Now it was not written for his sake alone... but for us also!

Now it was not written for his sake alone... but for us also!

A dear Brother wrote:
I will appreciate if you can me help me to understand this verse:
Rom 4:24  "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead..."

It seems to me that the "if" in the verse implies that  righteousness imputed is conditional upon our believing, which doesn't sound right.

Thanks.
=====

 Dear Brother,

Concerning the question on Rom 4:24, "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."

The apparent contradiction is resolved simply by remembering that there are several distinct aspects of justification taught in the Scriptures
- Decretal justification of all elect in eternity by God's decree, (Justification purposed in eternity)
- Legal justification of all the elect at the cross by the redemption of Christ, (Justification Accomplished at the Cross)
- Vital justification of each individual elect personally at effectual calling at God's own appointed time, and freely by the grace of God (Justification Applied at the Effectual Calling)
- Practical justification when a child of God (vitally justified, regenerated, adopted) believe God's word concerning His Son Jesus Christ, (Justification Experienced at Conversion)
- Final justification when the children of God are publicly vindicated and glorified on the great judgment day

The whole of Romans 4 deals with the practical aspect of justification. Apostle Paul marshalled the classic example of Abraham, to demonstrate how the blessedness of one's justified state by God's free grace is to be experienced personally. What was Abraham's experience; what did he find? How did he experience the blessedness of his righteous standing before God? Abraham had been justified (vitally, the righteousness of Christ applied to him personally) when was still an ungodly man in the Ur of the Chaldean, prior to his calling to leave.

The APPLICATION (VITAL justification) of Christ's righteousness to God's elect in their native state of condemnation and death has been dealt with in chapter 3. The LEGAL justification took place at the cross. What took place at the cross is APPLIED to each individual elect PERSONALLY when God effectually calls them out of their native state of sin, condemnation, and death.

3:24 describes that vital justification in these words, "being justified FREELY by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." The redemption that is in Christ Jesus has been stated in verse 22 in a very specific manner, "even the righteousness of God (i.e. of God's own provision) which is by the faith of Jesus Christ (i.e. through the faithfulness of Christ in His redemptive work as the Saviour of His people). The righteousness of Christ deals with our LEGAL and VITAL justification before God. The believing act of God's children (i.e. justified and regenerated elect) deals with their PRACTICAL/experiential justification.

4:1 "What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

How did Abraham, who had been freely justified by God's grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus - which had happened way back when he was still in Ur, experience the blessedness of that righteous standing before God by His free grace? By believing the word of God concerning the promised seed.

Chapter 4 takes up answering that question, and the CLASSIC incident recorded in Gen 15:1-6 was marshaled.
Abraham experienced the blessedness of his justified state, freely by God's grace based on the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, simply through believing, and not through any work of observing ceremonial laws.

His believing in God's promise concerning the seed - the  "it" - was accounted to him for righteousness.

So verse 5 reiterates, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

(God justifies the UNGODLY, i.e. those under the just condemnation because of sins. Believing in Jesus Christ is an act blessed by God to the believer to experience the blessedness of his righteous standing before God, i.e God has freely justified him by His grace PRIOR to his believing.)

This verse speaks of practical justification CONDITIONED UPON believing on Him that justifies the UNGODLY. Him that justifies the UNGODLY is a distinct aspect of justification from Him that justifies the BELIEVING ONE, the former is the VITAL aspect, the latter is the PRACTICAL aspect.

4:22 draws the conclusion:
"And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."
The pronoun "it" refers to Abraham's act of believing," the act of believing is accounted unto the believing one for righteousness, THAT IS, to experience the blessedness of his righteous standing before God through the righteousness of Christ alone, FREELY imputed to him when he was in the state of condemnation and death.

So many read "it" to mean the righteousness of Jesus Christ, i.e. the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed on the condition of faith. This is wholly irrational. Without the righteousness of Christ, a man is still under the just condemnation and death; such a man can't possibly believe!

4:23 "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;"
That incident in Gen 15 was written not only for Abraham's sake, to testify that his act of believing was accounted to him to experience that blessedness of having been justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

"Not for his sake alone" implies for the sake of others ALSO, as the next verse shows.

