1. Introduction
The word omniscience is not found in Scripture and is a later theological term. However, many early Christian writers understood Scripture to teach that nothing in creation—past, present, or future—escapes God’s knowledge. The important question is therefore not whether the term is biblical, but whether the particular definition attached to it faithfully represents the whole witness of Scripture.
My concern is with presentations of omniscience that misrepresent God as one who keeps a record of all wrongs. This is particularly concerning for those seeking to understand God, as it suggests a God who is unforgiving rather than a Father who desires sons and daughters, a bride for His Son, and a Temple for His Holy Spirit.
2. Define Infinite Knowledge or Omniscience.
Omniscience is ALL knowing about the past, present, and future. “The word omniscience is not found in Scripture. It is a later theological term used to describe the biblical teaching that God’s knowledge is complete.”
Infinite knowledge, on the other hand, allows for God’s sovereignty. God can choose what He knows. For example, if He does not want to know about your sins, He can ‘throw them in the sea of forgetfulness”.
3. Scripture Supporting Infinite Knowledge and Omniscience.
A. Irenaeus
Around AD 180, the church father Irenaeus states a strong expression of comprehensive divine knowledge for “omniscience” when he states:
Not one of the things which have been, or are, or shall be made, escapes the knowledge of God.
Irenaeus: Against Heresies (Book II Chapter 26)
However, when we examine section 3 of Chapter 26 of his writings closely, Irenaeus is referring to the ability to count sparrows and care for them. This supports the concept of omniscience and infinite knowledge. Again, the context is provision rather than keeping a record of wrongdoing.
B. The Father Knows Our Needs
Jesus taught us that the Father knows our needs before we ask.
For your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
Matthew 6:8; 26-28
C. He Also Knows Us Intimately.
Jesus taught us that the Father knows us intimately:
But the very hairs of your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:30
D. The Father Knows What We Think.
The psalmist teaches us that He knows what we do and what we think:
You know my sitting down and rising up;
Psalm 139:2,4
You understand my thoughts afar off
For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
E. God Knows All Things
John makes this important point:
God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
1 John 3:20
This seems a straightforward support for Omniscience until we read the context:
For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
1 John 3:20-22
The context is one of overcoming thoughts of condemnation. It is not God keeping a record of our sins. Instead it is a comfort in His knowing the motives in your heart and in the hearts of others. Why they did what they did, or said what they said. His complete knowledge provides comfort and assurance as He brings healing to our hearts.
F. God Declares His Purpose.
Isaiah records God declaring the fulfilment of His own purpose:
Remember the former things of old,
Isaiah 46:9–10
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, “My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure.”
This Scripture shows that God knows and declares the end in accordance with His counsel and His pleasure. It reveals His foreknowledge and foreordained purpose, rather than portraying Him as a God who merely keeps a record of every person’s wrongdoing.
Even if some Scriptures appear to support a theory, that alone does not establish it. If other Scriptures contradict it, the theory must be reconsidered.
4. Scripture Supporting Infinite Knowledge Rather than Omniscience.
A. Sodom and Gomorrah:
And the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
Genesis 18:20-21
If God knew everything about Sodom and Gomorrah, He would not need to come down to look.
B. Father of Faith – Abraham:
And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son, from Me.”
Genesis 22:12
In this case, God tests Abraham’s heart to see if he will obey God’s command. If God knew everything about Abraham’s heart, He would have known beforehand that Abraham feared God.
C. God Promises to Remember Our Sins No More
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Hebrews 8:12
When God says, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more,” He promises not to hold forgiven sins against His covenant people or bring them forward for judgment.
From that alone, we can confidently say that God promises not to remember forgiven sins. But whether that means:
- He no longer retains sins in His knowledge;
- He chooses not to bring them to mind;
- or He will not hold sin and lawless deeds against His people in judgment.
Scripture does not explain the mechanism of God’s non-remembrance in this verse. What it clearly promises is that forgiven sins will no longer be remembered against His covenant people or brought forward for judgment.
