A blanket, really? Some would beg to differ, or say it’s an awful prickly, scratchy
blanket! Some might even say it’s a fire blanket that extinguishes human
responsibility, that quenches world mission and that smothers prayer. Let me set
10 reasons before you why the doctrine of predestination not only gives us a
good night’s sleep, but also leaves us ready and willing to serve the Lord in the
morning.
1. Deep Assurance of Salvation
Ephesians 1:4-5 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined
us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good
pleasure of His will” Predestination tells the believer that salvation rests on God’s
eternal purpose, not on the instability of human will. I am loved before I ever
responded to the Gospel, my salvation is not fragile, even my failures cannot
overturn God’s decree. No charge can be brought against me, I can sleep well
and be assured that it is well with my soul.
2. Freedom from Performance Anxiety
2 Timothy 1:9 “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us
in Christ Jesus before time began.” With many other relationships in life, we are
under pressure to perform; whether it be in the home, or the workplace, or the
football pitch, or even the church. But predestination is a blanket against spiritual
insecurity. His purpose and His grace are irrevocable. I will never fall out of His
favour. His goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall
dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
3. A Sense of Being Personally Known and Loved
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born
I sanctified you.” God’s election is not cold or mechanical. It is relational. He
knows me and He loves me. “In a love that cannot cease, I am His and He is
mine.” Yes, this concretes my whole identity; I belong to the Good Shepherd who
knows His sheep.
4. Confidence in God’s Providence
The much treasured Romans 8:28 is followed by “For whom He foreknew, He
also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also
called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He
also glorified.” Since God has ordained my salvation, He has also ordained the
means by which He brings me home. Every trial is purposeful. Every blessing is
intentional. Every step is guided. Predestination becomes the foundation for
trusting God’s hand in the ordinary and the painful. Everything that happens to
me in the tapestry of life has been carefully woven by my sovereign heavenly
Father.
5. Humility and Gratitude

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put
to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to
shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the
things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to
bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.” I
was chosen, I was rescued! “I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no
wisdom; but I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection” The blanket
is warm and wide, but it also humbles me and leaves me truly reliant on His
mercy. It also leaves me grateful and willing to serve my Rescuer.
6. Motivation for Holiness
Ephesians 1:4 teaches me that I’m chosen in Christ to be holy and blameless,
and Romans 8:29 teaches me that means being conformed to His image. It’s
because of His unconditional love lavished upon me that I now want to please
Him and love Him back. As 1 John 4:19 says “We love because he first loved us.”
The doctrine then, far from encouraging passivity, actually fuels sanctification.
7. Boldness in Prayer
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you
should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask
the Father in My name He may give you.” Jesus links God’s sovereign choice
with our prayers! If God has chosen me, then He has also chosen to hear me! I
pray as a beloved child, I pray with expectation to a loving heavenly Father who
is already working all things together for my good. And those “all things” includes
my prayers – they matter.
8. Security in God’s Covenant Community
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you
out of darkness into His marvellous light” Predestination is not merely
individual—it creates a people. It doesn’t just define who I am, it defines who we
are. We are part of God’s church, we belong to the “one another” New Testament
community. We’re part of the bride of Christ.
9. Confidence in the Church’s Mission
Acts 18:10 “for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have
many people in this city.” God has His people in every place, every tribe and
tongue and people and nation. His means of reaching them with the Gospel is
you and me, but Christ will build His church and it will be completed. Our
confidence is that of Acts 13:48 “and as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed.” Global success is inevitable, therefore let us go with the Gospel!
10. A Sense of Awe and Worship
Seeing our God in all His sovereign glory and grace leads us to grateful
doxology. As David sang in Psalm 65:4 “Blessed is the one you choose and
bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of
your house, the holiness of your temple!”
It’s more than a blanket – God’s sovereign choice and His gracious invitation to
come to Him, are the Divine wings under which we find eternal refuge.

Robert Johnston