The Attributes of God
by Arthur W. Pink
The Foreknowledge of God
What controversies have been engendered by this subject
in the past! But what truth of Holy Scripture is there which has not been
made the occasion of theological and ecclesiastical battles? The deity of
Christ, His virgin birth, His atoning death, His second advent; the
believer's justification, sanctification, security; the church, its
organization, officers, discipline; baptism, the Lord's supper and a score
of other precious truths might be mentioned. Yet, the controversies which
have been waged over them did not close the mouths of God's faithful
servants; why, then, should we avoid the vexing question of God's
foreknowledge, because, forsooth, there are some who will charge us with
fomenting strife? Let others contend if they will, our duty is to bear
witness according to the light vouchsafed us.
There are two things concerning the foreknowledge of God
about which many are in ignorance: the meaning of the term, and its
Scriptural scope. Because this ignorance is so widespread, it is an easy
matter for preachers and teachers to palm off perversions of this subject,
even upon the people of God. There is only one safeguard against error, and
that is to be established in the faith; and for that, there has to be
prayerful and diligent study, and a receiving with meekness the engrafted
Word of God. Only then are we fortified against the attacks of those who
assail us. There are those today who are misusing this very truth in order
to discredit and deny the absolute sovereignty of God in the salvation of
sinners. Just as higher critics are repudiating the divine inspiration of
the Scriptures; evolutionists, the work of God in creation; so some pseudo
Bible teachers are perverting His foreknowledge in order to set aside His
unconditional election unto eternal life.
When the solemn and blessed subject of divine
foreordination is expounded, 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, predestinated them unto salvation. But such a statement is
radically wrong. It repudiates the truth of total depravity, for it argues
that there is something good in some men. It takes away the independency of
God, for it makes His decrees rest upon what He discovers in the creature.
It completely turns things upside down, for in saying God foresaw certain
sinners would believe in Christ, and that because of this, He predestinated
them unto salvation, is the very reverse of the truth. Scripture affirms
that God, in His high sovereignty, singled out certain ones to be recipients
of His distinguishing favors (Acts 13:48), and therefore He determined to
bestow upon them the gift of faith. False theology makes God's
foreknowledge of our believing the cause of His election to salvation;
whereas, God's election is the cause, and our believing in Christ is the
effect.
Before proceeding further with our discussion of this
much misunderstood theme, let us pause and define our terms. What is meant
by "foreknowledge"? "To know beforehand," is the ready reply of many. But we
must not jump to conclusions, nor must we turn to Webster's dictionary as
the final court of appeal, for it is not a matter of the etymology of the
term employed. What is needed is to find out how the word is used in
Scripture. The Holy Spirit's usage of an expression always defines its
meaning and scope. It is failure to apply this simple rule which is
responsible for so much confusion and error. So many people assume they
already know the signification of a certain word used in Scripture, and then
they are too dilatory to test their assumptions by means of a concordance.
Let us amplify this point.
Take the word "flesh." Its meaning appears to be so
obvious that many would regard it as a waste of time to look up its various
connections in Scripture. It is hastily assumed that the word is synonymous
with the physical body, and so no inquiry is made. But, in fact, "flesh" in
Scripture frequently includes far more than what is corporeal; all that is
embraced by the term can only be ascertained by a diligent comparison of
every occurrence of it and by a study of each separate context. Take the
word "world." The average reader of the Bible imagines this word is the
equivalent for the human race, and consequently, many passages where the
term is found are wrongly interpreted. Take the word "immortality." Surely
it requires no study! Obviously it has reference to the indestructibility of
the soul. Ah, my reader, it is foolish and wrong to assume anything where
the Word of God is concerned. If the reader will take the trouble to
carefully examine each passage where "mortal" and "immortal" are found, it
will be seen that these words are never applied to the soul, but always to
the body.
Now what has been said on "flesh," the "world,"
"immortality," applies with equal force to the terms "know" and "foreknow."
Instead of imagining that these words signify no more than a simple
cognition, the different passages in which they occur require to be
carefully weighed. The word "foreknowledge" is not found in the Old
Testament. But "know" occurs there frequently. When that term is used in
connection with God, it often signifies to regard with favor, denoting not
mere cognition but an affection for the object in view. "I know you by name"
(Exo 33:17). "You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I
knew you" (Deut 9:24). "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you" (Jer
1:5). "They have made princes, and I knew it not" (Hosea 8:4). "You only
have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2). In these passages
"knew" signifies either loved or appointed.
In like manner, the word "know" is frequently used in the
New Testament, in the same sense as in the Old Testament. "Then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you" (Matt 7:23). "I am the good shepherd; I
know My sheep and My sheep know Me" (John 10:14). "If any man loves God, the
same is known by Him" (1 Cor 8:3). "The Lord knows those who are His" (2 Tim
2:19).
Now the word "foreknowledge" as it is used in the New
Testament is less ambiguous than in its simple form "to know." If every
passage in which it occurs is carefully studied, it will be discovered that
it is a moot point whether it ever has reference to the mere perception of
events which are yet to take place. The fact is that "foreknowledge" is
never used in Scripture in connection with events or actions; instead, it
always has reference to persons. It is persons God is said to "foreknow,"
not the actions of those persons. In proof of this we shall now quote each
passage where this expression is found.
