line of distinguished ancestors who have accumulated merit
through their sacrifice and service for the good of their fellow men.

Third, that person must be endowed with a natural disposition suited
to the mission in question.  

Fourth, that person must have acquired the proper education, training,
and experience necessary to accomplish the mission.  

Fifth, that person must have been born at the right time and place to
carry out God's Will.  

However, Even though a person may have all of these qualifications and
be predestined by God for a particular mission, whether or not he
fulfills that mission is not predestined by God.  Attaining and
maintaining his role is determined by his fulfilling his
responsibility.  

               IV.  Clarification of Biblical Passages Which 
                     Appear to Support the Doctrine 
                        of Absolute Predestination

How are we to interpret those Bible passages which appear to show that
man's election and salvation are strictly predestined?  For instance
how are we to understand Romans 8:29,30: "For those whom he foreknew
he also predestined. ... and those whom he predestined he also called;
and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he
justified he also glorifies."?  

Since God is omniscient, he knows who is qualified to be chosen as the
central person in the Dispensation for Restoration.  For the
fulfillment of the Dispensation for Restoration, God predestines and
calls a person.  However, the person called is not predestined to be
justified and glorified automatically.  In order to be justified, he
must fulfill his responsibility.  Only after he is thus justified can
he enjoy glory from God.  This passage from Romans appears to support
the view of absolute predestination only because in this case the
Bible does not specifically mention man's responsibility.  

Romans 9:15, 16 says, "'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'  So it depends not

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upon man's will or exertion, but upon God's mercy."  This passage
seems to show that man's desires, hopes, prayers, and efforts are to
no avail and that man must depend solely upon God's grace.  However,
let us look more deeply into this.  

Based on his foreknowledge, God alone chooses the person best suited
for the fulfillment of the Dispensation for Restoration, and man's
will or exertion cannot affect those decisions by God.  For example,
no one can decide to be born of a particular nation, or as a
descendant of a particular family; no one can decide where or when he
will be born; no one can decide that he will be born with particular
abilities; nor can anyone decide any other matters of this nature. 
However, once a person is chose, that person's desires, hopes,
prayers, and efforts determine whether God can actually use him.  The
grace of God, to emphasize that God's criteria for election and what
he decides to do with man are not man's concern' its purpose is not to
deny the role of man's responsibility.  

Romans 9:21 says, "Has the potter no right over the clay to make out
of the same lump one vessel for beauty and another for menial use?" 
Man, as a creation of God, should not protest the Will of his Creator
under any circumstance.  Therefore, fallen man, who has become devoid
of value, is certainly the very source of his salvation.  

In Romans 9:10-13 we read that God loved Jacob and hated Esau, even
while they were in their mother's womb, and that Esau, the elder, was
to serve his younger brother, Jacob and hated Esau, even while they
were in their mother's womb, and that Esau, the elder, was to serve
his younger brother, Jacob.  As will be explained in greater detail in
"Abraham's Family in the Dispensation for Restoration", God was
working a special will through these brothers.  The fact that Jacob
was "loves" by God does not mean that he could receive God's grace
unconditionally.  In order to actually receive God's love, he had to
accomplish his responsibility.  Even though Esau was "hated" by God
(for a special dispensational reason, which will be explained later),
if he had accomplished his responsibility, he too would have received
the blessing of God's love.  

Belief in absolute predestination results from a lack of understanding
concerning the relationship between man's responsibility and God's
responsibility in fulfilling God's Will for the Dispensation for
Restoration.  This misunderstanding has led to the belief that God's
Will is realized by God's action alone and to the failure to
appreciate the vast importance of man's responsibility.