Foreknowledge
3
There is no full agreement on the meaning of God’s foreknowledge as it is revealed in the Bible. Some scholars think it means the following - Before God created the world, He knew which individuals He would choose for salvation and determined that they should eventually become like His Son. He did not choose them because He foresaw that they would believe in Christ, or submit their will to His. His choice was based on His grace and wisdom alone. At the same time He rejected everyone else. He could have chosen and saved all men but did not. He did not choose anyone because of any goodness or merit He foresaw in them, for they had none. And He did not reject anyone because He foresaw they would be worse than those He chose. It was all a matter of His grace and sovereignty.
An objection to this interpretation may be worded like this: God declares that He wants all men to be saved (Rom11:32; 1 Tim 2:3-6; 4:10; 2 Pet 3:9; Ezek 18:30-32; 33:11). His very essence is love (1 John 4:8, 16), and He says He loves the whole world (John 3:16) and that He has compassion on all (Ps 145:8-9). In the Bible He repeatedly shows what His heart is like (Jer 48:31-39; Matt 23:37; Luke 19:41; Rev 22:17). Now if He loves all men and wants all to be saved, and could save them if He had decided to choose them, the question naturally arises, why did He not choose them? Arbitrarily to choose some and reject others may be a fine display of His sovereignty, but what happens to His love and desire to save all?
Because of weighty questions like these do arise in connection with this interpretation, other scholars reject it. They believe foreknowledge means the following:
Before He created the first man God knew those individuals in the human race who would yield to the work of His Holy Spirit and choose to believe Him. God ordained that these people should be saved and eventually become like Christ. It is not that God foreknew that some people were better than others and chose them, or that some would acquire merit and become worthy of salvation. Absolutely not. See Rom 3:9-20, 24; Eph 2:1-10; Titus 3:3-7. Men cannot even believe in Christ unless the Holy Spirit enables them to do so (John 6:29, 44; Acts 13:48; Phil 1:29). But when the Spirit of God works in the hearts of people He enables them to decide whether to believe or not. Their wills are confronted with God’s will, and they have enough freedom to say “yes” or “no” to God, to choose Him or reject Him. Being enabled to say “yes”, some persons do, and others will not. God in His sovereignty decided to create human beings with this power of choice, and the choice has eternal consequences.
Since no one unaided by God’s Spirit could even choose to believe, saying “yes” to God is not a work of merit which God rewards with salvation. How can accepting a gift of God be a work of merit, especially since He even gives the ability to accept the gift? A gift does not become any less a gift because someone takes it. God knew beforehand who would choose Him and accept His gift, and He predestined them to become like Christ.
In this view, God’s sovereignty is not regarded as something less than in the first view. In fact, to say that God cannot give this power to man’s will is to limit Him. It is saying that the sovereign God cannot do this thing if He wishes to do it.
The author of these notes does not think that the second view on foreknowledge presented above has been completely proved from the Bible (any more than the first view has been proved), but believes it is in harmony with the character of the God of love as revealed there. It is hard to think that those who are finally lost are lost just because God did not choose to save them even though He might have done so, that He passed them over and chose for salvation others who were sinners just like them, without any other consideration than His own sovereign choice. The question will always be troublesome – would the God of sovereign love and compassion do that?
But the working of the will of both God and men is a very difficult and mysterious matter, and perhaps it is not wise to be very dogmatic about this subject. In this matter (as in some other difficult matters of theology) follow the apostle Paul. By the inspiration of the Spirit of God, after writing some very deep truths, in chapter 11 he cried out,
“Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen”.