We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.
How do you respond to 2 Timothy 1:9–10?
“…this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus…”
Those who hold that the future is eternally settled and that God knows it as such sometimes argue that God had to foreknow who would believe in order to give them grace in Christ before the ages began. Such speculation goes far beyond the text, however. A much easier interpretation is to recognize the corporate nature of Jewish thinking about election and thus understand that the “us” who receive grace before the ages refers to the cooperate body of all who will freely align themselves with Christ.
God foreknew (because he foreordained) that there would be a class of people (believers) who would keep covenant with him, and he ordained that they would be showered with grace “before the ages.” But this doesn’t mean God foreknew or predetermined that you or I in particular would be among that class. The corporate body is foreknown, is given grace, and has many wonderful things predestined for them (Rom. 8:29, Eph. 1:4–5, 11). But it is up to each of us individually to respond to God’s beckoning and align ourselves with this body.
Category: Q&A
Tags: Open Theism, Q&A
Topics: Open Theism, Responding to Objections
Verse: 2 Timothy 1
Related Reading
Predestination Part 2: Seeing Destiny Rightly
For Part 1, click here. In Ephesians Paul teaches that God “chose us in [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph 1:4). In Christ, Paul continues, God “predestined us for adoption to sonship…to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in…
Are Christians supposed to tithe?
Question: I and my husband have become increasingly uncomfortable with the many sermons on tithing we’ve been recently hearing at our church. Our pastor insists we tithe 10% to the church regardless of what else we give to other ministries. It seems like it has been reduced to a formula: Give ten percent and be…
Sermon: God Needs Prayer
In this sermon clip, Greg Boyd discusses some of the challenges we face when praying. The full sermon wrestles with questions like: If God is all-powerful, does he need our prayers to change this world? And is it even worth praying if we can’t see the results? Greg addresses these questions as he begins a…
Q&A: If God is So Great, Why Would He Care About Us?
Question: I’ve read that scientists estimate that the number of stars in the universe is 10 to the 24th power (10 with 24 zeros after it). I’m told that finding the earth amidst all these stars would be like finding one particular grain of sand in a sand pile the size of the United States piled…
How do you respond to John 6:64, 70–71?
Jesus told his disciples, “‘But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him” (vs. 64). Jesus continued, “‘Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.’…
If God Can’t Control, How Can I Trust Him?
Question: If God can’t always answer our prayers for healing, for example (and I completely understand why—free will etc), then HOW can he promise to bring good out of the bad things that happen? Surely he is powerless to do that too? And if he can bring good why can’t he therefore heal in the…