It should be noted that the bible does indeed talk about various things being predestined. They aren't predestined in the same sense that Calvinists use the term. They've twisted that, just like they've twisted every other concept that pertains in anyway to doctrine and theology.
The things that have been predestined are things which pertain directly to God Himself and to
groups of people, the passage in Ephesians 1, which is cited above, being an example of both, actually. The five sentences that b57 quotes have primarily to do with the Body of Christ but if you read the rest of the chapter you easily get that it's not just about those who come to Christ but about Christ Himself as well, and that it is He who is destined to glory and it is by virtue of the fact that we are IN HIM that this destiny pertains to us as well.
Let's read the rest of the passage where we'll see what Paul is actually trying to tell us....
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
There's not a lot of commentary that is needed here. What's being said is clear enough once you focus on what Paul himself emphasizes in the passage, that being that these things are true IN HIM, that is in Christ Jesus. If you are in Him then these things are predestined to come to pass for you. Notice also, in verses 13 and 14, that God gets Himself even more intimately involved in this by providing us the Holy Spirit of Promise as an earnest payment in advance of our full inheritance IN HIM.
On a side note, verse 13 is another verse that that Calvinist ignore and never ever quote because of the issues it raises with their rather silly conception of "regeneration". It is we who do the trusting and that happens after we are presented with the gospel and before being given His Spirit. It couldn't be more clear.
Moving on, lets read just two more sentences of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians...
Ephesisans1: 15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
So, there's two things I want to point out in this amazing portion of scripture (verses 15-21 is one of the most amazing sentences ever written in the history of language so there's a LOT more that could be said!)...
First, verse 23 further cements the point that what Paul is talking about in this chapter isn't predestination in the Calvinist sense of the term. Paul isn't talking about particular individuals having been predestined before time began but rather he's talking about what is predestined to happen to those who find themselves in the Body of Christ. It is that body of believers, that group of people, that is predestined. If you join the group then the destiny of the group becomes your destiny as well.
Lastly, I wanted to address the idea of being "blessed with every spiritual blessing". B57, along with a great many other Christians (i.e. this is not a Calvinist error, per se) tend to take that phrase too far. Any time you see the word "all" or "every" used, you should be careful about taking it too literally because it's very often a figure of speech and Paul's use of it in Ephesians 1:3 is no exception. Paul is not suggesting here that every conceivable spiritual blessing has already been given to us, as b57 is clearly suggesting with his post. The proof of this is Paul's own prayer that he describes in verses 17 - 21. Paul prays to the Father on behalf of the believers in Ephesus that He would give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that their understanding be enlightened that they may know what is the hope of His calling, etc. All of that sounds like spiritual blessings to me! Right? Also, Paul, in other writings tells us plainly that he hasn't attained all there is to attain and is "pressing on toward the goal", etc, etc.
A similar figure of speech is used by Paul in Romans 11...
Romans 11: 26 And so all Israel will be saved,....
This verse is NOT teaching that every single Jew is going to be saved. That's not what it means because "all" almost never means "all" as in "every single one". In fact, it usually doesn't even mean "most". It's just a figure of speech that means "a lot" or "a significant portion of". So, just as "all" doesn't mean "all" and therefore Romans 11:26 isn't teaching that every single Jew will be saved, Ephesians 1:3 it is also a figure of speech in that "every" doesn't mean "every" and therefore it isn't teaching that every single possible spiritual blessing has been given to us, which is why it makes sense for Paul to ask God to give the Ephesians wisdom and understanding.
In short, context is everything!
Clete