Foreknown (4267) proginosko by Greek Word Studies

Foreknown (4267) (proginosko from pró = before + ginosko = know; see more detail on foreknowledge in study of prognosis) literally means to know about something prior to some temporal reference point or to know about an event before it happens or prior to some temporal reference point. Related Resource: The Meaning of Proginosko - Thomas R. Edgar The related noun prognosis gives us our English word which is the medical term describing the act or art of foretelling the course of a disease. Prognosis has only 2 NT uses, both referring to God... Acts 2:23 this Man, delivered up by the predetermined (horizo = setting limits) plan and foreknowledge (prognosis - a more detailed discussion of foreknowledge) of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. Barnes commenting on Acts 2:23 writes: Foreknowledge. This word denotes the seeing beforehand of an event yet to take place. It implies, (1.) omniscience; and, (2.) that the event is fixed and certain. To foresee a contingent event, that is, to foresee that an event will take place, when it may or may not take place, is an absurdity. Foreknowledge, therefore, implies that for some reason the event will certainly take place. What that reason is, the word itself does not determine. As, however, God is represented in the Scriptures as purposing or determining future events; as they could not be foreseen by him unless he had so determined, so the word sometimes is used in the sense of determining beforehand, or as synonymous with decreeing, Romans 8:29, 11:2. In this place the word is used to denote that the delivering up of Jesus was something more than a bare or naked decree. It implies that God did it according to his foresight of what would be the best time, and place, and manner of its being done. It was not the result merely of will; it was will directed by a wise foreknowledge of what would be best. And this is the case with all the decrees of God. It follows from this, that the conduct of the Jews was foreknown. God was not disappointed in anything respecting their treatment of his Son. Nor will he be disappointed in any of the doings of men. Notwithstanding the wickedness of the world, his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure, Isaiah 46:10. (Barnes' Notes on the New Testament) J Vernon McGee on Acts 2:23... Peter is saying that what has happened was not contrary to God's program. This is not something that took God by surprise. However, he makes it clear that this does not release men from their responsibility. Who is responsible for the crucifixion of Christ? The religious rulers were the ones who began the movement. I would say that they were largely to blame. They moved upon the multitude so that they produced mob action. They also maneuvered the Roman government to execute Him. Remember, friend, He was crucified on a Roman cross. Peter is pointing his finger at his fellow Israelites. But there is no use in our arguing about who was responsible for His death back at that time. I'll tell you who is responsible for His death. You are responsible, and I am responsible. It was for my sins and for your sins that He died. Listen to the words of Jesus: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father" (John 10:17-18). (J. Vernon McGee's Thru The Bible) 1 Peter 1:2 (note) according to the foreknowledge (prognosis) of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure. Proginosko is a word that can be very misleading if one places too much emphasis on the secular use, for in classical Greek proginosko meant to know, perceive, learn, or understand beforehand and thus implied a previous knowledge of a thing. As you can observe from the NT passages below, this purely classic sense is seen in Acts 26:5 and 2 Peter 3:17. However when one studies proginosko in reference to God, it acquires a different sense. In other words, Peter is not saying in this verse that God simply knew ahead of time that He would send His Son to redeem sinners. As discussed below, the idea is that God foreknows in the sense that He willed it to happen. J I Packer said it this way, that God knows, and foreknows, all things, and His foreknowledge is foreordination; He, therefore, will have the last word, both in world history and in the destiny of every man. D. Edmond Hiebert explains that God's foreknowing does not imply mere intellectual apprehension; it also indicates an active and affectionate desire to bless. Here are the 5 NT uses of proginosko... Acts 26:5 since they have known about me for a long time previously, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion. Romans 8:29 (note) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; Romans 11:2 (note) God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? Comment: Because God foreknew and predetermined before the foundation of the earth to set His special love upon Israel forever, He can never totally reject them. 1 Peter 1:20 (note) For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 2 Peter 3:17 (note) You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, Proginosko and prognosis describe not just that God knew what would occur (which has to be true because He is omniscient) but includes all that God considered and purposed to do prior to human history. Stated another way, something foreknown by God is not simply that which He was aware of prior to a certain time, but also includes the idea of that which God gave prior consent to or which received His favorable or special recognition. Hence, proginosko and prognosis are terms that refer to those matters which God favorably, deliberately and freely chose and ordained. (see more detailed discussion) Note carefully that God's works were not planned merely by His foreknowledge of what they would be, for that would place the power in the hands of man. Some try to explain foreknowledge this way because it seems "logical" from our finite human perspective. They reason that God looked into the future, saw what men would do and then He predestined to send His Son. Beloved, that is not a doctrine which Scripture teaches, but a "doctrine" of man and one which is aberrant and misleading. How can we fully understand this deep truth? There are some truths that defy explanation and in my opinion this is one of those areas. We