Romans 8.30-The Christian Has Been Predestined, Called, Justified And Glorified By The Father
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday January 21, 2009
Romans: Romans 8:30-The Christian Has Been Predestined, Called, Justified And Glorified By The Father
Lesson # 280
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 8:28.
This evening we will study Romans 8:30 and in this passage, the apostle Paul teaches the Christians in Rome that they have been predestinated, called, justified and glorified by God the Father.
Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:29, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Romans 8:30, “And these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Corrected translation of Romans 8:28-30:
Romans 8:28, “In fact, we know without a doubt that for the benefit of those who are characterized as divinely loving God the Father, He (the Spirit), as an eternal spiritual truth, always works each and every circumstance together for the good, for the benefit of those who are, as an eternal spiritual truth, the chosen ones, in accordance with His predetermined plan.”
Romans 8:29, “That is, whom He knew in advance, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son in order that He Himself would, as an eternal spiritual truth, be the firstborn among many spiritual brothers.”
Romans 8:30, “In fact, these very ones whom He predestined, He also effectually called and these very ones whom He effectually called, He also justified. In fact, these very ones whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Let’s concentrate on verse 30 for the rest of the evening.
Romans 8:30, “And these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
“And” is the “emphatic” use of the conjunction de (deV) (deh), which introduces a statement that advances upon Paul’s statements in Romans 8:29 and intensifies it.
It is it introducing a statement that not only presents “additional” information regarding the predetermined plan of the Father and the work of the Father but also “advances” and “intensifies” Paul’s discussion of this predetermined plan and work of the Father.
“These whom” refers to all Christians.
“He predestined” is the verb proorizo (proorivzw) (pro-or-id-zo), which appeared in Romans 8:29 and its meaning is retained here in Romans 8:30.
In Romans 8:29-30, the verb proorizo is used with reference to the predestination of church age believers in the sense that God the Father “determined beforehand” or “predestinated” the Christian in eternity past to be conformed into the image of Christ.
Therefore, Romans 8:29-30 teaches that predestination is sharing the destiny of Jesus Christ.
The Bible does not teach double-predestination or that the unbeliever is predestined to the eternal lake of fire since the Bible teaches that God desires all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9).
Romans 8:30, “And these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
“He called” is the verb kaleo (kalevw) (kal-eh-o), which refers to an act of summoning which effectively evokes from those addressed the response which it invites.
The word refers to the “effective evocation” of faith through the presentation of the gospel by the Holy Spirit which unites the sinner to Christ according to the Father’s gracious purpose in election.
It is related to the adjective kletos (klhtov$) (klay-tos), which means, “chosen one” and appears in Romans 8:28 with the same idea.
Like the adjective kletos, the verb kaleo does not refer to the “call of God,” which is related to “common grace” meaning grace given to all sinners by God in the form of being exposed to the gospel.
In other words, it does not refer to the “invitation” to receive the gift of salvation by trusting in Jesus Christ as Savior.
Rather, it refers to those sinners who have responded to the divine invitation or call of God when they were presented the gospel and have exercised faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Thus, it is an “effectual call” as many commentators describe it.
Therefore, kaleo refers to the Father’s “effectual call” to trust in His Son Jesus Christ as Savior and which invitation originated from eternity past and is thus directly related to the Christian’s election.
Therefore, in Romans 8:30, the verb kaleo refers to the “effective evocation” of faith through the presentation of the gospel by the Holy Spirit who unites sinners to Christ according to the Father’s electing the Christian to privilege and His gracious eternal purpose and predetermined plan.
The verb refers to not only the Father’s invitation to salvation to the sinner through the presentation of the gospel by the Holy Spirit but it also refers to the sinner’s acceptance of this invitation by faith and which invitation originates from eternity past.
Romans 8:30, “And these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
“Justified” is the verb dikaioo (dikaiovw) (dik-ah-yo-o), which means, “to declare or pronounce righteous.”
It refers to the doctrine of justification, which by way of definition is a judicial act of God whereby He declares a person to be righteous as a result of crediting or imputing to that person His righteousness the moment they exercised faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Consequently, God accepts that person and enters that person into a relationship with Himself since they now possess His righteousness.
The mechanics of justification are as follows: (1) God condemns the sinner, which qualifies them to receive His grace. (2) The sinner believes in Jesus Christ as His Savior. (3) God imputes or credits Christ’s righteousness to the believer. (4) God declares that person as righteous as a result of acknowledging His Son’s righteousness in that person.
“He glorified” is the verb doxazo (docavzw) (dox-ad-zo), which refers to the Christian receiving his resurrection body at the rapture or resurrection of the church, which is imminent.
This will complete the third and final stage of the Christian’s sanctification and salvation and will fulfill the Father’s purpose in predestinating the Christian to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The aorist tense of the verb is a “proleptic” or “futuristic” aorist used to describe an event that is not yet past as though it were already completed.
It emphasizes the certainty of an event and involves the rhetorical transfer of a future event as though it were past.
Therefore, in Romans 8:30, the “proleptic” or “futuristic” aorist tense of the verb doxazo emphasizes the certainty that the Christian will be glorified in a resurrection body.
It emphasizes that from God’s perspective that the glorification of the justified sinner in a resurrection body is as good as done since this glorification is in the divine decree.