4:24 "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead..."

Please note that the pronoun "it" does not refer to the righteousness of Jesus Christ but the believing act of a child of God. It is his believing that is imputed/accounted/blessed by God for him to experience the blessedness of his just and righteous status before God by God's own free and gracious act of justifying him when he was in his native state of sin, death, and condemnation.

So, the subject in this verse is still the same subject that has been considered in the previous verses concerning the experience of Abraham. "But for us ALSO" means the exact same truth applies to us too. Our believing in the gospel of God concerning the promised Seed is the means/instrument to experience the blessedness of our righteous standing before God by His freely justifying us based the righteousness of Christ.

The condition is implied even though the word ei, which expresses a condition, is not in the Greek text. That explains the conditional "if" in the kjv text. It SHALL be imputed when a condition is met. It is a blessing that can only be attained or experienced by God's children if they believe God's word concerning His Son.

Apostle Paul was laying the ground to call upon the recipients of his epistle to BELIEVE in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Apostle Paul wrote to those who were ALREADY the "called of Jesus Christ" (1:6), the "called "beloved of God" and the "called to be saints" (1:7).

Eternal salvation has been freely applied to them. They needed to hear the gospel of that salvation. And believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ is the condition for God's children to experience that blessedness of their righteousness before in Jesus Christ. That was the case with Abraham, and that is the case with all the others. There is no exception.

I hope the above help to clarify your question.
I thank you for inquiring. Please feel very free to do so.
I love you in the Lord, Brother.

your brother and servant,
sing

The "Elijah is the LORD" heresy.

The "Elijah is the LORD" heresy.

I came across an article, "IS JESUS THE LAST TO COME,OR HE SPOKE OF ANOTHER. THE TEACHINGS OF BISHOP DAVID HILL/THE LORD ELIJAH. by one Dawn Whinfield of Georgetown Guyana - that teaches that Elijah is LORD. (https://www.facebook.com/dawn.whinfield/)

In part, the article reads:
=====

"Elias is he [sic] Greek spelling for ELIJAH. The word ELIJAH mean Eli – God –Jah. Eli- is – Jah....

"ELIJAH is God, could he have saved Jesus. ELIJAH is Jehovah, but by this name he was not known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."

After copious quotes of Scriptures (which does not impress me at all because the Devil can quote much better than he does!) the author claims, "We only need one scripture to prove that the Lord Elijah is the divine one. Matt 17:11. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come and restore all things."

======

The whole post is a classic example of the dreaded disease called sound-bytitis. I left a comment but it was deleted promptly.

Let me comment again:

The Elias in the Matt 17:10-12 passage is a reference to John the Baptist who was prophesied by Malachi. You have perverted and twisted a plain Scriptures to suit your imagination.

Matt 17:

10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

Didn't you read the plain words in verse 13?

"Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist."

Jesus was speaking of John the Baptist, but you are SO BLIND that you picked this passage to prove that Elijah is Lord and is divine.

Elias is indeed Greek for Elijah. But to say that "the word ELIJAH mean Eli – God –Jah. Eli- is – Jah", it is not only nonsensical but also erroneous.

The name Elijah means "my God is LORD."

"Eli" is "my God" and "jah" is "Jehovah," i.e. LORD.

See here: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm…

To your question, "IS JESUS THE LAST TO COME OR HE SPOKE OF ANOTHER", the simple answer is here:

Hebrews 1

1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Beware of those who teach fables for sound doctrine!

The Most Dangerous Lies are...

There are fake ones but they appear so much like the genuine ones

“The most dangerous lies are those that most resemble the truth!” 

~Helen Ann Hulse

How very true; and here is a CLASSIC illustration. Take a look at these two statements: one is the gospel truth, the latter looks and sounds so much like the former; one is cherished by a few but loathe by many, the other embraced and loved by a vast multitude.

Here they are; the old versus the new, free grace versus conditional grace:

"The reason why any are justified IS NOT because they have faith; but the reason why they have faith IS because they are justified." 

