Jumpstarter 5 of 10

Direct Answer Bercot’s clear example is the individual-level claim that God “arbitrarily predestined all humans to either eternal damnation or eternal life,” which he attributes to the Gnostics and later interpreters of Romans 9. He says the test is whether an individual application “harmonize[s] with the rest of Scripture,” rather than being built from Romans 9 alone.

Support from Transcript:

• Bercot warns that Romans 9 has been used to teach that God “has arbitrarily predestined all humans to either eternal damnation or eternal life.”
• He says this comes from reading the chapter “casually” and “in a vacuum.”
• He emphasizes Paul’s main focus is not individuals: “Paul is not primarily discussing individual free will or individual predestination.”
• Yet he allows a secondary use: “some of the principles…can be applied to individual salvation,” but “we must be exceedingly careful.”
• Guardrail: “Any application…to individuals must harmonize with the rest of Scripture. Otherwise, we will fall into the same error as the Gnostics…whom the apostle John labeled as the Antichrist.”