Who is this to say preaching predestination is blasphemous? Paul preached it. The Holy Spirit wrote it, and he says this kind of thing? That right there is blasphemous in and of itself.
I have no problem with predestination whatsoever, it is scriptural.
That said, I disagree completely with the Calvinist concept of predestination.
Very basically, Calvinism teaches that before the foundation of the world, God chose certain persons to salvation, and chose to pass by all others, leaving them in their sin to go to hell.
I disagree with this.
I believe God's predestination is based or founded upon his foreknowledge. I believe before the foundation of the world, he chose to save those he saw would believe, and chose to pass by those he saw would not believe.
We have a figure of this in scripture, concerning Gideon.
Judges 7:2 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
6 And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
7 And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.
The Lord wanted Gideon to go to battle against the Midianites, but he wanted only a few to go into the battle, lest the Israelites believe they delivered themselves through their own strength.
You MUST like that as a Calvinist. And it is true, only God can save a man.
But notice how God chose these few men, these "elect" you might call them. He told Gideon to take them down to the river to drink. Notice God said he would "try them". This shows God's choice is conditional, he is going to choose whom he chooses for a reason.
He tells Gideon to separate those who lap water like a dog from those who kneel down to drink. At this time there were ten thousand men (vs. 3). Those that lapped water like a dog were just three hundred men, and these are the men God chose to fight with Gideon.
Now, do you believe God knew who would lap like a dog, and who would kneel down and drink beforehand? Of course. And God knew it would be a small number that lapped like a dog, just three hundred men, so that when Gideon defeated the Midianites all the people would know that God delivered them and not they themselves.
So, this is exactly how I view predestination. God knew beforehand who would believe (those who lapped like a dog), and these were his "chosen" or "elect". Those whom he knew would not believe (those who kneeled to drink) he rejected. God's choice was conditional, he did not choose randomly or without a reason.
And we know that God does choose people for a reason, despite what Calvinism teaches (unconditional election). It is plainly stated WHO and WHY God chooses the elect.
1 Cor 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
27
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise;
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
28 And base things of the world,
and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
Do you see how similar this is to the story of Gideon? God has chosen the foolish to confound the wise, the weak to confound the mighty, those that are base and despised to confound the proud... just as he chose the few men who drank water like a lowly dog. And he chose only three hundred, to defeat the mighty with a small weak force.
He has chosen the dogs.
