Theology of Christian Discipleship Discussion Continues

The discussion of predestination so far, however, has barely skimmed the surface of my initial post.

If I had intended to post to just stimulate an intellectual discussion, then I might as well not post it in the first place. We would be like the theologians in the Middle Ages who spent countless hours discussing "How many angels can stand on the point of a pin?" (No, it's not "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?")

However, if you had been holding fast to belief that there is only free will without predestination prior to now, then the introduction of the simultaneous free will and predestination concept should cause a paradigm shift in your view of how to pursue Christian discipleship and Christian ministry.

For instance, without predestination, evangelism would be done with a shotgun approach. Spread your resources to maximize coverage. After all, you don't want to let anyone fall between the cracks.

Predestination, however, would require that you spend a lot of time listening to the Lord and following the leading of the Holy Spirit. After all, only God knows whom he had predestined and what he wants you to do in His plan.

Your view of what is "good works" and what is "dead works" would also shift.

Without predestination, the criteria for being "good work" and "dead work" would be based on what is in your heart. Are you motivated to do it because you want to please God or are you motivated to do it because you want to earn God's approval or to earn anything else from God.

While I agree that if you are doing something to earn God's approval or to earn anything else from God, you are doing "dead work", it is not a precise definition if you introduce predestination into the paradigm.

With predestination, everything that does not forward God's plan is done in vain and is therefore dead work irregardless of your motives.

Are you starting to see the divergence on how you approach discipleship and ministry with the two paradigms?