As Many As Were Foreordained

ACTS 13:48 - AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED

It is hard to read Acts 13:48 as a verse for predestination in the context of the thirteenth chapter. Luke is describing the dramatic events at Antioch which center around the rejection of the gospel by the Jews (45) and the acceptance of it by the Gentiles (46-48), The point of the passage is to castigate the Jews for rejecting Christ and praise Gentiles for accepting Him. For Luke to slip a predestinarian commentary in on this scene would work against the mood he is trying to create. “Oh, that’s why the Jews rejected the gospel and the Gentiles accepted it. They were predestined to do so. It really wasn’t their fault.” That’s the kind of conclusion we could make from this kind of interpretation. But Luke is trying to fault the Jews. This would work against his purpose for writing about this event.

We read in Acts 13:48, “And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” The phrase, “had been appointed,” is the Greek periphrastic pluperfect, h\san tetagmevnoi. This can be either middle or passive in meaning since perfect participles only have one form to express the passive and the middle (reflexive) meaning. I think it has a middle meaning here. When we see the word used in the aorist, which has different forms for the middle and passive, its normal use seems to be in the middle. Acts 28:23 looks as though it would be active when you read the New King James translation, but when we look at the Greek, it’s a middle. Also, in 1 Corinthians 16:15, the word is active in the Greek, but the meaning of the thought is definitely middle.

If we took the meaning of the clause in 1 Corinthians 16:15 and used it in Acts 13:48, we would have, “As many as had devoted themselves unto eternal life, believed.” This verb, tavssw, can have a number of meanings. Bauer’s second American edition and Moulton and Milligan give the following meanings: to classify, place or station something in a fixed spot, appoint to or establish in an office, to put someone in charge, assign, be classed among those possessing, devote, order, fix, determine, allot, pay, tell, arrange, or agree. I think dispose fits just fine in the ideas related by all these words.

What word fits in the context of Acts thirteen without forcing anything? We find from verse 46 that the Jews judged themselves unworthy of eternal life. This is a reflexive middle idea. The statement we’re dealing with is the corresponding statement about the believers. They had devoted themselves, disposed themselves, arranged themselves, or classified themselves unto eternal life. Certainly, ordained, of the King James Version, is too strong. There is no reason to consider this a passive with the context of the previous middle (reflexive) concept of verse 46. Therefore, this portion should be translated, “As many as had disposed themselves to eternal life, believed.”

But, we don’t really need a middle or weak verb meaning here. We can accept the strong meaning of the New King James Version, “As many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.” Just as the Jews pushed the word of God away from themselves in verse 46, the Gentiles rejoice and are glad and believed, in verse 48. This could mean that the ones who believed were the ones who had been appointed (passive) to eternal life by their own continuance in the grace of God (43). This would account for the process implied by the pluperfect. They were not the ones who thrust eternal life from themselves. They were the ones who rejoiced in it. So, their own response to the gospel had the effect of ordaining them to eternal life.

Theologically speaking, this could show the divine-human nature of conversion. Left to himself, no one would seek God. But a positive response to the gospel sets powerful forces in motion. The Holy Spirit continues to draw the person to Himself. A chain reaction is set in motion. As the person continues to yield (in contrast to those like the Jews of Luke 7:30), the Holy Spirit draws more powerfully. The person could always back out at this point, but God is on the move on the person. Therefore, to see this as passive activity is no problem as long as it includes an active yielding. Thus, the interpretation of the entire passage yields a theologically middle concept. So, verse 48 could be passive because it views the belief as more than simply the person’s response. God is at work too.

Now this theology has nothing to do with the passage itself. This passage fits this theology without sacrificing the context, grammar, or language. This respects both context and language. Context is always the most important thing to consider when interpreting a small portion of scripture.