Foreknow
The covenant of redemption reads in Rom. 8:28‑30, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
In our last essay, we considered God’s foreknowledge of all things. In this essay we will look at a limited specific aspect of God’s foreknowledge, i.e., “whom he did foreknow.” The scriptures tell us that God knows all things, therefore he knows all things past, present, and future. Thus, he knows about all people who ever have or ever will live on the face of the earth. However, the “foreknow” in the covenant of redemption is not speaking about God knowing about all people, but is speaking about a very specific portion of those who have or will live on the earth.
We read what Jesus said in Matt. 7:21‑23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” The Lord told these who were claiming to prophesy in his name, cast out devils, in his name, and to do many wonderful works in his name that he never knew them. This certainly is not to say that he never had knowledge of them or that he never knew about what they had claimed to have done. However, it is teaching us that he never appointed them to do the works they were claiming they had done. Thus, the Lord said, “I never knew you.”
The Lord knows about all people and all things, though he has not appointed all people and everything that comes to pass. As pertaining to things, the scriptures say that “God is not the author of confusion.” Certainly, he knows about confusion and sin, but he is not the cause of confusion and sin.
Our understanding of how God foreknew a people is illustrated for us in Jer. 1:5 when the Lord said unto Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” As we have pointed out before God knows about all people, but he has only appointed some. God knew Jeremiah before he ever formed him in the belly. God knew him in a special way in that God had appointed him to be a “prophet unto the nations.” This appointment took place before
Jeremiah had any existence except in the mind and purpose of God. Those that God foreknew in the covenant of redemption are those that God appointed before the world began to be his! Eph. 1:4 reads, “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.” Thus, God made choice of a people before the world began to be his. In future essays we will study on what basis God appointed a people to be his, i.e., works, faith, or grace. We will also consider that God gave these he foreknew to Christ to redeem and wrote their names in the Lamb’s book of life and that they were place “in Christ” to fulfill God’s covenant and look at the consequences of these actions of God.
We close this essay with a quote from I Peter 1:1, 2, “Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge 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.”