“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” – John 10:28
There is a dark cloud on the horizon for Christians. A storm is coming. We need to prepare. We need shelter, the secure shelter God provides. Jesus spoke of building our lives on the rock of His teachings. [1] One of the foundational rock-solid things Jesus taught was, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:28). Later, Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, was inspired to write in the benediction of his letter, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). Jesus provides His followers security and shelter from the scary storms of life.
When we purchase a big-ticket item like a car or house, we often are asked to leave a security deposit. Such a security deposit is a good faith assurance we will make the purchase. Throughout our life we pay into Social Security so that when we retire we will have income to provide for our financial needs in old age. In Biblical times a groom and their family paid the bride and her family a dowry. This dowry was security, a safety net to assure financial support for the bride in case the groom died prematurely or proved unfaithful. There are many forms of security in life, but the most important security is the one God offers relating to our eternal destiny. Some call this “Eternal Security.” Is there such a thing? If so, what use is it?
Christians are being increasingly marginalized and targeted as the cause of societies’ problems. Persecution usually follows a sequence that involves identification as a part of the problem, then being seen as the problem, being pushed to the margins of society, discriminated against, isolated, targeted, and lastly outright persecuted. With the current woke culture of discrimination based on the façade of “equity” it’s not hard to see persecution on the horizon for the Christian.
When under persecution or when we experience some difficulty in life, we sometimes respond by asking, “Did I do something to bring on this hardship? Am I to blame?” From that we are tempted to wonder, “If I’m experiencing such trials, is God against me?” We might even go so far as to think, “Have I lost my salvation? Am I still a Christian?” Part of such thinking is a tempting tactic of the devil. We experience such thoughts as part of spiritual warfare. When during battle, a soldier that can be confused is a soldier that is more easily defeated. The security of the believer is part of the lining of the Helmet of Salvation. The security of the believer is a layer in the Kevlar of our Shield of Faith. We need to inspect our spiritual armor to assure it is in good working order. [2]
The salvation provided by the Lord as a gift of His grace received through faith in Jesus, is secure. When I say secure, I mean such a salvation, begun in a person by the Lord, is a work that God will complete so that our eternal destiny is secure. The Bible teaches that an incidental sin does not sever our relationship with God. We don’t enter in and out of our relationship with God based on the way we live. Having said that, we should never take sin lightly. We are not saved to excuse a lifestyle of sin. Such thinking is a deception of the devil (cf. 1 John 3:7-9). The genuinely saved Christian is freed from the bondage of sin (Romans 6:14). We will be tempted, but God has promised to provide a way of escape to help us avoid and have victory over sin (1 Corinthians 10:13). When we do sin, it is incidental, and we should immediately confess our sin to God and receive forgiveness (1 John 1:9). As we walk in the light of God’s word, we grow in our fellowship with God and if we do falter into sin, the blood of Jesus is a constant cleanser (1 John 1:7). The Holy Spirit Who indwells the Believer in Jesus, has an objective is to do a holy work in us. Part of that holy work is to serve as a guarantee that we are secure in our relationship with God in Christ.
Before we look further at the security of the believer in Jesus Christ, we should look at how someone becomes a believer in Jesus Christ. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. There is no security without first experiencing the salvation that comes by grace through faith in jesus Christ.
What Does It Mean to be a “Believer” in Jesus Christ or a “Christian”?
A “Christian” is not someone who merely ascents to the “Gospel.” A “Christian” is someone who responds to the conviction of the Holy Spirit that they are a sinner separated from God and destined for an eternity in hell because of their sin. Jesus said:
John 16:7–11 (NKJV) – 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
The one unforgiveable sin is refusing to believe in Jesus or trusting in Him alone as the only One who can save us from our sin and provide a secure eternal life. Jesus is the only way to be saved from sin and receive eternal life, including any other way disqualifies us from heaven (cf. John 14:6). If we try to gain heaven by establishing righteousness by works, we will fall short. And if lack of belief in Jesus and depending on works to be righteous are our path, we are doomed to judgment with the devil. This conviction of the Holy Spirit helps the sinner to understand they are lost in sin and cannot work their way out of their predicament in their own strength.
