Is everything predestined if God knows everything in advance?

No. Nobody chooses the circumstances of their birth, but every person makes their own decisions every day and is responsible for them. God's knowledge forces no one, and He judges each person by what they themselves did in their circumstances.

In one sense there really is something given in advance. Nobody chooses the family they are born into. One child is born into comfort, another into poverty, one into a loving home, another into a home where much goes wrong. No one chose these circumstances.

But that does not mean people are not responsible for what they do. God knows the circumstances of every individual exactly, including those that others cannot see. He judges each person by what they themselves made of them. If someone grows up in a bad environment and moves away from it even step by step, that effort is not overlooked.

We notice how free we are every single day. Since this morning we have made countless decisions. What shall I wear, shall I go here or there, shall I tell the truth or not. Good people choose the good, bad people choose the bad. None of us can honestly say our decision had to turn out that way because God knew it beforehand.

God has given human beings a free will, and reward and punishment rest on it. A will that God forced would no longer be free, and then reward would make no sense. Whoever believes in reward and punishment therefore cannot believe in a predestination that would cancel this order.

The fact that God knows in advance changes nothing here. His knowledge describes what we will do, but it does not cause it. The verses above show both sides. God shows the way, but we must walk it ourselves.