Claim. God does not predestine in absolute terms who any individual will actually become. Even when God elects someone for a mission, what they end up being depends on whether the divine 95% and the human 5% are completed together.
Elaboration. dp-3-the-predestination-of-human-beings gives the failure cases:
- Adam and Eve — predestined to become humanity’s good ancestors conditional on obeying the commandment. The conditional was not met.
- Moses — predestined to lead Israel into Canaan; failed by striking the rock twice at Kadesh-barnea (Num 20). Died outside Canaan.
- Judas Iscariot — predestined to remain a loyal disciple; turned faithless and ended a traitor.
- The Jewish people — predestined to be glorified as the chosen nation when they believed in Jesus; sent him to the cross instead, and the nation was scattered.
The same logic generates DP’s universalist-leaning predestination of salvation: “although the times of their salvation may differ, all fallen people are predestined to be saved” — yet that predestination is still conditional on the eventual completion of their portion.
Significance. This atomic operationalizes the Will-vs-way distinction at the personal level. The Will that humanity be restored is absolute; the predestination of any particular individual to fulfill it is conditional. Hence the divine election language in scripture (Moses, Judas, the chosen nation) cannot be read as Calvinist guarantee — it is mission-assignment, defeasible by responsibility-failure. This is the bridge to the Romans rereads in §4.
See also. dp-failed-central-figure-replaced-to-fulfill-absolute-will · dp-perfected-individuals-cannot-fall.