Not Calvin, Not Chance—Christ Alone

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One” (Eph. 1:3–6).

If God predestined Christians for adoption as sons “before the foundation of the world,” should I just shrug and say, “Well, if it was meant to be, then it was meant to be—so let’s just see what happens”? When the Bible says “predestined,” do we hear cold, irrevocable fatalism? In other words, is God saying my choices don’t matter, and I’m just going to end up wherever He’s already determined?

No. Sadly, many hear or impose a reformationist bent on passages like Ephesians 1, missing the wonderful point Paul is actually making. Scripture reveals a personal God whose purposes are holy, wise, and centered in His Son. In Ephesians 1, Paul uses the phrase “in Him” four times to frame the predestination under discussion. It has nothing to do with turning people into puppets or God ignoring human will—it reveals how He makes sinners into sons, conforming them to Christ (Rom. 8:29).

The New Testament’s language of predestination is not a horoscope; it’s a call to hope and holiness under a righteous King. And the Good News is that anyone can serve that King if they desire. Let’s think through these points together and expose the counterfeit “predestination” so often peddled in the religious world. This isn’t an academic debate—the stakes are nothing less than rightly understanding who God is, His purpose for us, and how we can truly enjoy the hope of our destiny in Jesus.

What Predestination Is Not

Before we see what Paul does mean, we need to clear away what he does not mean. Too often, religious tradition muddies the water with ideas foreign to the text. Let’s sweep away the clutter so the foundation of God’s Word is left clear.

Predestination is not fatalism.

Fatalism says, “Whatever will be, will be.” That’s the language of pagans, not the gospel. Scripture never teaches that men and women are swept along by blind destiny, stripped of choice and responsibility. Instead, it affirms again and again that God calls us to respond. “Choose this day whom you will serve” (Josh. 24:15). “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth” (Isa. 45:22). Paul is not handing us a philosophy of inevitability—he is proclaiming the plan of a personal God who acts in Christ to make salvation available.

Predestination is not arbitrary exclusion.

The reformationist view often paints God as if He drafted names into heaven and hell with no thought for faith, repentance, or obedience. But that slanders His character. The God revealed in Christ “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). He does not shut the door on any who seek Him. Rather, He has predestined the sphere of salvation—in Christ—and invites all to enter.

Whoever rejects that invitation does so by their own will, not because God locked them out.

Predestination is not puppet strings.

Paul is not saying that God overrides human will like a puppeteer pulling cords. Scripture consistently holds both divine purpose and human responsibility together. God “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11), yet men are still accountable for their decisions. Jesus lamented over Jerusalem: “How often I wanted to gather your children together…but you were unwilling” (Matt. 23:37). That verse alone shatters the caricature of God forcing salvation on the unwilling—or damnation on the innocent.

So what is Paul saying? He is showing us that God determined beforehand the destiny of those who are “in Christ”: to be holy, to be sons, to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Predestination is not about God randomly choosing some while discarding others. It is about God fixing in advance the blessings that would belong to those who are joined to His Beloved.

What Predestination Is

So if predestination is not about God arbitrarily picking some and discarding others, then what is it?

The answer is hiding in plain sight—right there in the text. Paul never says, God predestined you to be saved or lost, but “in Him”—that is, Christ—“…we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11).

It is in fellowship with Christ a man is predestined for Heaven.

That’s not about anyone being forced into a fate they can’t escape. That’s about being welcomed into a family we could never deserve. God’s “predestination” is not a cold decree; it’s an invitation. It’s His plan—set before the world began—that in Christ He would open the door wide and call people home. And anyone can answer: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). All means all.

Think of it like this: when someone plans a road trip, the destination is chosen in advance—say, “We’re going to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving.” That part is settled. But the travelers still have to decide if they’ll get in the car. Predestination, in Paul’s language, works the same way. God predetermined the destination—holiness, adoption, redemption, eternal life in Christ. But it’s not about forcing some to go and leaving others behind. It’s about setting the end-point in stone: those who are “in Christ” are destined to arrive there. The question is whether we will join Him on the road.

Notice the key phrase in Ephesians 1: “in Him.” That’s Paul’s drumbeat. Every blessing, every promise, every “predestined” good is tied to Jesus. Outside of Him, there is no guarantee, no security, no inheritance. In Him there is every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3).

Predestination is an an exclusive club, but anyone can join on the same terms—submitting to Jesus. He is the source of salvation to all who obey Him (Heb. 5:9). All means all. It’s about the sphere of salvation God prepared in Christ, before you were ever born.

Romans 8 says the same:

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son…” (Rom. 8:29).

Again—notice what’s fixed. Not “you must go to hell.” Not “you have no choice.” But God predetermined that the people He foreknew would be shaped to look like Jesus. The destination is clear: Christlikeness. The question is, will you answer the call?

Predestination, then, is not fatalism. It’s not puppetry. It’s God’s eternal design to rescue a people in Christ, make them holy, and seat them at His table as sons and daughters. And unlike the Stoics or the myths of blind fate, this destiny is not impersonal. It is intensely personal, flowing from the “kind intention of His will” (Eph. 1:5).

The God who numbers your hairs, who knows your tears, has set His purpose not to crush you but to conform you to Christ.

Predestination in Scripture is never a trap. It is not an iron cage where man’s choices mean nothing. It is God’s assurance that His promises will stand, His Son will reign, and His people will reach the goal He set before time began. Paul does not hand us philosophy—he hands us hope.

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son…” (Rom. 8:29). That is not chains—it is freedom. Not a decree that erases responsibility, but a purpose that guarantees Christlikeness for all who love Him.

So what do we do with this doctrine? We rest in it—but we do not twist it. We let it steady our steps, not slacken our hands. God’s plan is sure, but His call is urgent. The same Paul who says, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4) also pleads, “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). That’s not a contradiction—it’s the balance of sovereignty and summons.

Predestination means this: history will not unravel, Satan will not win, and God’s purpose will not fail. It means you and I can walk into a hostile world knowing we are not drifting on chance. We are carried by the will of a faithful God who works “all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11).

Do not let human systems steal the glory of this truth by narrowing it down to man-made formulas. Do not let fatalism drain it of its comfort by making it cold inevitability. Instead, hear it as Paul preached it—a word of assurance, a call to holiness, and a reason to worship.

The point is not that you have no choice. The point is that God’s choice in Christ is unshakeable.

That is why Paul erupts into praise: “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” (Rom. 11:36).