On Foreknowledge and Salvation

I was only able to find three passages in the entire New Testament talking about God foreknowing with relation to the salvation of people, 1 Peter 1:2, Romans 8:29 and Romans 11:2, and of those three, only Romans 8:29 and 1 Peter 1:2 are talking about general salvation. Romans 11:2 is referring to the nation of Israel. 1 Peter 1:2 and Romans 8:29 are the only ones that apply to everyone who is saved. Two verses are not a lot to work with when it comes to forming an understanding of a particular doctrine, and as always, we should be careful to only conclude from a set of passages thoughts that can be explicitly supported by those passages.

The plain meaning of the Greek word proginóskó is to know before hand. Nothing inherent in the word itself explains what is known beforehand, just that the person who is proginosko-ing knows something before something else takes place.

1 Peter 1:1-2  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ: To the temporary residents dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Here Peter opens his letter with a common format greeting. However, these two verses are no mere greeting as we think of today. They are packed with a lot of theology. That which is pertinent to the idea of foreknowledge is the phase “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”. The important thing to note from this passage is that, just like the general word itself, there is nothing in the text to indicate what it is that God actually foreknew in bestowing upon Peter’s readers the status of "chosen".

Romans 8:29-30 For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.

So the question remains: What did God know beforehand? The argument that many people make here is “He knew the choices and actions that people would make before they made them and then predestined people according to what He knew they would freely choose.” Well, there are two parts to that statement, and I will address the second one here in a bit. But can you really say from this text that what God knew beforehand was people’s choices and actions?

Something that people often miss with this passage is that there is an unbreakable chain of events that is tied to God’s foreknowledge here. Whatever thing/person/choice/event it is that God knew beforehand, He didn’t just know it. This passage also says

• God predestined that thing He foreknew to be conformed to the image of His Son and as a result, that thing would be a brother of His Son
• God called that thing He predestined
• God justified that thing He called
• God glorified that thing He justified

So can choices and actions really be what this text is saying God foreknew? Does the following make any sense?

29 For those [choices and actions] He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those [choices and actions] He predestined, He also called; and those [choices and actions] He called, He also justified; and those [choices and actions] He justified, He also glorified.

Choices and actions cannot be brothers of Christ. God does not call choices and actions to salvation. He does not justify choices and actions by the blood of His Son, and He does not raise up choices and actions in glorified bodies. What the text is saying is that God foreknew the people He intended to save before He actually saved them. And those people He foreknew, those are the ones He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son so that they could be called brothers of Jesus. And those people He predestined, those are the ones He called to salvation. And those people He called to salvation, those are the ones He justified by the blood of His Son. And those people He justified, those are the ones He glorified.

So certain is Paul that this chain is unbreakable that he speaks of what has yet to come in the past tense, namely our glorification. This text cannot be used to claim that God’s foreknowledge here is speaking of our choices and actions. That is not to say that God doesn't know what our choices and actions will be. He certainly does, or else He would not be God. But that is not what this passage is talking about.

But the second part of that common response, “and then predestined people according to what He knew they would freely choose” is trying to answer a different question. That question is “On what basis does God determine whom He will choose?” That’s really the larger question at hand, and the Word has a lot to say about that. (emphasis below is mine)

• Romans 9:10-12 10 And not only that, but also when Rebekah became pregnant by Isaac our forefather 11 (for though they had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to election might stand, 12 not from works but from the One who calls) she was told: The older will serve the younger.
• Romans 9:16 So then it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy.
• Romans 9:18 So then, He shows mercy to whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills.
• Ephesians 1:5 He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will,
• Ephesians 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him
• Ephesians 1:11 In Him we were also made His inheritance, predestined according to the purpose of the One who works out everything in agreement with the decision of His will,
• Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

I think it is pretty clear here that God chooses based on His favor, will, purpose, and good pleasure, not on any human will or effort.