I. ARGUMENTS BASED ON SCRIPTURE, AND/OR THE DEFINITION(S) OF “FOREKNOWLEDGE” AND/OR “PREDESTINATION”

A. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined; these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:2830).

The conditional election viewpoint offers this verse as proof that God predestined/chose those in whom he foresaw faith when he “looked down the corridor of time.” There are significant problems with this interpretation:

1. The text clearly reads “whom He foreknew,” not “what He foreknew,” or “of whom he foreknew,” or “whom He foreknew would believe.” Knowing a person, biblically speaking, is a very different thing from knowing something about a person. Knowing a person includes knowing at least some things about a person, but it also means much more. It refers to a personal, intimate knowledge or love. of people, not on omniscience which allowed him to know certain things about all individuals.

This concept of foreknowledge also appears in the Sermon on the Mount:

“‘Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 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?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’’” (Matt. 7:21-23).

On the day of judgment, Jesus will claim not to “know” certain people (Matt. 7:34), even though it is clear that he will know something about them, namely their practice of lawlessness. The Greek verb “know” (ginosko) here is the same as that used in Romans 8:29, save for the addition of the preposition “before” (pro, rendering the verb proginosko) in the Romans text.

In this passage from Matthew, those who are never known by Christ are not admitted into heaven. Those who are never known by Christ are those who are never saved. In contrast, the text implies that being known by Christ belongs to those who are saved. Compare this with John 17:3 which also uses ginosko: “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” Knowing in these instances is not factual foresight, but intimate familiarity and salvation.

2. The meaning of “predestined,” as interpreted by the conditional election view, is not compatible with the other occurrences of the word in the New Testament. The Greek word which is translated as “predestined” in the Romans text appears a total of six times in various forms in the New Testament. Two of those six times are in the Romans passage at hand. The other occurrences are as follows:

a) “For truly in this city there were gathered against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose had predestined to occur” (Acts 4:27-28).

This passage obviously refers to the crucifixion of Christ. The crucifixion, of course, is not just something God acknowledged beforehand would happen, it is something God appointed to happen. In fact, the Scriptures show that even minute details of the crucifixion were appointed to happen (cf. Pss. 22; 110. If by “appointed” here the Bible means only that God foresaw it and thereby eternally acknowledged it, then the problem remains that God foresaw his own act of incarnation and atonement. Clearly, God had to determine to do the thing before he could foresee himself doing it. The meaning of “predestined” in this case must be that God rendered it certain to happen.

b) “Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God” (1 Cor. 2:6-8).

This passage states that God predestined his hidden wisdom. It defines its meaning in the verses immediately following the statement about predestination. As the text says, this hidden wisdom has been prepared by God for those who love him. To “predestine” is to “prepare.” This meaning of “predestine” perfectly coincides with the meaning of the word under a system of unconditional election.

To interpret this usage of the word in terms of conditional election, one would have to assert that it describes God foreseeing and recognizing his own wisdom. Again, God must clearly have determined this wisdom prior to having been able to foresee it. Therefore, the conditional election position leads to God’s predestining after (and based upon) his determination to perform this work of wisdom (which is the gospel), contradicting the very assertion made by the conditional election argument.

c) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (Ephesians 1:3-5).

“Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11).

Both of these passages treat predestination, but neither mentions it in light of foreknowledge. Instead, both mention it in light of God’s purpose and will. Verse 11 specifically places predestination in reference to God’s working all things after the counsel of his will. This is particularly pertinent to Romans 8:29, because there also predestination has to do with God working “all things.” The conditional viewpoint must import the idea of foreknowledge of belief to these passages from Ephesians in order to affirm its position.

In summary, predestination is, in all it’s New Testament uses, consistently interpreted only by those asserting the unconditional position.

3. Since the meaning of the Greek word translated “predestined” is not “acknowledged beforehand” or “recognized beforehand,” but rather “determined beforehand,” “appointed beforehand,” or “ordained beforehand,” it means that God rendered something certain to occur.

If God merely predestined those whom he foreknew would believe, then his act of predestining was not one of appointing, determining, or ordaining. If God predestined only on the basis that he foresaw belief, then his act of predestining really didn’t render anything certain to happen. According to the conditional election position, the belief must be certain before God predestines. God’s predestination renders it certain that those whom he has predestined will come to saving faith. This concurs with the interpretation mentioned above that God predestined not because he foresaw belief, but because he intimately foreknew those whom he chose.

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

This verse is also offered as proof that election is based on God’s foreknowledge of who will come to repentance. Here are two problems with this argument:

1. Like the Romans text above, this passage does not say that God foreknew “something.” However, it also does not say that he foreknew “someone.” Rather than using the language of predestination, this verse speaks of God’s choice. A choice by God that is based on his foreknowledge of future salvation or belief, though, is actually only a response to a choice made by the one “chosen.” According to the conditional view, God’s choice is really not a choice, but an obligation

— God is obligated to reward with election those who believe.

As there was before a problem with the interpretation of the word “predestine,” now there is a problem with the interpretation of the word “chosen.” If, indeed, God is obligated to choose all those, and only those, who first choose him, then God has not really made a choice. In the absence of any compelling textual reasons for interpreting “chosen” to mean something different from its traditionally understood meaning, it makes most sense to interpret it to mean exactly what it appears to mean: God, not man, chooses whom he will save.

2. This text says that God predestines, not to belief, but to obedience and salvation: “Who are chosen . . . that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood.” Predestination does not merely recognize beforehand, but it has an actual effect. God predestines for the specific purpose of ensuring that the elect “may obey Jesus Christ,” and, more to the point, “be sprinkled with His blood.” Christians are predestined to salvation, but they are also predestined in order that salvation may be made possible. To put it another way, apart from them first being predestined, there is no possibility that one may be saved. Predestination is instrumental in accomplishing salvation, therefore it is not just an acknowledgment, but a powerful work of God whereby he makes salvation certain for the elect. Salvation results from being chosen, which makes it impossible that being chosen is somehow the result of foreseen salvation.