Foreknowledge
1 Peter 1:1
ÒFather,
weÕre so very grateful for another day, another opportunity to serve You and to glorify You. Another opportunity to grow
spiritually, to focus on Your plan and purpose for our lives that we might
reflect Your glory through our lives, and our obedience and our study and
application of Your Word. Now, Father, as we continue our study in a passage
and a theological topic that is very difficult for a lot of people to
understand and work through, we pray that You would help us to have some
clarity and understanding that we might be able to understand You more clearly,
and to understand Your Word more clearly and be able to explain it to those who
are confused. We pray this in ChristÕs name. Amen.Ó
WeÕre in 1 Peter 1:1, but weÕre also looking at the
doctrine of election and how that word is used. ThatÕs going to take us to the
point where we ended last week in Matthew 22, looking at a very important
parable that gives us a great insight into the usage of this term. I want to review
it. Things like this we have to hear a lot of times, just so you know them. I
have to study things like this over and over again. Every time I hit a topic
like this I go back. I reread articles IÕve read in the past. I reread things
IÕve taught in the past. I modify things. I change things. Every now and then,
I read the same thing for the fifteenth time, and it suddenly hits me, ÒHey,
thatÕs a great point. Why havenÕt I seen that in the last fifteen times IÕve
read this article?Ó WeÕre all that way. It takes repetition. We have to hear it
over and over again until it all begins to click for us.
This evening I hope, weÕre going to move from the
study of election, not as choice, but that the word elect, those who are elect,
really means the choice ones; and that is according to the foreknowledge of God
the Father stated in 1 Peter 1:2. The salutation in 1 Peter states, ÒPeter, an
apostle of Jesus Christ to the resident aliens of the diaspora in Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. ElectÉÓ Now that word elect in the
English is put down here in verse 2 in order to give it proximity to the three
prepositional clauses that modify it.
ÒElectÓ is the noun according to Òin sanctificationÓ,
which should be translated Òby sanctificationÓ and Òfor obedience.Ó These are
prepositional clauses, as weÕll see in just a minute, which modify the
adjective elect. In the Greek that word ÒelectÓ is in verse one before you get
to the resident aliens, so Greek can do that. Greek can move the words around
because itÕs an inflected language. The order doesnÕt relate in the same way
the order does in English.
I pointed this out last time that we have these three
prepositional phrases that modify and explain aspects of the word elect. This
is a very important concept for us to understand. People are often confused
about this, as IÕve pointed out in the past. Looking at things historically, we
often have these disagreements between two extremes that really develop outside
of the Bible. These were not issues that developed within Old Testament
Judaism. TheyÕre issues related to determinism and freedom, determinism and
free will, as itÕs often stated.
You find great debates going back among the Greeks.
You have debates that continue within different groups of the Roman Catholic
Church. Those were reflected again even in the Protestant Reformation. Once you
get certain theological constructs really embedded in peopleÕs minds, itÕs
difficult to change them. It affects us even today. ItÕs hard to think outside
a box we put our own thinking in. A lot of theologians get into certain boxes,
and we sort of get predisposed into seeing things and understanding things a
certain way, so we are backing this up to look at some of the basics here.
IÕm going to remind you of the things we looked at
last time. There are three basic words in this word group. The first word weÕll
look at a little more later on. ItÕs EKLEGOMAI,
and thatÕs the verb. That verb is used in some cases for someone picking
something for themselves, choosing something out of a number of options, or
choosing a person or thing from a sizeable number. When we have the noun
applied, for example to Jesus Christ, you canÕt apply those verb definitions
because Jesus wasnÕt chosen out of a number. ItÕs very important to understand
these nuances.
That second word, EKLEKTOS,
one we looked at in more detail last time, is used 22 times in the New
Testament and is usually translated elect or chosen; but as I pointed out, this
is more accurately translated with the idea of choice in terms of something
qualitative. That seems to be the core value of this term: that itÕs expressing
something that is quality, that it is something of excellence. It is something
that is superior. ItÕs not emphasizing something that is the object of a choice
or of a decision. We talk about, as I will look at in just a minute, of
something being made of something choice or excellent. EKLOGE, which is also a noun, indicates
picking out something like an election or a selection, as weÕll see. WeÕll look
at some of those uses as we go through that.
When we look at English word meanings, a lot of times
[I learned this from a pastor I grew up under that itÕs really important, and a
lot of Bible students donÕt understand this], but when you look in a Bible
dictionary, a lexicon which is basically a dictionary, and you look up the
Greek word and it tells you the basic two, three, four, or five words in
English, each of those English words that are used identify a range of meaning.
You can look any of those English words up in an English dictionary, and you
may find five or six or even seven different words describing what that word
means.
Then you can go further and look in a thesaurus and
find another group of words. I
learned from a seminary professor that one of the most significant aspects of
doing a word study in Greek or Hebrew is doing work in the English language to
make sure you are picking a definition for a Greek or Hebrew word that really
fits that context. So often what you have is that people just go look at a
lexicon, and they pick a word that sounds good. The more freshman or sophomoric
exegetes says, ÒOh, I like this meaning because it fits what I want the passage
to say.Ó They pick a word that fits their theological presupposition.