"The reason why any are justified IS because they have faith; but the reason why they have faith IS NOT because they are justified."

The two statements are EXACTLY the same, word for word, and even the number of words is the same. The only difference is the position of a little word “NOT” in the two statements! 

The former is the truth of the Scriptures expressed by the old particular baptists who framed the 1689 CoF. The latter is the belief of the reformed baptists who claim to subscribe to the same Confession!  A whole host of their Calvinistic and Arminian cousins believe the same!

The former declares that faith is the effect of God's free grace justification. The latter declares that faith is the instrument to secure justification before God. Blessed is he who can distinguish the two, and knows and preach the gospel truth.

However, very many calvinists - whether paedo and credo sort - insist that man's act of believing is the instrument to OBTAIN/SECURE his justification before God, and insist that that justification is still by God's FREE GRACE. Why? Because the faith that enables a man to obtain his justification before God is a gift of God! This idea presupposes the fable that an Unjustified man, therefore still in his native state of condemnation, is capable of utilizing the imaginary gift of faith given to him by God!

Another classic example, John 3:16 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "Whosoever believeth...  have everlasting life" is a STATEMENT OF FACT; a statement declaring the fact that the believing one possesses eternal life; the possession of eternal life enables him to believe. 

Believing is an activity of the eternal life already bestowed FREELY by God's great love through His Son Jesus Christ. HOWEVER, "whosoever believeth... have everlasting life" is so often understood as a STATEMENT of CONDITIONAL OFFER, that is, if a man who is dead in trespasses and sins will believe, then he will get eternal life. Believing of a man dead in trespasses and sins will secure for him the eternal life which God has made available for all through His Son Jesus Christ. This idea presupposes the fable that a man dead in trespasses and sins, therefore still in his native state of spiritual deadness, is capable of spiritual activities like believing the gospel truth. 

These confused folks don’t seem to understand the basic fundamental maxim, “life must precede the activities of that life.” Spiritual life is prerequisite to any spiritual activities.

Saving faith

Saving Faith

Luke 7:50" And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace also in Luke 18:40 "42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee" Based on your understanding of theology are the salvations under consideration eternal? Secondly were the salvations illustrated here by grace? Right division is critical to right understanding!

A brother wrote the above post on "Saving faith", and some exchanges took place.
If you wish to read the complete exchanges, you can find them here. 

https://www.facebook.com/robert.cook.73700136/posts/10157269570345451comment_id=10157277023975451&reply_comment_id=10157285073800451&notif_t=feed_comment_reply&notif_id=1470211073802698

=================

The Old School Baptists summarized their understanding of “saving faith” thus:

Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. ( Romans 3:28; Galatians 5:6; James 2:17, 22, 26 ) 
[If faith is a gift, then all other saving graces worked in a child of God are also gifts. However, the Scriptures DO NOT speak like that. Faith as a gift is a misguided, but popular notion. Faith is a saving grace WORKED by the Spirit of God in the hearts of God's children, those regenerated elect. - sing]

The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word; by which also, and by the administration of baptism and the Lord's supper, prayer, and other means appointed of God, it is increased and strengthened. (2 Corinthians 4:13; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 10:14, 17; Luke 17:5; 1 Peter 2:2; Acts 20:32 )

By this faith a Christian believeth to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word for the authority of God himself, and also apprehendeth an excellency therein above all other writings and all things in the world, as it bears forth the glory of God in his attributes, the excellency of Christ in his nature and offices, and the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit in his workings and operations: and so is enabled to cast his soul upon the truth thus believed; and also acteth differently upon that which each particular passage thereof containeth; yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come; but the principal acts of saving faith have immediate relation to Christ, accepting, receiving, and resting upon him alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.  (Acts 24:14; Psalms 27:7-10; Psalms 119:72; 2 Timothy 1:12; John 14:14; Isaiah 66:2; Hebrews 11:13; John 1:12; Acts 16:31; Galatians 2:20; Acts 15:11 )

[The term "saving faith" is used to distinguish it from "historical faith"; saving faith is an effect/fruit of the eternal salvation already bestowed freely by God's grace; saving faith receives and rests in Jesus Christ and His righteousness as the sole ground of one's salvation. Historical faith also believes that there was such a Jewish man named Jesus who lived in the first century. -- sing]

===============

Sing

"Thy faith hath saved thee... Thy faith hath saved thee..."

