Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Chapter 4- The Foreknowledge of God


Very interesting topic. This is one that has been subject to so much misinterpretation and I think that Pink does a great job in this chapter in articulating what Divine foreknowledge is and what it is not. I'm still working some of the statements out in my own mind, so I hope that the quotes that I'm about to post cause you to think about and study this attribute with a little more diligence then before.


"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 vexed questions 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."


"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 takes away the independency of God, for it makes his decrees rest upon what he discovers in the creature."


"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."


"The fact is that 'foreknowledge' is never used in Scripture in connection with events or actions; instead, it always has reference to persons."


  • Acts 2:23

  • Romans 8:29-30

  • Romans 11:2

  • 1 Peter 1:2

"Another thing to which we desire to call particular attention is that the fist 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[...] God foreknows what will be because he has decreed what shall be."


"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 would make believing a meritorious act, and in that event the saved sinner would have ground for "boasting" which Scripture emphatically denies: Ephesians 2:9"

1 comment:

  1. On the third paragraph down; it's as if that serpent of old is still whispering into the ears of our weaknesses, telling us that we will be like God, but only worse. Because he is in fact telling us, that now, we ARE like God, because He chose us. Great quote! Did not see that before.

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