(Audio Version; Music: "Lead Me To The Cross" by Brooke Fraser--WorshipMob--Simultaneous Real Live Worship)
Introduction
Growing up,
I never learned about seeking God for direction and then listening to what He
might be telling me. Our family’s Christianity was mainly about religious
ritual as opposed to an intimate relationship with the Creator of the universe;
the One who saved me; the One who had a plan for my life. The practical
implications of that kind of Christianity was one stupid mistake after
another—majoring, academically, in a subject I wasn’t really interested in;
then, after graduating, taking a job in a city I hated while doing something I
was never called to do. In other words, lots of time and money wasted all
because I didn’t seek God or bother to listen in case He was trying to tell me
to change course. I wish those were the only mistakes I’ve made because I
didn’t seek God’s direction or bother listening to His voice, but there are
lots more. However, one of the great things about being a parent for me is that
I have a “do-over” of sorts through my kids. I don’t mean that I can live
vicariously through them but I can be instrumental in helping to influence my
children to hopefully not make the same mistakes I did. In this case
specifically, I have the opportunity to teach them to always seek God’s will
for their lives as opposed to excluding God from the process and blindly
charting their own course. I love when my girls tell me that they want to be
like me. However, I also realize that they very often see only the things they
like; the good things. That’s ok for a while, but as they’ve gotten older, it
has become more and more important for them to learn from the mistakes I’ve
made primarily because those mistakes can have life-long ramifications of
self-inflicted pain as well as causing pain and suffering for those around us. One
of the most important lessons I have been able to pass along to them is the
lesson of seeking God for direction in life and then listening to what He might
be saying. They know it’s not always perfect but the closer they grow in their
relationship to Him, the easier it becomes for them to hear His voice—and they
are getting really good at it! They have learned that God’s ways are always
certain; not easy but certain. They believe He has a plan for them and His
plans always succeed in all areas of life and at all times; in matters of life
and in matters of salvation.
Many years
ago, the most important decision in the lives of my girls was the single most
important decision in the life of every unbeliever: How would they respond when
they were given the opportunity to put their faith in Jesus Christ? The
incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ, His atoning death on the
cross, His resurrection from the dead, and His ascension back to where He came
until the appointed time of His return is like a giant flashing sign from God
inviting us to be in relationship with Him. God has taken such extreme measures
to reach us that it almost seems like He’s begging to be in relationship with
us. He invites us over and over and over in the hope that we will eventually
accept the invitation. Have you accepted God’s call to be in relationship with
Him through Jesus Christ?
I’m guessing that many, if not
most, of you know what it’s like to let the phone ring without answering it
because you either didn’t want to talk to whoever was calling or you didn’t
want to know who was calling out of fear of what they might want from you or out
of fear of what they might tell you. I wonder if this isn’t the same reaction
that people have when God calls; when God extends His invitation to be
reconciled to Him through Jesus. What will He want from me? What will He tell
me? What will happen to my life if I accept His call? Well I’d like to provide
some assurance from Scripture that responding to God’s invitation will be the
single greatest and most important event in your life to deal with the guilt of
your past, to provide guidance for the present, and to give you the promise of hope
for a certain and amazing future. How will you respond once you have been
invited? What can you expect—especially when you say yes? What does it mean to
be Destined For Glory?
Subject Text
Romans 8:28-30
28And
we know that in all things God works for the good of those who
love him, who have been called according
to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew
he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he
justified, he also glorified.
Context
Paul’s
letter to the church in Rome has been described as the greatest theological
treatise in all of Scripture because of its significant contribution to
orthodox, Christian doctrine. In the immediately preceding pericope to our Subject Text, Paul is telling his
readers about the hope of future glory that awaits the believer. Paul explains
that the long awaited redemption of all of creation has arrived through Jesus
Christ and that they can look forward to the day when the natural world would
be liberated from its bondage to decay and their own physical bodies would one
day be redeemed to correspond to the redemption of their spiritual bodies (the
soul) which occurred the moment they believed. In the pericope that follows our
Subject Text, Paul is teaching that
since they have been promised complete redemption one day, spiritually now and
physically later, they can live now as conquerors in the face of any hardships
they might have to endure in this life. However, the hope called for in the
text that precedes our Subject Text
could prove to be fleeting in the light of the hardships and persecutions
described in the text that follows our Subject
Text. Therefore, what we need is a promise; an assurance that what is hoped
for will be worth the trouble. And that’s where our Subject Text comes in.
