In his sermon titled 'The Foreknowledge of God,' Paul Carrington explores the critical importance of understanding God's foreknowledge, arguing that it shapes our view of salvation and the God of salvation. He delves into Romans 8:28-30, emphasizing that God's foreknowledge is not merely knowing future events but involves a covenantal and intimate knowledge, akin to 'fore-loving.' Carrington distinguishes foreknowledge from omniscience, noting that while God knows everything, foreknowledge specifically pertains to God's relationship with people. He discusses the 'golden chain of salvation' in Romans 8:29-30, highlighting that salvation is entirely God's work, from foreknowledge to glorification, without human contribution. Carrington also addresses heretical views such as Molinism, Open Theism, and Arminianism, critiquing their elevation of human free will over God's sovereignty. He warns that these views diminish God's glory and misrepresent His nature. The sermon concludes with a call to embrace the security and assurance found in God's sovereign foreknowledge, urging believers to live with confidence in God's eternal love and purpose.

Good afternoon. We have an opportunity here this afternoon to look at yet again another attribute of our great God. And if you have your Bibles, I'd ask that you open up to Romans chapter 8, and we're going to be looking at some familiar texts, Romans 8 verse 28, to help us understand the doctrine or the attribute of God's foreknowledge. There's really, there's quite a bit of confusion around this attribute of our God. One of the things I do want to say really upfront, really by way of a guarantee, and it's this, is that our view of the foreknowledge of God will determine both our view of salvation on the one side, and on the other side, and even more importantly, the God of our salvation.

So it's absolutely critical that we have a proper view of the foreknowledge of God as we'll hear about a little bit later. And foreknowledge, the reason being is that foreknowledge has to do directly with the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It has to do with salvation itself. And so we'll see that without exaggeration the gospel becomes hopelessly lost when we either trim the edges of foreknowledge or we skirt around it or we don't fully grasp what it is that the Lord has for us in this doctrine and when it becomes tarnished or forgotten or bypassed we do ourselves a disservice in the God of glory and even greater disservice. And so what is what is for knowledge?

Well the the word itself can give us the the understanding that it means to know ahead of time and that would be correct in many ways right and and in a few weeks I think be having a teaching on the omniscience or the all knowledge of God And the fact is that he knows absolutely everything. Right, God unlike us, he doesn't live in time. He created time, but he doesn't live in time, but He sees everything. So think of it like this. He sees the past and the future, everything as a complete whole.

Everything's really present to Him. There's no distinction between the past or the future when it comes to God. And so the way to think about this is that God knows just as much about the year 1950 as he does about the year 2050. There's not going to be a surprise that comes out. God knows exactly how many snowflakes fell around the globe in 1993.

He knows the exact state of every single human heart, not only in this building right now, but he knows the heart of every single individual who has ever lived and he sees it as one current or present thing. And so it's important for us, we're not going to be talking a lot about omniscience, but it is important for us to understand that nothing escapes his notice. There's nothing that God can forget. There's nothing that's hidden from him despite our best attempts as human beings oftentimes to do so. And you compare that with with the knowledge of the most knowledgeable man on the face of the earth and what does he really know there's really no comparison of course and the reason being is that man acquires knowledge it's a kind of a succession of knowledge he gets knowledge along the way and he grows but remember this that it's always skewed, because you're a human being.

It's skewed by your own heart, the way that you see things. And of course, you're always going to be terribly, terribly limited. And so what we know from the Scriptures about our God is this. In Acts 15 it says, known unto God from eternity are all his works. In Isaiah 46, listen to this, it says this, remember the former things of old, For I am God and there is no other.

I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. And so he doesn't just have all knowledge, right? But he actually foreknows what he is going to do. So it's not just that he has just this vast database of information, but then he brings his actual will to pass in all the world. And so we're going to not be talking about omniscience.

That's another topic for another time. But foreknowledge is actually much more narrow than omniscience. Foreknowledge deals specifically with people as we'll see, not so much the future events that surround their lives, but the people themselves. And so to help us understand this attribute, we're going to look at one of the most quoted scriptures of the Apostle Paul, which is in Romans 8.28. And many of you would probably know this scripture from heart.

In Romans 8 28 we read and we know we know that all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to his purpose. And so this verse Romans 8 28 is a beautiful verse, it really is. You know Thomas Watson he wrote a book called All Things for Good and it's based off of this verse. Martin Lloyd Jones the great preacher of the 20th century, he preached 17 sermons on Romans 8-28. It's a beautiful verse.

