Kidron
Member
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Think of it like this..
That God knows all about a situation before it happens is not the same as Him causing it to happen.
We as humans are trapped if you will, in linear time......
This means we are living moment by moment in order......second by second...minute by minute.....day by day.....year by year.
That's linear existence..... That is how God has laid our time as we exist in our lifeTIME, within it.
We cant step out of time or go back in time or know what will happen in future time other then its revealed in the BIBLE.
God, however.... does not have this linear boundary.....His eternal no beginning and no ending existence does not function within a linear time concept.
He is everywhere all the time, from the beginning to the end, and exists outside of time, YET< HE can function as Christ or the Holy Spirit or through the miraculous all the time....within OUR Time.
So, understand that because God knows all things, in advance.......He is able to speak about them before they happen.
This is your bible....This is "revelation".
Now apply this to a person......apply the advanced knowledge that God has about each person and their choices and where they will end up in Eternity... and you have defined God's "foreknowledge" of them.
Understand that He knows what you are going to do, before you are born here, and can speak about this.....as "foreknowledge", as "revelation".
So, in an effort (Bible) to explain how God describes those who will receive Christ by faith and be born again, the bible uses the word "elect"....... And where the confusion comes in, is that we think of elect as THEM BEING CHOSEN, but the bible is using the word in another sense..... as in, "they who themselves chose", and God KNEW it already before they did.
Then, there is the phrase.... "predestined elect".
In this case, the idea is like this.... Once someone receives Christ, they become a born again Child of God, "Son of God" "Joint Heir with Christ"....and this establishes a determined eternal outcome for them after they die....which is ...."Eternal life in heaven, with God".
So, to simplify.....Based on God's Grace through the Blood Atonement.....the "elect" are the born again who chose this by receiving Christ and are justified by faith, and this then set into motion a final outcome for them....and that is to be in heaven.. as THIS is their eternal and "predestined" end result of being born again (elect).
And God, because He knows everything, already knew who would trust Christ (the Elect), and where they would end up (Predestined), and His miraculous ability to know all this, before He even created the world through Christ, is defined as "foreknowledge"
So, in God's foreknowledge (knowing it all before it happens)....He knew who would be saved-(the Elect), and He knew where they would end up for all eternity-(Predestined).
And He knows this about every single person who will ever be born.....before they were born-(foreknowledge).
To explain this to someone, not using those "bible" words, you would say...."God knows everything before it happens, and He knew all the born again would end up in Heaven.
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