Contrast these with these: "by grace ye are saved. ... by grace are ye saved.. ."

Biblical distinction is the essence of sound theology.

Robert

So they were not saved by grace very interesting perspective! :(

Sing

If you wish to draw that conclusion from the PLAIN Scriptures I presented to you, then that is your liberty. Only remember, I did not make such conclusion.

Robert

Your post seems to imply that!

Sing

My post makes the biblical distinction between grace withOUT works in eternal salvation and grace conditioned on works in temporal salvation.

Biblical distinction is the essence of sound theology.

Robert

Sing can you demonstrate from Scripture that faith is a work?

Sing

Man's act of believing is WORK, his action. Read Christ's own reply to those who inquired what works God requires of them.John 6:28- 29.

28Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?28Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”29Jesus answered and said unto them,This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Robert

Under consideration Ephesians 2:8 is what kind of salvation either eternal or temporal. Entrance into the Kingdom for a gentile just like Abraham in Romans 4, is justification in the conscience faith in God's faithfulness. Is not a work of man that saves in time that is exactly what Paul is teaching in Romans 4. works are when we use faith and DO something with it like James teaches in James 2:17, true faith trusts God and does something, but faith that justifies the conscience only trusts like Abraham did and it is not a work, as Paul stated in Romans and is repeating in Ephesians 2:8-10. Somehow you imagine that point of view is "Calvinistic" you may be right if I said that is how the creature was eternally saved and that is quite the opposite of what I am saying. Faith is verse 8 of Ephesian 2 is NOT a work.

[sing: If faith in Eph 2:8 is NOT work, then it can’t be the believing act of man! If it is not a work, then the salvation spoken of CANNOT be temporal salvation. Temporal salvation is conditioned upon God’s children working out their OWN salvation through their work of obeying the Father’s will.  Phi 2:12 --- sing]

Sing

Man's act of believing is WORK, his action. Read Christ's own reply to those who inquired what works God requires of them.

John 6: 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

They wish to know the work$ God requires of them... Christ points them to the first and foremost work (singular) God requires them to do, THAT IS, believe on Him whom God hath sent, even Christ Himself.

Stephan L

Believing is the manifestation of faith and faith is a gift of God. If it is a gift It can't be a work...so in the passage you quoted the people to whom Jesus was speaking where not born again and couldn't believe see verse 36. They weren't among the people given to Him as He said in verse 37.

Sing

Believing in Jesus Christ is an activity of man, therefore his works.

You chose to believe that those death in trespasses and sins are capable of desiring to do the works of God. I choose to believe otherwise, that is, only God's children can have such desire.

Stephan L

Their desires was not sincere see verse 36, Jesus is saying "But I said unto you, that he also have seen me, and believe not."! The desire or the will is not sufficient in Romans 9 v 16 we read " so then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." The reaction of those Jews proved that there weren't children of God verse 41,42,52,66. I even guess that those people are the same in John 8 from verse 13 to 59. In verse 44 Jesus is calling them children of the devil!...

Sing

You claim to know more than Christ himself. Christ took their inquiry as sincere, and answered accordingly. You are even implying that the Omniscient Jesus would tell those hypocrites, insincere pretenders - still dead in their trespasses and sins - to do the impossible - to believe on Him!

I would leave alone a man with such view of Jesus Christ.

Good bye, sir.

Stephan L

You said those people were children of God and sincere in their request, now you say they are pretenders hypocrites death in sins and trespasses...I don't understand. Good bye man.

Sing

I' m just describing them in the way you wanted - you said they are no less than children of the devil – to show you the absurdity and foolishness of your idea!

Robert

Sing, said this earlier actually biblical quote "29Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." notice Christ did not say this is the work you must do? He said this is the work of God not the work God expects of you! There is a difference.

