Predestination

Reformed theology teaches a robust doctrine of double predestination: God has from eternity, by his sovereign and free will, elected certain individuals to salvation (election) and passed over others, leaving them to face the just condemnation of their sins (reprobation). The Canons of Dort (First Head) and the Westminster Confession (Chapter III) affirm this doctrine as a matter of God's inscrutable will and absolute sovereignty. Election is unconditional — not based on any foreseen faith or merit — and reprobation is not a parallel decree of damnation but the decision to leave the non-elect in their own sin and just condemnation.

Calvin himself developed double predestination as a logical deduction from God's omniscience and sovereignty in the Institutes (III.21–24). The doctrine is understood not as a doctrine of terror but as a ground of assurance for believers: your salvation depends entirely on God's eternal choice, not your own wavering will. The Heidelberg Catechism (Q&A 54) speaks of God electing from the whole human race a chosen people for eternal life. This distinguishes Reformed theology sharply from both Arminianism (conditional election) and Lutheranism (single predestination with rejection of double reprobation).