humbly submit to what the Scripture teaches and rest in whatever God says for His ways are higher than our ways. By the way no where in Scripture does it say that God foreknew or predestined anyone to hell. Spurgeon writes that... With God there are no contingencies. The mighty charioteer of Providence has gathered up all the reins of all the horses, and He guides them all according to His infallible wisdom. There is a foreknowledge and predestination which concerneth all things, from the motion of a grain of dust on the threshing-floor to that of the flaming comet which blazes athwart the sky. Nothing can happen but what God ordains; and therefore, why should we fear? (Barbed Arrows from the Quiver of C. H. Spurgeon) God foreknew that Israel would be His people (Ro 11:2 -note), yet He later chose them by His own will. His foreknowing suggests planning ahead of time, not just knowing ahead of time. Nothing takes God by surprise and His decisions are not determined by our decisions. Yet in every case where God's planning and predestinating are involved (Acts 2:23), it is also true that those who acted according to His foreknowledge carried out those acts of their own volition or choice. We see this same tension in God's promise that "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved" (Ro 10:13-note) and His choosing us, for as Paul writes God "chose us in Him before the foundation of the world" (Ep 1:4-note). Our finite minds (mine for sure) cannot fully apprehend both truths concurrently, yet we can rejoice in both with our hearts. God understands, because His understanding is infinite, and we rest in that. Before I loved Him, He loved me Before I found Him, He found me Before I sought Him, He sought for me Yes, Jesus cares for me -- Ron Hamilton In summary, in the present passage, Peter is teaching that God foreknew the Messiah would become the Savior of the world because the triune God had so ordained it. Or as Barnes says... the plan was formed, and the arrangements made for the atonement, before the world was created (Barnes' Notes on the New Testament) Steven Cole explains... The cross wasn’t God’s last-minute plan put into place after man fell into sin. He ordained it well in advance of the creation of the human race. “Foreknowledge” doesn’t just refer to God’s knowing in advance. It implies His purpose. But just because God predetermined it doesn’t absolve sinful man of responsibility. (See his excellent sermon) John Piper warns of... An increasingly popular movement afoot today is called "open theism," which denies that God has exhaustive, definite foreknowledge of the. entire future. (Desiring God) (See Piper's discussion Open Theism and the Undermining of Biblical Christianity) (See Piper's Resources on The Foreknowledge of God) Ryrie explains God's foreknowledge explaining that... God's prior knowledge of all things, based on His relation to them, is the basis of our election. More than passive foresight, foreknowledge involves God's active consciousness of all that is to come to pass..."foreknowledge" in 1 Peter 1:3, obviously (does not mean)..."passive foresight" but "active involvement." (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody Publishers) J Vernon McGee has a practical note writing that... When we begin to deal with words like foreordination, election, predestination, foreknowledge, etc., I feel that we, with our finite minds, treat God as if He were a great big computer. He isn't that at all. He has a heart bigger than the whole universe. When I was in seminary studying theology, it seemed pretty important to know whether or not foreknowledge comes before foreordination; but, frankly, since that time I have not been concerned with which comes first. I realize now that the important thing is that Christ was "foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." To put it very simply, the Cross of Christ was not an ambulance sent to a wreck. Christ was the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world because God knew all the time that Vernon McGee would need a Savior, and He loved him enough to provide that Savior. I don't need a computer to go over this. I only need a God with a great big heart of love who provided redemption by His grace. (J. Vernon McGee's Thru The Bible) The Puritan writer Thomas Manton has this note on... Foreknowledge and preordination (predestination). God intended and appointed that it should be. Many people who allow prescience deny preordination, for fear of making God the author of sin; but these people fear where no fear is. The Scripture ascribes both to God: "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge" (Acts 2:23). Note that Peter says not only "foreknowledge" but "God's set purpose," which implies a positive decree. Now, that cannot infer any guilt or evil in God, for God appointed it, as he intended to bring good out of it. Wicked people have quite contrary intentions. Thus Joseph asked his brothers, when they feared his revenge, "Am I in the place of God?" (Genesis 50:19); that is, was it my design to bring these things to pass, or God's decree? Who am I that I should resist the will of God? And again in verse 20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." That is, God decreed it otherwise than you intended; your aim was wholly evil, but God's was good. (An Exposition of the Epistle of James) BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD: men pro kataboles kosmou: Jesus in His high priestly prayer prayed... Father, I desire that they (His disciples) also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24) Comment: This is another of the numerous passages which prove that the Lord Jesus existed before the creation of the world. It is not possible to explain it on any other supposition. As an aside it is worth noting that this is one of the clearest passages in the NT demonstrating the eternal subordination of the Son to the Father. Before the foundation of the world - In eternity past God planned to send His Son to redeem the world. Before (4253) (pro) in a spatial sense means in front of or as used in this verse in a temporal sense to refer to a time prior to the time the world was created.

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Foreknown (4267) proginosko

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