The Holy Spirit then continues in communicating the gospel solution to the sinner’s sin problem. Such a human predicament can be summed up in the following way:
- It is possible to know God and spend eternity with Him. God created us to spend eternity with Him. He did this not because He needed fellowship; His nature as a Trinity includes fellowship. God did this because of His nature of love and grace. Jesus said:
John 17:3 (NKJV) – And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
It is possible for us to “know” or have a relationship with God.
- But sin has separated us from Knowing God. This is the human predicament.
Isaiah 59:1-2 (NKJV) – 1 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
Humanity is infected with a sinful nature that we inevitably act on which separates us form God (e.g., Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12).
- Sin condemns us to eternal death.
John 3:16-18 (NKJV) – 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:36 (NKJV) – 36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
- All humanity is separated from God by sin.
Romans 3:10 (NKJV) – 10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one. . ..”
Romans 3:23 (NKJV) – 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- The wages (i.e., what you earn by living in sin; the consequence) of living in sin is death (i.e., separation from God), but through faith in Jesus God gives us eternal life.
Romans 6:23 (NKJV) – 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When we see “gift of God” we should think grace:
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV) – 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
We can’t work out way out of our sinful predicament. The only way out is to receive God’s solution of a gift of salvation offered by His grace through faith in Jesus.
- It is possible to be justified (made just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned) by faith.
Romans 3:28 (NKJV) – 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
Romans 5:1 (NKJV) – Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 8:3–4 (NKJV) – 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Galatians 2:16 (NKJV) – 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
When it says, “weak through the flesh” it means in our own strength we could not keep the law righteously enough to offset the penalty of our personal sins.
“Faith” is not mere ascent, it is a trust, being persuaded of a truth and acting in line with that truth. E.g., You believe the chair will hold you, so you sit in the chair. The faith that connects us with God’s graciously provided forgiveness for our sins, spiritual life, and eternal life is explained by the acronym FAITH or Forsaking-All-I-Trust-Him (Jesus).
- God does all the work of salvation. God puts our sins on Jesus and His righteousness on us when we put our faith in Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) – 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
This substitutionary atoning work of Jesus was foretold eight centuries before it happened in a prophecy of Isaiah who wrote:
Isaiah 53:3-6 (NKJV) – He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
This has been God’s plan from the beginning (1 Peter 1:17-21
- Trusting Jesus as Savior results in spiritual life as the Holy Spirit indwells you and enables you to live for Jesus. That’s why Jesus told the very religious Pharisee Nicodemas he must be born again (John 3). This is explained in the following verses:
Titus 3:4-7 (NKJV) – 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Once a person has trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells them. The contents of Romans 8 are an inspired explanation of life in the Spirit for the Christian.
Romans 8:26-30 speaks of the security of the Spirit-filled Christian. As a born-again Christian we have certain guarantees from the LORD, one of which is the Holy Spirit Himself:
Ephesians 1:13–14 (NKJV) – 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Romans 8 is largely about the security of Christians, or guaranteed provisions of God that each believer is promised. It is the Holy Spirit who provides these secure provisions.
We can separate these verses into three parts:
- The Strength of the Secure Spirit Filled Christian – Romans 8:26-27
- The Certainty of the Secure Spirit Filled Christian – Romans 8:28
- The Secure End of the Secure Spirit Filled Christian – Romans 8:29-30
Let’s look at these verses.
Romans 8:26-30 (NKJV) – 26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Romans 8:26-30, especially verses 28-30, have been a source of much theological debate. Some would read into these verses evidence for a sovereign God who predetermines some, without any free will choice on their part, to salvation and eternal life and others to damnation and eternal torment. This raises the question, “If God chooses some, free from any decision of their own, to salvation, why doesn’t He save all?” To which the response is given, “That God saves some, when all are undeserving, is a merciful gift of His grace.” But if a father saves only some of His children from a burning house, (that is burning because the children were disobediently playing with matches), when he could have saved them all, is that merciful? Would such a partial act be loving? If it could be proven in a court of law that the father could have saved all his children but chose to only save some, wouldn’t he be guilty of a crime?
