The Foreknowledge of God
Notes
Transcript
The foreknowledge of God
The foreknowledge of God
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Since becoming a Christian there has things I have learned and some made sense and other things seemed to great for me to wrap my mind around. Since I started in a theological camp that isn’t known for being the most orthodox, what I ended up learning about God seemed to have more to do with me than him. And when it came to the subject we are talking about today, it is common to hear it taught in a way that makes much of man and diminishes this great attribute of God.
I want for us to look at foreknowledge today with implication into the doctrine of election and predestination. And as you heard in our opening text today, this ideas arise directly from scripture and not mans desire to teach them. In fact if there is anything more controversial within the church, I haven’t found it.
The reason for this is twofold; first because of general lack of biblical knowledge, and secondly because we think we know what certain words mean, and we import our understanding of them into scripture in order to get insight. Please understand that in order to right interpret scripture we do so by interpreting it contextually, grammatically, and historically. Since the Bible was not written originally in the english language, we must be careful to study scripture and not allow people to redefine scripture because of linguistic issues.
Why is this important to say? Because when we are talking about such things as the foreknowledge of God, we must understand that to get it wrong could lead to discrediting and denying the absolute sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners. Translation - this is a gospel issue...
Foreknowledge is not understood biblically and it is not taught or talked about enough in our churches now a days. Because of this, A. W. Pink makes the following statement...
“When the solemn and blessed subject of Divine foreordination is expounded, when God’s eternal choice of certain ones to be conformed to the image of his Son is set forth, the Enemy sends along some man to argue that election is based upon the foreknowledge of God, and this “foreknowledge” is interpreted to mean that God foresaw certain ones would be more pliable than others, that they would respond more readily to the strivings of the Spirit, and that because God knew they would believe, he accordingly, predestined them unto salvation.”
Shai Linne put it a little more succinctly when talking about Romans 8:29 -
People try to use an argument lacking common sense
Concerning the foreknowledge of God thinking the logic fits
Dudes are saying He looked out into the future ages
With illumination seeing all that would choose salvation
And those men were chosen by God because they chose Him
But that's not what the passage has spoken
It says those He foreknew He predestined
If he foreknew everybody, is everybody predestined?
Is everyone His object of affection?
If so, then what's the point of the doctrine of election?
This seems to be a common way people are trying to explain and understand the idea of the foreknowledge of God. Basically saying God saves us because he can see the future and knows who will pick him. But this is totally wrong and actually the exact opposite of what scripture actually teaches. Again to quote Pink, “this takes away the independency of God, for it makes his decrees rest upon what he discovers in the creature.”
When you think about that statement, who does it make more powerful? The will of man or the will of God? Please keep in mind that I said the question we will wrestle with this summer as we look through the attributes of God will be, “Is our thoughts of God too human?”
When we take the foreknowledge of God and try to understand it as God picking us only once he knows we will choose him, we unravel scripture and rewrite the gospel message. That is false theology! False theology makes God’s foreknowledge of our believing the CAUSE of his election to salvation; Whereas, God’s election is the cause, and our believing in Christ is the EFFECT.
How does this get so twisted? I would submit to you that it is because of how we define terms. If you were to look up the word “foreknowledge” you would see something that says, “to know beforehand”. Well that is what this word means in the english language, yet when we look at scripture, we shouldn’t do so with a dictionary in our hand, because we will think of everything in english terms.
What is the problem with this? The major problem is that this method does not allow scripture to interpret itself. What do I mean by that? If we want to know what something means we must find out how scripture uses the term in question. The Spirit’s use of a word is always what defines its meaning and scope of usage.
We must allow scripture to define foreknowledge
We must allow scripture to define foreknowledge
The reason why so many argue over such a glorious topic and can’t seem to agree, is because too many people are using different sources for definition. When we use anything outside of scripture to give us meaning within scripture we need to be careful to ensure that we are not making scripture say something that it does not say.
Is this just for this one word that we would need such strict need for interpretation? Not at all… Think with me about words in scripture.
Take the word “flesh”… It seems obvious as to what is meant by the word flesh, but scripture frequently uses this word to mean so much more than one persons body, or skin. It can mean all humanity and it can mean one persons skin. We would have to look at the context and allow scripture to define how it is being used.
