Predestination in Acts 13:48? “Those Who Were Appointed to Eternal Life Believed”

In Acts 13:48, after Paul and Barnabas preach in Antioch Pisidia, the passage speaks of gentiles who “were appointed to eternal life believed.” In this verse the gentiles’ divine appointment precedes even their belief. In other words, they did not believe first and then they were appointed. Is this predestination? Several interpretations of 13:48 are possible:

1. They Were Predisposed to Salvation

Our first option interprets the appointment to eternal life as referring to gentiles who were already predisposed to salvation.

Most, if not all, of the gentiles who receive eternal life in Acts 13:48 are already God-fearers and proselytes to emergent Judaism before Paul and Barnabas preach to them. And along with the Jews who follow Paul, they continue “in the grace of God” even prior to 13:48 (Acts 13:43 cf. 16, 26). Their disposition may be compared to that of Cornelius (Acts 10) and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8) who were already devout prior to their full conversion (see I. Howard Marshall, Kept by the Power of God, 93–94).

They already know the God whom Paul and Barnabas proclaim. Prior to the apostolic message, however, they did not know about the forgiveness of sins made possible through Jesus and his resurrection (Acts 13:37–39). The idea behind this verse may simply be that they were predisposed to believe in the message about Jesus, and perhaps we are reading more into the verse than was intended if we go further than this.

2. They Positioned Themselves for Eternal Life

A second option can reinforce or be reinforced by other options or stand independent of them. The crux of the issue centers on how we translate the Greek verb tasso (τάσσω). Depending on usage and context, the verb has a range of meanings including but not limited to “ordain,” “arrange,” and “determine,” depending on contexts.  The deterministic aspect of this word must be tempered with contexts in which the word in the Septuagint seems related to human freedom (Jeremiah 3:19; Hosea 2:3). It is sometimes related to time references, which is relevant for our text (e.g., 2 Maccabees 6:21; 1 Clement 40:1–2). As a passive it can be defined as “belong to, be classed among those possessing.” (Bauer, Danker, Arndt, Gingrich Lexicon, henceforth, BDAG, 991).

In Acts 13:48 the verb is a perfect masculine participle in either the middle or passive voice (tetagmenoi/ τεταγμένοι). If the passive voice is preferred, the meaning would seem to be that they had been appointed or ordained by God.  However, if the middle voice is accepted, then the meaning could be that these gentiles, by believing the message, had appointed or “set themselves” for eternal life. This would make good symmetry with 13:46 where Paul and Barnabas claim that those who oppose them judge themselves unworthy of eternal life.

We noticed earlier that the unbelievers in Ephesus hardened themselves (19:9) and there esklêrunonto/ ἐσκληρύνοντο is to be understood in the middle voice or at least conveying some sense of self-hardening. If nothing else, 13:46 suggests that the gentiles who receive salvation in 13:48 should be juxtaposed with those who freely reject God’s salvation in 13:46.

3. They were Enrolled for Eternal Life

A third option understands tasso/ τάσσω as “enrollment” (see F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts, 283–84; cp. Daniel 6:12[Theodotion version]; 1 Clement 58.2). On this interpretation the gentiles are “enrolled” in the heavenly records (cf. Luke 10:20). In this light the passage may be referring to something similar to having one’s name recorded in a book of God’s people or book of life (Exodus 32:32; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 13:8). A question then arises whether a person can have his or her name removed from the book. Revelation 3:5 can be interpreted either way on this one (on Rev 3:5 see further, B. J. Oropeza, Churches Under Siege of Persecution and Assimilation: The General Epistles and Revelation, 211–16).

4. Classic Predestination

A fourth option allows for God’s predetermination of individuals to salvation. In God’s sovereignty, God arbitrarily predestines person A, but rejects person B, to eternal life. This double predestination sense is complemented by the translation of hosoi (ὅσοι) as “as many as” (were appointed to eternal life believed), which seems to suggest individuals rather than a corporate group.

