Michael1967 said: My wife is struggling with the doctrine of predestination based on God's sovereign election of individuals. She is overwhelmed by the feeling it is fatalism. The heart of her concern is what good does it do for her to pray for our children to be saved if they are not chosen by God from before the foundation of the world. What solace can I offer her from scripture?
Hi Michael,
It may be that your wife has two issues. Is predestination true and if so how are we to reconcile it with prayer? Pilgrim answered the latter. God ordains means to ends. There are some things that you will not do without being asked. Well, why not the same for God? God has ordained that some will be saved through the means of prayer. No problem there.
As for whether the doctrine is true, Scripture screams God's sovereignty yet God does not illuminate all of his to this precious truth. There is no substitute for Scripture mind you. The Holy Spirit must cause one to receive what Scripture clearly says on this matter. In the meantime, maybe you might ask your wife whether she believes that God knew in eternity that she would struggle over this doctrine. Assuming your wife embraces the orthodox view of God’s omniscience, she will say "YES, God knew." Well, if God knew in eternity that your wife would struggle over predestination, then it must have been true in eternity that "Mrs. Michael1967 would struggle with predestination." O.K., what made that statement true in eternity? Nobody was around but God to make it true. Was God dealt this truth by something else that existed in eternity? Was he dealt this truth by something or someone that did not exist? Where was such truth grounded if not in the sole determination of God?
