What does it mean that God foreknew his people?

Explanation:

To understand what Paul means when he writes that God foreknew his people, it is important to notice why he writes this. The reason Paul writes this is that he is denying that God would reject his people Israel. He explains that God would not reject his people whom he foreknew (Romans 11:2). Given the context, the term foreknew is clearly the antonym of reject.³ In other words, Paul is saying that God did not reject his people, whom he chose. For it is simply not possible for God to reject what he has already chosen.

Counterargument:

According to this argument, it is self-evident that the term to foreknow is the opposite of to reject. Thus, foreknow must mean select. So God’s foreknowing beforehand is God’s selecting beforehand. Unfortunately, this argument is not strong for two reasons. First, it does not seem to be the case that foreknew is the opposite of reject. Rather, foreknowing has to do with knowing something beforehand, while rejecting has to do with deciding against, or casting aside. Knowing and casting aside are simply not antonyms.

Second, even if it were the case that these are opposites, why should we think this means foreknow means select? For if foreknow and reject are opposites, it could be that reject means ignorant. If other words, Paul could be saying that God was not ignorant of his people whom he foreknew, which is to take reject as the opposite of foreknow rather than foreknow as the opposite of reject.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument misses the fact that to foreknow is a nuanced term that could mean know beforehand but could also mean to choose beforehand.⁴ Given that to foreknow could mean either know or ordain beforehand, the question is to decide which meaning is appropriate to Romans 11:2 given the context. Of course, in the context we notice Paul saying God has not rejected his people. Since to ordain is the opposite of to reject, it is clear that Paul has in mind ordaining beforehand when he says that God foreknew his people.⁵

Explanation

When Paul writes that God did not reject the people he foreknew, he does not just mean that God knew beforehand about the Israelites. Rather, he means that God foreordained the Israelites to serve his purposes.⁶ We can detect that this is Paul’s meaning because there are other passages where God’s knowledge of a people implies his foreordination. For example, in 1 Corinthians 8:3 Paul writes that anyone who loves God is known by God. Also, in Galatians 4:9 Paul asks how those who are known by God could possibly turn back to the elementary principles of the world.⁷ Finally, we learn in 2 Timothy 2:19 that the Lord knows all who are his. Thus, foreknowledge implies foreordination in terms of God’s covenant love.

Counterargument

This argument contends that because God’s knowledge of people implies foreordination in other passages, it likely does in Romans 11:2 as well. The problem is that none of the passages cited clearly indicates that God’s knowledge of people implies foreordination. Rather, in each case we can simply interpret the passage as referring to God’s knowledge. If one loves God, God knows about them (1 Corinthians 8:3). Those known by God should not turn from God (Galatians 4:9). God knows about all who belong to him (2 Timothy 2:19). In neither case is it obvious that God’s knowledge has to do with foreordination.

Explanation:

Paul is countering the suggestion that because Israel has not generally accepted the gospel, God rejected his people. Paul will explain that God has always kept a remnant for himself, so he has not rejected his people (Romans 11:3–5). So Paul is explaining God’s faithfulness to Israel in spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness. With this context in mind, we can see what Paul means when he says that God foreknew his people. He means that God foreknew that his people would reject the gospel, and yet God would not reject them.⁸ So when Paul says that God foreknew his people, he means that God knew beforehand that his people would be unfaithful, but God is not unfaithful.

Counterargument:

The problem here is that if this view is right, Romans 11:1 is an incomplete sentence. Paul says that God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. According to this view, he means God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew would reject the gospel. The problem is that Paul does not say God foreknew they would reject the gospel. He simply says that God foreknew. The Greek term προγινώσκω can mean to know beforehand but it can also mean to foreordain. Given that Paul simply says that God foreknew, it is likely he has something like foreordain in mind. For if he means that God foreknew that Israel would reject the gospel, we expect him to say not that God foreknew but that God foreknew they would reject the gospel. Since all he says is that God foreknew, and foreknew could mean foreordain, when Paul says God foreknew his people, he likely means God foreordained them.

Explanation

We can understand Paul when he writes that he foreknew Israel based on what he said earlier about Jacob and Esau. For when Paul wrote about Jacob and Esau, he explained that before either brother had done right or wrong God loved Jacob and hated Esau (Romans 9:10–13). This illustration reminds Paul’s audience that God is faithfulness to his covenant promises aside from the actions of those with whom he enters into a covenant. Similarly, God foreknew that Israel would reject the gospel, but in the same way that God loved Jacob aside from his actions, so God continues to be faithful to Israel even though they rejected the gospel.⁹ So foreknowledge has to do with God foreknowing that Israel would reject the gospel.

Counterargument

This argument establishes something that it did not intend to establish, namely, that foreknowledge here means foreordination. For the example of Jacob and Esau is used earlier by Paul to indicate that before the brothers had done anything right or wrong, God foreordained, or selected, Jacob and not Esau. In other words, the point of the illustration is to demonstrate God’s election, not his bare foreknowledge. So this argument actually works to show that when Paul says God foreknew his people, he means that God foreordained them.

The weakness of this view is that it is just not clear from the context that Paul is discussing God’s knowledge that Israel would be unfaithful. On the other hand, the context strongly suggests that Paul has God’s sovereignty in mind, for it is God who chose a remnant by grace (Romans 11:5). Likewise, God foreknowing his people likely implies foreordination, not simply knowing beforehand.