But why? What's so great about this verse? Well, what it says is it highlights God's purpose, and it's good for everyone who believes in him. For all Christians there's a good purpose and so what he's doing is that he's working all circumstances in the world to this end for the good of his people. And what happens is that when you know his purposes, you can derive an immense amount of comfort, can't you, if you actually understand what he's doing for your good.

And this is what Spurgeon had to say referring to this verse. He says that there is no attribute more comforting to his children than that of God's sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, the sovereignty of God is a sweet pillow that you can lay your head on at night. It is a beautiful truth, not only that God is in control overall, but is working everything out, the good and the bad for your good and his glory. This sweet doctrine is medicine for the soul that you can take in any season of life.

And so we see this beautiful verse in Romans 8 28 but here's the question. Paul says and we know but but how can you know here this is the real crux of the matter you know what what is it that allows you to rest all of your weight on Romans 8 28 it's really an important question on what basis can you say we know well the basis is actually found in verses 29 and 30, and that's where we're going to spend really the bulk of our time in this section here. Because if you think of verse 28 as a house, as a structure, it sits, the slab that it sits on, the foundation or the bedrock that Romans 8, 20 and 8.28 sits on is actually Romans 8.29 and verses 30. And what we find in Romans 8.29 is what theologians refer to as the golden chain of salvation. And it starts here and there's five things that are mentioned.

The very first one is the subject we're going to be dealing with and it talks about the fact for whom he foreknew and then it goes on in verse 30 it talks about predestination, whom he predestined, those he also called as we heard today this effectual calling and those whom he called he justified, and whom he justified he glorified. And so this golden chain is what we're gonna be talking about in terms of salvation, but what you notice right up front is that from beginning to end it's a work of God. You don't really see anything to do with man in verses 29 and verse 30 at all and notice how verse 29 it starts. It starts with that little word for which is referring back to verse 28 those who he called according to his purpose. And so it says, for whom he foreknew, right, I'll just read it, he also predestined to become or to be conformed to the image of his son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

And so what we learn from this even though verse 28 speaks about our love, our love for God can never really be the foundation on which our salvation is built. Really what the ultimate purpose of God is, is not your good only as verse 28 says, but that you be conformed to the image of his Son. And that's how God gets the ultimate glory. And that's how he gets the ultimate good for you by conforming you to the image of his son. This is really what God wants us to understand and ground.

And so in this discussion really on foreknowledge, right, in the English it simply means to know beforehand, right? It's made up of two words, for knowledge. But when you look at the actual Greek and when you understand how this word is used all the way through the scriptures, it gives you a bit of a different meaning than just simply to know ahead of time. And it's in Greek it's also made up of two words, pro-ginosco, which is, ginosco is the word for to know and then pro is beforehand. And so in the Old Testament really the equivalent of Ginosco which is to know is Yadah.

And you can you'll recognize a lot of these words as we go through just a few of these scriptures. But what it's important to know is it goes beyond just mere cognition. That God simply knows something like I said earlier the number of snowflakes that's knowledge but but there's something more than mere cognition and mere information when we understand what foreknowledge actually is and understand it in these terms I'll give you just three examples from the Old Testament to help us understand this. In Genesis chapter 18, verse 19, speaking of Abraham, the Lord says, "'For I have known him, Yadah, "'in order that he may command his children and his household after him." And what this is speaking is, it's speaking of this covenant knowledge. It's not that I knew about Abraham, but I had this covenant knowledge.

I've elected Abraham. That's what he's saying here. Or in Amos chapter 3 verse 2 it says, speaking of the children of Israel, you only have I known of all the families of the earth. And it would be absurd to say that God didn't know about the Amorites or the Hittites or the Philistines. Of course he knew everything about them, but he didn't know them in the same way.

He knows every tribe, but this speaks of an intimate knowledge that he entered into, this deep love that he has for them. And this is obviously made very, very clear when we understand in Genesis chapter 4 verse 1, and it says, now Adam knew his wife and what happened and she conceived and bore Cain and said I have acquired a man from the Lord and what you see here is when Adam knows his wife he's made her his own there's this intimacy and this love this bond that shared with no one else but between Adam and his wife. And so John Murray in speaking about knowledge as it's referred to in the scriptures, again more than just simply to know what the weather will be like or, you know, how a vehicle works. Know is used in a sense practically synonymous with love. Whom he foreknew is therefore virtually equivalent to whom he for loved.

