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lacknothing said:
I believe that God has the foreknowledge but I can't grasp why he would allow things to happen the way they do if our destiny is already lined out for us. Why would God allow suffering on Earth for his "Elect" if we are "untouchable" as you make them out to be?...

Foreknowledge is true but I'm not sure about Predestination.

Friend,

Permit me to quote J.I Packer on the first of your paragraphs that I have listed:

...all these experiences are part of [God's] curriculum for us in the school of holiness, which is His spiritual gymnasium for our reshaping and rebuilding in the moral likeness of Jesus Christ.”

All things work together for good in our lives if we love God, but some of those things may not seem so good to us at the time. But suffering, etc. IS used by God in the development of our moral character, and the moral character of others as well.

And concerning what you wrote about foreknowledge being true: my question (and I do relate to you because I struggled with this for years) to you is this: how can God HAVE foreknowledge without predestination? If He is not totally sovereign and His will does not extend to every corner of the world, if one event occurs outside His will, how could He foreknow that event? And perhaps more importantly, if one event occurs outside His will, how could He be sovereign over all things?

Theo