Which is true, predestination or free will? The answer is that both are true. They are both true because the Bible affirms that both are true. God does choose those who will be saved and it is settled, and those who follow Christ freely choose him as an act of their own free will or volition.
Since the Bible affirms both, why then is there is still debate? The debate comes when some choose to emphasize the one and not the other. If one is emphasized over the other, it should be because one has strong convictions that the Bible emphasizes one stronger than the other.
Those who emphasize the predestination side of salvation are Calvinists, after the French Reformer John Calvin. Those who emphasize the free will aspect of salvation are typically referred to as Arminians, after Jacob Arminius.
It is however, impossible to answer this question without giving away my position. I am a Calvinist (5 points, if you are counting; and if you want to know what the five points are I will post that in a separate blog). I believe that man does have free will, but I believe that it is wrong and unbiblical to say that God will not or could not over-ride man's free will in order to accomplish His good purposes.
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The Bible is very clear that both of these ideas are at work in our lives. In His writings, Paul clearly uses the word “predestined” when referring to God’s actions towards the lives of men. So we must believe that God has set an order of events, a destiny if you will for His great creation. We must also accept, however, that God has created mankind with a free will. It was Adam and Eve’s choice to sin against God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). Joshua challenges the Israelites to choose who they will serve at Shechem (Joshua 24:15). All throughout the New Testament the Gospel message is preached and men and women make decisions to follow Christ. Knowing that each of these elements are present in our existence, how do we understand them? I am afraid that we cannot understand them. I like to think of the relationship between free will and predestination this way….You woke up today and put on the specific shirt that you have on right now…You picked it out for one of many different reasons…the color, the design, the fit, it’s position in your drawer…But you did pick it out…God predestined you to wear that shirt today. Paul says it best: Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”
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