The Foreknowledge of God

I could have covered Foreknowledge in the previous Blog on God’s Omniscience/Knowledge. I chose instead to include it here, separately. The reason I wanted to cover it individually because we must discuss the fallacy of it being a mystical act of God seeing into future to determine who would choose Him.  We must examine the use of foreknowledge in the new testament in context. In our case the dictionary definition will not help, we will study the scriptures to see how the Holy Spirit uses the term foreknowledge.

“The word "foreknowledge" has two meanings. It is a term used in theology to denote the prescience or foresight of God, that is, His knowledge of the entire course of events which are future from the human point of view; and it”s used in the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) to translate the Greek words proginoskein and prognosis in the New Testament, in which instances the word "fore-knowledge" approaches closely the idea of foreordination.” (Encyclopedia International).

 Foreknowledge is never used in scripture to describe events or actions by men, and it only applied to the foreknowledge God has of individuals,

Acts 2:23; “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

If we pay close attention to the sentence, it is not the act of crucifixion that the apostle said God foreknew; but, this Jesus was the object of God’s foreknowledge. In that foreknowledge, there was a definite plan.

The second text is,

 Romans 8:29; “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.”

So, this is quite specific to those He foreknew. What about those He didn’t foreknow? Here again, the apostle is speaking of individuals and not actions taken by a man. He predestined; God decreed that specific individuals would be conformed to the image of His Son. So far, man has nothing to do with anything. God’s decree, God’s foreordination, God’s predestination, is doing everything.

The last one concerning foreknowledge, foreknew, or foreknown,

1 Peter 1:1-2; “To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 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.”

 Here again, the reference is to individual believers who were dispersed by the oppression of the Jews. They are elect according to God’s foreknowledge, and it wasn’t just their election. He foreknew their sanctification, and He foreknew their obedience. He foreknew these thing’s because he ordained them to be by His sovereign decree.

For God to know someone, it is to be fully known. God’s knowledge of His elect is an intimate knowledge that only God can know. It is not the elect as a group but as individuals. He knows you personally if you are elect. He knows you intimately, your actions mean nothing when it comes to God knowing you. He is working all things out for your ultimate good. He has chosen to love you with a love that the rest of humanity cannot know. But don’t let that make you proud,

1 Corinthians 1:27; “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;”

 God did not choose base on looks, intelligence, or any other wonderful attribute of yours. He chose because He is God.

The foreknowledge of God is a very touchy subject because it has to do with predestination. So please try to read it and be prayerful about it. I will also pray for us. May our sovereign God, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the promised comforter (Holy Spirit) fill all of God’s elect.