Foreknowledge is sovereign, distinguishing love. And so when you see this word, for whom he foreknew, you could say for whom he foreloved. And that's what foreknowledge actually is. It's this idea of this intimate relationship. And what's so beautiful about this is that predestination, for whom he foreknew, them he predestined.

Predestination actually rests or flows from this knowledge that God has of us in eternity past. It's really the ground of our election, right? When you look at that golden chain, you see foreknowledge, and then predestination, and then calling, and then you see justification, and then glorification. This is kind of this chain of events that takes place in eternity past. And we looked at the Old Testament when you look at the New Testament at this word prognostico it actually shows up about five times as a verb and and twice as a noun in the in the New Testament and every time you see it it's dealing with persons not not events and so look at it like this right Matthew 1 verse 25 and this is speaking of the verb Genosco then Joseph being aroused from sleep did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took to him his wife, and did not know her until she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus." Another way to help us understand this would be in Matthew 7 verses 22 to 23 and these are the most to me anyways one of the most terrifying words in Scripture but the Lord Jesus himself at the end of the Sermon on the Mount says this, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. I never gnosko you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." And so the idea is that he has zero covenantal relations with these people. He knew them, of course he knew them, but he didn't know them in a covenant type setting. And that's what he's really saying here.

He actually knew their character and their evil hearts better than they did, but yet there was no entering of relationship. And Romans 11 tells it like this, verse 2, God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Now we see that word progenosco put into place, that is those who he loved beforehand. And so the reason why God does not cast away his people is because of his foreknowledge that he has for them. And the last verse I'll look at is 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 1.

Peter right off the bat he says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. And so what you see again is election, it's placed on the foundation of foreknowledge. That what we heard today about my sheep hearing my voice is actually based on the fact that you were foreknown by God in eternity past and because you're for known by God in eternity past you will be glorified or as you notice it's actually the past tense whom he whom he justified then he also glorified because it's taken for granted that God cannot fail. And so it takes it all the way to the end. And you think about it for a second about yourself, right?

As it pertains to you, right? He saw you. He saw you. He knows everything about you. He knows about your sins, about your falls, he knows about your backslidings, he knows the exact temperature of your love for him.

He knows the admixture that accompanies every good work that you do, this admixture of pride that comes along with that. All of these things are known, yet what do you find? That He has fixed His love upon you. It should boggle our minds. That's what foreknowledge is.

It's to fore love because of what he will do to gain glory for himself. It's knowing with affection. It's knowing with approval. It's to be marked out as his own. It's almost like to receive his stamp, mine, over you, and that you're no one else's.

It's for him to set his love upon you. And this is so far from being an excuse now to sin since I can't be lost. What it should be as a catalyst to love him more and to want to walk in his way because you're secure nothing can happen to you because you're actually in his hands from eternity past and so this is what happens when you begin to grasp and understand this wonderful attribute of the Lord is that it takes away rejection and the fear of one day being cast away. That should you should banish that and bury that forever. Those of you who are saved and are wrestling, am I saved?

Am I not saved? This wrestling of assurance. When you understand that you've been for known, for loved, you have this great confidence that no man gave you and no man can take away from you. You could ask the question, you know, how many has God lost in the process of time through the ravages of spiritual conflict and the warfare that takes place in this world? Not a single one has been lost.

He saves all whom he foreknows. And that's what verse 29 says, for whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And Ercee Sproul says it like this, he says we could reasonably translate this text, Romans 8 29, to this, those whom he for loved, those whom he knew in a personal, intimate, redemptive sense from all eternity he predestined. And so you begin to see this this snowball effect stemming from foreknowledge and going all the way to verse 30 where it says, moreover whom he predestined, these he also called, effectually called in time. Whom he called, these he also justified.

He gave you the gift of faith and you were justified before him or made or declared to be innocent. And whom he justified, these he also glorified." And so again that that wonderful conclusion it's a foregone conclusion. It's used in the past tense because again it's a certainty that it will come to pass. And if Christians were to begin to rest on this like this world we live in it's so insecure. It's so insecure.

People who have the most you could put into your head, it's not satisfying. You gotta have both hands full because what about tomorrow? Somebody has more or what will I do if this person and leaves my life whatever these fears that come in but to know for a certainty that you are in the hands of the one who can never leave you is an attribute that should engender confidence and actually change the way that we live And so these are the things that we have. I hope we've done that this morning or this afternoon, really identified what foreknowledge is. And then what I want to do now is just spend a few minutes talking about some errant or heretical or heterodox views around foreknowledge and then I'll end with just talking about some of the implications.

