1pe 01v02 According To The Foreknowledge Of God
"ACCORDING TO THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD"
I Peter 1:2
Many try to avoid the biblical
doctrine of election and the sovereignty of God's electing grace by telling us
that election was based upon God's eternal knowledge that some sinners would,
of their own freewill, repent and believe on Christ. But we reject such
doctrine for two reasons: (1) It is contrary to the plain statements of Holy
Scripture (Deut. 7:7-9; Jer. 31:3; Rom. 9:11-18); and (2) It makes God's
electing grace dependent upon foreseen merit in the sinner, attributing
salvation to the works of man rather than the grace of God. If the word
"foreknowledge" does not mean "foreseen repentance and faith in
men", what does it mean?
Divine foreknowledge certainly includes THE
OMNISCIENCE OF GOD. God, knowing all things, had a thorough knowledge of
all his elect and all that would concern them from eternity. He knew the depths
of sin and rebellion, disobedience and ungodliness, guilt and depravity into
which we would fall before he called us by his grace. And he knew grievous sins
and falls of which we have all been guilty since he saved us by his grace.
Nevertheless, he set his heart upon us and chose us (Jer. 1:5).
The foreknowledge of God is nothing less than DIVINE
FOREORDINATION. In I Peter
Primarily, the word "foreknowledge"
signifies THE EVERLASTING LOVE OF GOD THE FATHER FOR HIS OWN ELECT.
"Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son" (Rom.
Election is not a dry, arbitrary choice of some
eternal life. ELECTION IS GOD'S ETERNAL, DETERMINATE CHOICE OF HIS PEOPLE,
BASED UPON HIS LOVING KNOWLEDGE AND APPROVAL OF EACH AND ALL OF THEM IN CHRIST
JESUS BEFORE THE WORLD WAS. If we can realize this in our souls, it will be
truly sweet and precious. None of us knows himself. We may have seen little
into our fallen nature, we may know some small bit of the evil and depravity of
our hearts, and we may be aware of some hideous deeds we have committed, but
none of us truly knows himself. But God does know us. He knows the depth of
iniquity in our hearts. He knows the base deeds we have performed, both the
evil deeds themselves and the even greater evi1 that caused us to act so
vilely. God knows what you and I are by nature! He knows us thoroughly! Yet, a
higher, greater sense God knows us in Christ. He not only knows about us by
omniscience, HE KNOWS US BY ETERNAL, UNCHANGEABLE, UNENDING ACT OF LOVE IN
CHRIST! God knows his elect only in his Son; and knowing us in his Son, he smiles upon us, approves of us, accepts us, and
delights in us through the merits his Son, our eternal Surety, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; but I do rejoice in it. I
rejoice in God's electing love!