What if "foreknew" means God formulated a predetermined plan for people to be chosen based on crediting their faith as righteousness during their physical lifetime? If people were individually chosen for salvation before creation, that would mean they never were not "a people" chosen for His own possession. They would have obtained mercy and never had not received mercy. This conflicts with
1 Peter 2:9-10, so that understanding of "foreknew" as used in scripture is bogus.
What does "foreknowledge" mean? Does it mean having knowledge acquired or formulated in the past being used in the present, or does it mean knowledge of the future.
If anyone actually studies how the word translated foreknowledge is utilized, the usage always indicates knowledge gained in the past being used in the present.
The Greek verb transliterated "
proginōskō" (G4267) appears 5 times in the NT and the Greek noun
"prognōsis" (G4268) appears 2 times in the NT.
In Acts of the Apostles 2:23 the noun would best be translated as "...predetermined plan and prior knowledge of God...." This refers to God's redemption plan formulated before the world began.
In
1 Peter 1:2 the noun would best be translated as "... chosen according to the prior knowledge of God..." This refers to God's knowledge of His redemption plan, formulated beforehand, that He would credit faith of some as righteousness.
If we look at the five verb usages, we find the same thing, to know something beforehand.
In Acts of the Apostles 26:5 the verb would best be translated as "...they know me and knew me beforehand, ...."
In
Romans 8:29, the verb would best be translated as "...For those whom God had planned to redeem according to His redemption plan, He also predestined...."
In
Romans 11:2, the verb would best be translated as "...whom He knew beforehand...."
In
1 Peter 1:20, the verb would best be translated as "....He (Christ) was known beforehand, before the foundation of the world...."
In
2 Peter 3:17, the verb would best be translated as "...knowing this beforehand, be on guard...."