God's Foreknowledge

(A Biblical Refutation of the "Tunnel of Time" Theory)

One of the most misunderstood attributes of God is His foreknowledge. Many who profess to believe in divine election seek to soften or explain it away by saying that God, in His foreknowledge, simply looked down the tunnel of time, saw who would of their own free will believe in Him, and then chose them to salvation. This idea is attractive to human pride, for it preserves man’s supposed autonomy and places the decisive act in salvation upon the sinner’s will. But it is an idea foreign to Scripture and dishonoring to the majesty of God.

What Foreknowledge Is Not

First, we must clearly state what God’s foreknowledge is not. Foreknowledge does not mean that God merely foresaw who would believe and then elected them on that basis. If that were true, the cause of salvation would lie in man, not in God. Election would be God’s passive response to human decision, not the sovereign outworking of His eternal purpose. Such teaching flatly contradicts the plain statements of Scripture:

"It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy" (Romans 9:16).

If God looked down the corridors of time to see who would believe, He would have seen none believing, for "there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God" (Romans 3:11). The natural man, being dead in trespasses and sins, has neither the will nor the ability to choose God. Hence, for God to foresee a faith that originates in man is to foresee an impossibility. Saving faith is not the product of human decision; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).

The “foreseen faith” theory also strips God of His sovereignty. It makes His eternal decrees dependent upon the creature. It portrays the Almighty as passively observing the actions of men and then conforming His purpose to theirs. In such a scheme, God’s choice would be the effect, not the cause; man’s will would be the first mover, and God’s decree would follow in subjection to it. Such a notion is utterly inconsistent with the biblical revelation of a sovereign God "who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will" (Ephesians 1:11).

What Foreknowledge Truly Means

In Scripture, the word foreknow (Greek: proginōskō) is far richer than mere foresight. It means to forelove, to set one’s heart upon beforehand. When Peter wrote of the elect, he said they were "chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (1 Peter 1:2). The apostle Paul uses the same term in Romans 8:29: "For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son." The verse does not speak of those whom God foresaw would believe, but of those whom He foreknew--that is, those upon whom He fixed His eternal love.

The same use of the word appears in the Old Testament. When God said of Israel, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2), He did not mean He was unaware of other nations. He meant He had chosen Israel in love. Likewise, when Jesus said, "I know My sheep" (John 10:14), He was not speaking of intellectual awareness, but of intimate, sovereign affection. To be foreknown by God, then, is to be foreloved by Him from all eternity.

Therefore, Romans 8:29 teaches that those whom God foreloved, He also predestined. The divine order is unbreakable: foreknowledge (forelove) leads to predestination, predestination leads to calling, calling leads to justification, and justification leads to glorification (Romans 8:29–30). The entire chain of salvation hangs upon God’s initiative, not man’s.

Foreknowledge and the Sovereignty of God

God’s foreknowledge is inseparable from His sovereignty. Because He is omniscient, God knows all things--past, present, and future--in one eternal, undivided act. He never learns anything. He does not look ahead to discover what will happen. He knows all things, because He has ordained all things. "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world" (Acts 15:18). His knowledge is comprehensive because His decree is all-encompassing.

When Scripture speaks of God’s knowledge of future events, it does so not as if He were a spectator, but as the Author of history. He declares "the end from the beginning" (Isaiah 46:10) because He Himself has determined the end from the beginning. Every detail of the universe unfolds according to His eternal counsel. His foreknowledge is not passive foresight, but active purpose. He knows because He wills, and what He wills must certainly come to pass.

To separate God’s foreknowledge from His decree is to destroy the unity of His being. If He merely foresaw that something would occur, but did not determine it, He would be subject to forces outside Himself. The future would not be fixed by His will, but by the independent choices of His creatures. That would make God dependent on man--a blasphemous reversal of roles.

The Glory of Divine Foreknowledge

Rightly understood, the doctrine of God’s foreknowledge exalts His sovereignty, magnifies His grace, and humbles the sinner. It reveals that before the world began, God set His love upon certain individuals, not because of anything foreseen in them, but solely because it pleased Him to do so. He loved them, not because they were lovely, but to make them lovely. He chose them, not because they chose Him, but that they might choose Him.

This truth is profoundly comforting to the believer. Our salvation does not rest upon the shifting sands of human decision, but upon the eternal foundation of divine love. We love Him, because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). From everlasting to everlasting, the elect have been the objects of His affection. Every step of their salvation is the outworking of that eternal purpose of love which began before time, and will continue throughout eternity.

When a sinner is drawn to Jesus in repentance and faith, it is not because God foresaw that he would come, but because God foreordained that he should come. Jesus declared, "All whom the Father gives Me, will come to Me" (John 6:37). Not one of them will fail to come, and none who come will ever be cast out. The foreknowledge of God, therefore, guarantees the security of the believer as well as the certainty of his calling.

Conclusion

The so-called “corridors of time” theory reduces God to a mere observer of human choices. The biblical doctrine of foreknowledge, however, presents Him as the sovereign Lord who determines all things according to His own will. He foreknows because He foreloves; He foreloves because He has decreed to save a people for His own glory.

Let us then bow before the infinite majesty of such a God. Let us acknowledge that our salvation originated, not in our will, but in His eternal love. Let us praise Him who "saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done, but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time" (2 Timothy 1:9).

To know this truth is to rest in the unchanging love of an all-wise, all-powerful, all-merciful God. It silences pride, deepens worship, and causes the redeemed to echo the Apostle’s doxology:

"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen." (Romans 11:36).