Another mistake that happens is that they donÕt
understand that there are limitations to all of these lexica. For example, the
standard lexicon we used for Hebrew when I was in seminary was the one edited
by Brown, Driver, and Briggs. We always referred to it by the initials of the
authors, BDB.
I just about destroyed one lexicon going through in one semester the exegesis
of Psalms when I was in seminary, which is typical of most people. One of my
professors, S. Lewis Johnson, had had his BDB
rebound six times over the course of his career. It was something you used a
lot.
BDB
came out in 1900s (there are different editions) but the first edition came out
around 1914. The second edition came around 1918 or 1919. Now put that in
context. ThatÕs during World War I and at the end of World War I. Do you think
weÕve learned a lot about some of these ancient languages through archeology
since the end of World War I? Of course we have. At the end of World War I,
liberals who didnÕt believe the Bible were saying that the Bible was wrong
because it talked about a group of people called the Hittites, and we canÕt
find any evidence of the Hittites in any ancient literature. No one mentions
them. No one says anything about them. See the Bible is just dead wrong. ItÕs
just making people up. But in 1927 they discovered Bogazkoy, which was the
capital of the Hittite Empire; and all of a sudden, the Bible was right! Well,
it was right all along. The people were just wrong.
WeÕve learned a lot. WeÕve discovered a number of
languages, ancient languages. Acadian was one of them that was
discovered. IÕm not exactly sure when it was, but through that period you had
the Ebla Tablets, and Ebla in the early to mid-1970s. You had the discovery of
numerous collections of documents in many places in the 20th century. All of
that gave us a lot more examples of language and the use of language. The
understanding of what a lot of these words meant changed or clarified, or
became more precise over the period of time in the 20th century.
Now thereÕs a new Hebrew
lexicon out called the Hebrew-Aramaic Lexicon of the New Testament, the HALOT for short. ItÕs much, much better.
No one goes back and uses BDB
anymore. When I was working through Hebrew exegesis even in the late 70s, one
of the stories that we were told was about when the New American Standard came
out. IÕm not going to ask you to hold up your New American Standard. They do
that at Baptist churches. They say, ÒEveryone hold up your New American
Standard.Ó If you have a New American Standard, when they translated the Old
Testament, they just automatically translated the Hebrew word with what BDB said it was, which is poor
scholarship, especially considering that the translation was made in the late
60s when they could have availed themselves of a lot of scholarship since BDB came out.
The reason I say that is that itÕs not that the
language changes, but itÕs due to all of these additional discoveries of
documents and other things that have added to our treasure trove of these
documents. Just think, if our understanding of Hebrew changed that much from
1918 to 1980 or 1990, how much more did our understanding of words in Greek or
Hebrew change from 1611 when the Authorized Version came out? Remember, about
70 % of the English words used in the King James Version translation in the
Authorized Version were the same words that were used in a generation earlier
when the Bible was first translated into English. Those words remained the
same. The meanings were determined because theyÕd been studying with that set
of meanings since the Vulgate was translated by Jerome
in the 4th and 5th century.
We get locked into these ways of thinking about
certain words. ItÕs really helpful to think about these English word meanings.
If you look ÒelectÓ up in an English dictionary, it has the idea of someone
whoÕs appointed, someone who is designated, and someone who is determined.
ThatÕs a range of ideas. Someone who is appointed is very different from the
meanings of the word determined. In the Oxford English Dictionary the concept
of something that is choice as an adjectival description is something of very
good quality. ItÕs the best. ItÕs special. ItÕs valuable. ThatÕs the
qualitative idea. The verb ÒselectÓ has the idea of something that is carefully
chosen or being the most suitable. ItÕs not emphasizing the rejection of
something. Again, it had that nuance of quality.
I pointed this out when we looked at the Old Testament
word Bachir, the verb, which means something that is chosen or is choice or
select. Then we have the great example I picked up in Israel a few years ago. The Magnum Bars. This is an ice cream bar where part of the ingredients are choice almonds. The word there for choice is mobecharim, which is from bachir. You can hear it. That
ÒmoÓ at the beginning changes a verb to a noun or a participle. It clearly has
that idea of excellence. Modern Hebrew picks that up and carries that through
from ancient Hebrew.
We looked at the idea, thirdly, of the importance of
corporate identity in relation to Israel and the Church. Israel is viewed as a
corporate entity, not so much as individuals. As Americans your worldview
emphasizes rugged individualism. When we look at a group, we look at it in
terms of individuals. In the ancient world, when they looked at a group, they
looked at it in terms of a group, and minimized the sense of individuals. ItÕs
a corporate identity. ThatÕs important because every time you see the word
Israel used in relation to being chosen by God in Romans 9–11, itÕs
looking at GodÕs choice of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
for a national purpose. ItÕs not soteriological. ItÕs not for salvation. ItÕs
important to understand that.
