Romans 8:28-30

Text

Romans 8:28-30. And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:29 For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren: Romans 8:30 and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

REALIZING ROMANS, Romans 8:28-30

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Consider carefully that Romans 8:28 does not say that all things are good for the Christian. What is good?

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If we do not love God, we cannot see the good. Is that the thought here?

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Do things just work out by themselves?

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When and by whom were we called?

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Study very, very carefully the meaning of the word purpose in Romans 8:28. It is the key word.

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Who is involved in the foreknowledge of God, as in Romans 8:28 a and Romans 8:29 a? Does this mean God has no foreknowledge of others? Are others in his purpose, too?

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What encouragement is found in Romans 8:26-27?

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Explain the Holy Spirit's intercession for us.

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You have a dictionary. Look up the meaning of the word foreordained. Note please the several synonyms given.

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Christians are not foreordained to everything, but rather to one thing. Read Romans 8:29 b and determine what it is.

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In Romans 8:29 b we learn Jesus is our elder brother in what respect?

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Attempt to discover the position and progress of the expressions: foreordainedcalledjustifiedglorified. Relate them to your own salvation and hope. Show the progress in God's dealings with you. What happened first, second, etc., first from God's view, then from yours?

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If we are already glorified in God's plan, could we ever be otherwise? In other words, does this verse teach eternal security?

Paraphrase

Romans 8:28-30. Besides, we patiently suffer, because we know, from God's love and from Christ's power, that all things, whether prosperous or adverse, co-operate for the salvation of them who love God, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, even to them who are called the children of God according to his purpose.

Romans 8:29 For those whom God foreknew were to be called his sons, he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, by having their minds adorned with his virtues, and their bodies fashioned like to his glorious body, that he might be the first-born of many brethren, the children of God.

Romans 8:30 Moreover, whom he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, them he also called his sons, (Romans 8:28.): and whom he called his sons, them he also justified, by counting their faith for righteousness: and whom he justified, them he also glorified, by putting them in possession of the eternal inheritance.

Summary

All things work together for good to those that are called according to God's ancient purpose, to those that are called by the gospel. Those who would obey him, he predetermined to be, when raised from the dead, of like form with that of his Son. Those whom he predetermined, he also called; and those whom he called, he justified; and those whom he justified, he glorified. The perfection of God's ancient purpose, or plan, is evident.

Comment

c. Encouragement Number Three is found in consideration of God's eternal purpose for his children. Romans 8:28-30

The encouraging words have all been addressed to them that love God. We find now this word of conclusion, that all things work together for good to these persons. We know that all things which come into the experience of the Christian are not good. God in his infinite wisdom, however, by his everlasting love, works all things together in such a way that they will result in our good. This life may not even see the final good for the child of God (although many times it does), yet in the eternal realm we will know that God has kept his word. There is yet another descriptive comment to be made about those persons who are the objects of God's love. Not only do they love God, but they are called according to his purpose. This is the very reason why God works all things together for their good.

The phrase, called according to his purpose, says Lard, is the clue to understanding all that is said in Romans 8:28 b - Romans 8:30. The one word purpose is the most important word of the whole section. We quote from Moses E. Lard concerning the meaning of this word. -Prothesis-' here rendered -purpose-' is from -protithimi,-' which means -to place out-' or -set before.-' Accordingly, -prothesis-' means a placing or setting before, -Purpose,-' from the Latin -propono,-' -to place before,-' literally and exactly translates it. But -prothesis-' is not predicated of men, but of God, and it denotes not his physical act of placing things locally before or in front of him, but his act of placing them before his mind so as distinctly to see them. The placing is before his mind, and the seeing is mental seeing. Lard, p. 280.

When did this setting before his mind take place? The answer cannot be given as to the exact time, but we know it to be before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), at some time before the material universe (including man) came into existence.