5. God’s Infinite Knowledge and Understanding, Not Omniscience.
Now that we have found that the Bible shows that God is not ALL-Knowing, we need to re-define what He is:
A. Infinite Knowledge.
In section 2, we found that God has infinite knowledge about us as He can count the hairs on our heads.
B. He Knows our Thoughts and Desires.
As an aside, it is essential to realise that the devil does NOT know your thoughts; he only knows what we say and what the expression on our faces gives away. He is very good at this. Using his demons, he sows thoughts in our minds and then watches our faces to see if he has had the desired effect. He is unable to interpret or understand tongues.
C. Creation Began in God’s Purpose
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
The Hebrew word bereshit, translated “in the beginning,” is related to rosh, meaning “head.” It carries the sense of beginning, firstness, or the head of something.
It does not literally mean “in the mind of God.”
When the Old Testament speaks of thinking, purposes, and inner reasoning, it normally uses lev/levav—the heart. For example, Genesis 6:5 speaks of “the thoughts of his heart.” “The head is the seat of intellect” is a modern explanatory association; it is not the lexical meaning of bereshit.
However, it provides a helpful illustration: before creation was seen in history, it was already within God’s purpose and desire.
Creation was not accidental. Before He created the heavens and the earth, God had already purposed His plan. This included the redemption that would come through His Son.
He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
1 Peter 1:20
Before the foundation of the world, the Father knew and purposed the work of the Son. God then created the heavens and the earth according to His wisdom, desire, and foreordained purpose.
D. God Has Infinite Knowledge, Naming Every Star.
Unlike Adam, who had finite knowledge to name the animals, God named every star, having infinite knowledge:
He counts the number of the stars;
Psalm 147:4
He calls them all by name.
E. God Has Infinite Understanding.
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.
Psalm 147:5
Psalm 147:5 declares that God’s understanding is infinite. His wisdom is not limited as human understanding is; He understands fully the matters that are hidden, complex, and beyond our ability to grasp.
6. Application- Why Is This Important?
The popular teaching that God is omniscient and knows everything is sound, but it can also produce fear in unbelievers when it is presented as though God were a big, mean God who knows only how bad they are. This can obscure the good news that God the Son came in true humanity, was tempted as we are, yet without sin.
A. Wrath of God in Evangelism
The Greek word often translated “wrath,” orgē, carries the underlying idea of impulse, desire, or a strong movement of the mind.
Strong’s derives ὀργή (orgē) from ὀρέγομαι (oregomai), “to reach after” or “desire,” and gives its underlying sense as “desire … or excitement of the mind.” Thayer also includes “impulse, desire, [and] violent emotion” in its wider range. Strong’s and Thayer entry.
In the New Testament wrath is commonly used for anger or indignation. When applied to God, it must not describe uncontrolled rage, but His settled and purposeful opposition to sin, because sin destroys His creation.
God’s desire is not cold or detached. He desires people to be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ, to receive forgiveness, and to become His sons and daughters.
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:3–4
James also describes the Holy Spirit’s covenantal longing for God’s people:
Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
James 4:5
The Holy Spirit is not envious in the sinful human sense. He yearns jealously for the wholehearted devotion and restoration of God’s children
B. Central Way of Thinking: Covenant Relationship
Our relationship with God is covenantal and based on two-way communication. Because God is sovereign, He chooses what He knows about us and what He does not know about us.
One thing you can be sure of:
God is faithful to His word. After we confess our sins He forgets them
He is the perfect Dad who doesn’t record all our wrongdoing. He is a covenant-keeping God whose promises are dependable. He calls His people to respond to Him in faith, confession, and obedience. If God chooses not to remember our sins, what right have we got to bring them up?
Guilt and shame need to be discerned whether they are from the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin, or from the devil who condemns, because there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
We will possibly never preach on this subject, but if we want to be confident in seeing God’s glory, we need to preach God’s goodness and forgiveness.
© Use by Permission Awakening Impact Ministries/Dr Neville Westerbeek van Eerten D.Miss 2027
