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Foreknow - from the Greek word
"proginosko". "Pro"
means "before". "ginosko" means to know by experience.
Proginosko means "to know ahead of
time."
Romans 8:29
For whom he did foreknow [proginosko], he also did predestinate [proorizo] to be conformed to
the image of his Son
Moreover whom he did
predestinate [proorizo], them he also
called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he
justified, them he also glorified.
It is important to understand that
God's foreknowledge comes first. Those that God knew ahead of
time would believe, he predestinated to be conformed to the image of
his Son. Now. What did the person do and what did God
do?
The person
believed God's Word. God foreknew this. God (in His foreknowledge) saw that Joe
Believer was going to believe His Word. God
did not make Joe believe. God simply knew ahead of time
that Joe was going to choose to believe.
God
predestinated that He (GOD) would conform Joe to the image of his
Son. God appointed a decree ahead of time that Joe would receive
holy spirit when he believed. God did NOT decide ahead of time
what Joe would do! God decided ahead of time what GOD would
do! What else did God predestinate? He predestinated that
He (GOD) would call Joe. He predestinated that He (GOD) would
justify Joe. He predestinated that He (GOD) would glorify
Joe. All of the predestination are things that God decreed ahead
of time that HE would do. God never controls. God never
decides what YOU will do. God only predestinates what HE will do
when you believe.
Acts 2:22
Ye men of
Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God
among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in
the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Him,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge [proginosko] of
God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Acts 4:26 - 28
The kings
of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against
the Lord, and against his Christ.
For of a
truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both
Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel,
were gathered together,
For to do
whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before [proorizo] to
be done.
God set a decree back in Genesis 3:15 that a man would need to redeem mankind. That man would have to be rejected of men, crucified and killed. God decided what HE required for man to be redeemed. God predestinated the standard for redemption.
God in His foreknowledge knew when these
things would come to pass. God did not control Herod,
Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and people of Israel present at Jesus
Christ's trials and make them crucify Jesus. God did not control
Jesus and make him go through it. God set the decree
that the Christ had to suffer these things to redeem mankind.
Jesus could have chosen to walk out of the situation at any time:
Matthew
26:53-54
Thinkest
thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give
me more than twelve legions of angels?
But how
then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?
Jesus Christ
believed God's Word and carried out the task of his own free will.
1 Corinthians 2:7
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained
before [proorizo] the world unto our
glory:
God appointed a decree ahead of time
that ALL (Jews and Gentiles) who believed would receive holy
spirit. This wisdom God kept secret from the world until He
revealed it to the Apostle Paul. God predestinated a
mystery. HE decided that HE would keep this knowledge
secret. God decided when HE would reveal it. Once again God
decided what HE would do, not what we would do.
1 Peter 1:2
Elect
according to the foreknowledge
[proginosko]
of
God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you and peace,
be multiplied.
God saw (in His foreknowledge) that
we would be obedient to the "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus
Christ." God knew that we would believe.
Ephesians 1:3-11
Blessed
be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated [proorizo] us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to
the good pleasure of his will,
To the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in
the beloved.
In whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace;
Wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Having
made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
That in
the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in
one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on
earth; even in him:
In whom
also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated [proorizo] according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will:
God appointed a
decree before the foundation of the world that those who believed would
receive sonship, be blessed with all spiritual blessings, be chosen of
Him, be holy and without blame before him, receive redemption through
the blood of Christ, receive forgiveness of sins, receive the wisdom of
God, have the great mystery revealed to them, be gathered together in
Christ in the fulness of time, and receive an inheritance.
ALL these things GOD decided that HE would do
for those who believed. God never decided who would
believe. But God made a lot of decisions about what HE would do
when a person believed. That is predestination according to God's
Word!
Michael
& Christine Cortright's Fellowship Homepage