Well really there's three that I want to look at and there's endless dispute. The position that we're taking is actually a minority position in evangelicalism in America And the ones that I'm going to be talking about are not really matters of of triviality. Like does it really matter about this whole thing about foreknowledge? I think you'll see in a second that it does because these are very very popular, these three. Even if adherents don't subscribe to them and put their name and say I'm this, this is the predominant view in our churches in America.

The first one I want to talk about is middle knowledge, and middle knowledge is what happened during the time of the Reformation is that the Catholic Church actually embarked on a counter-reformation and they set up a group of priests called Jesuits who would go and seek to overthrow the effects of the Reformation in Europe at the time. That was the question, how can we overthrow the effects and combat these teachings? Well, what happened is there was a man by the name of Luis Molina, no relation to our brother Freddy, who came up with this idea of middle knowledge, or what's called Molinism in honor of this man's name. And what it does is it holds that man's will is sacred, and they do their best to try to reconcile man's will on the one side with God's sovereignty on the other side. But when you try to do this with philosophy rather than Scripture, what you end up having done is you have to jettison what?

God's will and God's sovereign power and so they come up with this idea that because these two can't really be harmonized What has to happen is that God listen to this he knows what his creatures would do He knows what they would do not just what they could do But what they would do That's how well he knows us. He knows us so well in any given condition. He knew, for example, in advance what he would do if Adam fell and also if he did not fall. He knew what he would do if Nineveh repented or if Nineveh did not repent. He has plans for both, is kind of what Molanism tries to put forward, but he knows us so, so, so well.

Not only what we could do, but what we would do, that he charts the course accordingly. But what that does, we'll see in a second, is it detracts from the sovereignty and the glory of God. Another popular view that's come out in the last maybe couple of decades or so is something called open theism. You might have heard of that or open theology and and this is really this attempt to explain the foreknowledge of God again in relation to free will and you'll see a theme. What happens is free will is always elevated and what has to happen as a result is that God's glory ends up being shifted or caught and jettisoned a lot of the time.

And So a lot of times what someone that subscribes to open theism will say is that yes, God is omniscient. He absolutely knows everything that can be known. But since the future can't be known because it hasn't happened yet, God doesn't know the future. So he just knows everything up until 2.14 p.m. On Sunday afternoon, but at 2.15, who knows who can tell what will happen?

And so the futures of such a nature that he can't know it exhaustively is really what they argue. And so this God that they put forward is a God who's uncertain. He's a God that changes his mind based on what we do, what you had for lunch might change what he serves you up for dinner. God can be surprised at times. He can be introduced to new information that he didn't know.

Again another false idea. His plans can even be thwarted by those who subscribe and think of God in an open theistic type of way. And so these two obviously are totally false. The one that's most popular is probably Arminianism and probably most of us have heard about this and the fallacy that is really brought forward by Arminius is that they believe in foreknowledge. They actually use Romans 8, 29 and 30 to try to attempt to prove their perspective of God's foreknowledge.

And what our many, our many, our manyest believers subscribe to is this kind of tunnel of time fallacy that somehow God got out his binoculars, he looked down the tunnel of time and he saw that Mike would repent at a certain given time and therefore he now writes his name in the Lamb's book of life in eternity past. It's a total total fallacy and Arminius by the way he was a student of Theodore Beza who is the successor of John Calvin. This is what he said he said God has known from eternity which persons should believe and which should persevere through subsequent grace. And so this idea of foreknowledge in the Arminius view is really God is aware. Whom God was aware would repent those he predestined.

That's another way of of interpreting the Arminius view. So he knew Bob would be responsive to the teaching and preaching of the gospel and so he pens his name down. And what it does is it reduces foreknowledge really to foresight and he foresees that you are going to respond to the gospel and therefore he ends up saving you he sees that you will love him and therefore he sets his love upon you And someone might be tempted again to say you say tomato I say tomato does it really matter? Well of course it is this is not just an intramural debate there's massive ramifications there's look around American evangelicalism today it's it's just a heap it's a wreckage in terms of all of the false teachings that have gone through from Finney to Billy Graham and it's still all around us today. And of course, Here's just a few of the problems with regards to some of these assertions.

Number one is it overthrows the assertion that the Bible makes it clear as to man's nature. What is man's nature? Not very flattering. Total depravity is what the Bible argues for. Fallen men are simply unable and unwilling to respond to God unless he makes you willing.

Apart from grace it's impossible. And that's what we read in Romans just a little bit earlier in Romans. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written there is none righteous and just to make sure Paul there's no one that can escape that he says no not one. There is none who understands there is none who seeks after God.