The way we interpret Romans 8:26-30 affects the way we view God. The way we interpret this passage also affects the way we view other passages of scripture. Does God desire all people to be saved from their sins or only a select few? (E.g., Romans 3:22f.; 5:18; 8:32; 9:17; 10:12 and 18; cf. also John 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9.) Does God look down on fallen humanity and lovingly beckon us all to be reconciled to Him, or does He only do that for a select few? (E.g., Romans 5:8). Is God partial or impartial? (Romans 2:11; Deuteronomy 10:17; 16:19; 2 Chronicles 19:7; Job 34:19; Proverbs 24:23; Luke 20:21; Acts 10:34; Galatians 2:6; 6:9; Colossians 3:25; 1 Peter 1:17).
How we view these verses affects the way we view God.
For a proper and accurate interpretation, we need to remember that, when studying a passage one of the initial key factors to consider is the historical context when the passage was written.
The Historical Context of Romans 8:26-30
When the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Rome, the church was under severe persecution.
From AD 54-68 the Roman emperor Nero was a maniac who made human torches of Christians to light his garden. The impetus for his persecution was blaming Christians for the burning of Rome which he himself had started. The Romans would murder Christians in horrific ways for their entertainment. They would sew them in animal skins and then let lion and tiger predators savagely consume them. The Romans were diabolically creative in their killing of Christians. It was a horrific time to be a Christian. Nero was responsible for beheading the apostle Paul and crucifying the apostle Peter upside down (at Peter’s own request). Historical records indicate that the centurions who brought Paul before the executioner became Christians because of Paul’s witness to the very end. These centurion converts were then also martyred.
But Christians were severely persecuted until the Edict of Toleration in 312 AD. Before that time Christians were targeted. The threat of death, therefore, and the security of one’s afterlife in Christ, became a priority issue. This is the context of the passage under study. Such a context gives us a broader deeper understanding and insight to what Paul was inspired to write as well as the way he was led by the Spirit to write it.
Paul is writing about the security of the believer, to believers whose lives were being threatened. He wanted his readers to know that their life in Christ, a life led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, was secure. At the end of Romans 8 Paul is moved to say nothing can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:35-39).
The Strength of the Secure Spirit-Filled Christian
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.
We see ancient paintings of Christians bravely standing up to their persecutors and their savage instruments of torture. But have we ever thought to empathize and really put ourselves in their shoes? To even think about doing that is scary. We might, and they might have wondered, “If I’m ever called upon by the Lord to be martyred, would I be strong enough in my faith to do so?” And to those who ponder such a thought Paul says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.”
Paul discussed in Romans 8 the power of the Spirit to help us overcome sin (Romans 8:1-11). He assured us of our sonship to the Father in the Spirit commenting, “if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together” (Romans 8:12-17). And Paul has addressed questions about the effects of planetary sin on creation that causes groans of pain and suffering (Romans 8:18-25). Now Paul transitions to the security of the believer by saying the Spirit helps us when we are weak. What a comfort this must have been to those tempted to fear in such trying times!
For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Charles Spurgeon said, “Any fool can sing in the day. It’s easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but the skillful singer is he who can sing when there is not a ray of light to read by… Songs in the night come only from God; they are not in the power of men.” How can we follow in the footsteps of the heroic Christians of the past who sang hymns and praises to Jesus as they were being savaged and even burned alive? How did they, and how can we tap into such power? The answer is by the Spirit, and the instrument He uses to empower us is prayer.
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Paul here tells us that during the battle when we don’t even know how we should pray, the Spirit will help us to pray according to God’s will. We don’t have to worry about being prepared or fretting about knowing how to pray the exact words, the Holy Spirit will help us. Prayer in the Spirit is God’s means to help us powerfully praise Him in and through times of persecution.
The Certainty of the Secure Spirit-Filled Christian
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
These words have been misinterpreted as a blanket statement for all people. But there are two essential qualifiers that need to be in place for “all things” to “work together for good” for someone.
The first qualifier is “to those who love God.” For those who love God, all things work together for good. Such love for God is not worldly, it is spiritual. Worldly love is connected to the immoral mantra “let love be love.” It’s a “love” that gives license to sin and any immoral behavior one feels like indulging in. Biblical true love is always connected to obedience to God and His word. That is the love for which all things work together for good.