Key Theological
Terms & Concepts
Before we
move on to analyzing our Subject Text,
I’d like to identify a few key theological terms and concepts you may not all
be familiar with that could help you better understand this lesson. These same
terms are displayed on the website under the heading: Significant Theological Terms. However, I’ll be using a few of them
in the lesson so I would like them to be fresh in your mind.
Election—This is God’s
choice of: 1) A person such as a prophet of the Old Testament or an individual
believer in the New Testament; 2) A group of people such as Israel or the
Church, in any case for a specific purpose with a specific destiny in mind.
This term can be synonymous with the concept of being “called.” Although the
basic idea of “called” necessarily implies that the one being called can reject
the call, the theological idea of “calling” carries with it the compulsion to
respond positively to that call by the person or people being called. Although
“calling” is often interchanged with “invitation,” “‘calling’ in Paul never
means ‘invitation’; it is always ‘effectual calling’.”[1]
Predestination—For
God, past, present, and future are all the same. This can be a really hard
concept to wrap your mind around as a temporal being. But God simply “is.”
Predestination is something that has been established by God before it has
occurred. However, it is only “pre—” from our perspective because time is
linear for us. For God, predestination and destination contain the same degree
of certainty because God sees past, present, and future all at once. Therefore,
if God predestines something to occur, it is because He already knows it has
occurred. Does that mean we no longer have the free will to choose our destiny?
No. It means that God already knows what your choice will be before you make
it.
Justification—This
is a legal term used in Scripture that renders those who put their faith in God
according to the Old Testament and subsequently put their faith in God
incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ according to the New Testament as “not
guilty.” Regardless of our sins, when we put our faith in Christ, we are in
Christ and He is in us. Therefore, when we stand before God who is the perfect
Judge, He only sees Christ in us who is sinless and therefore must render a
“not guilty” verdict. Here’s a good way to remember what it means to be
justified: “Just-as-if-I’d” never sinned.
Propitiation—It
would be nice if the story would just end with our justification through Christ
but it doesn’t. You see, God can’t pretend that sin doesn’t exist. He must deal
with it. If God is to be understood as perfectly holy, perfectly righteous, and
perfectly just (and we certainly hope He is), then someone must pay the
consequences for sin—either each of us pays for our own sins or someone else
has to pay for our sins. That payment is called propitiation. Propitiation is
the satisfaction of the sentence for our sins through the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ’s death on the cross; Christ’s death in exchange for our death; death is
the cost of sin.
Redemption—When
we sin we are indebted to God to pay for that sin. Unfortunately for us,
Scripture makes it clear that the wages (cost) of sin is death (Rom 6:23). And,
as previously stated, God can’t just turn a blind eye to sin if we are going to
trust Him to be perfectly holy, righteous, and just. Look at it this way, if
you borrow money from the bank, you incur a debt and the bank expects to get
their money back at some point. The harsh reality is that they don’t care
whether or not you can afford to pay it back—they want their money back! So how
long do you suppose they would stay in business if, whenever someone said to
them that they couldn’t pay the loan back, they say: “Oh don’t worry about it;
Let’s just forget all about it.”? Not very long I would guess. However, they
also don’t care if you pay it back or someone else pays it back as long as it
gets paid back. This is the concept of redemption as it relates to our
salvation. Jesus has paid the debt resulting from our sin, which is death, so
we don’t have to.
Righteousness—Where
“justification” is a legal term, “righteousness” is a relational term. English
translations for both the Hebrew and the Greek can muddy the waters a bit
because justice and righteousness are often interchangeable. And while the
distinction might be subtle, there is, nevertheless, a distinction since both
words are at times used within the same pericope (cf. Ps 89:14). We should be mindful that the “the Hebrew usage,
which influences that of the NT writers, tends to be relational and concrete;
one is ‘righteous’ with respect to another human being or to God, in a
particular kind of conduct, or in a particular ‘contention’ which has arisen.”[2]
Sanctification—This
is the process of continually being transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit
in our lives to reflect the character of Christ in our words and in our
actions. It is a long and often painful process that is never fully completed
during this lifetime. For some, the sanctification process is more obvious
outwardly than it is in others. However, we can never assume that the process
of transformation is not taking place simply because we can’t see it. In fact,
the biggest transformation, the transformation of the heart, is not visible to
us. Outward transformations are lasting and sincere only after there has been
an inward transformation of the heart.
