According to the Foreknowledge of God?

Foreknowledge, Predestination, and Election

What?

The idea that God chooses those who will be saved is not all that controversial. Where Christians tend to disagree is how God chooses them. The most popular viewpoint is that God predestined us for salvation based on a future decision that He knew we would make.

Romans 8 .29 says those whom He foreknew, He also predestined. And in 1 Peter, the Apostle addresses the elect according to the foreknowledge of God. Meaning that God foreknew that they would become Christians, so that's why they're elect, right?

Yeah, no, that's not a proper understanding of foreknowledge. Does God know what we're going to do before we do it? Of course He does. But our salvation is no more dependent on our future decisions than our salvation is dependent on our works.

Do your works save you?

No.

Therefore, neither do your future decisions. Predestination and foreknowledge go hand in hand. God has predestined you because He knew you in advance. God knew you in advance because He predestined you.

Got it?

And don't miss the intimate connection here. God personally knew us and set His affection on us before the world was made, all through His Son Jesus Christ. Think about it this way. If our salvation is dependent on a decision that we will eventually make, and God elects us because He knows we make the right choice someday, then we have the power to determine the future before we're even born.

Come on, that's just ridiculous. The Bible says that time is in God's hands. He has appointed each one of our days, our limits, and our boundaries. So our salvation depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy, when we understand the text.