Articles
Foreknowledge and Predestination
Is the path set? Is the path man must walk set? Has God pre-determined our path in life and determined what will happen along that path?
The question has at its center the concept of foreknowledge and predestination. While God is omniscient, our word to describe the indescribable, His foreknowledge does not mean He knows everything about me before it happens. Neither does it mean He knows what will happen to me at a certain time in my life. Certainly God can do what He wants and know what He wants but that is not what foreknowledge means.
Foreknowledge simply means God has before made something known. For example Paul will talk about scripture foreseeing (Gal. 3:8). Does Scripture have eyes? No. It simply refers to what scripture has before seen. Scripture saw, revealed, something before. Foreknowledge simply means God has before made something known. For example, God had before made known the Gentiles would be His as well as the Jews. He also made known that the Messiah would come. No scripture suggests God has made known what will happen or not happen at a certain time in my life. I have a part to play in that path. I get to choose which path I will walk. Will I choose to walk with Him or walk away from Him? He will not force me.
On the other hand, predestination does not mean my life is marked out and I cannot change what God has already predetermined for me. Predestination simply means God has before set the boundaries. For example, God set the boundaries about those who would choose to walk with Him. He set the conditions. He before determined not those who would come to Him but He determined before the kind of people who would come to Him. Those people would come to Him according to His predetermined boundaries.
For example, when our son was playing Little League baseball, I was the head coach all the years he played. Each year when I would look at the team I knew beforehand we would lose some games. I did not know which games we would lose. I did not determine beforehand which games we would lose. I did all I could, as a coach, to help the boys be prepared to play. But at last they had to play the game. They got a say in winning or losing. I could set the line-up, batting order and who would pitch but I did not get to determine beforehand if they would win or lose. The fact I knew something beforehand did not predetermine that it would happen.
Even so, God’s foreknowledge does not mean what He has before made known will happen. Man gets a say. If man walks with Him it will be on His terms, not man’s. Foreknowledge and predestination do not mean my path is marked out and I have no say in the matter.