One of the views of election that I lean heavily toward, is corporate election. Christians are elect, or
choice, because theyÕre in Christ. WeÕll see that when we get to Ephesians 1:4.
TheyÕre choice, qualitative, because theyÕre in Christ. ItÕs a corporate
identity, not an individual selection process. (Slide 10) Then we went back to the
Greek words, EKLEGOMAI,
EKLEKTOS,
and EKLOGE.
WeÕre looking at that word EKLEKTOS, so I want you to go
with me to Matthew 22. LetÕs just stop and think through this a little bit.
This is a parable. I hit it real fast and in a real hurry last time because I
was running out of time. ItÕs the parable of the wedding feast. The purpose of
this parable is that Jesus is telling the Israelites that theyÕve rejected the
kingdom. The kingdom has come. ItÕs been offered. TheyÕve rejected the kingdom,
and now the message is going to be postponed; and the message is going to go to
people other than the Jews, GodÕs choice people.
It starts off saying that ÒThe kingdom of heaven is
like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son.Ó WeÕre going to have a
party. WeÕre going to have the marriage feast following the wedding; and so he
wants to invite his people. He sends out his servants to call. ThatÕs also an
important word in all the discussion about election and foreknowledge and predestination.
Its idea is brought into theology as the irresistible call of God. Those who
are elect, and only those who are elect, have a
special calling from God. ItÕs referred to as irresistible grace, or the
effectual call. They cannot reject it. They cannot say no to that effectual
call. It will affect its purpose, which is to save them.
Here we have a call, but it doesnÕt go to just the
people who show up, and who are properly clothed. This call goes to everyone,
so this call is a universal invitation. Calvinists believe in a universal overt
invitation, but the effectual call is only an internal, restricted call from a
work by the Holy Spirit. He only calls those who are elect and those who will
be saved. ThatÕs in Calvinist thought. So he sends out his servants to call
those who were invited to the wedding.
So thereÕs this wedding invitation thatÕs gone out,
and now thereÕs a reminder. We see the emphasis on volition here. ÒThey were
not willing to come.Ó This is really important to catch whatÕs going on here.
What determines whether or not they are not only at the wedding feast, but
properly clothed, has to do with whether or not theyÕre willing to come. Pay
attention to that. They donÕt come because theyÕre not willing to come. Because the initial group thatÕs invited represents Israel, who is
not willing to repent. So God is going to change His plan and open
things up to a broader audience.
ThatÕs verse 4, ÒHe sent out other servants saying
tell those who are invited that IÕve prepared my dinner. My oxen and fatted
calf are ready. Come to the wedding.Ó This verse is just a continued invitation
to Israel. ÒThey made light of it and went their ways.Ó In verse 6 others get
violent and seized his servants and treated them spitefully and killed them.
ThatÕs a reference to Jews in the Old Testament rejecting the prophets and
killing the prophets.
Verse 7, ÒBut when the king heard about it, he was
furious and he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers and burned up
their city.Ó That is a picture of the 5th cycle of discipline and the
destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
The warning will come that this is going to be repeated in the near future.
ÒWhen the king heard about it, he was furious and sends out his army. He
destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. Then he said to his
servants that the wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not
worthy.Ó
Why were they not worthy? They were not worthy because
they were unwilling to accept the invitation, in context. TheyÕre not unworthy
because theyÕre not elect. Nowhere does it say to this point, or do we see an
emphasis on someone elseÕs decision. ThatÕs the important thing to see here.
The reason theyÕre not worthy is because theyÕre unwilling to respond to the
invitation. Now theyÕre under discipline, and the invitation is going to go to
another group. In verse 9 it shifts to another group, ÒTherefore, go into the
highways and as many as find, invite to the wedding. So those servants went out
into the highways and gathered together all who they found, both bad and good.Ó
ItÕs a mix of people. This indicates their relative
moral values. Some of them are good people. Some of them are bad people. None
of them are going to be righteous people. TheyÕre just like most people you
meet on the streets. Some of them are better people. Some are worse than
others. TheyÕre good and bad. YouÕve got a group there, both good and bad, and
the wedding hall is filled with these guests. ÒBut when the king came in to see
the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.Ó Everyone
else has on a wedding garment.
The way the story is told is that those who responded
to the invitation were given this wedding garment. ItÕs the clothing of
righteousness. The picture here is that no one is righteous on their own. They have to be given righteousness by God. ItÕs
the doctrine of the imputation of righteousness. It goes back to Abraham.
Genesis 15:6, ÒAbraham believed and it was counted to him as righteousness.Ó
This is what this depicts. The right kind of clothes; the
right kind of righteousness.
One guy doesnÕt have it, so he is kicked out. The
question is how he came in there without a wedding garment? The wedding garment
represents their quality. Underneath the wedding garment, some are good and
some are bad. The key issue isnÕt whether they are good or bad. The key issue
is whether or not they have the right garment on. The right
garment is provided by the king. Those who have accepted the invitation
are given the garment of righteousness.