Alternatively, God’s choice can be made on the basis of foreknowledge of the individuals’ character or beliefs. This is how a number of church fathers understood foreknowledge in relation to predestination prior to St. Augustine.

Acts does not bother to sort out for us the ramifications of such wording, nor is there an attempt to reconcile such a thought with the type of human freedom assumed in other passages in Acts. Compare Mishnah Abot. 3.15A: “Everything is foreseen, and free choice is given” (Jacob Neusner tr.).

5. Gentiles are Prophetically Appointed to Eternal Life

A final option suggests that Acts 13:48 is influenced by the Isaiah text cited in 13:47. Paul and Barnabas claim that the Lord has commanded them to proclaim the gospel: “I have appointed you a light to the nations (gentiles), that you may be a means for salvation to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). In the context of Isaiah (esp. 49:8), God’s appointed time of salvation will come when the gentiles/nations will be joined with the people of God (Israel) in an upcoming restoration.

The gentiles’ salvation in Acts 13 indicates that this anticipated era, predetermined by God and written long ago by the prophet, has finally arrived with the proclamation of Paul and Barnabas as servant-messengers of the good news (i.e., the “you” who bring light to the nations in Isaiah 49:6). The apostles are servants of the Servant, Christ (cf. Acts 3:13, 26; 4:27–30).

God’s appointment of gentiles to salvation in Acts 13:48, then, is to be understood corporately (the gentile nations) and in terms of the appointed time for them to be saved. This is the era of salvation as both Isaiah 49:8 and Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:2 affirm. The servant’s appointment as well as the divine and prophetic purpose find their fulfillment through apostolic preaching to the nations. This is what Paul and Barnabas are doing on their missionary journeys. Elsewhere in in Acts, the notion of appointment (tasso/ τάσσω) refers to Paul’s commissioning as an apostle (Acts 22:10). And the same term is used of an appointed time in Acts 28:23.

Moreover, if Isaiah 55:1–3 (LXX) is still lurking in the background from Acts 13:34, the plural correlative hosoi (ὅσοι) from Isaiah 55:1 may have influenced Act 13:48 because the same pronoun appears there (often translated as “as many as,” “those,” or “such as”). In Isaiah 55, an open invitation is given to “those” or “all those” (ὅσοι) who are thirsty to come and drink freely, listen, live, and participate in God’s everlasting covenant (Isa. 55:1–3).

In Acts 13:48, the meaning of hosoi/ὅσοι may be rendered “all those who”; i.e., all those gentiles/God-fearers appointed to eternal life (cf. Acts 2:29; 4:6, 34; 14:27; 15:4). In fact, “all those who” may be preferred over “as many as” because the former highlights the plural and corporate sense of the context. In Acts, the sense of hosoi as “all who” or “all that” is clearly evident (Acts 4:6, 34; 10:45; 13:48; cf. Gal. 3:26–27; Rev. 3:19; etc.). This seems to be how Acts normally understands the plural masculine hosoi/ ὅσοι (see further BDAG 729; also Moulton-Milligan Lexicon, 461).

The intertextual backdrop of Acts 13:48 may thus suggest that the people are freely offered salvation through invitation. What is predetermined is God’s appointment of his servant and the time for the gentiles to come to salvation. With this view in mind, there is no sense of divine coercion or arbitrary selection of individuals in Paul’s day. If we may paraphrase the relevant portion of this verse, the gentiles as a people are appointed according to prophecy to eternal life.

Conclusion

In my opinion, option number five is the most plausible. So does this passage teach predestination? Yes, in a sense it does. But it does not appear to be the type of predestination in which God determines beforehand that one individual will be saved and another individual condemned prior to either of them being born and having a chance to believe or not believe. Rather, in Acts 13:47–48, it is the gentiles who are the fortunate ones that happen to be alive at the fulfillment of the appointed era anticipated in Isaiah’s prophecy. They are among the first to hear this good news of salvation from God’s appointed servants.*

* For a more thorough treatment of this verse, see B. J. Oropeza, “Paul and Lukan Predestination? Rereading Acts 13:48 through the Lens of Isaiah”