Views: 74
[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 1 page.]
In numerous statements the Bible proclaims God’s omniscience—He knows all things (Rom. 11:33–34; 1 John 3:20b; et al.). Despite these plain averments, the Bible also reveals some things God does not know. This claim, however, doesn’t imply any weakness in God; any such limitations are entirely self-imposed. Consider some things God does not know:
- A sinless responsible human being. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3: 23; cf. 1 John 1:8; et al.). Note: Scripture says that “all have sinned,” not that “all have inherited Adam’s sin.”
- A sinner whom God does not love. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; et al.). God loves even the most sinful and debauched, and He wants all of them to be saved.
- A sinner for whom Christ did not die. Christ Jesus “gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:6; cf. 1 John 2:2; cf. Isa. 53:6; et al.). John Calvin, not Jesus Christ, invented the doctrine of the “limited atonement.” All sinners have an equal opportunity for salvation through Christ.
- Anyone who will be saved outside of Christ. “And in none other [than Jesus Christ] is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved” (Acts 4:12; cf. Eph. 1:3; Col. 1:14; 1 John 5:11; et al.). Jesus therefore said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
- Anyone who is “in” Christ without being baptized. “Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Rom. 6:3). “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ” (Gal. 3: 27). To claim to be “in” Christ without having been Scripturally baptized is to claim to know more than God knows.
- Anyone’s entering Heaven without being saved on earth. Jesus said to unbelievers in His time, “I go away, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sin: whither I go, ye cannot come” (John 8:21). He also said, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord…” (Rev. 14:13). Several centuries after the New Testament was completed, uninspired men invented the doctrine of purgatory and all other doctrines of a “second chance.”
- Any responsible person who will escape the Judgment. “For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Everyone will keep this appointment (Heb. 9:27).
[Note: I wrote this article for and it appeared in the Denton Record-Chronicle, Denton, TX, August 29, 2008].
Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.
