Before anything else, I'm thrilled to see your post! I'm now going through piece by piece, but I want to make sure I am being careful and thorough. So let me respond and dialogue one part at a time. The first part I wanted to address is what you wrote in one of your reponses
Notice three key words here: knew, sanctified, and ordained. The wording itself indicates that God literally knew Jeremiah and was familiar with his spiritual attitudes and abilities. In addition, God sanctified Jeremiah, a description not of foreknowledge but of an actual event with participants present. The process of sanctification, or setting something apart as holy, by definition requires that something (such as Jeremiah himself) be present to be set apart. Likewise, the act of ordaining a person—in this case a prophet—requires that the individual be present. These acts—sanctification and ordination—are not mental exercises, but actual events.
I think you've missed a very important point in the story of Jeremiah--God's sovereignty. Did it occur to you that Jeremiah was appointed before he was even born and had a chance to choose between right and wrong? Remember that essential to the LDS doctrine of preexistence is a theology whereby we are to enter this mortal world in order to make choices for ourselves and determine our own eternal destiny. But that's not what happened to Jeremiah--he is appointed by God before he can even make this decision in his mortal state, a point decidedly against LDS theology (I will ellaborate more below).
A HUGE BIBLICAL THEME
The emphasis of God's knowledge in Jeremiah 1:5 is that all things play out according to God's plan and not our own. This is why he says
"I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please...What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do."
(Isaiah 46:9-11)
God had an appointed, sovereign purpose for Jeremiah before Jeremiah was born. Jeremiah could never say, "Lord, I'm so glad I chose to be your servant," because God was literally saying to Jeremiah, "Jeremiah, I have chosen you and the appointed you, you did not choose me." This language appears again when Jesus speaks to his disciples and says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit." (John 15:16). Jesus informs his disciples that they are chosen according to a sovereign plan with a purpose--"to go and bear fruit." They did not choose this plan, but he did. The language of the New Testament is most helpful to this matter where the words predestine and foreknow work hand in hand with God's plan. Wherever foreknowledge and appointments are made, God's plan is being played out. Notice God's sovereign plan working through his foreknowledge as Paul writes
"And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."
(Romans 8:28-30)
Now if God's "foreknowing" refers to "all people who preexisted," then this passage would mean that all people would be saved since they would have been foreknown by God. But we know not everyone is saved, so Paul cannot be referring to a preexistence here. Paul is saying that those who God foreknew, he predestines to be like Christ and to be "called," "justified" and "glorified." The biblical sense of being known by God is a position of favor, not preexistence or even necessarily of factual knowledge. It's a chosen favorable position to be "known" by God. This is why Jesus says to some, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers." (Matthew 7:23). That is not to say that he does not have literal factual knowledge of these people. To know God is to be in a favorable position whereby one is saved.
To get back to the concept of "foreknowing" and "predestining," which are actual words in the Greek despite what some people claim to the contrary, the very notion that one is foreknown and predestined does imply that one is destined before they existed. In the same way, the amazing thing about Jeremiah is that before he was born and before he could choose right from wrong, he was appointed by God as God's prophet. The point--God is sovereign. This is against LDS doctrine which has men entering into a mortal state so that they can make choices for themselves. The biblical God chooses our destiny for us. The reason again is so that his sovereign purpose will stand (Isaiah 46:9-11). This is why Paul writes of Jacob and Esau
"Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls..."
(Romans 9:11-12)
Jeremiah's appointment is an example of how "it does not depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy." (Romans 9:16) Read also Ephesians 1:11 how "predestination" is worked out "according to the plan" of God who "works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will."
The point of God's sovereignty and plan is reduced by the LDS preexistence view. Everytime such a view is eisegetically (externally) forced into the Bible, it reduces who God is. This is why I keep saying, only the biblical view of God exalts God to who he is. All other views reduce Him and exult us. The Bible warns us against belief systems that "neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him..." (Romans 1:21) It is the tendency of fallen mankind to "exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised." (Romans 1:25)
And now for a moment of confession. I too used to believe in the preexistence of the soul. I used to believe (though not biblically) that we chose where we'd be born and the life we'd receive. I didn't really have any grounds for this, but I would have happily believed any of the arguments you've mentioned above. I use to hate the idea of God's sovereignty and predestination, so if you find this notion disturbing, I did too. But the Lord opened my eyes to see what his word said on the matter and then to accept them. It's really amazing how much peace you experience by accepting it because you know that nothing in your life plays out without being part of a good purpose. God fully intends to make everything work our for good and we can rest in the fact that it will indeed turn out as he has declared, he is in control.
I need to go to sleep, it's 12:52 AM. See you in the morning.
Greg
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