What about the word, “World”? Does it mean the globe as in the planet, does it mean the entire human race, as in the whole world? To wrongly apply meaning to this world will cause you to believe the wrong things about God.
The same thing that people do with these words, people do with the words “know” and “foreknowledge”...
Foreknowledge is not found in the OT but the word “Know” or “Knew” is… And to get that wrong would make us lose much rich theology. Let’s look at a few verses to see if we can have this illustrated to us.
17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”
Well obvious God who knows all things knows Moses by name… is that what this means? Is God saying I recognize you by your name?
24 You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.
Does this imply that these people existed before God knew them?
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
So is this saying that God does know some people and others he doesn’t yet?
4 They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction.
Is this saying that God does not know all things and people can do things that will surprise God?
2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
Is God really saying there are lots of people he doesn’t know, but the ones he does, those are the ones that he will hold accountable?
See with each of these wrong perceptions about God we could build a false teaching about God that makes him a god that doesn’t know everything and will only judge those he does know… This would fly in the face of the Gospel and completely go against everything else we know in scripture. So the question then is, what does that word “know” mean then?
In all these passages the word “Know” or Knew” is an affectionate term that is meant to convey the thought that the person being spoken to is Loved and or appointed. Let’s re-read those same verses with this understanding...
RE-READ EACH VERSE...
Now look at the NT usage of this same word… knowing what we now understand about it…
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
What is Jesus saying here? He never loved or appointed these people.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
Jesus loves and appoints his own people and they in return love him.
3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
See this doesn’t mean that people who don’t love God are unknown as if he can’t see them… It means that if you love God it is because he first loved you, which is consistent with other scriptures like
19 We love because he first loved us.
And there are many more examples I could give you but I believe that must illustrate our point. We need scripture to tells us how a word is being used in order to understand what those words tell us about God.
So then, we are on to the main event… What does the word foreknowledge mean according to scripture? Its usage is less obvious than its simple form of “to know”, meaning having an awareness of. We are going to look at every place in scripture and see that it is more than an awareness of events that are yet to take place. In fact, the word “foreknowledge” in never used in scripture to speak about events or actions. Rather it is always used in reference to persons.
It is people God is said to “foreknow”, not the actions of those people.
It is people God is said to “foreknow”, not the actions of those people.
This is the big idea we must get when we look to the scriptures. And I am not saying that God doesn’t know what people will do and what events will happen.... He is sovereign over all things and is aware of everything including sinful things we do. So, just because God knows everything it doesn’t mean that the “foreknowledge” of God is simply his knowing of everything. I will show you what scripture says and we will see that “foreknowledge” is about God knowing - As in loving and appointing specific people. But as always , please don’t listen to this with an open mind, rather an open Bible to see if this is in fact what scripture is saying.
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
We need the full context to understand what this word “foreknowledge” means.
In this passage, it is not talking about act of crucifixion that God knew, but rather the person of Christ.
look at verse 23 - This Jesus… (Here is the subject of what comes next) - was delivered up to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.
If foreknowledge means God knowing of an event only and not a person, then this makes no sense. Why because the phrase “delievered up according to the definite plan” is already talking about an event that God knows and in fact decrees, its his definite plan… But it didn’t end there it added “and foreknowledge of God”. It would make sense if it said God’s definite and knowledge of that same event… it is his definite plan.
No foreknowledge speaks of his love and appointment of Jesus in his definite plan. Let’s look at more… Let’s go back to where we started today.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Zoom in on verse 29… FOR THOSE WHOM HE FOREKNEW - this is clearly about people and not an event that people would be part of.
Those God foreknew, HE ALSO PREDESTINED, but he doesn’t leave it there, in vs 30 “those he predestined he also called.”
What is scripture teaching us here?
It is not WHAT he did foreknow, but WHOM he did foreknow.
It is not WHAT he did foreknow, but WHOM he did foreknow.
A.W. Pink said it this way, “It is not the surrendering of their wills not the believing of their hearts, but the PERSONS themselves that are here in view.”
So clearly, if we understand what it means for God to know people it implies that he loves and appoints them. And so to see that God Loves and appoints people Before something will help us understand what scripture means when it speaks of foreknowledge. But does God keep using this word this way or does he change it somewhere else in scripture? Let’s look then and see.