Sing

Robert, please tell, what were the men inquiring, and did Jesus answer their question. Thank you.

Robert

They were asking about the working the works of God this was a question to the prior statement in verse 27 they DID not understand. Jesus was contrasting laboring for literal bread and that meat or food which is knowing Christ that allows us to have that life by experience. That response of Christ was perfectly in line with this is the work of God, The design, purpose and plan is of God alone to the intent His people might believe and rest in Christ without working for that rest.

Sing

Brother Robert, just read these words from the KJV... the question of those inquirer:

"What works shall WE DO, that we might WORK the works of God?"

Is it that hard to ascertain what their inquiry was?

Robert

Sing they were asking about what Jesus had said in the previous verse.

The work of God ie the design purpose and plan is of God that they believe just as Abraham did, that is not a work.

Are you teaching that Paul contradicted Jesus? Paul said trust God for righteousness was NOT a work and yet you say Jesus says it is?

Sing

Jesus Christ said...  LABOUR LABOUR LABOUR... WORK WORK WORK...

So, the men wanted to know what works they should do.

What are the workS that God require them to do?

Robert

Paul was using Abraham as an example BEFORE Moses was given the law.

Okay so you are saying Paul was wrong in Romans 4, I now understand! :)

The Labor and work Jesus is contrasting is the seeking not the believing. Read the context.

Sing

Paul was using Abraham as an example to teach the Gentiles believers who were affected by Judaizers that Abraham simply believed - AND did not observe the ceremonial laws BECAUSE there were no ceremonial laws YET - to EXPERIENCE the blessedness of the justification by God's free grace.

Apostle Paul's point: there is NO NEED to observe the ceremonial laws - Abraham is the classic example.

There is no need of you to draw PERVERSE conclusions on my behalf. ;-)

Sing

"The Labor and work Jesus is contrasting is the seeking not the believing.  Read the context."

==============

I think it is quite desperate to make the distinction! Labour is work, and work is some form of labour.

Christ's own word:

"This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."

They LABOURED - went to great length - to seek for Jesus because of their belly, and not for who He is, the Son of God.

Seek him as the Son of God, the One God has sent, that's the work they should be doing... this work is meat that endures unto everlasting life... even when the belly has rotted.

Robert

Right. The seeking He was not contrasting Laboring with believing.

Let's be real clear I am NOT talking about getting eternally saved I am talking about getting saved from a bad or guilty conscience by faith in the finished work of Christ the promised seed, this is not work Romans 4.

Sing

Don't worry, I'm not so unfair to insinuate, and impute such horrid things to you. If I did, I would have stated it in plain words! ;-)

It is NOT about getting saved from a bad or guilty conscience by faith!!! IT IS about EXPERIENCING, by faith, the blessedness of the justified state by God's free grace.... THAT IS the subject.

QUESTION: What did our father Abraham find, Rom 4:1.

ANSWER: The blessedness was experienced by Abraham through faith in the promised seed, WITHOUT the works of the ceremonial law. 4:9

Robert

1 Peter 3:21, it certainly is being saved from a guilty conscience, and the fear of death etc. I think your remark about is unjustified. :(

Sing

You were at Rom 4! Whatever happened!

How is my remark about what is unjustified?

Robert

:) lol. Sing, the unjustified remark is as follows "It is NOT about getting saved from a bad or guilty conscience by faith!!!" as if this is not experiencing the initial aspect of our justified state , You contrast made my remark appear irrelevant. That was unjustified that is what I meant!

Sing

Your remark was made in the context of Romans 4.

No bad or evil conscience there. So, quite out of place.

Robert

Sing, I brought your post over here because I find no fault is what you say: http://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/.../three-distinct... That is not where our disagreement ls, it is whether the salvation in verse 8 of Ephesians 2 is temporal, us...See more

Things New and Old: Three Distinct Sets of Contrast in the Biblical Doctrine of Justification

THINGS-NEW-AND-OLD.BLOGSPOT.COM|BY SING LAU

Sing

Then you have not understood the implications of the three sets of distinction!