The king then announces his punishment on the one who
doesnÕt have the right clothing and says, ÒTake him away. Cast him into outer
darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.Ó That is a picture of
eternal punishment. Then we come to this last verse. ÒMany are called but few
are chosen.Ó This is the way itÕs translated. The way English is written Òfew are chosenÓ represents someone else, other than
the ones who accept the invitation and show up at the feast, someone else has
chosen them. Someone else makes the determinative decision as to where theyÕre
going to end up, but that contradicts the whole story.
As we look back at the parable, what is it that
determines whether or not theyÕre there at the wedding feast? It has nothing to
do with anyoneÕs choice in the story, other than their
own choice. The ones who arenÕt there were unwilling to respond to the
invitation. ItÕs their choice. ItÕs not the kingÕs choice. We look at this, and
we realize that by translating it as ÒchosenÓ, weÕre contradicting the elements
of the story.
If we look at the way EKLEKTOS is used here, it has that idea of quality. ThatÕs
what weÕre talking about here. Some people didnÕt have the qualitative garments
that others did. Not works. If itÕs translated, ÒMany are called, but few are
choiceÓ the emphasis is on the quality of those who are there wearing the
appropriate garments. ItÕs not an emphasis on the king choosing some and not
choosing others. ItÕs not a picture of the fact that thereÕs been some
arbitrary decision. ItÕs emphasizing still their individual responsibility to
respond to the message.
I closed last time by looking at Isaiah 61:10 which
gives us the same imagery in relation to the kingdom. ÒI will greatly rejoice
in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for He has clothed me with the
garments of salvation.Ó ThatÕs the idea. You see the same thing in imagery in
Zechariah 3 where you see Satan accusing Joshua the High Priest. The Servant of
the Lord there, the Angel of the Lord, clothes Joshua the High Priest with new
garments. ThatÕs a picture of the imputation of righteousness. ThatÕs what we
have here. ÒHe, God, has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has
covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with
ornaments and a bride adorns herself with jewelry.Ó
This is the emphasis. ItÕs not that the ones who end
up at the wedding feast are there because of someone elseÕs choice. TheyÕre
there because of their response to the invitation. This is contrary to a
determinist view of election that says God chooses, and what you see is simply
the result of GodÕs choice.
Matthew21.43 is a picture of the same principle.
ÒTherefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to
a nation [the word ETHNOS could be translated Gentiles, or people] bearing the
fruits of it.Ó This is talking about God taking the kingdom offer away from the
Jews, and the gospel now goes to the Gentiles.
That brings us up to where I stopped last time and I
hope it helps make things a little more clear. WeÕve been looking at the
adjective EKLEKTOS,
and now we want to look at the verb EKLEGOMAI.
It is usually translated Òto chooseÓ or Òto selectÓ, which works in some
contexts, but not in all contexts. We will see that it still emphasizes this
sense of quality. What we tend to do because of our predisposition coming out
of a Calvinist background, which most of our heritage is Calvinist [almost all
19th century dispensationalists were Calvinist because they had a higher view
of Scripture than anyone else did; that was one of the primary reasons], is
look at the verb, and it has a range of meanings like Òto pick out for
yourselfÓ, Òchoose a person or thing from a sizeable number;Ó and we read into
it a salvation nuance: ÒAh, He made a choice as to who will be saved and who
will not.Ó
LetÕs look at the evidence. By the way, this is how
you do a word study because this is a word that is used, depending on one
particular textual problem, twenty or twenty-one times in the Bible. ItÕs easy
to skim through those and categorize them. ItÕs used in the first sense to
refer to the elect at the end time. Now the word elect can just be a synonym
for believers. In Daniel it talks about the elect at certain times, and itÕs
referring to the saved under Israel in the Old Testament. Or if itÕs referring
to a future event in the Tribulation, then itÕs referring to Tribulation
believers. If itÕs used to refer to Church Age believers, then it has that sense.
The word itself is not limited to one dispensation or another. It can refer to
believers of whatever dispensation is in the context.
In Mark 13:20 the Lord is talking about the end times.
He says, ÒUnless the Lord had shortened those days [the final events prior to
Armageddon] no flesh would be saved [delivered, not justified, which is another
example of where the word saved, SOZO,
does not mean to be justified, but refers to deliverance from the horrors of
the Tribulation period], but for the electÕs sake whom He chose.Ó Now it
doesnÕt say anything about the basis for that choosing. We have to look at
other passages for that. It simply relates to God making a choice for some
purpose thatÕs unstated.
Another way itÕs used is to refer to ChristÕs choice
of the twelve disciples, including Judas Iscariot, who was not a believer.
Jesus chose The Twelve, but that word choose doesnÕt relate to eternal destiny
or justification. The use of the word there in Mark 13:20 doesnÕt refer to
eternal destiny or justification. We have statements in Luke 6:13, ÒHe called
His disciples to Himself.Ó Then He chose twelve men, including an unbeliever.