Well, that's one of the problems that elevates man. The other problem is it would make man sovereign versus God who is the one who's responsible for our salvation from start to finish. Arminianism argues that man's salvation is ultimately dependent on man's response to God. And at the end of it all, the third problem is that it makes salvation a meritorious act. It's something that you get as a result of you doing something.

And so it gives us grounds for boasting. Think of the Arminius view of salvation as one big thank you for believing in the living God. Of course that's not what the Bible argues for. And so what's important for us to understand is this, is that to say for knew, for whom he foreknew, is not to say for whom he foresaw. That's not what it means at all.

It's not that God knew you would respond and therefore he saved you. That's not it. And so that's a total misreading of the scripture because notice what it what it says for whom he foreknew not for what he foreknew. It's not that he he saw you would respond but it's you yourself for whom he foreknew, them he also called. And so you're not the subject.

God is the subject doing the saving. You're simply the one that's being acted upon in your deadened state. And so what happens when you have these faulty views and why I thought it was important to highlight them is because they really do plunder the glory of God. They reduce God, all three of these, Molinism, Open Theism, Arminianism, they reduce God to no more than a cosmic weatherman that can kind of see what might happen, but then again it might not happen if conditions shift. So he's able to do a lot but he doesn't know everything.

He's limited in some way and that's really what's happening is there's an attempt to handcuff the living God in some way and what happens when you believe these things the fruit of it is all around us. It diminishes devotion to God. It diminishes worship because God is great, but it makes God small when you have these views of God. Of course the Bible is totally clear that salvation is entirely owing to God from from start to finish. And of course we know this that if left to ourselves, is there anyone here who would have chosen God without God first choosing us?

The scriptures are filled. Just like Lazarus, what did he do to assist in his resurrection? That's the exact same thing you did to assist in your salvation. Absolutely nothing except respond to the call when it was coming in time by faith that was also given by a gift. And so Jesus says in John, no one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.

So by way of conclusion, there's just a few, I think, immense practical benefits to understanding this attribute. Number one is, for me when I'm studying this, it just caused me to look at the majesty of God in Salvation for whom he foreknew he for loved me You know, I remember a lot of times when you first get saved, you begin to like, why did he save me? And you know, with this off chance hope that in the process of time I'll find this little bit of gold that, ah, that's why he saved me. You can search forever, there's no gold in that mine at all. It's only the fact that whom he foreknew, them he also called.

It's such a beautiful thing. And you see the outworking, all of it to the glory of God. And it's really all about his ultimate purpose, isn't it? And your good is good, and it's wonderful, and it is a purpose, but it's more of a byproduct of what conforming you to the image of his son that God might elevate and glorify his son with many that have been brought to glory by his son at the end of the day. This is the whole beauty of this doctrine.

And then think about this for a second. We just read three verses in Romans chapter 8, but I'm looking at this and I kept reading and you get to see what Paul thought about this doctrine. And look at what he thought about this doctrine, about this whole thing about foreknowledge and predestination and all these things. You can see a man that's just baffled and and almost in wonder as he's writing and this is what he says What then shall we say? To these things what what can we do to communicate?

What I've just said in these three verses if God is for us Who can be against us He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created things shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. You see a man, I could just imagine him at this desk. What can I say to communicate all the glory of what's captured in this chain of salvation that begins in eternity past with foreknowledge? This is the foundation for everything.

And so get to understand and know this doctrine. I think at the last thing I would say is this, is that God wants you to be consoled by this. That's why it's written. He wants you to believe this. Could you for a moment just put away all of your arguments with assurance that he loves me, he loves me not theology, and actually get a hold of this.

This is what would set you free and allow you to walk the life that God wants us to walk. So I praise him for for this great understanding that he gives us in his word. It's right here for us and his love is on display whom he foreknew, whom he for loved. Those he breathe destined to be conformed to the image of his son. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you. Lord, we say with the apostle, What can we say to these things? Lord, you've been so good to us you've Given us super abundant blessings in yourself and insecurity and assurance Lord we praise you. We thank you. Oh Lord help us to not just lodge these doctrines and teachings on a shelf in our brains, but Lord may they affect us and help us to live truly free in this world, oh Lord.

When we consider how many are ensnared and in fear and insecurity, we pray, oh Lord, help us to grasp what you have for us and to live accordingly, according to your goodness and grace. Thank you for these teachings, Lord. In Jesus name, amen.