Welcome back to week eight of big questions and small answers in biblical counseling and theology. This week we will be considering God’s omniscience and how it relates to a popular doctrine taught in many churches; Open Theism.

Scripture is clear that God is omniscience. Omniscience means that God intrinsically knows all. God, by His very nature of being God, knows everything possible and actual. Nothing takes Him by surprise (Job 34:21; Ps.139:1-6). God has infinite understanding and possesses all knowledge; including knowledge of all man’s thoughts (Ps.147:5; Rom. 11:33-34; Matt. 12:25; Is. 66:18). 

In prior weeks we saw that God is also sovereign and immutable thus He has, and uses, His ultimate and unchangeable power to act on His infinite knowledge. No doctrine is more despised by the carnal man than the doctrine of God’s complete sovereignty. God’s sovereignty and omniscience are tied together because in order for God to be absolutely sovereign He has to have absolute knowledge. If God does not know all things then He cannot control all things.

At the core of the carnal man’s disdain for God’s sovereignty of all things is this; God’s complete control over salvation. Pride in man’s heart desires control, especially over his eternal destiny (i.e., salvation or damnation). However, God is in control of all things including man’s salvation. This is where the theological view of Open Theism comes in. And, this is where God’s omniscience becomes a spur in the saddle of Open Theists. 

When we talk about Open Theism, we mean the following. Open Theism teaches that God changes continually based upon what He sees His created beings doing in order to act accordingly. In other words, in some kind of cosmic versus temporal chess match, God sees man’s actions as they happen and responds accordingly. This line of thought makes God a reactor who needs to change Himself in order to outsmart man’s “freewill.”

There are at least two problems with this theology. One, God is immutable and doesn’t ontologically change (i.e., He doesn’t change in His Person, essence, or being). If Open Theism is correct then we would have to admit that God is a constantly metamorphosing series of beings, each of whom endures for only an instant because there is so much change happening from so many “freewill” decisions of His creatures.^[1]

Two, God doesn’t have or need a plan “B, C, D,” or any other backup plan because His plan “A,” is always successful. God is sovereign and knows all things possible and actual, intrinsically. He knew the end before the beginning begun and He always accomplishes His will (Is. 46:10).

In contrast to the above, the false doctrine of open theism (O.T.) stands on three pillars: God does not know the future, man was created with freedom and possesses the power to choose his way in life – even in salvation, and that God changes his plans according to man’s choices and manipulates them through circumstances. This view of God twists Him into an unknowing, impotent, and immoral god because he has created something he cannot control. God has become a mad scientist, of sorts, who has lost control of His creation and is doing everything He can to outsmart it back into its cage.^[2]

The questions must be asked; is God, God, or not? Does God have an eternal plan or not? If God can ontologically change, or if He should change, then we should worry about everything because He may not be the same God today or tomorrow that He was yesterday. His prior promises may not continue into the future.

   The God of Scripture knows and controls everything -men have no ultimate say in the matter (Is. 44:24; 46:10-11). Someone once said in relation to God’s sovereign control versus our desire for control, “We may have a ‘better idea’, but God has a universe.”’ God knows everything about everyone and has even set a beginning and end to man’s days (Ps. 139:1-4, 16). He owns everything and controls everything. God even knew about and planned Christ’s death before it actually happened. He has an unchangeable plan (Is. 53). God doesn’t have to manipulate men through circumstances to do His will. He gives them the desire and ability to serve Him (Ps. 37:4; Rom. 6:18; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 5:22). We would be wise, and biblical, to avoid any line of thought that implicitly or explicitly promotes man’s “freewill.” If man’s freewill can override God’s will then the creature has defeated the Creator. Clearly and thankfully that will never happen. Our God is a sovereign, omniscient God. 

If it were up to our “freewill” to chose salvation then it could also be an act of our “freewill” to lose it. The Scripture, teaches that our will is naturally evil (Gen. 6:5; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10-18). Our will is to run from and despise God. On his own, under his own power, man would never and could never choose salvation, nor would he ever keep it if given to him (Rom. 8:7-8). Be thankful for the truth of God’s omniscience. We do not want to be anywhere out of God’s knowledge or anywhere that He is not sovereign. There is literally no hope for us without God’s sovereign knowledge. 

We hope our short time considering God’s omniscience and its relation to Open Theism was helpful. Lord willing, during the next two weeks, we will take a look at the topic of biblical anthropology. First, we will briefly consider the question, “Who and what is man?” Then, we will move on to the role biblical anthropology plays in biblical counseling. Until then may the Lord bless you and keep you. 

^[1] Jowers, Dennis W., Open Theism: Its Nature, History, and Limitations. The Journal of Modern Ministry, 2005, 2(2), 192.

^[2] Teachers and believers of Open Theism wouldn’t necessarily think about it that way or state it that way, but the end results of that belief are, nonetheless, exactly that.