6/17/19 

I Peter 1:2

According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

The word “foreknowledge” is in and of itself a very simple word.  It is a compound of the preposition “por” or “before” and the verb “ginozko”, “know”, to provide the word meaning to know before.

The problem begins here.  We know what the word is but what does it mean when it has a reference to God?  Some say it means simply that God knows what His creatures will do and makes His plans accordingly.  He knows who will have faith and they are chosen to receive salvation and all its benefits.  They say this qualifies salvation by faith because it is awarded strictly on the grounds of a person choosing to believe the gospel.

But faith to believe the gospel is the chief of our righteousness. Nothing is righteousness before faith and all after is qualified by faith.  And we must remember the Scripture very clearly says “not by works of righteousness which we have done He saved us.”  So if we believe this we must say it excludes our faith or anything we can contribute.

It can be said, and it is without doubt, that God is the “architect” of salvation.  As this He has His whole purpose or design of the structure He intends to build before He begins. He does not begin building and put pieces in as He needs them.

Every stone from the cornerstone to the completed building is foreknown and its use and usefulness is predestined to the final completion of the building. As in Romans 8:28 it is “according to His purpose” in 8:29 they are those who are “foreknown.”

As you look at these two verses the words are synonyms.  Make no mistake, a person can do nothing to gain inclusion here.  This is the purpose and work of God alone.