“28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.”
In the previous devotional, we discussed how we, and God, are simultaneously glorified through the process of God’s elect sinners being saved from their sin by grace through faith in Jesus. From foreknowledge and predestination, to calling and justification, and ending with glorification, God is orchestrating His immensely immaculate plan to bring us along with Him as He ultimately glorifies Himself. Let’s now take a moment to define each of the terms used by Paul in verse 30 to describe this process:
Predestined
Predestination refers to the right that God has to select whom He will shower with mercy and those whom He will condemn in their sin. Not all are chosen, but some are.
“What should we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! For he tells Moses, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then, it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy.” — Romans 9:14-16
It may never be revealed to us why God has chosen some and not others, but Paul will make it clear in chapter 9 that it is not up to us to judge how and upon whom God will show His mercy.
“You will say to me, therefore, “Why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will?” On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” Or has the potter no right over the clay, to make from the same lump one piece of pottery for honor and another for dishonor? And what if God, wanting to display his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And what if he did this to make known the riches of his glory on objects of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory — ” — Romans 9:19-23
Here is another Scripture reference that refers to predestination:
“For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.” — Ephesians 1:4-6
Called
When we think of God calling sinners to repent, we should not think of God as pleading for us to listen to Him and respond in repentance and faith. God’s call to His elect is much stronger than this picture would present. No one whom the Lord calls upon will respond negatively. No one whom the Lord calls can ignore Him. We know that the call to repentance and faith must come from God, and cannot come from within ourselves, for it is unable to come from within us. Our minds, apart from God’s direct intervention, will never move towards God in repentance and faith.
“The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” — Romans 8:7-8
When God calls us to Himself, he is creating in us a desire to follow Him that otherwise would never have existed. Only God can call us in this way.
“As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, the one who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist.” — Romans 4:17
Justified
The word justified refers to the legal acquittal that takes place when we confess, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in His resurrection. This acquittal is not afforded to us because we are innocent. Paul spent the entirety of chapters 1-3 proving that no one is innocent and that all have sinned. Neither are those in Christ acquitted because God has decided to overlook their sin. No, we are acquitted only because Jesus, our perfect, sinless Savior, has died in our place and took the punishment that we deserved. Not only that, we are also given Jesus’ record, inheriting His perfect righteousness before the eyes of God. Justification is only possible through confession and belief in Jesus Christ.
“But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.” — Romans 4:5
“And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” — 1 Corinthians 6:11
Glorified
Paul already gave us an idea of what it means to be glorified earlier in chapter 8.
“and if children, also heirs — heirs of God and coheirs with Christ — if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” — Romans 8:17
This is what ultimate glory looks like. To be grafted into the family of God, heirs with Christ, to be with the Father and the Son in glory for eternity. That glory will not compare with anything we have experienced in our lives on Earth.
Jesus, in a prayer to God the Father, communicates what His desires are for His people, and what it means for us to be glorified with Him.
“May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation.” — John 17:21-24
In summary, all who are predestined and foreknown by God, whom God has called and justified through Jesus Christ, God will glorify with Jesus in His eternal kingdom. It is this truth that allows Paul to confidently say, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (v. 28)