Jesus said:
John 14:15-18, and 21 (NKJV) – “If you love Me, keep My commandments.16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. . .. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
The love that leads to all things working together for good is a love that loves Jesus enough to obey Him. That obedient love is only experienced by the Holy Spirit (cf., Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22).
The second qualifier is being “the called according to His purpose.” If you can’t pay your bills and feed your family or pay the rent because you’ve sinfully maxed out your credit cards on frivolous and self-indulgent purchases, that’s not something you can apply the “all things work together for good” too. If you flunk your test and they throw you out of school because you lazily watched the game or went out with friends instead of studying, that’s not something you can apply the “all things work together for good” to. If your marriage or relationship hits the rocks because you’ve acted selfishly or unlovingly, if you’re arrested for spousal abuse, that’s not something you can apply the “all things work together for good” to. If you’re arrested because you committed a crime, that is not something we can apply the “all things work together for good” to.
If your pain and suffering are due to your own selfish sinful behavior, this verse doesn’t apply to you. Instead, you should consider a different passage:
Galatians 6:7-8 (NKJV) – 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
Peter made a similar distinction saying:
1 Peter 4:14-19 (NKJV) – 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now”If the righteous one is scarcely saved,where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
If you want all things to work together for good in your life, you need to be living out God’s calling in your life.
To those God says:
Galatians 6:9 (NKJV) – 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Romans 8:28 is applicable to those who love God and who are called by God to His purposes, and who are living out those purposes because of love for Jesus. Such love is Spirit birthed, Spirit empowered, and Spirit directed, even in times of persecution.
The Secure End of the Secure Spirit Filled Christian
As a Spirit-filled Christian, we have a secure promise from God that what He has begun in us, will be completed by Him.
29 For whom He foreknew,
That Paul is speaking about a group and not individuals is seen in the word “whom” (Greek ous) which is plural. Paul is saying God foreknew a group of people of whom He will describe.
“Foreknew” (Greek proginosko) means to know ahead of time, foresee. This word has no deterministic application. God simply knows ahead of time who will receive Jesus as Savior by faith. God knows ahead of time those who will love Him and receive and live out His calling. Human beings can foreknow, not as perfectly as God does, but they can look at evidence and foresee outcomes. We do it all the time by betting based on statistical analysis or predicting elections based on polls.
Our foreknowledge does not determine the outcome otherwise we’d always win our bet or know exactly who will win the election ahead of time. No, Paul is simply referring to a group of people God foreknows or foresaw.
He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,
The word “predestined” (Greek prooridzo) means to limit in advance, i.e. (figuratively) predetermine: — determine before, ordain, predestinate. The meaning of predestined here has been a topic of much theological debate. The debate focuses on whether individual people or a plan/purpose for this people group is what is being referred to here by Paul. Based on what we have learned thus far it is this teacher’s view that God predetermines His purpose for those He foreknew and not deterministically individual people.
The predestined purpose of the Father for every Christian is to be “conformed to the image of His Son.” God’s plan and will for every Christian is to become like Jesus. This is confirmed by the other Apostles as well. The Apostle John said Christians ought to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6). The Apostle Peter said Christians ought to follow in Jesus’ steps even if it meant they would suffer (1 Peter 2:21).
The Defending the Faith Study Bible makes the following comment here:
(Defending the Faith Study Bible Notes) Bible predestination entails God having pre-decided in eternity the characteristics and features necessary to be saved, and any who make the conscious, freewill decision to conform to those specifications are permitted to be a part of the predetermined group—the Church. It would contradict the nature and sovereignty of God to suggest that He would interfere with anyone’s free will by overriding their own decision-making power—an attribute that God Himself placed within humans as part of what it means to be created in His image (Genesis 1:27). The idea here is that of a group selection based on certain conditions, not of an individual predestination. To illustrate, it would be like a person saying, “Everyone who wears a red shirt tomorrow gets $100.” The next day, those who decide to wear a red shirt are “predetermined” to receive the money. Those who choose not to wear a red shirt were predestined not to receive the money. In the same way, God predetermined that all those who obey the Gospel will be saved (2 Thessalonians 1:7–8). The group is predetermined, not individuals based on some type of arbitrary favoritism by God.
