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I want
to know about the concept of reprobation and predestination. Is that something
that can be understood?
 redestination is a theological
concept used by Saint Paul (see, for example, Romans 8:29–30; Ephesians
1:5) to refer to a simple, double-edged fact: (a) God will reward with
everlasting joy and peace those of us who, as an act of
free will, repent
their sins, die to
themselves, and, through Christ, trust in the Father’s infinite
mercy; and (b) He will cast away, like chaff in
the wind, all who, as an act of free will, reject His Word (see Psalm 37).
Thus we can say that God has predestined that repentant souls will be saved
though Christ and that the wicked will perish in everlasting
“death”—that is, hell: the pain
and suffering of separation from God.
When the wicked
are judged they shall not stand,
nor find room among those who are just;
for the Lord guards the way of the just
but the way of the wicked leads to doom. |
—Psalm
1:5-6 |
Saint Augustine got entangled
in this theology when he began to speculate that individual souls could be
predestined to salvation or damnation. Moreover,
Protestants such as Calvin made this speculative
error into a fundamental basis of their dissident
theology.
But the fact is, God has placed
His love in the hearts of us all, and He calls all
of us to holiness in Him. All we have to do is beg God in prayer, as an act
of free will, to open our hearts and let His love fill us through Christ.
In response to our surrender to love, the Father will give us all we need
in life.
More often than not, however,
pride and spiritual
blindness harden our hearts to genuine love, and we end up treating
God’s precious love with indifference and
contempt. Some souls effectively defile love and
condone sin even as they think they
are serving God’s will.
True reprobates, therefore,
are those who reject love—not because God has withheld it from them
in the first place, but because their own pride has
pushed love out of their hearts.
Nevertheless, a
humble prayer for mercy
could cast out the darkness to fill the heart of any reprobate with love and
rescue his or her soul from the predestined destruction of the wicked.
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Come now, let
us set things right, says the LORD: Though your sins be like
scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they
may become white as wool. If you are willing, and obey, you shall eat the
good things of the land; But if you refuse and resist, the sword shall consume
you: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken! |
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—Isaiah
1:18-20 |
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Doubt?
If you doubt any of this, look not
just at the words of Saint Paul but at his life. He went from being a supreme
reprobate—murdering Christians—to a Christian saint.
Nevertheless, you might say, “That
doesn’t prove anything. Maybe God predestined Paul to repent. And maybe I’m
doomed no matter what I do.” Well, if that’s what you believe, you will be
doomed.
So put it to the test. Call upon
God’s mercy and see what happens. Even if there is
individual predestination, maybe God has predestined that you will
repent. You won’t know until you try.
More likely, though, there is no
predestination in this individual sense, and all we’re dealing with here is the
psychology of belief mixed with demonic influence.
It’s a trick of the demons to tell you that you are doomed, although they know
full well that you aren’t. But if you believe them, you won’t dare to call upon
God’s mercy—and then you are doomed.
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