Appointed to Believe

In Acts 13:48 in the ESV translation it states: And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed(italics mine) to eternal life believed. The context of Acts 13:13-48 describes the preaching of the Gospel to the people of Antioch by Paul and Barnabus. The passage details that when Paul and Barnabus first entered Antioch, they entered the synagoge on the Sabbath day, and Paul preached the Gospel, beginning with the earliest days of Israel's history declaring the activity of God in bringing about His purpose for His people, Israel. Paul rehearses the work of God in the people of Israel's life right up to the story of Jesus and His resurrection. Those who heard the Gospel begged Paul and Barnabus to come back and preach again at the next Sabbath. The text states that the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. In verse 45, though the text states that when the Jews saw the crowds, they were moved with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul. So Paul and Barnabus boldly spoke to them that it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to the Jews first, but since they refused the Gospel, they would go to the Gentiles and preach the Gospel. And that is how the text arrives at Acts 13:48 describing the rejoicing of the Gentiles and their glorifying of the word of the Lord. The last part of the verse states: as many as were appointed (italics mine) to eternal life believed.
The word appoint is defined, in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, to mean, to fix or to set officially or to name officially. This part of our text in Acts 13:48 serves to establish and communicate the doctrine of election. The doctrine of election, simply stated is the sovereign choice of God, based on His right as the Creator God, to choose or elect who will believe in the Gospel and who will not. In Ephesians 1:11 in the New Internation Version, it states: "In him we were also chosen (italics mine), having been predestinated according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will," further attests to the same right of God to choose who will believe and who will not. Another verse giving even more weight to the absolute need for God to make it possible for a person to believe is John 6:65, where Jesus is teaching his disciples states: ... "that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."(ESV)
I hope this post helps to stimulate the reader, to search the scriptures for themselves, and to see if what is written by this author on the doctrine of election, or to be said another way, the doctrine of the Lord's choosing, is true.