Robert

:) okay!  Romans 4:4 defines work it is the expectation of payment due because of your efforts. As opposed to simply trusting what has been done for you. There is a world of difference between trusting the finished work of Christ and doing anything expecting a paycheck. I suggest you reconsider your position my brother. So used to fighting Calvinist's and arminians you can't even consider the war has been fought with the wrong weapons and now you are fighting the wrong opponent ! ;)

Sing

In Romans 4, apostle Paul is dealing with the HOW a child of God experiences the blessedness of his justified state by God's free grace - is it through the WORK of obeying the ceremonial laws, or through simply believing in the Lord Jesus Christ? How was it with Abraham? What was his experience?

Judaizers were a thorn in the eyes of the infant church from the very beginning.

Three sets of distinction:

1. Obedience of Christ to the law vs. dead man's own obedience to the law : LEGAL justification

2. God's free and sovereign act vs. dead man's act : VITAL justification

3. God's children work of believing in Christ vs. their works of keeping the ceremonial laws : EXPERIENTIAL justification.

GOOD NIGHT.

Foreknowledge, not the same as Omn-iscience or Pre-science

Taken from a slow train meandering along this gorgeous gorge.
A train was bulleting across the bridge in the background.

Foreknowledge is not the same as 

Omniscience or Pre-science 

Let sound bytes bite the dust.

A biblical distinction is the essence 

of sound theology.

Can you distinguish the two? Do you know the vast difference? Let's learn it, it will make us wise unto salvation, instructing us in the truth of our salvation by God's free grace in Jesus Christ.

"And Adam knew his wife..."

=========

by Elder Matt Jordan

FOREKNOWLEDGE, NOT SAME AS OMNISCIENCE

"You only have I known of all the families of the earth..." Amos 3:2a

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate..." Romans 8:29a

"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father..." 1 Pet. 1:2a

"And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Mt. 7:23

Theologians like to talk about the fact that God is both omniscient (omni=all; science=knowledge) and prescient (pre=before; science=knowledge). He knows everything about everything, and he knows it in advance. Nothing ever surprises the Lord or catches him off guard. He doesn't have to take continuing education classes in order to remain current on the latest findings or trends.

It always troubles me, however, when people confuse the verb "to foreknow" with the prescience of God. Prescience is an attribute, i.e. something God "is," but foreknowledge is an action, i.e. something God "does." Prescience speaks of his prior knowledge of facts and events, but foreknowledge concerns people: "For whom He did foreknow, them He also did predestinate..."

I suspect the confusion arises from the tendency to define the root "to know" in cognitive, or intellectual, terms. Indeed, "knowledge" generally refers to the idea of "intelligent thought" or "mental awareness." But in the Bible, the verb "to know" may also (and, in fact, it frequently does) refer to what we might call "relational knowledge." When Adam "knew" his wife and she conceived (Gen. 5:2), it is obvious to any thinking person that such knowledge involved more than something purely academic or cognitive.

It is in that sense that God could say to Israel, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Am. 3:2). Does he mean that he was unaware the Babylonians, Egyptians and Assyrians existed? No, God knows all things, for he is omniscient. He means, however, that Israel had been marked out as his special covenant people in relational terms. Likewise, Christ's sentence to the wicked in the last day will highlight the fact that they had never been brought into covenant relationship with him: "Depart from me...for I never knew you" (Mt. 7:23). Of course, He knows about them--everything there is to know about them--but He never loved them as His own, covenant children.

"Foreknowledge" then means "fore-loved." Because God loved a people before time began, He chose them to be His own: "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father..." (1 Pet. 1:2), and He predestinated them to finally be made like His only begotten Son: "For whom He did foreknow, them He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29).

Why is it so important to distinguish between God's covenant act of foreknowing a people and God's incommunicable attribute of knowing all events and circumstances in advance? It is important because it negates the popular interpretation in religious circles that interprets "foreknowledge" to mean that God looked down through time and saw those who would choose Him, so He chose them. The individual who takes this position of "foreseen faith" fails to understand the difference between foreknowledge and omniscience.

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