John 6:7, ÒDid I not choose you, the twelve and one of you is a devil?Ó John
13:18, ÒI do not speak of all of you. I know whom I have chosen but that the
Scripture might be fulfilled, he who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel
against me.Ó This word chosen is used several times, and it includes Judas
Iscariot; so itÕs clearly not a word that has as its core meaning the idea of
choosing or selecting for salvation.
The textual problem, which I pointed out last week, is
in Luke 9:35. The other synoptics say, ÒThis is my beloved Son.Ó If you have
some English translations that adopt this textual variant, they read, ÒThis is My
Chosen Son. Hear Him.Ó The reason I bring this up is that it shows that in the
mind of the scribe who substituted chosen for beloved is that he understands
that the verb EKLEGOMAI
has a qualitative nuance. Beloved is a qualitative idea. So the scribe understands
in his mind that the verb has a qualitative sense to it. ItÕs not just talking
about arbitrary selection.
Another way in which the word is used is it refers to
people who have been invited to a banquet, and theyÕre just making an
individual choice. An example I didnÕt put up was Luke 10:42 where Jesus said,
ÒOne thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part that will not be taken
away from her.Ó SheÕs making a choice in terms of her time management by
learning the Word under the Lord rather than spending the time taking care of
the house and domestic chores. Another example is in Luke 14:7, where Jesus
tells a parable to those who were invited, and He noted how they chose the best
places. TheyÕre coming in and want to find the most comfortable seat first.
ItÕs first come, first served, so they want to take and choose the best. It
doesnÕt have anything to do with anything spiritual.
Another example is in Acts 6:5 when the apostles are
choosing and selecting Stephen and Phillip and the others to help them in the
ministry to the Greek widows in the church in Jerusalem. Again, itÕs just a
choice. The apostles are doing the choosing, and itÕs not a choice related to
anything spiritual. In Acts 15:22 after the Jerusalem conference the leaders in
the church in Jerusalem selected some other men to accompany Paul and Barnabas
back to Antioch. Again, it has no spiritual significance. The apostles are
selecting certain messengers to send with Paul and Barnabas.
In Acts 1:24, Peter is speaking, and praying that the
Lord would reveal to Him whom He has chosen between these two candidates to
replace Judas Iscariot. Again, itÕs not related to salvation at all. How many
have been related to salvation so far? None. Just wanted to make sure youÕre
keeping count. In Acts 13:17 it refers to GodÕs selection of the patriarchs of
Israel and through them, the nation Israel for His purposes. ÒThe God of His
people, Israel, chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt in the
land of Egypt.Ó Is that soteriological? No, nothing in the passage has anything
to do with salvation. Acts 15:7 is GodÕs selection of
Peter to take the gospel to the Gentiles. HeÕs choosing an apostle who is
already saved and a disciple, now an apostle, for a particular mission. HeÕs
selecting him for that mission. It has absolutely nothing to do with his
salvation or spiritual status. Then in Acts 15:25 it refers to the Jerusalem
council similar to verse 22 I quoted earlier, ÒIt seemed good to us being
assembled with one accord to send chosen [choice] men.Ó They picked the best to
go with Paul and Barnabas to give that report back to the church at Antioch.
Now weÕve gone through seven categories, and none of
them yet refer to eternal destiny, or what we refer to usually as salvation or
justification. The eighth category is a general category of God choosing the
foolish or the base to accomplish His purposes. 1 Corinthians 1:27, ÒGod has
chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. God has chosen
the weak things of the world to put to shame the mighty. God has chosen the
base things of the world, the things which are despised [verse 28] God has
chosen things which are not, to bring to nothing the things which are.Ó Not
soteriological. It has to do with GodÕs mission for the saved, not choosing
those who would be saved.
Then we come to the last category, the one and only
usage that really has theological significance and
relates to this idea of election. Ephesians 1:4, ÒJust as He chose us in Him
before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame
before Him in love.Ó Now He is choosing a group of people. God is doing the
choosing, the selecting. HeÕs choosing a group of people who are defined by
these three words, ÒusÓ ÒinÓ and ÒhimÓ. HeÕs choosing that group for a purpose.
That purpose is to be set apart, to be holy, to be blameless before God. We
understand that.
Everyone reads a couple of words into this verse in
order to get it to make sense to them. The Calvinist reads it this way, ÒHe
chose us to be in Him.Ó See, IÕve supplied that infinitive Òto beÓ. He chose us
to be in Him. ThatÕs the Calvinist concept of unconditional election. If so,
this is the only usage of this word in the New Testament that has a
soteriological context thatÕs talking about that idea of election.
Or we can read it this way, ÒBefore the foundation of
the world [that is, in eternity past] He chose us who are or would be in Him.Ó
HeÕs choosing a corporate group. HeÕs making a decision of those who will be in
Christ, those who will be the choice ones, those who are robed in
righteousness. ThereÕs a destiny for them. It would be understood this way.
Before the foundation of the world, He chose us who are in Him. ThatÕs one
idea, not choosing us to be in Him, but choosing those of us who are in Christ,
choosing those in Christ to be blameless before Him in love. How you read that
is different.