Glorification—This
is the state of being that occurs for believers after we die; a time when our
sanctification is completed. It is in this state that our entire being will be
an accurate reflection of what it means to be a Christ follower because it is
only in that state that our spiritual and physical nature will be a perfect
reflection of Christ. “Glorification is multidimensional. It involves both
individual and collective eschatology [relating to end-times]. It involves the
perfecting of the spiritual nature of the individual believer, which takes
place at death, when the Christian passes into the presence of the Lord. It
also involves the perfecting of the bodies of all believers, which will occur
at the time of the resurrection in connection with the second coming of Christ.
It even involves transformation of the entire creation.”[3]
I know
there is much to digest already and we haven’t even begun to analyze our Subject Text yet. However, I think the
terms will make more sense when we begin to analyze the text and I’m certain
the text will make more sense now that we’ve identified some of the relevant
terms.
Text Analysis
I’m
guessing that when you read v. 28 you might have thought to yourself, ‘that
sounds familiar.’ Well it is and I’ll tell you shortly of a similar text from
the Old Testament. Like many biblical texts, this is one of the more popular
verses to be taken out of context and it has served to hurt those who are
struggling instead of encouraging them. Specifically at issue is the idea of
what is “good” for us. We somehow think that the “good” that God has planned
for us will make life smooth and easy and all we had to do is love Him. I mean,
that’s what it says doesn’t it—God works for the good of those who love Him? Yes,
that’s exactly what it says. However, nowhere does it say, either implicitly or
explicitly, that it will be easy—“good” doesn’t mean easy. Nor does it say that
all things that happen in our lives will be good. In fact, the very next verse
will give us an idea of just how hard the “good” will be for us. What it means
is that God will use all things, good
and bad, for His purpose and for our benefit. We must begin to understand what
“good” is from God’s perspective especially with respect to our salvation.
“Present tribulation and trials do not make Christian hope less sure according
to Paul. He even turns them into a positive component in God’s plan of
realizing salvation. Through God’s direction ‘all things’—Paul means
adversities in particular—‘work together for good,’ the supreme good of
eschatological salvation.”[4]
Have you figured out why this verse sounds familiar? Its companion verse can be
found in the Book of Jeremiah: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares
the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and
a future (Jer 29:11)’.” We often forget the context of this promise in Jeremiah
and therefore misuse it much like we misuse v. 28 from our Subject Text. We embrace these words of encouragement from Jeremiah
as our own and they were intended to be words of encouragement for Judah as well.
However, by the end of Jeremiah’s ministry, Jerusalem was a pile of rubble and
Judah was conquered by the Babylonians. Much needed to be accomplished before
God’s promise to Israel could be realized. Nevertheless, God’s promise was
certain then and it is certain now even if appearances try to convince us
otherwise.
V. 29 has
caused more division within Christianity than necessary all because of the word
“predestined.” Proponents of John Calvin’s theological perspective (Calvinism)
believe this means that God has only chosen some people to be saved and
conformed to the likeness of Jesus while others are left to perish. Not
everyone has the opportunity to be
saved, only those who have been predestined by God for salvation. Proponents of
Joseph Arminius’ theological perspective (Arminianism) believe that God knows
beforehand who will accept His offer of salvation and it is those people who
are predestined to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus and be saved.
Nevertheless all have the opportunity
to be saved. While I recognize that there is implicit biblical support for the
former (albeit limited support), there is significantly more explicit biblical
support for the latter and I can demonstrate it with on famous verse: “For God
so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life (Jn 3:16).” And there are countless
other, less famous, verses that affirm the same thing—“And everyone who calls on the
name of the LORD will be saved (Acts 2:21).” Therefore, “predestination is not
God’s predetermining from past ages who should and should not be saved.
