Tag: proginosko

Romans 8:29 – Who Chose Whom?

Posted on by Will

Because whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Truth to Learn

God chose us to be Christ-like before He created anything.

 

Behind the Words

The word “foreknew” is the Greek word proginōskō, which is a compound word made up of pro, meaning “before, in place or time” and ginōskō, meaning “to know in a completed sense, that is, to have full knowledge of.”

This word translated “predestined” is the Greek word, prooridzō, which is made up of pro, meaning “before, in place or time” and horidzo, meaning “to mark out, appoint, or determine.” Thus we see that prooridzō means “to predetermine” or “to decree beforehand.”

 

Meaning Explained

Entire chapters of theological books have been written on the subject matter of this verse, but I will attempt to give the meat of the meaning as clearly and concisely as I can. The controversy of this verse revolves around a single Greek word. It’s meaning and proper interpretation, though much debated, is very clear and uncontestable, and yet there are still many Bible-believing Christians who choose not to accept it. The word I’m talking about is proginōskō, translated “foreknew.” Foreknowledge means that God had full, intimate knowledge of us before we were born. In Ephesians 1:3-5 Paul tells us:

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, for us to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

God’s foreknowledge and choosing of us as his adopted children actually happened before the world was created.

I have heard competent, sound, fundamental Christians say to this, “Yes, of course. God foreknew who would accept Christ as Savior and chose them.” In fact, if this were true, then it would also be true that He foreknew who would not accept Christ as Savior, and according to the current verse in Romans He would have to predestinate them to be conformed to the image of His son as well (whom He foreknew, He also predestined). Hence, everyone would be saved. But this simply isn’t true. This faulty type of reasoning speaks of God’s foresight, not His foreknowledge. Also, if God chose us based on our decision to accept Christ as Savior, then in reality we chose Him, and He had no choice in the matter. That’s a big man, little god theology, which simply isn’t true.

God’s foreknowledge and His choosing flow directly from one another. According to the current verse, as a result of His foreknowledge of us He predestined us to be like His son Jesus.

 

Application

It is hard for us to accept the fact that God chose us for salvation while He allowed others, as a result of their sins, to suffer in Hell for eternity. However, that’s exactly what the Bible teaches. So, instead of fighting against God (a futile activity, at best) let us praise Him for having chosen us to be conformed to the image of Christ and to be adopted as His children!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2018 Will Krause. All rights reserved

2 Peter 3:17 – Be On Guard

Posted on by Will

Then, beloved ones, knowing this beforehand, guard yourselves lest being led astray by the error of lawless men you fall from your own steadfastness.

Truth to Learn

Based on what Peter has just taught us, we must be wary of false teachers who would cause us to stumble.

 

Behind the Words

“Knowing … beforehand” is translated from proginōskō, which is made up of pro, meaning “before, in time or place” and ginōskō, which means “to know absolutely or completely.” The word is expressed here as a present participle.

The word translated “guard yourselves” is the Greek word phulassō, which means “protect yourself, be on guard, or be aware of.” It is expressed here in the imperative mood, indicating a command and it is expressed in the middle voice, indicating something that you do to yourself.

“Steadfastness” is from stērigmos, which is derived from stēridzō, meaning “to set firmly in place.” So we see, stērigmos refers to “a position of stability.”

 

Meaning Explained

Therefore, that is, because there will be scoffers and false prophets who deny the truth of the Word and who deny that Christ is returning again and who don’t believe that there was a flood or that there will be a fiery judgment… knowing beforehand that Christ will return and there will be a judgment of this world and its inhabitants, be on your guard!

Peter is commanding us to be on our guard and to protect ourselves from the teachings of the scoffers and false teachers. Otherwise, he says, we may be led astray by their erroneous teaching. Remember we learned earlier that they will use a symphony of words to entice us into their false teaching.

How can we protect ourselves from false teaching? I learned years ago that people who are trained to detect counterfeit money do not spend their time studying various forgeries and counterfeits. Instead, they study the real thing over and over again in excruciating detail so that they can spot a fake, being different from the real thing. In the same way, we need to constantly be studying the Word of God over and over so that we will be able to spot false teaching. It is not sufficient to simply hear a sermon once a week and spend a few minutes reading our Bibles. We need to be studying the Word constantly!

Peter then tells us that if we do get led astray, we may fall from our “secure position.” Peter is not saying that we will fall from salvation. As we’ve shown before, we cannot lose our salvation. What we can lose, however, is our firm footing, our position of spiritual stability, and we can stumble and fall into sin if we get led astray by false teaching.

 

Application

We now know that Christ is coming again (it could even be today). And, we know He is coming as the Judge who will perform a trial by fire. We also now know that there are many false teachers who would draw us away from our firm footing. Therefore, beware and lift your eyes, for your redemption draws near!

In God's service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2017 Will Krause. All rights reserved

Romans 8:29 – Who Chose Whom?

Posted on by Will

Romans 8:29 – Who Chose Whom?

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.

Truth to Learn

God chose us to be Christ-like before He created anything.

Behind the Words

The word “foreknew” is the Greek word proginōskō, which is a compound word made up of pro, meaning “before, in place or time” and ginōskō, meaning “to know in a completed sense, that is, to have full knowledge of.”

This word translated “predestined” is the Greek word, prooridzō, which is made up of pro, meaning “before, in place or time” and horidzo, meaning “to mark out, appoint, or determine.” Thus we see that prooridzō means “to predetermine” or “to decree beforehand.”

Meaning Explained

Entire chapters of theological books have been written on the subject matter of this verse, but I will attempt to give the meat of the meaning as clearly and concisely as I can. The controversy of this verse revolves around a single Greek word. Its meaning and proper interpretation, though much debated, is very clear and uncontestable, and yet there are still many Bible-believing Christians who choose not to accept it. The word I’m talking about is proginōskō, translated “foreknew.” Foreknowledge means that God had full, intimate knowledge of us before we were born. In Ephesians 1:3-5 Paul tells us:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

God’s foreknowledge and choosing of us as his adopted children actually happened before the world was created.

I have heard competent, sound, fundamental Christians say to this, “Yes, of course. God foreknew who would accept Christ as Savior and chose them.” In fact, if this were true, then it would also be true that He foreknew who would not accept Christ as Savior, and according to the current verse in Romans He would have to predestinate them to be conformed to the image of His son as well (whom He foreknew, He also predestined). Hence, everyone would be saved. But this simply isn’t true. This faulty type of reasoning speaks of God’s foresight, not His foreknowledge. Also, if God chose us based on our decision to accept Christ as Savior, then in reality we chose Him, and He had no choice in the matter. That’s a big man, little god theology, which simply isn’t true.

God’s foreknowledge and His choosing flow directly from one another. According to the current verse, as a result of His foreknowledge of us He predestined us to be like His son Jesus.

Application

It is hard for us to accept the fact that God chose us for salvation while He allowed others, as a result of their sins, to suffer in Hell for eternity. However, that’s exactly what the Bible teaches. So, instead of fighting against God (a futile activity, at best) let us praise Him for having chosen us to be conformed to the image of Christ and to be adopted as His children!

In God’s service, for His glory,

Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.

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