2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel?
Again, here we have a reference to a person and not an event. So far we are not seeing that common thought of foreknowledge as being God knowing what people will do and so he saves them because he knows they will choose him. We are seeing foreknowledge as his loving appointment of people, and that is what will cause them to believe. But we have another passage that uses this word, let’s look at it.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
We see here the word that goes hand in hand with foreknowledge… Elect… those who are elect - according to the foreknowledge of God. Peter is not talking about acts that people would do but rather the people themselves… these elect exiles, those who were dispersed through many different regions and countries, are according to the “fore-loving and fore-appointment” or “foreknowledge of God...
Now there are other area where in the greek a similar word is used to that which we have translated as foreknowledge, but even in those it is not talking about God foreknowing peoples repenting and believing and so he will save them. This idea is just not what scripture teaches.
One other way to see that this is wrong thinking is as follows according to R.C. Sproul -
“We are told that God’s predestination is grounded in His foreknowledge. This has been misunderstood to mean that God looked down the corridors of history, foresaw what you and I would do, and stuck that into His plan.
This view does not reckon with the fact that God created time, and therefore all events in time, when He created the world, so that He does not look down through history but looks at history as a complete whole.
This “foreknowledge” view sees all of history as some great movie that God watched but did not create. He is therefore not sovereign. The flow of history depends upon the will of man, not the plan of God.”
Can you see how such a twisting of a divine truth is an abomination. To take away Gods loving appointment of people to be saved is to leave us with a powerless god which is no God at all., and leaves us with no gospel at all.
Now again, this does not mean that God does not foreknow what will happen, in the sense that he did absolutely know from all eternity that certain ones would repent and believe. But the problem is that this is not what scripture is referring to as the object of God’s “foreknowledge”. In fact, God does “foreknow” events, but that is because of a different attribute, which is his Decrees. Meaning, God knows what will be because he has decreed what shall be.
So here is where the order of what we believe is seriously important. We cannot put the cart before the horse, we can’t say that God elects people because he foreknows people.
God “foreknows” because he has elected
God “foreknows” because he has elected
It may sound like I am playing with words here and not making a real distinction but think about this with me. This removes the cause of our election (our chosen for salvation by God) from outside of ourselves and places it on God’s own will. God purposed in himself to elect a certain people, not because of anything good in them or from them, but rather solely out of his own pleasure.
And so the truth about Romans 8:29 is that God singled out certain sinners and appointed them unto salvation. This is clear from this verse.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Please notice - Predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.
God did not predestine those who he foreknew WERE “conformed” already, but those whom he foreknew (Meaning those whom he loved and elected or appointed) he predestined to be conformed. Our conformity to Christ is not the cause but the effect of God’s foreknowledge and predestination.
Translation - Us becoming Christians is not the reason for God’s foreknowledge, rather us becoming Christians is the effect of of God foreknowing and electing us. Is that still too confusing?
We are saved not to make God loves us, but we are saved because he already loves us. This is his foreknowledge. And his foreknowledge of loving us, is because he has elected us by divine decree. And here is the gospel… God does not elect any sinner because he foresaw that they would believe, for the simple reason that NO sinner ever does believe until God gives him Faith. Faith is a gift from God, and believing is a consequence of using his gift of faith.
If it was true that God would elect certain people to be saved, BECAUSE in due time they would believe, than that would make believing a meritorious act, and in that event the sinner would have room to boast about what they did to get saved. The only problem is that scripture again destroys this
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Clearly God’s word is simple enough to understand that we cannot earn salvation and boast about it. This is not of your own doing…It is the gift of God! And please notice that this is what it means to be saved by Grace Alone!
5 So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.
We can’t get any clearer that God chooses us because he desired to do so and it is pure grace to us.
And so the foreknowledge of God has to do with his plan for his people, whom he elected for a divine purpose… and what is that purpose?
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
To the praise of his glorious grace!
Why does God foreknow a people? why does he elect them and appoint them? Why before the foundation of the world, before the existence of all material things does he choose us?
What is the meaning of life????!!!!
The praise of his glorious grace! We are saved by God for God through God and to God!
We didn’t earn it and can’t lose, because of the foreknowledge of God!