Scripture does not teach this view. What it does teach is that this doctrine of
predestination concerns the future of believers. Predestination is the divine
determining of the glorious consummation of all who through faith, and
surrender become the Lord’s…It has been determined beforehand that all who are
truly Christ’s shall be conformed to His image.”[5]
When the
text says that we will be conformed to the likeness of Christ so that Christ
can be the “firstborn” among many believers, “firstborn” is not an ontological
reference but a positional reference. God has predestined our conformity to the
likeness of His Son “in order that His only-begotten Son might not be alone in
enjoying the privileges of sonship, but might be the Head of a multitude of
brothers [and sisters], of the company of those who in, and through, Him have
been made sons [and daughters] of God. It is as their conformity to Christ is
perfected in glory that believers finally enter into the full enjoyment of
privileges of their adoption in fellowship with Him. The Greek word prOtotokon [“firstborn’] expresses here
at the same time both the unique pre-eminence of Christ and also the fact that
He shares His privileges with His brethren [and sistren—ok so I made up that
word but you get my point—Christ shares the privileges that come with His position
as the Son with all believers].”[6]
In v. 30
Paul provides us with a very rough trajectory of salvation. God calls those He
knows in advance are destined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. Upon
answering that call for salvation, believers are then justified—deemed “not
guilty”—through Jesus Christ and are on a path to be glorified, physically and
spiritually—they are Destined For Glory.
Paul’s reference to our glorification in v. 30 can be seen as one bookend with
the complimentary bookend to be found in Rom 8:17. What began as Adam’s failure
to glorify God resulted in the loss of humanity’s glory and comes full circle
with an opportunity for humanity to return to glory through Jesus’ redeeming
work on the cross; the glory that was always intended for humanity before
Adam’s sin. Unfortunately, our English grammar translates the Greek aorist
tense of “glory” as a past tense act which is why it is translated as
“glorified.” Some have tried to explain this away by claiming that we have been
made new through baptism or through some other means. However, “the aorist
should not be required to yield the idea of a glorification already
accomplished now, in baptism or wherever: if the process of glorification is at
all in view here, it is the process seen from its end point and completion
(aorist; ‘the certainty of completed salvation’)…Paul deliberately sets the
whole process of cosmic and human history between its two poles, pretemporal
purpose and final glorification as the completion of that purpose…Paul is not
inviting reflection of the classic problems of determinism
(Calvinism/exclusivism) and free will (Arminianism/inclusivism), or thinking in
terms of a decree which excludes as well as one which includes. His thought is
simply that from the perspective of the end it will be evident that history has
been the stage for the unfolding of God’s purpose, the purpose of the Creator
fulfilling his original intention in creating.”[7]
Application
I know this
lesson contains a number of complicated theological terms and concepts and not
a few controversial ones at that. Nevertheless, there is no disputing that God
has invited us to be in relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. The varied
differences in the interpretation of who will and who won’t accept God’s
invitation will no doubt continue to be debated for years to come in the same
way it has been debated throughout centuries past. However, we can all agree
and be confident about the certainty of a few things with respect to those who
accept His invitation to believe:
1) God already knew in advance that you would accept His
invitation without coercion.
2) God has set a plan in motion for your life so that your
life is destined to conform to the likeness of Jesus Christ according to God’s
perfect plan, provided you submit to God’s sovereignty over your life.
3) You will share in the rights and privileges enjoyed by
Jesus Christ.
4) Since you are already destined to be transformed and to
conformed to the likeness of Christ, God has called you to fulfill the purpose
He has established for your life.
5) Standing before God when it comes our turn for God to
render His verdict with respect to whether or not our lives met God’s standard
of holiness, we can be confident that with Christ by our side as our Advocate,
God’s verdict will be ‘not guilty.’
6) Finally, we have a certain and guaranteed future to
look forward to. Eventually, we will no longer have to struggle with any
remaining sins that wound us and others and offend God. We will no longer
struggle with weak faith, doubt, and never-ending questions about the purpose
of trials and tribulations. Furthermore, we will never again suffer with sick
and broken minds and bodies. We will achieve the spiritual and physical state
that awaits all of us in the life to come when our glory reflects the glory God
intended for us from the very beginning; the glory we will enjoy for eternity in
the presence of God.
God’s invitation
to be saved through Jesus Christ is just like any other invitation, we can
accept the invitation or we can decline the invitation. Although you can
procrastinate or ignore the invitation, a day will come when the default answer
will be “no” regardless of how “good” a person you think you are. When you die,
your chance to accept the invitation will have passed and you will have declined
the offer by default. If you accept the invitation, you are assured a beautiful
difficult life; a life of struggle and suffering; a life of trials and
tribulations; a life of sincere love and relational depth; a life of hope and
faith. When you accept God’s invitation, your destiny is immediately assured
and God will use anything and everything in your life for your benefit; for
your good to fulfill your destiny. So now you know what to expect if you accept
God’s invitation to be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ; a life of great
pain and struggle together with a life of deep joy and love. This is the life
you can expect when you are Destined For
Glory.
