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Answering the objection to election: God chooses certain people because He foreknows that they will believe
a. “This view believes that God, being all-knowing, looked down history and saw beforehand who would believe. He then chose those people to be his children.” Supporters of this position often appeal to Romans 8:29 and 1 Peter 1:2, and especially the use of “foreknew” and “foreknowledge” in those verses.
b. In English, the word “foreknow” means “to know in advance.” In the Bible, however, its meaning is much fuller, and is closer to “predetermine” (see Acts 2:23 and Romans 8:29) as opposed to knowing in advance. In addition, the Bible uses the word “know” to mean more than simply knowing facts about a person, as can be seen in Genesis 4:1, Amos 3:2, and John 10:14. In these verses, “know” means “to love intimately,” which is how it should be understood in Romans 8:29 (“those whom He intimately loved beforehand, He predestined . . .”) and 1 Peter 1:2 (“elect because intimately loved beforehand by God”).