The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Titus 2:11
I believe He is drawing everybody. He is no respecter of persons.
Yes and no.
in Acts 13:48 we read:
"And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed."
What we have here is the notion that every man, woman, and child, is presented the Gospel. But only those who were ordained, believed.
That is exactly what I am saying.
1 Peter 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
But your wrong in that you are putting the horse before the cart.
Are people "elect" because of "foreknowledge" or does God have foreknowledge (a deep intimate relationship of) because they are the "elect"?
You mean this?
Romans 8:29-30
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.
8:30
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.
Yes, that's part. But you have passages in Ephesians too.
Now, you also said:
Foreknow, the Greek word proginosko, G4267.
From G4253 and G1097; to know beforehand that is foresee: - foreknow (ordain) know (before).
Technically, your right. But there is a deeper meaning.
Let us look at the definition given in Kittel's dictionary. From Rom. 8:29, we have the word: "prowpisev." From the root word: "proorizw," which means:
to limit or mark out beforehand, predestine.
According to the dictionary (Kittel's), K. L. Schmidt comments:
"This comparatively rare and late word is used in the Greek Bible only six times in the NT in the sense "to foreordain" "to predestinate." Since God is eternal and has ordained everything before time, proopizein is a stronger form of opizein (
to set bounds to). The synonyms and textual history show that the reference in proginwskien is the same. Rom. 8:29; ouv proginw kai prowpisen summorfouv tnv eikonov tou niou autou, Rom. 8:30; ous...prowpisen (A: proegnw) toutov kai ekalesen. The omniscient God has determined everything in advance, both persons and things in salvation history,
with Jesus Christ as the goal. When Herod and Pilate work together with the Gentiles and the mob against Christ, it may be said: "h boulh [sou] prowrisen genesqai, Acts 4:28. Herein lies the hidden wisdom of God in a mystery, "hn prowrisen o qeoV pro twn aiwnwn eiV doxan hmwn," 1 Cor. 2:7, cf. IV, 819.
The goal of our predestination is divine sonship through Jesus Christ: "proorisaV hmaV eiV uioqesian dia ihsou cristou ," Eph. 1:5. That we have our inheritance in Christ rests in the fact that we are proopisqentev kata proqesin tou ta panta energountov, Eph. 1:11.
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Edited by: Gerhard Kittel, Translated by: Geoffery W. Bromiley, Vol. V, "proopizw", p. 456, K. L. Schmidt.
You see: "to
know beforehand that is
foresee: - foreknow (ordain)
know (before). And go with that.
But, "predestinate" is never used in the New Testament in this sense. And it is never used in the sense that God had intimate knowledge of said persons in the sense you mean.
Foreknowledge, lets also refer to Rudolf Bultmann's work in this area:
"In the NT, "proginwskein" is referred to God. His foreknowledge, however, is
an election or foreordination of His people (Rom. 8:29; 11:2) or Christ (1 Pet. 1:20) (> ginwskw, 698, 706). In Pastor Hermae, mandata, 4, 3, 4 it simply means God's foreknowledge (cf. prognwstv in 2 Cl. 9:9). On the basis of prophecy the word "proginwskein" can be used of believers in 2 Pet. 3:17, also as Pastor Hermae, similitudines, 7,5 > eklegw. Another possible meaning in Greek is that of knowing earlier, i.e., than the time speaking (cf. Demosthenes of Athens, 29, 58; Aristotle, Rhetorica, II, 21, p. 1394b, 11; Josephus, Bella Judiacum, 6,8).
This is found in Acts 26:5, where the meaning is strengthened by the addition of "anwqen." In Justin God's "proginwskein" is His foreknowledge (Apol. I, 28, 2 etc.) and the "proegnwsmenoi" are believers (Apol. I, 45, 1 etc.). The polemic against determinism, however, shows that the OT view has been abandoned (Dial., 140, 4). As One who simply knows beforehand, God is called "prognwstv" in Apol., I, 44, 11 etc. as is also Christ in Dial., 35, 7; 82, 1. There is also reference to prophetic foreknowledge in Apol., I, 43, 1; 49, 6 etc. Tatian, of Syria, in Oratio ad Graecos, 19, 3, speaks of Apollo in the same terms, so that what we have here is the Greek understanding."