The first occurrence is in Acts 2:23. There we read, "Him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you
have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." If careful
attention is paid to the wording of this verse, it will be seen that the
Apostle was not there speaking of God's foreknowledge of the act of the
crucifixion, but of the Person crucified: "Him [Christ] being delivered
by..."
The second occurrence is in Romans 8:29,30. "For those
God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he
predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he
justified, he also glorified." Weigh well the pronoun that is used here. It
is not what He did foreknow, but those He foreknew. It is not
the surrendering of their wills nor the believing of their hearts, but the
persons themselves, that are here in view.
"God has not cast away His people which He foreknew" (Rom
11:2). Once more the plain reference is to persons, and to persons only.
The last mention is in I Peter 1:2: "Elect according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father." Who are "elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father?" The previous verse tells us: the reference
is to the "strangers scattered," that is, the Diaspora, the Dispersion, the
believing Jews. Thus, here too the reference is to persons, and not to their
foreseen acts.
Now in view of these passages (and there are no more)
what Scriptural ground is there for anyone saying God "foreknew" the acts of
certain ones, namely, their "repenting and believing," and that because of
those acts He elected them unto salvation? The answer is: None whatever!
Scripture never speaks of repentance and faith as being foreseen or
foreknown by God. Truly, He did know from all eternity that certain ones
would repent and believe, yet this is not what Scripture refers to as the
object of God's foreknowledge. The word uniformly refers to God's
foreknowing persons; then let us "hold fast the form of sound words" (2 Tim
1:13).
Another thing to which we desire to call particular
attention is that the first two passages quoted above show plainly and teach
implicitly that God's foreknowledge is not causative, that instead,
something else lies behind, precedes it, and that something is His own
sovereign decree. Christ was "delivered by the [1] determinate counsel and
[2] foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). His counsel or decree was the ground
of His foreknowledge. So again in Romans 8:29. That verse opens with the
word "for," which tells us to look back to what immediately precedes. What,
then, does the previous verse say? This: "All things work together for good
to them ... who are the called according to His purpose." Thus God's
foreknowledge is based upon His "purpose" or decree (see Psalm 2:7).
God foreknows what will be because He has decreed what
shall be. It is therefore a reversing of the order of Scripture, a
putting of the cart before the horse, to affirm that God elects because He
foreknows people. The truth is, He foreknows because He has elected. This
removes the ground or cause of election from outside the creature, and
places it in God's own sovereign will. God purposed in Himself to elect a
certain people, not because of anything good in them or from them, either
actual or foreseen, but solely out of His own mere pleasure. As to why He
chose the ones He did, we do not know, and can only say, "Yes, Father, for
this was Your good pleasure." The plain truth in Romans 8:29 is that God,
before the foundation of the world, singled out certain sinners and
appointed them unto salvation (2 Thess 2:13). This is clear from the
concluding words of the verse: "Predestinate to be conformed to the image of
His Son." God did not predestinate those whom He foreknew were conformed,"
but, on the contrary, those whom He "foreknew" (that is, loved and elected)
He predestinated "to be conformed." Their conformity to Christ is not the
cause, but the effect of God's foreknowledge and predestination.
God did not elect any sinner because He foresaw that he
would believe, for the simple but sufficient reason that no sinner ever does
believe until God gives him faith; just as no man sees until God gives him
sight. Sight is God's gift, seeing is the consequence of my using His gift.
So faith is God's gift (Eph 2:8,9), believing is the consequence of my using
His gift. If it were true that God had elected certain ones to be saved
because in due time they would believe, then that would make believing a
meritorious act, and in that event the saved sinner would have ground for
"boasting," which Scripture emphatically denies (Eph 2:9).
Surely God's Word is plain enough in teaching that
believing is not a meritorious act. It affirms that Christians are a people
who "have believed through grace" (Acts 18:27). If, then, they have believed
"through grace," there is absolutely nothing meritorious about "believing,"
and if nothing meritorious, it could not be the ground or cause which moved
God to choose them. No; God's choice proceeds not from anything in us, or
anything from us, but solely from His own sovereign pleasure. Once more,
in Romans 11:5, we read of "a remnant according to the election of grace."
There it is, plain enough; election itself is of grace, and grace is
unmerited favor, something for which we had no claim upon God whatever.
It thus appears that it is highly important for us to
have clear and spiritual views of the foreknowledge of God. Erroneous
conceptions about it lead inevitably to thoughts most dishonoring to Him.
The popular idea of divine foreknowledge is altogether inadequate. God not
only knew the end from the beginning, but He planned, fixed, predestinated
everything from the beginning. And, as cause stands to effect, so God's
purpose is the ground of His foreknowledge. If then the reader is a real
Christian, he is so because God chose him in Christ before the foundation of
the world (Eph 1:4), and chose not because He foresaw you would believe, but
chose simply because it pleased Him to choose; chose you notwithstanding
your natural unbelief. This being so, all the glory and praise belongs alone
to Him. You have no ground for taking any credit to yourself. You have
"believed through grace" (Acts 18:27), and that, because your very election
was "of grace" (Rom 11:5).