The grammar in the Greek doesnÕt particularly clarify
that. What clarifies the meaning there is going back and looking at how that
word is used. In the first possibility itÕs
soteriological. In the second, God is saying that those who are in Christ are
to be blameless before Me in love. It doesnÕt have to
do with individual selection of who will be saved and who will not be saved.
Okay?
Now we go back to our initial passage here and we see
that this term ÒelectÓ should probably be translated ÒchoiceÓ (slide 26). HeÕs
talking to the choice ones. There are three ways in which this term choice is
modified. The idea weÕre looking at here is if choice is a qualitative term
related to their possession of imputed righteousness, then what weÕre really
talking about is positional truth: those who are in Christ because they have
imputed righteousness. ItÕs not indicating a divine choosing of who will be
saved and who will not; but itÕs talking about the choice ones, the quality
ones, the excellent ones.
Why are they excellent? Not because of what theyÕve
done, but because theyÕre robed in the righteousness of Christ. HeÕs going to
say three things about this qualitative group. The first thing is that theyÕre
choice according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. As soon as we see the
word foreknowledge, once again weÕre just mired in this historic debate between
Calvinism and Arminianism, between the determinist and the free will advocates,
between the Augustinians and the Pelagians, those who are the followers of
Suarez versus those who are followers of Ba–ez, and the march goes on.
This is really important because when you read this in
Calvinist commentaries by Calvinist authors, they read certain meanings into
the term that I do not believe are there. ThatÕs what their theological system
demands. One of these authors is a
man who is a professor of New Testament at Trinity Divinity School. HeÕs a
well-known author of a number of commentaries and is highly respected for his
scholarship. ThatÕs why I chose him and two other writers here in order to
emphasize what theyÕre saying.
Douglas Moo says there are six occurrences of the word
group, which is the noun. He says only two of them mean Òto know something
beforehandÓ, only two of the six uses; so he will say
that four really mean something else. Only two mean beforehand. He goes on to
say that itÕs very clear from Acts 26:5 and 2 Peter 3:17 that those two
passages clearly mean that.
One of the rules that they always emphasize in doing
exegesis is that when you have an unclear passage or an unclear, ambiguous use
and you have a clear use, especially if you have several clear uses, you always
define a word or explain a word in terms of the clear uses and not use the
unclear or ambiguous use as your basis for your theology. You always go from
the clear to the unclear. So you have two clear passages that indicate that
means foresight or knowing beforehand. You have four, according to him, that
mean something else.
How does he define these? He says the three others
besides the occurrence in this text (Romans 8:28) all have
God as their subject. Pay attention to that phrase. What he is saying is that
when the Word doesnÕt have God as the subject, it means
Òapples,Ó and when God is the subject of the verb, it
means ÒorangesÓ? ThatÕs a logical fallacy. A word means what it means
whether a man is performing the action or God is performing the action. DonÕt
change the meaning of the word just because you have a different person
performing the action. If Bill hits the ball, and Sue hits the ball, guess
what? Hitting the ball means the same thing for both of them. To change that is
a problem.
What heÕs saying here is that
the other four examples all have God as their subject. HeÕs really drawing this
conclusion. HeÕs reading it into the text. He says that they do not mean Òknow
beforeÓ in the sense of intellectual knowledge or cognition (and IÕll add for
clarity, ahead of time) but the words means to enter into relationship with
someone beforehand. To have a relationship.
What theyÕll typically do is go back to Old Testament
uses of the word and say that when Adam knew Eve, he had a relationship with
her. ThatÕs more than just looking across the garden and saying, ÒI recognize
her. God made her yesterday and I still have a little pain over on my side. Her
name is Isha. ThatÕs what I called her.Ó They say that the word ÒknowÓ implies
this relationship. I would say theyÕre reading that in. He also says that
ÒforeknowÓ means to choose or to determine beforehand. Some translations even
translate PROGINOSKO
not as ÒforeknowledgeÓ, but as ÒforeordinationÓ, which is a totally different
term, or even predestination, which takes you completely away from the meaning
of the Greek word. He concludes that the word means to know intimately or have
regard for. When man is the subject of that verb, it doesnÕt have those meanings.
Wait a minute. When Adam knew Eve, who is the subject
of the verb? ItÕs not God. ItÕs Adam. So heÕs got a logical problem here, a
logical fallacy in the structure of his argument. When you look at these
verses, two which mean to know beforehand (Acts 26:5 and 2 Peter 3:17, but if
you look carefully at the other four verses, in Romans 11:2 it refers to GodÕs
foreknowledge of corporate Israel, so heÕs misidentified that use. In 1 Peter
1:20 and Acts 2:23, the object of foreknowledge isnÕt humans; itÕs Jesus
Christ. Again, it doesnÕt fit the pattern. Then in 1Peter1.2, this is the one
weÕre looking at and ought to be one of the controlling verses; and it relates to Christians. None of these other four have
anything to do with the point heÕs making. TheyÕre elect
according to foreknowledge. It doesnÕt fit at all. TheyÕre already Christians.
