Foreknowledge Handouts - Ellingson

The Knowledge of God

Eternal Life is: that those whom the Father has given the Son will know God:

Joh 17:1-3 NASB Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, (2) even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. (3) "This is eternal life, that they may know G1097 You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

to know (Strong's Greek Concordance # 1097)

G1097ginōskōThayer Definition:1) to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel1a) to become known

2) to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of2a) to understand2b) to know3) Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman4) to become acquainted with, to know

God’s knowledge of people is not just an awareness of them, but rather an intimate relationship with them:

1Co 8:3 NASB but if anyone loves God, he is known G1097 by Him.

Joh 10:14-15 NASB "I am the good shepherd, and I knowG1097 My own and My own knowG1097 Me, (15) even as the Father knowsG1097 Me and I knowG1097 the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

Explanation: Christ's relationship with His own is based on a predetermined choice, an intimate knowledge of them in the same manner as Christ has with His Father.

Mat 7:22-23 NASB "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' (23) "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knewG1097 you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

Explanation: Jesus knew to whom He was speaking. He meant He never had a predetermined relationship with those people.

Jer 1:5 NASB "Before I formed you in the womb I knew H3045 you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Explanation: The word knew (yāḏa) means far more than intellectual knowledge. It was used of the intimate relations experienced by a husband and wife (“lay,” Gen 4:1) and conveyed the sense of a close personal relationship (“chosen,” Amo 3:2) and protection (“watches over,” Psa 1:6). Before Jeremiah was conceived God had singled him out to be His spokesman to Israel.

God’s intimate knowledge of people is synonymous with chosing them:

Amo 3:2 ESV "You only have I known H3045 of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Amo 3:2 NASB "You only have I chosen H3045 among all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities."

Those God knew beforehand (or set His love upon), those He chose and predestined:

1Pe 1:1-2 NASB Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen (2) according to the foreknowledge G4268 of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

Rom 8:29-30 NASB For those whom He foreknew G4268, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; (30) and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

foreknowledge (Strong's Greek Concordance # 4268 and # 4267)

G4268prognōsisThayer Definition:1) foreknowledge2) forethought, pre-arrangementPart of Speech: noun feminineA Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from G4267

G4267proginōskōThayer Definition:1) to have knowledge before hand2) to foreknow2a) of those whom God elected to salvation3) to predestinatePart of Speech: verbA Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from G4253 and G1097

Doesn’t foreknowledge mean that God foresaw who would believe?

A common explanation of election is that the elect are chosen because God knew beforehand what they would do. That defines foreknowledge as foresight. I've heard it explained that God looked down through the eons of history, saw by virtue of His omniscience what you and I would do, and then chose or didn't choose us based on whether we did or didn't believe. That at first sounds like a good explanation--but it's not the truth.

The idea that foreknowledge equals foresight places man in the wrong position. If divine foreknowledge means that God previewed history and based His decisions on what we did, then man would be sovereign. We would act, and God could only react.

When people know God in Scripture, or when God knows them, it is personal knowledge that involves a saving relationship; therefore in Romans 8:29, "those whom he foreknew" is best understood to mean, "those whom he long ago thought of in a saving relationship to himself." The text actually says nothing about God foreknowing or foreseeing that certain people would believe, nor is that idea mentioned in any other text of Scripture.

Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world and Christ’s death was predetermined:

1Pe 1:20-21 NASB For He was foreknown G4267 before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (21) who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Explanation: We were foreknown in the same way Christ was foreknown.

Act 2:23 NASB this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge G4267 of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

Explanation: Here foreknowledge is linked to a predetermined plan. Foreknowledge sometimes signifies counsel, appointment, and approbation. The death of Christ was not only foreseen, but foreordained.