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Edited by: Gerhard Kittel, Translated by: Geoffery W. Bromiley, Vol. V, "prognwskein", p. 457, Rudolph Bultmann commenting.
Acts 26:5:
"Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee."
Paul is testifying to Agrippa that the crowd knew Paul "previously", "beforehand" because he was known as a Pharisee, in fact, a
strict Pharisee.
Also, when referencing Romans 8:29, you need to include verse 28.
Here's why:
"ὅτι οὓς προέγνω, καὶ προώρισεν συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν πρωτότοκον ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς:" -Rom. 8:29 (GNT)
Emphasis
absolutely must be place on the very first word of that sentence.
"ὅτι":
"ὅτι,
c \{hot'-ee}
1) that, because, since "
Source
Now, why is this so important? "hotee" is a conjunction.
You see, 2 semesters of Greek taught me that grammar is grammar, especially when Greek and English are concerned. The only disagreement is the placement of subject and verb.
The "for" of verse 29, is a conjunction that
links the last phrase of verse 28, with verse 29.
Who are the "elect"? Those who are "called".
"...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,"
So, why did God "foreknow", have "foreknowledge of" the elect? Because He "called"/"elected" them
first.
I also add:
"1st, The Arminians scheme compared to the Calvinist. With Arminian the decree of redemption precedes the decree of election, which is conditioned on the foreseen faith of the individual. With the Calvinist, on the other hand, the decree of election precedes the decree of redemption, and the decree of election is conditioned upon the simple good pleasure of God alone."
Outlines of Theology, Archibald A. Hodge, Chapter XI, Predestination, p. 232
I also add:
"we believe, teach, and confess that election is the cause of our salvation and of everything that in any way pertains to it, therefore also of our redemption and vocation of our faith and perseverance in faith. Thus understood,
election precedes faith as the cause precedes the effect."
The Saint Louis Theological Monthly, Volume 1, December 1881, No. 8, The New Confession of the Ohio Synod.
And, I also add regarding 1 Pet. 1:2:
"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:2). Here again election by the Father precedes the work of the Holy Spirit in, and the obedience of faith by, those who are saved; thus taking it entirely off creature ground, and resting it in the Sovereign pleasure of the Almighty. The "foreknowledge of God the Father" does not here refer to His prescience of all things, but signifies that the saints were all eternally present in Christ before the mind of God.
God did not "foreknow" that certain ones who heard the Gospel would believe it apart from the fact that He had "ordained" these certain ones to eternal life. What God's prescience saw in all men was, love of sin and hatred of Himself. The "foreknowledge" of God is
based upon His own decrees as is clear from Acts 2:23-"Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain"-note the order here: first God's "determinate counsel" (His decree), and second His "foreknowledge."
So it is again in Romans 8:28, 29, "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son," but the first word here, "for," looks back to the preceding verse and the last clause of its reads, "to them who are the called according to His purpose"-these are the ones whom He did "foreknow and predestinate." Finally, it needs to be pointed out that when we read in Scripture of God "knowing" certain people the word is used in the sense of knowing with approbation and love: "But if any man love God, the same is
known of Him" (1 Cor. 8:3). To the hypocrites Christ will yet say "I never knew you"-He never loved them. "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" signifies, then, chosen by Him as the special objects of His approbation and love."
Source
And that is what you basically said, "Step 1 God predestines us through His foreknowledge of knowing who will receive Him of there free will."
Election/calling always,
always precedes everything, or else your left in a quandary. If calling/election is based upon God's foreknowledge of who would or would not accept and believe, that indeed makes God a respecter of persons.
God Bless
Till all are one.
