I have not attended a seminary or Bible college. I'm not a theologian, professional or amateur, I'm just putting my thought “out there” on the web.
Teachings about predestination usually come from either a Calvinist or Arminian point of view. I once said that I'm a practicing non-Calvinist (and speculated that some day all that practice might help me get it right). I'm also a practicing non-Arminian.
The predestination issue arises out of the larger concept of God's sovereignty, the teaching that God is in control in His creation, and that His will will be accomplished. I believe that God's sovereignty is much more complex than we can possibly fully understand (would God be God if we could understand Him?!). Part of our problem is that we are in time, while God is not. Time is one of God's creatures and not something to which God is subject. The best way I can express the significance of that is to say that to God, Abraham's lifetime is as real as are mine and that of my unborn grandchildren. God's knowledge is complete, and what is "future" to us is just real to God as what we call “past”. God does not need to micro-manage or micro-manipulate events and people as they happen.
God created the universe, everything that would happen from the Day of Creation through the Day of Judgment. Everything that would happen, including the myriad influences and decisions that would, ultimately, lead to my accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior … or another person's rejection of Jesus. In that sense, God predestined everything by creating the entire timer-space continuum, not by changing and tweaking on the fly everything that happens. Thus, my and every other person's choices are true choices, not something that God pre-programed into me or something into which God manipulated me. God chose to create creatures, humans, who could choose to love and serve Him rather than robots programmed to "love" and "serve". I (and every other person) am truly and fully responsible for my choices and actions.
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