Making Poor choices

My nephew was taught predestination. He thinks that since God knows the choices he is going to make anyways, that he can make poor ones and it is totally OK, cause God knew he would do it anyways. I really don’t know what to say to him or what scriptures to point him in the right direction.

Q. My nephew was taught predestination. He thinks that since God knows the choices he is going to make anyways, that he can make poor ones and it is totally OK, cause God knew he would do it anyways. I really don’t know what to say to him or what scriptures to point him in the right direction. I mean, I know where he is coming from, but its twisted to the point of no accountability. What do you think?

A. Your nephew is correct in that God knows all his choices beforehand (Psalm 139:1-4 & 16). But that doesn’t mean that the choices He makes are irrelevant. Nor does it relieve him of the earthly consequences of those choices. In Psalm 139: 23 King David asked the Lord to search his heart and see if there was any offensive way in him. Paul regularly taught that we should strive to always act in a manner that’s pleasing to God, so as not to grieve the Holy Spirit within us. He said we should be sexually pure (1 Cor.6:19-20), to avoid lying, anger, stealing, coarse language, brawling and slander. (Ephesians 4:25-31). In verse 32 He said we should be kind and compassionate. In Romans 12:2 he said we should present our whole being to God as a living sacrifice out of gratitude for our salvation.

In summary, the Lord knows our every sin and has already forgiven them all, as far as our salvation is concerned. (Hebrews 10:14) But Christians who misbehave suffer penalties here on Earth just like everyone else. And in addition they miss out on untold blessings they might have otherwise received, because while the Lord can save a rebellious sinner, He can’t bless a rebellious life.