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Just as Paul says Jesus is the “first fruit” of those resurrected (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20), He is “firstborn among many brethren” who would be conformed to His likeness. These are not “Jesus,” or “little gods” as some have misinterpreted. But it means Jesus, as the “firstborn” (Greek prototokos) leads the way for us to follow. Jesus alone is King. Jesus alone is the second Person of the triune Godhead. He is the One Who determines our inheritance. We only seek to be transformed and conformed to His likeness by the Holy Spirit.
These verses are not only for times of persecution. Many fear death. They look at death as an enigma, a scary black hole of uncertainty. Some fear death so much that they get claustrophobic even thinking about it. But remember, Jesus entered the tomb for us, and Jesus leads the way of resurrection for us too. We don’t have to worry about being buried in the ground. For us, when we die, means “to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). What a glorious provision of the Lord. What a relief! What a blessing! What a hope!
30 Moreover whom He predestined,
Paul now sums up the process of His predetermined plan for those who respond to Jesus. God works through the free will decisions of humanity, but we should not see this as a limitation put on God by human decisions.
As A.W. Tozer explains:
God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make but that he should be free to make it. If in His absolute freedom God has willed to give man limited freedom, who is there to stay His hand or say, ‘What doest thou?’ Man’s will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so. (Tozer, A.W., The Knowledge of the Holy. Electronic Ed., Harper & Row, 1961, p. 76.)
these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
The plan of God was to call sinful humanity to repent of their sins. If they responded to His call by repenting of and confessing their sins, and seeking forgiveness through faith in Christ, then He justified them. To be justified is to be given legal standing before God the Just Judge so that we could be seen by Him just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned. Paul then goes straight to the outcome of our justification which is glorification. When we are glorified, we will have been forgiven, prepared through sanctification, and given perfect bodies suited for living an eternity with the LORD.
The Apologetics Study Bible summarizes these encouraging words of Paul:
(Apologetics Study Bible Notes) 8:29-30 Paul assured his readers that God would accomplish His saving purposes for them. Paul listed five distinct aspects of salvation, each building on the former. “Foreknew” denotes possession of prior knowledge, which humans or God may possess. God has previously known who His people will be. Some argue that when predicated of God, this is a special knowledge, equivalent to election: the Hebrew “knowing” implies establishing an intimate relationship. While God knows His people in a special way, it is not certain Paul here intended “foreknew” to equal “elect,” since he knew and used terms for election elsewhere in Romans (8:33; 9:11; 11:5). Besides, how might God have had a special relationship with people before they even existed? In either case, certainly God intimately knows His church (see 2 Tm 2:19).
Beyond God’s foreknowledge of His people, He has “predestined” a general outcome for them: being “conformed to the image of His Son,” so that at His coming Christ will exult with His many brothers and sisters who bear His family resemblance. So God “calls” these His own people (9:24-26); He invites them to be His. Before the bar of justice, God declares them “not guilty.” They are “justified.” At Christ’s return, God will “glorify” His people, restoring the glory diminished by sin (3:23; 8:17).
These verses must have been tremendously encouraging for the Christians at Rome to hear, especially if they were facing death by persecution. Paul said the same in the opening words of his letter to the Philippians when he was inspired to write:
Philippians 1:3-6 (NKJV) – 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
Do you fear death? Are you uncertain of your eternal destiny? Jesus has gone before you to show you a secure and reliable way from this life to the next, from death to eternal life.
Are you going through persecution? Our world is turning against Christianity and the gospel more and more. Are you facing death or some other trial as you love the Lord and seek to live out His calling? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions I pray these words would be a source of great encouragement. I pray these inspired words of Paul from his letter to the Roman Christians will be used by the Holy Spirit to make you secure in your faith, for truly, as we will go on to see, nothing can separate us from the love of God. In Jesus’ name. AMEN!
[1] See Matthew 7:24-27.
[2] The Christian’s spiritual armor is discussed in Ephesians 6:10-18.