Foreloved

Reflecting on how God has loved us before the foundation of the world

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Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Romans is quite possibly the most enriching book in all of Scripture. It’s full of deep, beautiful doctrine and practical application. Many theologians in the past and present have conveyed their admiration for the book of Romans and why they believe, as John Piper said, it’s the greatest letter ever written.

I, of course, concur. If I had to read one book of the Bible for the rest of my life, it would be Romans. I’ll take it a step further: if I had to read one chapter for the rest of my life, it would be Romans 8. This chapter is the clearest display of the gospel message, yet goes into detail on the what, how, and when of our redemption. My favorite section is Romans 8:28-30. The plan in this post is not to give a detailed exegesis of these three verses, but to focus in on one word that gives clarity to the entire section.

What word? Foreknown.

Some Christians might shudder at this word. Truly, many Christians are fearful to even address this section because of this word and . . . (whispers) predestination. But we need not be fearful of what the Bible addresses head on, right? If the Bible talks about it, we should talk about it, too. But let’s go back to foreknown. Let’s read the passage.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:28-30).

When people discuss God foreknowing us in verse 29, they suggest that God looked down through the corridors of time—because he’s omniscient—and chose people for salvation based on his seeing their future faith. That’s essentially the classic Arminian view of foreknowledge and election. But, as you might’ve guessed, I don’t believe that’s an accurate way to read this—for two reasons.

The Greek word here for foreknowledge—proginoskō—has nothing to do with God seeing beforehand, but loving beforehand. It’s a relational knowledge, not based on mere facts of future events.

Think of Genesis 4:1 where Adam knew Eve. This is not talking about how Adam knew who Eve was, but of being intimate with each other. It was speaking to their covenant together.

This is the same ‘knowing’ in Romans 8:29, yet it’s obviously just referring to it in a relational, covenantal sense of love. So let’s read it again now that we understand it clearer: “For those whom he loved before the foundation of the world, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (my paraphrase).

Admittedly, there is so much here. So in an effort to be as brief as possible—and not get too technical—let’s think through three points of this and what it means for us.

God loved us before we existed.

The Lord set his affection upon us before the foundation of the world. God has never not loved his people! It’s unfathomable to think about that. It is the most amazing feeling and reality to be loved by God—deeply, intimately, eternally.

God has always had his redemptive eye on us. When it’s so easy for us to forget who we are in Christ, we must remember that God loves us. He’s always loved us. He’s always been affectionate toward us. And it has nothing to do with anything in us.

God loved us in spite of us.

We are such unlovable creatures. We’ve given God every reason to hate us, yet he loves us with an everlasting, covenantal love. His redemptive love for us has nothing to do with how good we are, smart we are, or interesting we are. In fact, the Bible speaks fairly bluntly about how God loved us even while we were sinners, even while we despised him, even while we were his enemies (and this is all in Romans!).

That is, of course, the beauty of the gospel message; that God loves us so much that he sent Christ to die for us even while we hated him, even amid our stance as his enemy. But he did that because he’s always loved us. His affection has always been there. And he showed that through the life of Christ.

God loves us all the way through.

The Father’s love for us is the determining factor in our salvation. He didn’t have to love us. He didn’t have to keep loving us. But he did. And his love sees our salvation through to the end. God will never not love his children. As we see in verse 29-30, God’s foreloving of us pushes us to become more like Christ in this life, with the end result being our eventual glorification. From beginning to end, our salvation in Christ stems from God loving and electing us before the foundation of the world.

Read Romans

Friends, do yourself a favor and read the entire book of Romans. It will bless you and direct your eyes to the glory, majesty, mercy, and holiness of God in Christ. If you don’t read the entire book, at least read chapter eight. Don’t get caught up in theological controversies and become distracted.

Read it to marvel, to adore, to glory in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Read Romans 8:28-30 and come away with a renewed sense of astonishment that God the Father loves us, not because we’ve done anything good—we surely haven’t—but because in his sovereign goodwill he decided to set his affection on us.