Lisa is an eighth grade student at Covenant Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina. She wrote this essay for a Language Arts assignment.

I am convinced that predestination is the biblical perspective on salvation. There are many Scripture texts that support the sovereignty of God in choosing His elect. If you believe that God chose everyone and you also believe that it was our choice to be saved, you support salvation through works. You also believe, although you may deny it, that you are the one with the power instead of God. We are finite creatures and God is the Almighty and an infinite ruler. How can we, lowly as we are, challenge God Who has chosen? It is not even a question whether or not God is “fair.” He is God so how can we challenge what He says?

I am able to support my argument and position with several Scripture references. Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will…” These verses are saying that God has chosen His elect from the beginning of time. It is not our “free will” that chooses Him; rather, He causes us by His choice to “choose” Him.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast.” We are saved by God’s grace and mercy. Our faith and salvation are a gift from God, not an action that we commit. By saying that it was your definitive decision to choose God, you are saying that your salvation was caused by your own action. This is a form of works righteousness, which is the belief that you save yourself by your own actions and goodness. God’s people do not save themselves. God saves them.

Romans 9 is full of verses supporting predestination. Verses 15-16 say, “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.” God does not choose everyone to be His elect as this verse shows. He is the one that says who will believe in Him and who will not. It is not man that decides to choose God. God is the one that shows mercy in choosing us. If you think it is “unfair” of God to choose some people and reject others, not even giving those people a chance at salvation, read verses 19 through 21. They say, “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say unto him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” We as the creation of the Creator cannot dispute anything that God says or does. He has chosen a specific people to be His elect, and they only will be the ones to enjoy Him in Heaven.

God chooses His people and rejects those He has not predestined to be His own. He is the Almighty and can do whatever He wants. Humans, as the creation of God, cannot label God as “unfair” or as one who shows “favoritism” because He is God and has infinite power. He is perfect and can do no wrong.