"Whom He Foreknew"

To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father... (1 Peter 1:1-2)

I read A.W. Pink’s thoughts on the foreknowledge of God a few days ago, so I was immediately struck by Peter’s use of the word “foreknowledge.” The following thoughts are largely drawn from Pink’s book, The Attributes of God.

You see friends, the choice is yours. Winning or losing, life or death. No one can make that decision for you. Choose life! Choose winning! Choose Jesus today! (1st Free Insurance Quotes website)

Ah, but is the choice really ours? Or does something happen previous to our conversion which is, in fact, the cause of our conversion?

I’m not intending to address the issue of free will right now. Rather, I want to examine what the word “foreknowledge” implies in the broader context of Scripture; does God foresee what will happen and react, or does He sovereignly decree what will happen?

The Scriptural Definition of “Foreknowledge”

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. But such a statement...repudiates the truth of total depravity [and] takes away the independency of God, for it makes His decrees rest upon what He discovers in the creature. (Pink, The Attributes of God, ch. 4)

What does Scripture mean by “foreknowledge”? To find out, we must go beyond our simplistic personal definitions, or even Webster’s dictionary; how does Scripture itself use the term?

When Scripture uses the word “foreknowledge,” it is always in reference to persons, not events or actions, thus, “It is persons God is said to ‘foreknow,’ not the actions of those persons.”

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

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... (Rom 8:29)

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. (Rom. 11:2)

To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father... (1 Peter 1:1-2)

God’s Decree is Causative

We must expand upon and clarify our understanding of God’s foreknowledge by taking a brief look at what lies behind it. It is clear from the first two passages above - Acts 2:23, and Rom. 8:29 - that God’s foreknowledge is not causative; it is preceded by His sovereign decree. In Rom. 8:29, the word “for” indicates that we must look back to what immediately precedes that verse. “All things work together for good to them...who are the called according to His purpose.”

God foreknows what will be because He has decreed what shall be. (Pink, The Attributes of God, ch. 4)

What of Free Will, Then?

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (Eph. 2:8)