Resources/Articles
God's Omniscience
Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes…For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
Matthew 11.21,23
This passage contains a tremendously important concept. This text is not merely another in a long string of woes pronounced in scripture against those who reject God’s word, although it is that to be sure. It also addresses what we might call “contingent knowledge’” i.e., God knows what would be done in various circumstances that did not, in fact, occur — just as he knows what will happen even though it has not yet happened.
It gives new meaning to the word “omniscient.” God knows not only what has been and what is and what will be, but he also knows what would have been under different circumstances. He has knowledge of the contingent. He knows what Sodom would have done if Sodom had seen the miracles: Sodom would have repented.
Many people have speculated about the fate of those who have not had opportunity to hear the gospel, or pose some hypothetical question, like, “What if…someone is hit by a falling tree before they can be baptized?” My answer: “I don’t know, but God does!” More importantly, God knows what I would do if given opportunity. It is very likely, based at least in part, on the best predictor of future behavior: past behavior. How have I responded to opportunities presented by God’s grace and his revelation in the past?
How about you? God’s ultimate judgment takes into account God’s perfect knowledge of events and God’s perfect knowledge of the contingent. He knows what would have been under different circumstances, which guarantees that God’s judgment on the last day will be perfect. There is no factor he has not taken into account.