Let
me ask you something: Has God been calling you; inviting you to be in
relationship with Him through Jesus Christ? How will you respond to that
calling; to that invitation? If you haven’t done so already, would you consider
accepting God’s invitation to put your faith in Jesus Christ right now? Are you
at the end of the line with your life; nothing seems to be working; you’re
miserable and unless something changes then life just doesn’t seem worth
living? Are you wondering if you’ve gone too far for God to forgive you? Maybe you’re
a drug addict, or an abuser, or an adulterer, maybe you’re hooked on
pornography, or divorced—maybe more than once, maybe you’re a practicing homosexual,
or maybe you’ve had an abortion, maybe you’re a liar, or a cheater, or greedy,
or filled with hate, or______________, you fill in the blank, and you think
you’ve been disqualified—well you’re wrong! In fact, not only are you not
disqualified, you are just as qualified to be saved as are any of us. However,
maybe you’ve been hesitant because you don’t know what will happen to your life
if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. What about the drugs, the
pornography, the divorce(s), the homosexuality, the abortion, the lying, the
cheating, the stealing? What about all the destructive things you find yourself
repeating over and over again? What will God do about all these things? Here’s
my honest answer: First He’ll forgive them and then—I DON’T KNOW! But what I do
know is that God has invited you into a relationship with Him so let’s not try
to look miles and miles down the road before we’ve even taken the first step.
How about you take the first step and make the decision to enter into an honest
and committed relationship with Jesus Christ and just see what happens next;
just follow Him wherever He might lead you. Spend time with Him and His Word
(the Bible) and learn to live openly within a community of believers. Just be
in relationship with Jesus and see what happens. I trust the power and guidance
of the Holy Spirit to carry you through all the doubts and fears that you will
face along the journey. However, I also know that you will have taken the first
steps in a new life that is Destined For
Glory. If you’re ready to take that step, you can simply talk to God and
tell Him what is in your heart and ask for His forgiveness. If you’re scared or
confused and don’t know where to start, you can pray the words I have provided
for you below. There’s nothing magical in the words. Instead, the words are the
fulfillment of Scripture: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is
Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is
with your mouth that you confess and are saved (Rom 10:9-10).”
Salvation Prayer
Dear
God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I
am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life I have lived; I need your
forgiveness.
I
believe that your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, shed His precious blood on
the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to repent; to
turn from my sins.
Right
now, I confess that Jesus is the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that
God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my
own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved. I
relinquish lordship over my life and submit my life to Jesus as the true Lord
of my life.
Thank
you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you
Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to
repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus, transform my life so that I may bring glory
and honor to You alone and not to myself.
Thank
you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.
Amen.
If you just
recited that prayer or used your own words for the first time with complete
sincerity then you have been saved. And just like that you’ve crossed over from
death to life! If it is possible, share your decision with someone and seek the
opportunity to be baptized as a public pronouncement of your new life. Also,
please try to attend a sound, biblically based church and return to this
website as often as possible for new lessons posted weekly. However, I know
that a public announcement of your faith may be very dangerous for some of you
so please be wise and careful with this instruction. You are still saved even if
you are unable to share your decision with anyone else or unable to be baptized
or can’t attend church or visit this site very often or ever again. I
desperately wish I could be with those of you who have made the decision to
accept God’s invitation to be saved. I wish I could be the one to baptize you. I
praise God for you! Perhaps we will have the opportunity to meet one day. Your
feet are now on a divinely appointed path to fulfill the destiny planned for
you from the very beginning. You are Destined
For Glory.
[1]
W. Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor’s
Greek Testament, Vol. 2, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
1983), p. 652.
[2]
T. Desmond Alexander, Brian S. Rosner, D. A. Carson, Graeme Goldsworthy, eds., New Dictionary of Biblical Theology,
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), p. 740.
[3]
Millard J. Erickson, Introducing
Christian Doctrine, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), p. 334.
[4]
Gerald F. Hawthorne, Ralph P. Martin, Daniel G. Reid, eds., Dictionary of Paul and his Letters,
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 41.
[5]
Herbert Lockyer, All the Doctrines of the
Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), p. 153.
[6]
C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans—International
Critical Commentary, Vol. 1, (New York, NY: T & T Clark, 1975), p. 432.
[7]
James D. G. Dunn, Romans 1-8, Word
Biblical Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1988), pp.485-486.
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