It is written:
“Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death…”. (Acts 2:23)
The Bible teaches us that what God “predestines” is “in harmony with” what He foreknows (cf. 1 Peter 1:2). God’s foreknowledge of an event is not the same thing as what He predestines.
Writing of this subject, Dave Hunt has well said:
“Peter very clearly distinguishes counsel or determination as well as election from foreknowledge: “him [Christ], being delivered by the determinate [horizo] counsel [boule] and foreknowledge [proginosko] of God…” (Acts 2: 23). If these are the same, then Peter is saying nonsensically that Christ was “delivered by the foreknowledge and foreknowledge,” or by “the determined counsel and determined counsel” of God. Paul likewise makes a clear distinction: “For whom he [God] did foreknow, he also [kai] did predestinate….” The Greek kai denotes a differentiation, thus making it clear that foreknowledge could not be the same as predestination, or Paul, as already pointed out, would be redundantly saying, “whom he did predestinate he also did predestinate.” (Dave Hunt, What Love Is This? Calvinism’s Misrepresentation Of God, 7362-7367 (Kindle Edition); Bend, Oregon; The Berean Call)
The crucifixion of Christ was “predestined” by God (1 Peter 1:20). Furthermore, this passage in Acts demonstrates that the crucifixion of Christ was done with “lawless hands.”
In other words, the death of Christ was an act of evil.
Was God therefore responsible for the evil act of crucifying Jesus?
No.
Why not?
Very simply, because what God predestined was in harmony with what He foreknew (i.e., God foreknew that mankind would FREELY CHOOSE to crucify Jesus when He came into the world).
Therefore, God predestined the death of Christ by allowing mankind to freely choose that wicked path which He foreknew.
God is not responsible for the wicked actions which mankind chooses.
However, being able as God to foresee the future, He is able to allow that evil in order to bring about greater good.
Have you turned to God’s Son to be saved from your sins (Acts 2:37-47)?
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