“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”
1 PETER 1:1-2, ESV
I mentioned last week that there are some big truths in Peter’s intro about identity that we’ll unpack together over the next few weeks. This week, I’d like to tackle the doctrine of election and predestination—especially as it relates to the phrase I’ve bolded above: “elect… according to the foreknowledge of God.”
“Foreknowledge” is a key word here, as is “foreknew” in an associated passage about predestination: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined…” (Romans 8:29a, ESV)
Whatever the words “foreknowledge” and “foreknow” mean, they are clearly the basis of election in 1 Peter 1:1 (“according to…”) and precede and inform predestination in Romans 8:29. This is important because how you define “foreknowledge” will largely determine how you understand both election and predestination.
In Scripture, “know” often implies intimate personal relationship, not merely awareness of facts and circumstances.
Although it’s rare, we still use it this way today. For example, in one episode of the old classic TV show, The Rockford Files, Jim asks a young lady how well a certain gentleman knew the victim in his investigation. She replied, “Oh he knew her well… He knew her in the biblical sense of the word, if you know what I mean.” What did this young lady mean? Here are a couple of examples of what she was alluding to:
- “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.” (Gen. 4:1)
- “And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus.” (Matt. 1:25)
Although “intimate personal relationship” plays out differently when it comes to God, “know” is still often used to express his special covenant love:
- “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you… I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jer. 1:5, ESV)
- “You only have I known of all the families of the earth…” (Amos 3:2, ESV)
- “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt. 7:22, KJV)
With this background, it’s important to acknowledge that even though election and predestination are meant to be encouraging and precious doctrines (more on that next week), they can be hard to understand. For those who’ve gotten into the weeds on these issues, it’s easy to see why good and godly people come out in different places. When it comes to God’s special favor or choosing, Christians tend to hold one of two views: conditional or unconditional election. Let me explain the difference.
In conditional election (associated with an Arminian or Wesleyan view), God in his omniscience looked down through the corridors of time and elected those he foresaw would believe or receive him (John 1:12). His election, then, was based on human choice—again, who would accept or reject him. In other words, it was confirmative rather than determinative.
In unconditional election (associated with a Calvinistic or Reformed view), there is more weight put on how Scripture often uses “know” to communicate intimate personal relationship, not merely awareness of facts and circumstances. In this view, yes, God is omniscient and can see all the choices that humans will make; however, his election or choice is based on his special covenant love (Eph. 1:4-5) and is determinative not merely confirmative.
Let’s think about it in terms of our political elections. Yes, voter fraud is real and thankfully we live in a country where many in positions of power care about identifying and addressing these problems. But most of us when we go the polls expect that our vote—our choice of who we want to elect—will be part of actually determining who takes office. It won’t be merely a confirmation of what someone else already decided. The point here is that our American electoral process is similar to biblical election in that, in both instances, the one doing the electing really determines something.
Again, how you understand foreknowledge as it’s used in 1 Peter 1:1 and Romans 8:29 will largely determine your view of the basis of God’s special favor in election.
I first became aware of and grappled with doctrine of election at seventeen (more on that next week) and, for reasons above, came out on the side of unconditional election. I came to see that God’s election is not based on human decision (John 1:13– the NIV makes this especially clear), but on his sovereign, determinative choice. As Jesus told his disciples: “You did not choose me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16a)
And our salvation is an “All-Trinity” thing. Notice how all three members of the Trinity—Father, Spirit, and Son—are all mentioned above. It’s not just that Jesus is our ally, the whole Triune God is devoted to us!:
- the Father—for reasons known only to Him—sets his intimate, special love on “the elect” and plans for their redemption (Eph. 1:4-5).
- the Spirit enlivens and awakens these individuals at the right time (Acts 16:14; Eph. 2:1). Sanctification means to be set apart…and…
- the Son dies for “those the father gave him” (John 17:9). As it says above, we are “sprinkled with his blood.” This is covenant language and would have recalled to Peter’s readers Exodus 24:3-8. Being sprinkled with Jesus’ blood is also about identity. Those in Christ are viewed through the lens of his sacrifice, not our sins! What’s more, because of the cross, we belong to God and are “all children of God through faith” (Gal. 3:26).
Next week, we’ll look more at the practical value of election and predestination in “The Implications of God’s Special Favor, Part 3 of 5.”