Then we have Tom Schreiner. This guy is brilliant. A
lot of these guys are. Their I.Q.s are probably way off the charts, but they
have an illogical system theyÕre reading into the text. He makes basically the
same point. He says that Òsome have argued that the
verb PROEGNO here should be defined only in terms of GodÕs foreknowledge, that
is prescience. That is, God predestined to salvation those whom He saws in
advance would choose to be part of His redeemed community.Ó
The way he states that is really important. This is
where we put on our Òlearn to think critically hatsÓ. This is really important
because what he is saying and what the Calvinists will say to me is that ÒyouÕre
saying God is looking down the corridors of time and HeÕs choosing you because
itÕs something you do. ThatÕs works.Ó But belief for them in
their system, meritorious. ÒGod gives you saving faith. ItÕs not the
object that has the meritÓ, they say. ItÕs the kind of faith that you have that
has the merit. If you have the right kind of faith itÕs going to produce the
right kind of works and thatÕs going to be evidenced that you had the right
kind of faith. ThatÕs Lordship salvation. YouÕre saved by a faith thatÕs given
to you. God knows youÕre elect, so He gives you faith.
Then to others He says, ÒYouÕre not elect and the faith you think you have is
bogus. You just think you have it. YouÕre self-deceived. But your works because
you sin too much show you donÕt have the right kind of
faith. ThatÕs basically his position, a distortion based on his presupposition.
Notice he still recognizes, like Doug Moo, that Acts 26:5 and 2 Peter 3:17 are clearly a prescience view.
God knows what will happen ahead of time. He says, according to this
understanding, predestination is not ultimately based on GodÕs decision to save
some. Instead, God has predestined to save those whom He foresaw would choose
Him. Where heÕs going to go with that is that itÕs works. But everybody, [it
doesnÕt matter who you listen to], has to have something thatÕs
non-meritorious. We believe faith is non-meritorious because anyone can
believe, and itÕs the object of faith that has the merit. If youÕre into
Lordship or Calvinism, whatÕs non-meritorious are the works you produce after
youÕre saved that demonstrate that youÕre saved.
Everybody has something thatÕs non-meritorious. You
have to ask, whereÕs the merit? Is it on GodÕs side or on the human side? If
faith is non-meritorious, itÕs because the merit is at the Cross, itÕs what we are believing in. ItÕs in the promise of God and the work of
Christ on the cross. The classical
book that a lot of people read when they first start investigating Calvinism is
this little book, The Five Points of Calvinism where they state, ÒWhen the
Bible speaks of God knowing particular individuals, it often means that He has
special regard for them, that they are the objects of His affection and
concern.Ó Then what we discover is that the examples they use from the Old
Testament are of a human being knowing another human
being, so theyÕre switching very subtly the terms of their logic.
When we look at the lexicons, the lexicons all
indicate the priority of knowing ahead of time. The Liddell, Scott, Jones covers both classical Greek and
koine Greek, and some scholars prefer to use that over
any other. The first meaning is Òto know, perceive, and understand something
beforehand.Ó Prognosticate, to foreknow, to learn things in advance. The second
meaning is to judge beforehand, to evaluate something ahead of time. If you
read just a basic lexicon that doesnÕt have a theological axe to grind, and
itÕs not emphasizing having this relationship ahead of time idea whatsoever,
they donÕt recognize any meaning of PROGINOSKO
that employs or that implies choice, election, loving relationship or
predestination. ItÕs not in any of the meanings listed in that lexicon.
The Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich Dictionary
which is just on the New Testament usage, says as their first meaning,
Òto know something beforehand or in advanceÓ. The second meaning is Òto choose
something beforehand or in advanceÓ, but they give a limited range of verses to
support that. The only passages that this lexicon cites for the debated meaning
are the very passages where we have the debate. You canÕt read your final
answer into the passage because thatÕs whatÕs at issue. You have to decide the
meaning of the words first before you go to your conclusion.
In the Moulton & Milligan lexicon, foreknow means
Òto know previouslyÓ, and thatÕs their basic idea. Then we get into a more
modern dictionary. ItÕs a word study Bible edited by Spiros Zodhiates; and his
primary meaning is 1) Used of mere prescience, to know ahead of time. Then
notice in 2) he gives this lengthy explanation related to GodÕs eternal counsel
and His purpose in history. Notice how many Bible verses he cites there. What?
Oops! See thatÕs a methodological problem. You run into this in a number of
different lexicons where they donÕt cite passages in order to demonstrate their
meaning.
The New International Dictionary of New Testament
Theology says that the noun PROGNOSIS
denotes foreknowledge, which makes it possible to predict the future. ThatÕs
the core meaning. It doesnÕt say, again, anything related to relationship. Then
we have a series of five uses all related to the verb. ÒThey knew me
beforehand,Ó Paul says. This is one of those clear examples of foreknowledge in
the sense of ahead of time. HeÕs talking about the Pharisees. They knew him
beforehand. Romans 8:29 makes better sense if you say, ÒFor whom He foreknew
(that is, to know something beforehand). Romans 11:2, ÒGod has not cast away
His people whom He foreknew (that is, who He knew beforehand in His
omniscience). 1 Peter 1:20, ÒHe, indeed, was foreordained.Ó Notice how they
translated PROGINOSKO
foreordained. It frontloads the issue in terms of
hyper-predestination.
