In Genesis 50:20, when Joseph is reunited with his brothers who tried to kill him, Joseph says ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.’ So again, we see God in control, even when people are trying to do harm. Christian Truth. But who is responsible for his actions? What we are talking about here is the fact that God chose our final destination long before we existed. When we study the things of God, we also work with definitions, so as we continue our discussion of the biblical doctrine of predestination, we need to define what predestination means. The Next 500 Years: 2017 National Conference, Examining Calvin’s Rules of Prayer (Part 1), Show Me Your Glory: Understanding the Majestic Splendor of God, La Biblia de Estudio de La Reforma (Spanish Edition), Naming Ligonier the Beneficiary of a Bank or Investment Account, Gifts That Provide Income and Tax Benefits. First use the CARM search engine. We only differ on the basis of that predestination. They really did want to do Joseph harm, and so are still responsible for their actions. This is an Anglican Media Sydney production.Web development by Kreativ. If you have chosen God, then take heart, because it means God has predestined you to be one of His heirs. Or is God in control? First published in Tabletalk Magazine, an outreach of Ligonier. )Angels and DemonsWhat are angels? Of course, the biggest place where we see God’s sovereignty and human responsibility together is at the cross. It implies that God is infinitely capable of planning and then bringing about what he has planned, and Scripture speaks of him as doing this ( Isa 14:24-27; 22:11; 37:26; 44:7-8; 46:8-10).Prophecy in its predictive mode is to be understood accordingly. This is a bad thing! So was God sovereign over what Pharaoh did? It should make us realise that since God is responsible for making people Christians, we should be less worried, because the source of our trust is not ourselves, but God Himself. (2) Are we humans responsible for our actions - in particular, for the way we respond to God? And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." . He thought predestination was too harsh for a loving God. Not only was he an oppressive slave master, he also went back on his word when he said he’d let the Israelites go. Is Pharaoh responsible? How do I know when God is drawing me to himself. If you have chosen God, it is because He has already chosen you. I have a few questions which are a bit of a conundrum. The Augustinian view makes the Lord the final, decisive agent in salvation. Does God look into the future, see who will respond positively to Jesus, and then choose that person for heaven (the prescient view), or is predestination based entirely on God’s will such that God chooses who will believe, and that choice finally gives them saving faith (the Augustinian or Calvinistic view)? It is not that God saves us because He knew we would make the right choice to trust in Christ. That might seem to be a subtle distinction, but it is significant.