Predestination?

Hi everyone. I'm starting to like our new dog Humphrey (half lab and half Great Dane). Last night we had a break in to a house that is four houses down from ours. It's nice to know that our big dog is here to discourage any ne'er-do-wells in our neighborhood. His big bark should scare away even the most determined bad guys. We had a wonderful time last weekend up at Gull Lake – the kids did lots of boating / tubing. We did some shopping. And it was great spending time with my family. Kelly, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

So, now that I am relaxed and in an easy-going mood, I thought I would take on a light subject, predestination (does sarcasm show up in a blog post?). But I am going to do this from a story that I have never seen discussed as dealing with the topic of predestination – the story by Jesus of the Rich man and Lazarus.

First, a quick definition of 'predestination'. Divine predestination means that God has a purpose that is determined long before it is brought to pass. It implies that God is infinitely capable of planning and then bringing about what he has planned (Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Elwell). It especially is used by those of a Calvinistic background as dealing with the topic of those who are predestined to be saved – the elect, having nothing to do with their merit or anything to do with their actions. God's grace and mercy is wholly responsible for anyone being saved.

Here is the story I would like to discuss - Luke 16:19-31 (ESV) ¹⁹ "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹ who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²² The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, ²³ and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' ²⁵ But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'

²⁷ And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' ²⁹ But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' ³⁰ And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' ³¹ He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. (English Standard Version (Wheaton)).

Tom: so here are a few notes about this story. Jesus describes heaven as "Abraham's side" or Abraham's bosom". From v. 22, what exactly are the angels carrying? Lazarus' body, his soul, or something else? And when the rich man in purple (hopefully not a member of the Viking's team) was dead and buried, it is his soul that is in 'Hades'. Lazarus' anguish in Hades is in flame with a great thirst, which is something that appears to be never ending. Jesus does an excellent job in showing the anguish, torment and misery of what it means to be judged and cast into Hades.

But I wanted to draw out something that is perhaps too obvious from the story. What is the Rich man in purple's response when he sees that there is no escape from his torment? The Rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his house where his 5 brothers live. His hope is that seeing a resurrected person (i.e., Lazarus) who would tell them about the torment that the rich man in purple was in, that this would save his brothers from their hellish destination. Abraham's response was that if they ignored the Old Testament books of the Law and Prophets, then they would not be persuaded by seeing someone who was raised from the dead.

Of course, Jesus tells the story to show the hardness of the human heart where even after Jesus' resurrection, he would still be rejected in Israel. But the main point I wanted to draw out was that at least from the perspective of the rich man in purple, he believed his 5 brothers had the free-will to see evidence and to have their hearts turn to God. Abraham shoots down his hope by explaining that the Scriptures are enough for anyone to accept, and so even a miraculous resurrection would not save them. And so, for me the story seems to revolve around the importance of human free-will and choice when it comes to living our lives: when we live our lives without God, then we start on a path that means that our hearts are hardened to the point where even a miracle shown in front of us will not be accepted. And when we read and accept the Scriptures, we are allowing God to work in our lives. This will have eternal consequences. The emphasis in verse 31 is that the brothers should "hear" Moses and the Prophets. This looks to me as Jesus saying that people should choose to hear, with the emphasis on "choose". If it was fully God's will on whether his 5 brothers would receive salvation, then wouldn't the Rich Man's response be to beg God asking for mercy upon his brothers?

Before I am called a heretic, or a Pelagian, or something worse, I want to reassure any readers out there that I understand God alone is responsible for our salvation. But there seems like there is also a bit of room for human responsibility, otherwise Christ's judgment is meaningless. Anyway, I hope I have given you something to think about. Have a great week in Christ - /s/Tom