True, God knows ahead who will believe or otherwise, and He does not choose who should believe or otherwise. However, Paul was not referring to individuals when he said "foreknown and predestined"; instead the apostle was referring to the Gentiles. Or he could be referring to both Jews and Gentiles, but the point is he was not talking about individuals.
Predestination means pre-planned. Some verses said destined or chosen, but in biblical context, it means that God has pre-planned to offer redemption to the Gentiles. Paul or Peter were NOT talking about predestination of individuals.
For 2000 years before the apostles' times, Yahweh was God to the Jews only, while other pagan nations worshipped many pluralistic gods. Even after Jesus' resurrection, the apostles initially thought that redemption was for Jews only. After Peter's vision about eating unclean food, they realized God was inviting the Gentiles too. Now, this was shocking to the Jews because it went against their tradition which was so rooted in the God of Abraham and Jacob, where Gentiles had no part in. Upset at the big change, the Jews demanded that Gentiles followed Jewish customs (many Christian Jews still practiced circumcision and Sabbath at that time). Amid this hostility, even Peter distanced himself from the Gentiles, and Paul opposed him. To assure the Gentiles, Paul explained in Ephesians (and Letter of Romans) that God had always predestined (pre-planned) to offer redemption to the Gentiles. Let me explain the following verses while quoting them:
Ephesians 1:12, 13
[12]"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ===> "we, who were the first to hope in Christ" refers to the Jews who were the first to believe in the God of Abraham, Jacob and Moses.
Speaking as a Jew, Paul used the pronoun "we" [v 12], and as he referred to Gentiles, he said "you" [v 13] -->
[13] And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation ==> The Gentiles, who were previously outside the faith, and even despised by Jews, are now included.
When seen in context, the Bible was not talking about predestination of individuals. Instead, predestination means God has always planned (or pre-planned or predestined or destined) to offer redemption to the Gentiles. Different translations use different words but when we know context, we will not drill into the words technically.
About the words "chosen people" or "Chosen by God": Today, we tend to interpret these terms factually, thinking that God choose Jason or Susan. However, during biblical times [2000 or more years ago], when people were much more submissive to God, they don't say that they chose to follow God; instead they said that God chose them. It is a humble way of speaking. To say that they chose God would have sounded arrogant or inappropriate to them. Today we don't speak that way anymore, and to us, such words sound like God literally choose who to save. But back then, it was really a humble way to say that it was a privilege to be part of God's people or kingdom.
Upvote
0