What was involved in this setting before? What was comprehended in it? Again we quote from Lard:. . man, including this world with all that in any way pertains to it, from his conception on, to say the least, until his glorification. Beyond this period, for the present, we need not attempt to look. God, as it were, set before him the whole human race with their entire destiny. All that man is or shall be stood before himsin, redemption, glorificationall were naked and open to his eye. It was there that the Logos was foreordained before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20) to be the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world; and from that point forward he was ever viewed as slain. There the whole gospel was ideally perfected; in a word, the whole of time, with all that shall transpire in it, was in vision as completely before God as it will ever be in fact when it is past. To us this is utterly incomprehensible, and yet we cannot conceive how it could possibly have been otherwise. In that prothesis, accordingly, each man was as distinctly before God, as saved or lost, as he will be when the judgment is past, not because God decreed that this man should be saved and that one not, but because, leaving each absolutely free to choose his own destiny, he could and did as clearly foresee what that destiny would be, as though he himself had fixed it by unchangeable decree. To assume that God must foreordain what a man's destiny shall be, in order to foresee it, is a profound absurdity. He can as unerringly forecast the end of a perfectly free agent as he can that of a being to whom his decree has left no more of volition than belongs to the merest machine. Can any one be found so daring as to deny that he can do this? Lard, pp. 280-281.

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What encouragement is found in Romans 8:28-30?

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To whom is this encouragement directly addressed?

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How do we harmonize this scripture with the fact that all things that come into a Christian's life are not good?

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What special fact is stated about those that love God in addition to the fact that all things work together for good.)

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What special key word opens our understanding to the Romans 8:28 b - Romans 8:30?

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What does this word mean?

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Whose purpose is here considered?

It yet remains to say that the calling of those who love God was accomplished even as Paul said elsewherethrough the gospel. (2 Thessalonians 3:13-14)

With these thoughts in mind, we can approach Romans 8:29 with the preparation necessary to understanding.

For whom he foreknew. The fore refers back to the thought that this is the reason we know all things work together for good. The sense in which God foreknew has already been stated: he did foreknow all things regarding the Christian from before his birth to his glorification. His foreknowledge had nothing to do with the choice of man. He foresaw in the -prothesis-' that certain persons would, of their own choice, obey him or his Son.

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What act of God does the word purpose here denote?

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At what time did this act of setting before take place?

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What was involved or comprehended in this setting before?

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Is there any conflict between the thought of God's foreknowledge and man's free will?

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What connection is there between foreknowledge and foreordination?

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How is the calling of them that love God accomplished?

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What is the only thing mentioned that God foreordained?

He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son.
There is no need to be alarmed at these words if we but remember that the conditions here spoken of were spoken of as if they had occurred long before they actually took place. So, to say that God foreordained or predetermined certain persons to be conformed to the image of his Son is to speak of the conclusion without comment as to what could have occurred between the time they were called and the day they were ushered into eternal presence. It is our conviction that God does not foreordain the life or actions of anyone. He foreknows, it is true, but the shaping of life is done by free choice in obedience to God's will. Because God foresaw that certain persons would of their own volition be faithful to him, he foreordained such individuals to be his. In other words, their obedience was not determined by his act of predetermination; but his act of predetermination was determined by their voluntary act of obedience. Lard, p. 282

Please notice that the only thing God foreordained (according to the text) is that those whom he foreknew would be conformed to the image of his Son. The words to be conformed to the image of his Son have reference to the resurrection day when we will indeed be transformed into his likeness.. who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory. (Philippians 3:21) Since Jesus was the first to receive this resurrection body, and since he also is our elder brother, we can consider him the first-born from among many brethren. We then can give him due honor and praise. As the elder brother, the first-born was to be honored by all others of the family; so is Jesus to be honored who will give us his likeness on the resurrection morn. Romans 8:29

Still viewing the prothesis of God, we can say of those that have been predetermined that they were first called by the gospel, then through their surrender and obedience to Christ they were justified, and finally, viewing the matter as if it had already occurred, we could say, Them he also glorified.
In conclusion we can say that the help given to the child of God which will enable him to bear up under any circumstance is found in the bold statement: We know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose. The reasons why we know then follow. We know because of the knowledge we have of God's eternal purpose or prothesis. Romans 8:28-30

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To what does conformed to the image of his Son refer?

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Name the steps to glorification as mentioned in these verses.

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In conclusion, what reason is given to show that to them that love God all things work together for good?