God’s Eternal Vision and Our Real Choices
Daniel JusticeShare
A Sola Scriptura Exploration of Foreknowledge, Freedom, and Election
“Choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).
“Whoever believes in him should not perish” (John 3:16).
“He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). Scripture speaks with one voice, yet these verses seem to pull in different directions. How can God know the end from the beginning while still holding us accountable for the paths we take? The Bible alone must settle the question. This article examines one way to read the whole counsel of God, eternal foreknowledge that sees every free decision without coercing it, and compares it gently with the Reformed emphasis on sovereign decree. Our aim is not to win an argument but to let Scripture speak clearly to every believer who trusts it as the final authority.
God Outside of Time: The Biblical Picture “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).
“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me” (Psalm 139:16). The Bible presents God as eternal, not trapped in the stream of time like we are. From His vantage point the entire human story is present at once, past, present, and future. This is not a cold, mechanical preview; it is the gaze of a Father who “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11) while still commanding, pleading, and grieving.
Human Beings Who Must Choose: The Biblical Mandate“I have set before you life and death… therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How often would I have gathered your children… and you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37).
“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Page after page, the Bible treats human decisions as real turning points. God does not mock us with commands we cannot obey or invitations we cannot accept. The same Lord who says “Choose” also says “You were not willing.” Any reading faithful to Scripture must honor both the divine initiative and the human response.
Election: Chosen in Christ, Received by Faith“He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).
“Elect… according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:1–2).
“Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). Notice the consistent preposition: in him. Election is first corporate, the Church is the chosen bride. Individuals enter that election by faith (Galatians 3:26–29). Peter ties election explicitly to foreknowledge, and Paul links predestination to those God foreknew. Scripture never says God chooses some to believe and others to disbelieve apart from any consideration of their response.
The Universal Offer and the Pain of Rejection“Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
“The Lord is… not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
“I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). Three times the Holy Spirit records God’s desire for the salvation of all. These are not throw-away lines; they reveal the heart of the God who “so loved the world” (John 3:16). A faithful reading lets these texts stand without redefining “all” or introducing a hidden decree that contradicts the revealed will.
Two Ways to Hold the Texts Together
Both views bow before God’s sovereignty. The difference is how Scripture portrays that sovereignty working with human responsibility.
Why the Foreknowledge View Fits the Whole Bible More Naturally
A Word to Our Reformed Brothers and SistersThe Reformed tradition has given the church priceless treasures: a towering view of grace, the perseverance of the saints, and a passion for God’s glory in salvation. No Bible-believing Christian should speak lightly of these emphases. The question is not whether God is sovereign, He is, but how His sovereignty embraces both His eternal knowledge and our real choices. Sola scriptura invites us all to keep testing every system against the open Bible. If a view requires us to qualify “all,” “whoever,” or “choose” beyond what the text says, we do well to pause and listen again.
Let Scripture Have the Final SayGod knows the end from the beginning because He stands outside time.
He commands us to choose because our choices are real.
He elects a people in Christ, securing every believer by grace through faith.
He desires the salvation of all, and He has made a world where whosoever will may come. This harmony is not a compromise; it is the Bible’s own melody. May we hold it with humility, test it with Scripture, and proclaim it with joy, until the day we see face to face the God who both foreknew and foreloved us in His Son. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
“Whoever believes in him should not perish” (John 3:16).
“He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). Scripture speaks with one voice, yet these verses seem to pull in different directions. How can God know the end from the beginning while still holding us accountable for the paths we take? The Bible alone must settle the question. This article examines one way to read the whole counsel of God, eternal foreknowledge that sees every free decision without coercing it, and compares it gently with the Reformed emphasis on sovereign decree. Our aim is not to win an argument but to let Scripture speak clearly to every believer who trusts it as the final authority.
God Outside of Time: The Biblical Picture “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8).
“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me” (Psalm 139:16). The Bible presents God as eternal, not trapped in the stream of time like we are. From His vantage point the entire human story is present at once, past, present, and future. This is not a cold, mechanical preview; it is the gaze of a Father who “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11) while still commanding, pleading, and grieving.
Human Beings Who Must Choose: The Biblical Mandate“I have set before you life and death… therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How often would I have gathered your children… and you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37).
“Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Page after page, the Bible treats human decisions as real turning points. God does not mock us with commands we cannot obey or invitations we cannot accept. The same Lord who says “Choose” also says “You were not willing.” Any reading faithful to Scripture must honor both the divine initiative and the human response.
Election: Chosen in Christ, Received by Faith“He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).
“Elect… according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:1–2).
“Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). Notice the consistent preposition: in him. Election is first corporate, the Church is the chosen bride. Individuals enter that election by faith (Galatians 3:26–29). Peter ties election explicitly to foreknowledge, and Paul links predestination to those God foreknew. Scripture never says God chooses some to believe and others to disbelieve apart from any consideration of their response.
The Universal Offer and the Pain of Rejection“Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
“The Lord is… not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
“I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). Three times the Holy Spirit records God’s desire for the salvation of all. These are not throw-away lines; they reveal the heart of the God who “so loved the world” (John 3:16). A faithful reading lets these texts stand without redefining “all” or introducing a hidden decree that contradicts the revealed will.
Two Ways to Hold the Texts Together
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Biblical Truth
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Eternal Foreknowledge + Libertarian Freedom
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Reformed Emphasis on Unconditional Decree
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God knows every choice before it happens
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Yes, He sees the entire timeline at once.
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Yes, He ordains every detail.
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Human decisions are real and accountable
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Yes, libertarian freedom (ability to do otherwise).
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Yes, compatible freedom (we act according to our desires, which God governs).
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God desires all to be saved
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Yes, genuine universal will, honored by creating a world where many freely believe.
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Yes, revealed will; the secret will ordains otherwise for His glory.
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Election is sure and secure
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Yes, God actualizes the world in which all who believe are saved.
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Yes, God effectually calls the elect.
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Key difference
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Foreknowledge is prior to decree; God chooses the world in light of what free creatures would do.
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Decree is prior to foreknowledge; God ordains what creatures will do.
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Why the Foreknowledge View Fits the Whole Bible More Naturally
- It takes the universal texts at face value without needing two contradictory wills in God.
- It preserves the straightforward meaning of choice passages, no need to explain them as “appearance” only.
- It grounds election in foreseen faith (1 Peter 1:2; Romans 8:29), exactly as the apostles wrote.
- It lets God grieve genuinely over rejection (Matthew 23:37; Ezekiel 33:11) because the rejection is not His doing.
A Word to Our Reformed Brothers and SistersThe Reformed tradition has given the church priceless treasures: a towering view of grace, the perseverance of the saints, and a passion for God’s glory in salvation. No Bible-believing Christian should speak lightly of these emphases. The question is not whether God is sovereign, He is, but how His sovereignty embraces both His eternal knowledge and our real choices. Sola scriptura invites us all to keep testing every system against the open Bible. If a view requires us to qualify “all,” “whoever,” or “choose” beyond what the text says, we do well to pause and listen again.
Let Scripture Have the Final SayGod knows the end from the beginning because He stands outside time.
He commands us to choose because our choices are real.
He elects a people in Christ, securing every believer by grace through faith.
He desires the salvation of all, and He has made a world where whosoever will may come. This harmony is not a compromise; it is the Bible’s own melody. May we hold it with humility, test it with Scripture, and proclaim it with joy, until the day we see face to face the God who both foreknew and foreloved us in His Son. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)