Sunday, January 10, 2021

“The Plan of Salvation” (1978): Being Foreordained as a Prophet or any other Office is not a Guarantee it will Happen

  

In reviewing Jeremiah's life, the reader should be cautious not to confuse the principle of foreordination with the principle of predestination, for there is a broad distinction between the two. A man may be foreordained--set apart or commanded to do a certain work--yet he retains his agency in the matter; he has the option as to whether or not he will perform the duty assigned to him. If a man were predestined to do certain work, he would have no choice but to do that work. Not having any choice, he would not incur the responsibility for his own actions, nor could he control them; he would be controlled by the power that predestined him. While Jeremiah was foreordained to be a prophet to the nations, the scriptures do not say that he was predestined to fill the office of a prophet. (The Plan of Salvation [1978], p. 2)