THE
MEANING OF FOREKNOWLEDGE
One
of the most polarizing topics in Christian theology is that of election,
foreknowledge, and predestination. Having wrestled with this important but
difficult doctrine (the doctrine of sovereign grace) in my early twenties, I
have made several conclusions on the matter; yet, I remain open to other
perspectives. Nothing, however, has convinced me more than what Scripture says
plainly and clearly. As much justifying as I did to prove a friend wrong about
election, it proved futile except that it brought me to a place of
acknowledgement and belief in election. After approximately six months of anger
and not knowing how to handle the fact that the God whom I was taught growing
up was not the God I was seeing in the Bible, I finally rested in and trusted
the Lord that he is sovereign, I am responsible, and the two are compatible.
One
of the primary justifications I used during that time and, to this day, hear
others use is a feeble explanation of foreknowledge. I could not deny that
predestination and foreknowledge is biblical. It is there plainly; Scripture is
also replete with the concept in both the Old the New Testament. What I did was
misrepresent foreknowledge as many do today. I tried to give a definition of it
that was not true because, in my mind (and in others’), it made sense. Part of
the problem, however, is that we often look for what makes sense to us when we
should merely trust what God has already said.
My
aim here is to define foreknowledge in a biblical manner, which is only one
manifestation of a manifold doctrine. Nevertheless, I believe that a greater
understanding of foreknowledge to yield a greater understanding of sovereign
grace.
Foreknowledge Is Not Merely Knowing the Future
Before
stating what foreknowledge is, I should state what it is not. My thoughts here
are derived from arguments I used to make and arguments many now continue to
make. I will soon discuss linguistic evidence for foreknowledge; fundamentally,
however, I want to begin by discussing the antithesis of the word.
First,
foreknowledge is not merely knowing the future. That, in fact, is not
foreknowing but rather foretelling. The problem with this view is that it
assumes God foreseeing his people’s salvation based upon their own work rather
than his.[1] Certainly, God knows the
future. The reason, however, is because he designs and controls it. To the
human mind, this is illogical because we are sovereign[2] beings ourselves and are
perfectly capable of making our own decisions. That is what we think at least
so a God who controls everything is not logical even though all things were
created by God and exist through him and for him (Rom 11:36). If we think in
such a way, it not only confuses us but may even anger us that someone else
would dare control everything. Surely, we are left with something to control
right? As the common question goes, does that mean that we are essentially
robots? My response is that it is worse. In fact, the Apostle Paul refers to us
as clay instead of robots (Rom 9:21). It may sound like an overreach to say
that God controls everything including every roll of the dice in Las Vegas;
yet, that is precisely what the Bible says. Beyond that, God does not only
control everything, but everything is held together by him (Col 1:17). We either
believe in God’s complete sovereignty or we hold to a self-gratifying idea that
we are left with some control. If God is completely sovereign, foreknowledge
then is not merely knowing the future.
Foreknowledge Is Not Mental Knowledge
Secondly,
foreknowledge is not merely mental knowledge. To start the support for this
statement, the following are scriptures which use a version of the word, know:
“Adam knew his
wife, Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain…” (Gen 4:1 ESV)
“The righteous
know the needs of their animals…” (Prov 12:10 NRSV)
“Do you think you are a king because you
compete in cedar? Did not your father eat and drink
and do justice and righteousness? Then
it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me?
declares the LORD.” (Jer 22:15-16 ESV)[3]
It
should be apparent that the word, know, is used in varying contexts. When Paul
says that for those God foreknew, he also predestined, the Greek word is proginosko. The word is a combination of
the prefix, pro, meaning beforehand
or prior to, and ginosko, meaning
know or knowledge. Proginosko is from
where our English word, prognosis, comes. The word could still seemingly mean
mental knowledge until we realize that Jesus uses gnosko in Matthew 7 when he says that to some he will say, “I never
knew you; depart from me…” (Matt 7:23 ESV) Surely, God knows who they are
mentally; he is not referring to a mere knowledge of them. It must be something
other than mental knowledge then, for the same word, in Matthew, refers to a
relationship. Jesus is not saying that he has no recollection of them but rather
that he had no relationship with them. Foreknowledge, as Paul uses it, then is
not mental knowledge.
Foreknowledge Is Not out of Control
The
suggestion that God’s foreknowledge is the equivalent of a prior seeing or
knowing who will choose him implies a lack of control or sovereignty. From the
scriptures, however, we know that God is supremely in control. Not only the
previously given examples of God as a potter and the fact that all things are
from him, through him, and ultimately to him, but the Bible is replete with
references to his authority and control over every single detail. The idea that
someone else controls humanity could be offensive to some; yet, we are told
that “the plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from
the Lord.” (Prov 16:1 ESV) How can it be that we are not in control of
something like our own tongue? This speaks highly toward the supreme reign of
God.
Sovereignty,
as we would consider it, is disparate from biblical sovereignty, i.e. the
sovereignty of God. The United States of America, as a sovereign country, makes
its own decisions. The United States of America, however, does not control
every single act that occurs on its own land in that there are surely people
who do what they want including breaking the law. God, however, does only allow
acts to happen; he also controls them and the motives by which we make our
choice. Paul tells us that “those
whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified,
and those whom he justified he also glorified,” (Rom 8:30 ESV)[4] i.e.
all who God calls to salvation are saved. The implication then is that while
humankind is held responsible and either chooses or rejects Christ, God
controls the motives by which we make that choice. Our natural choice is always
sin. For those who belong to the Lord, however, the effect of his call is
always salvation.
The word, sovereign, is used
sparingly in Scripture and holds various meanings when it is employed. In Acts
4:24 and Revelation 6:10, the term means a possessor. In 1 Timothy 6:15,
however, the word is rendered sovereign but refers to a king or one who makes
decrees. In either case, the idea is that God is the one in control. Moreover,
from the scriptures already mentioned, we can and should assume that God is not
only in control by allowing acts to occur; he also controls those acts. How
could a loving God be in control of such a terrible world? This we cannot
answer with certainty; we can, however, know that he is in control and that
something better is coming for those who love him. When we speak of
foreknowledge, we should not dethrone God by feebly thinking that he is out of
control, for he still sits on the throne and leads in his sovereignty.
Foreknowledge Is Foreloving
Now
that I have covered what foreknowledge is not, I will submit what foreknowledge
is. Relating foreknowledge to mere mental knowledge or foretelling the future
is incorrect. We can and should say that God knows the future; nonetheless, the
reason he knows the future is because he ordains it. John Piper has suggested
that foreknew would be more correctly rendered foreloved.[5] To be clear, this, in no
way, suggests that God does not love everyone but that he has a relationship
with those who are his, i.e. his church. It could be offensive to some that God
predestines some for salvation; yet, we should not be angry about who God does
not elect but rather rejoice in the fact that he elects anyone at all. Beyond
that, we do not know the mind of God and, thus, do not know why he employs
salvation in the manner he does except that everything he does serves his own
glory and satisfaction. Foreknowledge then is relational; it is not mental
knowledge or foretelling. To say God foreknew is to say that he foreloved.
Giving linguistic and biblical evidence for this, my aim is that we would trust
the text of Scripture and further rejoice in the saving atonement of Jesus
Christ.
[1] John Piper, “Foreknown, Predestined, Conformed to
Christ,” Desiring God, accessed
February 10, 2019,
https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/foreknown-predestined-conformed-to-christ.
[2] The meaning and concept of sovereignty will be
discussed later.
[3] The previous three scriptures use the same Hebrew
word: yada.
[4] Romans 8:30 is one of many scriptures from which the
concept of irresistible grace comes.
[5] Piper.
