Who Knows Best?

Who knows best?

Two angels are having a conversation in heaven:

Bobby: You know, I was wondering how everything is going to get done perfectly in the future. Gabriel, remember what the Father says:

1 Corinthians 2:9 (TLV) But as it is written, “Things no eye has seen and no ear has heard, that have not entered the heart of mankind—these things God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Gabriel: Bobby, don’t you know that things will get done perfectly because God alone is in charge? If Man was in charge even in a small way things would get terribly messed up. So what’s your question, Bobby?

Bobby: Well, I was listening to some humans talking yesterday. And these humans were born again and they read the Bible everyday. And they think that they are going to have a role in preparing the things that God is preparing for those who love Him.

Gabe: Did they say why they believe that?

Bobby: Yes they did. They quoted this verse:

Romans 8:29 (TLV) For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Gabe: OK. I get it now. They are confused about the meaning of the word foreknew. They think it means that God looked down the corridors of time to see who would choose Him. He foreknew those people - He knew they would choose Him, and so He decided to save those people. And those folks also believe that if they could choose God they could also do other things that are the sole province of God to do, including helping God prepare perfect things for those who love Him.

Bobby: That’s right, Gabe. That’s it!

Gabe: And the humans you were listening to yesterday, and other humans like them, also believe that humans were never completely separated from God after The Fall in the Garden of Eden. They were never spiritually completely dead. They did not need to be elected by God to salvation from before the foundation of the world. They did not need to be regenerated by God. They don’t believe this verse:

Ephesians 1:4-5 (TLV) He chose us in the Messiah before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before Him in love. [5] He predestined us for adoption as sons through Messiah Yeshua, in keeping with the good pleasure of His will—

Instead, they believe that their will had something to do with God’s choice rather than only the good pleasure of His will.

Bobby: So what does the word foreknew mean in Romans 8:29, Gabe?

Gabe: Bobby, we have to take the word foreknew in context:

Romans 8:28-30 (NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. [29] 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. [30] Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Bobby, by looking at this whole passage, we can see that foreknew refers to people called by God and not to the decisions these people make. The people God foreknew are the called according to His purpose. They are the ones predestined by God to be conformed to the image of Yeshua and these are the ones whom He also justified.

Bobby: You’ve made it really clear, Gabe. Thanks. But don’t humans have free will in any of this? I know that humans are really concerned about that.

Gabe: Bobby, before a person is regenerated by God, he or she is as dead as a doornail spiritually. He or she cannot choose God. This spiritual death is a consequence of Adam and Eve disobeying God all the way back in the Garden.

Genesis 2:16-17 (NKJV) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; [17] but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

But when God regenerates a person, He causes that person to become a new creation. That person now has a new spirit and is no longer dead. That person now can freely choose God and wants to choose God and he or she is then converted. After regeneration, he or she has a new heart and out of the overflow of this new heart, guess what comes out of this born again person’s mouth?

Bobby: Romans 10:9-10.

Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Gabriel: That’s exactly right, Bobby!

Bobby: This is absolutely wonderful, Gabe! But there is one other thing. Some of these humans are going to say that by regenerating a person, God is making the choice to accept Him for that person. In other words, there really is no free will after all. What can I say to someone who thinks that way?

Gabe: You can quote this verse to him, Bobby:

Romans 11:33 (NKJV) Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

Bobby, God’s word is clear. God chooses us and then He graciously allows us to choose Him of our own free will. What could be better than that?

And, Bobby, God’s wisdom, knowledge, and judgements - including the choices He has already made before the foundation of the world - are so perfect and so deep that they will bring to pass the fulfillment of the verse we started with:

1 Corinthians 2:9 (TLV) But as it is written, “Things no eye has seen and no ear has heard, that have not entered the heart of mankind—these things God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Bobby: Thanks, Gabe!