It emphasizes how utterly lost and dead we were until God in his kindness made us aliv e, and it puts God s decision to perform this spiritual resurrection back into eternity. Before we had so much as drawn our first breath in the world, let alone done anything to recommend ourselves, God had already chosen us in Christ to be his adopted sons. The contemplation and acceptance of predestination, then, is a great aid to humility before God. It silences the indignant questioning of our hearts. So it depends not upon man s will or exertion, but upon God s mercy.
Predestination is therefore a useful guide to Christian maturity.
Accepting the doctrines of God s sovereign grace, including predestination, requires both an ability to reflect on the Bible, and a humility which trembles before God s word. It can be helpful, therefore, as a practical indicator of spiritual growth. If we are looking for people to take responsibility in our church or Christian fellowship to appoint a youth group leader, or a Bible study leader, or even a new pastor discussing predestination with them is a useful thing to do. It is a quick way to gauge their ability to think theologically, and to submit to God. If someone accepts and loves the doctrine of predestination, then one could be fairly confident that he or she would also grasp the substitutionary atonement, and other important doctrines.