2 Peter 3:17, ÒYou therefore, beloved, since you know
this beforehand.Ó See? The first use and the last use are very clear that it
means to know something ahead of time. (Slide 36) Then we have the noun for
foreknowledge used in Acts 2:23, ÒChrist was delivered up by the purpose
(BOULE, the will of God) and the foreknowledge of God (that is, His knowledge
of future events).Ó
1 Peter 1:2 makes it clear that the words Òchoice
onesÓ are according to a particular standard, according to the standard of
GodÕs knowledge ahead of time. The real issue here is whether PROGINOSKO means to know something
beforehand in the sense of prescience, or does it mean to elect, to determine,
or to lovingly choose beforehand?
A couple of important points. There is only one contested
meaning outside the Bible. The meaning in several New Testament passages means
that it always means to know beforehand. Therefore the burden of proof is on
those who claim that it means to determine or to elect. ItÕs not supported by
any lexical data. Then the second point when we look at this is that the
meaning of the word doesnÕt change just because God is the subject and man
isnÕt the subject. ThatÕs very important to look at.
So in Acts 26:5 when Paul says, ÒThey knew me before
hand, from the first,Ó heÕs witnessing to Agrippa 1st in context, and heÕs
saying that all of the Jews knew him beforehand. They knew his story. They knew
about him, and they knew him long before he showed up in Jerusalem. This
indicates a prior knowledge, not choice or election. You wouldnÕt say they
chose me from the first. The Pharisees were not choosing him from the first.
That kind of idea just doesnÕt fit.
The other thing we see here is that it includes the
idea often in Greek verbs where you supply the words Òabout me.Ó They knew
about Paul. They knew things about him. So foreknowledge means to know
something about someone. Not to know them directly and not to know them
intimately. We often see this in different uses of the Greek where English
supplies the word about in order to make it very, very clear. This is seen in
Hebrews 6:9, ÒBeloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you and
things that accompany salvation when we are speaking in this way.Ó The verb that we have here translated Òconvinced ofÓ does not
actually include the word ÒofÓ in the Greek. It says
ÒWeÕre convinced.Ó In English you have to include that word ÒofÓ or ÒaboutÓ in
order for it to make sense.
The point IÕm making is that we supply that word in
English so that when God foreknows something, He foreknows something about
someone. ThatÕs common usage. (Slide 39) Another example is in 1 Peter 1:20
which reads from the New King James Version, ÒHe, indeed, was preordained (PROGIGNOSKO, to know before the
foundation of the world),Ó and 1 Peter 1:20, ÒHe was chosen before the creation
of the world.Ó Neither one accurately reflects the verb PROGIGNOSKO. The New American
Standard and the NET
both translate it correctly with Òforeknow.Ó You see, in the NKJV and the NIV, theyÕre both interpreting the
passage, not translating the passage. Their theology has been frontloaded into
their translation.
In 1 Peter 1:18–19, we have a reference to our
redemption, ÒKnowing you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver
or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from fathers, but with
the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot. He
indeed was foreordained (known beforehand before the foundation of the world).Ó
What we see here is that the word translated ÒheÓ is a perfect passive
participle for this whole phrase as a reference back to the singular masculine
genitive of Christ. Calvinists try to argue that it was Christ Himself who was
foreknown. However, if you look at Acts 26:5, it shows that when the object is
a person, the meaning doesnÕt change. It still means to know something beforehand,
not to have a relationship with someone. The Calvinists are trying to say that
since God knows beforehand and itÕs Christ; that means that itÕs a
relationship. ItÕs very important to watch these little sleights of hand that
take place here.
IÕm going to wrap up tonight with this last phrase, 2
Peter 3:17, ÒYou, therefore, beloved, since you know this ahead of time (or
beforehand) beware, lest you fall from your own steadfastness.Ó This is the
main idea. It has to do with knowledge ahead of time. So elect has to do with
choice. The standard, which weÕll come back and look at next time, is the
foreknowledge of God. That is an important phrase to understand, so weÕll start
there next time to help us understand this sometimes terribly confusing doctrine
related to election and foreknowledge.
ÒFather, we thank You for this opportunity to study
these things this evening and be reminded that You are in control, but that it
doesnÕt mean You override our volition in terms of our eternal destiny. We are
responsible for that decision, and that means we have real decisions to make as
to whether or not weÕre going to trust You and trust
in Christ, or whether weÕre going to rely on our own efforts and our own merits
in order to get to heaven. Father, weÕre thankful that we have clarity in the
Scripture. We pray that You might help us to
understand these things, as difficult as they are. To disrobe our thinking of
erroneous concepts so You can expose that which is
true. We pray this in ChristÕs name. Amen.Ó