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APPENDIX: Odds and Ends
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What Does Acts 13:48 Mean? As many as were appointed to eternal life believed

"As the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed
Acts 13:48


Child of God, please prayerfully consider the words of your Creator. In Acts 13:13-48 our Lord has revealed how the apostle Paul explained the Gospel to the Jews in Antioch. Those Jews had the Old Testament containing the Law of Moses but had not heard of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. They did not know that Messiah had come. Upon hearing the Gospel from Paul, some believed and some didn't. At this point in the account we are told:


"As many as were appointed to eternal life believed" 
Acts 13:48


When prayerfully considered with another passage, the difficulty of Acts 13:48 is resolved. Consider the words of Jesus:

  • "Therefore everyone who hears from the Father and has learned, comes to me" (John 6:45).


There were believers who possessed eternal life before the first coming of Christ. These are those Jesus referred to when He said "who hears from the Father and has learned". Every person who has ever existed had the law of Moses, General Revelation or the Law of Conscience from the Father (God the Father). 


Note: Click here to read about General Revelation and the Law of Conscience.


It is God's irresistible grace that those who heard and learned from the Father... would come to Christ. Those who heard and learned from the Father were therefore "appointed to eternal life". 


You who read here, please consider again the scripture in question along with John 6:45:

  • Jesus said, "Therefore everyone who hears from the Father and has learned, comes to me" (John 6:45).
  • "As many as were appointed to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48).


It is simple. Those who hear and learn from the Father will come to Christ. So, they are appointed to eternal life. For those who meet the condition of "hears from the Father and has learned", coming to Christ is irresistible. This is not the unconditional, irresistible predestination of John Calvin. This is the conditional irresistible grace of scripture. 


Note: 

To learn from scripture how the lost are saved, click here.

To learn what "chosen from the foundation of the world" means, click here.


God's Choices Can Be    

Individual or Group (Corporate) 

Conditional or Unconditional

Resistible or Irresistible

Pre-Creation, Pre-birth, Pre-Conversion, Post-Conversion

To grant Salvation, Apostleship, Kingship, Adoption, Fruit, etc.


To learn more about God's choices according to scripture, click here.



Links to Other Pages on Predestination







"Therefore everyone who hears from the Father and has learned, comes to me"
John 6:45

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