I Peter 1:2
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied," I Peter 1:2. The personal perfection of God that we will look at today is God's Foreknowledge. Like many of His attributes, only God has foreknowledge. It is very alarming that people will assume they know what a word means without looking up the words definition. What is worse is that there are people who refuse to believe the definition of a word if it does not mean what they think it should mean. These people usually have certain views about the Scriptures and if they were to recognize the definition of a certain word, like foreknowledge, then their views of the Scriptures would have to change. Ultimately, their theology would have to change. It is sad that people would refuse to recognize truth just to remain in their circle and to push their agenda, especially when their circle and agenda robs God of Who He is. We do not want to do that, and that is one reason we study each word in a verse of Scripture to find out what that verse actually means. When we are finished studying a verse or verses, we know what they mean, not what we think they mean. When we truly know what a verse means, our faith grows. We become stronger in the faith, and we handle the Scriptures with confidence. As we do this we see that the Scriptures exalt and glorify God, not man. So let us look at this word foreknowledge.
Foreknowledge is one of those words that people assume they know the definition of. They assume foreknowledge means that God looks ahead through time and sees something that He did not already know. For instance, some people say foreknowledge in salvation is God looking ahead in time and seeing who will choose His Son Jesus Christ, so God the Father chooses them to be saved. This definition does not come from the Greek word for foreknowledge (prognosis), therefore it is not a biblical definition. Another reason we know it is not a biblical definition is because if it were the true definition, we end up with some major theological problems. The first problem we have with the definition above is that this would make God not Omniscient. This means God would not be all-knowing. This would automatically make God not be God. God would actually look ahead in time and learn something. God never learns anything. The definition above would also imply that man has some good in himself, so he is able to make a choice to be saved without God first working in him. According to Scripture, this is not possible (Romans 3, Ephesians 2).
Let us look at the definition for foreknowledge in I Peter 1:2. "Foreknowledge" is the Greek word "Prognosis" and in the New Testament it is used to denote the foreordained purpose and counsel of God in salvation. This word occurs two times in two verses in the bible. It is in our opening text of I Peter 1:2, and is also in Acts 2:23, "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Christ was slain by crucifixion at the exact time and by the exact people that God had ordained Christ to die. If you use the casual made up definition for the word foreknowledge you completely destroy the meaning of I Peter 1:2 and Acts 2:23, and you also destroy God's eternal biblical plan of redemption and you replace it with a man made plan of redemption that belittles God and exalts man. By using the casual made up definition you also send a ripple affect of contradictions throughout the bible. The bible, when rightly studied, never contradicts itself.
Two other words that are closely related to foreknowledge is foreknow and foreknew which is the Greek word "Proginosko". It is used five times in the New Testament. Twice it is used regarding things that man knows about other men and have been told about other men (Acts 26:5, II Peter 3:17). In the other three verses it speaks of God and Christ and uses the words foreknow, foreknew, and foreordained (Romans 8:29, 11:2, I Peter 1:20). In these verses it is used of God's eternal counsel and includes all that He has considered and purposed to do prior to human history. In the language of Scripture, something foreknown is not simply that which God was aware of prior to a certain point. Rather, it is presented as that which God gave prior consent to, that which received His favourable or special recognition. Hence, this term is reserved for those matters which God favourably, deliberately and freely chose and ordained. The salvation of every believer is known and determined in the mind of God before its realization in time. Proginosko essentially entails a gracious self-determining on God's part from eternity to extend fellowship with Himself to undeserving sinners. It emphasizes the exercise of God's wisdom and intelligence in regard to His eternal purpose. What He has decreed is what He has decided. He foreordains unto salvation those whom He specially considered and chose in eternity past.
There is one more point that we want to make regarding God's foreknowledge. The word "know" in the bible is not just speaking of knowing with the mind, but means knowing intimately, lovingly. Here are a few Scriptures to consider. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him," II Corinthians 5:21. "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity," Matthew 7:23. In II Corinthians 5:21 it's not that Christ did not have an intellectual understanding of what sin was, but rather, Christ was never intimate with sin. Christ never loved sin. Matthew 7:21-23 is speaking about judgment day. Again, it's not that Christ did not know who these people were, but that He never knew them intimately; He never saved their souls.
To know is to love. "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine," John 10:14. Christ loves His sheep, and is loved by His sheep. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it," Ephesians 5:25. Love is not a feeling, but is an action. What action did God decree before time as we know it began? "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," John 3:16. How wonderful it is to know that in eternity past, God decreed to love all whom He will save. What God has decreed, no one and nothing can thwart (Romans 8:28-39).
The doctrine of the foreknowledge of God is a wonderful doctrine. For those of us whom the Lord has saved this is a very comforting doctrine. We know that no matter what is going on in our lives that God is working all things for our good and for His glory. If you are still lost in your sins, I beg you to look to and only trust Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross to save you. He is the loving Saviour. Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
