The Progress of Salvation
Romans 8:29-30
We have again the privilege tonight to open the Word of God and my own heart is rejoicing in what prospects await us as we look back to the eighth chapter of Romans...Romans chapter 8. And we are looking at verses 28 to 30 as the section that we're in right now out of this great, great chapter. We've been going through it a few months. And we've been discussing the fact that this chapter assures us that our salvation is eternal. So many people wonder and debate about the issue about whether you can lose your salvation. It's been an issue which has split the whole Christendom into two sides, as we were noting for you last time...those who call themselves Calvinists and those who call themselves Arminians...and this has been a major fissure in the midst of Christian history. And it is sad because the text of this chapter is so clear about the matter of a believer's security. In fact, these three verses, verses 28, 29 and 30, really sum up the most powerful statement of security in all the Bible.
Verse 28 says, "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, for whom He foreknew He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn among many brethren; and whom He predestined these He also called and whom He called these He also justified and whom He justified these He also glorified." This is, to put it mildly, a monumental portion of Scripture. And these three verses guarantee without variation, without equivocation and without exception the final glory of all of those who are saved.
Now we noted in verse 28 that the word "good" refers to final glory. God causes all things to work together for good, good being that eternal glory which has been the subject of his discussion since all the way back in verse 18. Now that ultimate glory is predetermined by God and God works out its fulfillment. All of that is sort of summed up at the end of verse 28 in the phrase "according to His purpose." God causes all things to work together for our eternal glory because that is what He has determined to be His purpose. His purpose was to save us to the uttermost. We are forever secure because that is the way God planned it. And we've been saying that the Son by His high priestly intercession assures it and the Spirit by His intercession assures it. Now as we come to verses 29 and 30 we begin to read the explanation of the phrase "according to His purpose."
Everything in your life is working toward your eternal glory, if you're a believer. The Holy Spirit is interceding for you, verses 26 and 27. The Lord Jesus is interceding for you, verse 34, He is at the right hand of God interceding for us. And the Spirit is interceding for us that we might be brought to glory and the Son is interceding for us that we might be brought to glory...because that is God's purpose for every member of the trinity is involved in fulfilling the divine purpose that we who believe might be brought to glory.
Now as we approach verses 29 and 30, we've already talked about some of the elements in this particular section of Scripture. We want to kind of finish that up tonight. And we want to talk about foreknowledge, predestination in particular and how that brings us to the promise and the guarantee of eternal glory. As we talk about foreknowledge, and as we talk about predestination, these are very profound, very deep truths and as we try to understand them with our limited minds, as we try to grasp the purpose of God, we have to remember that we're embarking upon a journey into a realm of truth for which we are not fully equipped. In other words, we have to recognize at the beginning that we're going to get in pretty deep and we're going to get in way over our head, in fact we're going to be beyond our capability to comprehend. We're going to journey into the divine infinity of divine purpose and no higher pursuit than that exists and we have limits as to how far we can really go.
Now I want you to understand something at the very beginning. It is absolutely imperative that you understand that any limitation on this doctrine, any limitation upon understanding this doctrine is not God's limitation but yours. This is not at all unclear to God. He is not at all confused by it. It is not at all contradictory to Him. He understands it perfectly. The limitation is not God's, not in His understanding and not in His revelation. The limitation is ours. So any attempt to somehow accuse God of being unclear, or unfair is a temptation to be sacrilegious. It's a temptation to be blasphemous. To question the wisdom of God is sinful. To question the justice of God is sinful. To question the love of God is sinful. The only thing that we need to question is the feebleness of our own minds. Any question of God's wisdom or justice of love is ridiculous. He is perfectly wise, perfectly just, perfectly loving and His plan is in accord with all of those perfections.
I also want to remind you that you don't want to make any conclusions before you really get to the full grasp of this incredible doctrine. I'm going to try to give you as much as I can to take you to where you can go intellectually with our finite minds. As I said, we have limits. But you don't want to bail out too soon until you've understood the tremendous truth in the balance that I believe is presented in the Word of God. We want to believe exactly what the Bible says, no less, no more and no differently. You don't ever want to stoop to some absurdity by starting your sentence saying, "Well, I think this is how it works out..." Or, "My concept of this is..." You just come humbly to the sacred infinite mind of God and realize that you can only understand as much as He has revealed to you, and even that is going to tax you.
Human reason is not the court in which the doctrine of predestination will be judged. Human logic is not the judge sitting on the bench. Human understanding is not an adequate jury, not even collective human understanding is an adequate jury to make a decision in regard to the doctrine of predestination. Ultimately this doctrine cannot be reconciled with human reason, it cannot be reconciled with human logic in all of its fullness and it certainly cannot be reconciled with fallen biases. The only time you're ever going to find peace in grasping this doctrine is when you accept it by faith understanding your limitations.
Now the general truth given by the Holy Spirit through the inspired writer Paul is that God causes all things to bring us to eternal glory because that's the way He planned it. And verse 31 says, "If God is for us, who is against us?" In other words, if God who is the supreme power of the universe is working out this plan, who could ever prevent it from being fulfilled? Answer: no one. We are secure eternally in the purpose of God.
In Ephesians chapter 1 we are reminded in verse 4 at the end of the verse, "In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself according to the kind intention of His will." Verse 9, "...According to His kind intention which He purposed in Christ." Verse 11, "Having been predestined according to His purpose." It all goes back to His purpose. It all goes back to the fact that God is sovereign, God is on the throne.
Second Thessalonians 2:13, "God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation." Second Timothy 1:9, "He saved us, called us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to His own purpose." There it is again. This is all bound up in the eternal counsel of God which He Himself determined before the world began. And that's why, as I told you the last time, John 1:12 says that we have become the children of God not by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man, but of God. Putting it simply, salvation does not occur because of what you decided. Salvation occurs because of what God has already decided. It's all bound up in His eternal purpose.
And so much of modern evangelism today fails to grasp this. So much of modern evangelism leaves people the idea that somehow their eternal destiny is based upon a decision that they make. Scripture frankly has quite a different emphasis. In the first place, an unregenerate man is dead in trespasses and sin and utterly unable to respond to the gospel. The god of this world has blinded his mind. He is ignorant. He is the captive to sin, so much so according to 1 Corinthians 2:14 it says, "A natural man," that's an unconverted man, "does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, they're foolishness to him, he cannot understand them." He can't. On his own he can't make that decision. It's impossible.
In John chapter 8 and verse 43 Jesus says something that I think is very important. He says, "Why do you not understand what I'm saying...to the Jews who were listening to Him...it's because you cannot hear My words, you can't. You are of your father the devil and you want to do the desires of your father and when he speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature...he's a liar and the father of lies, but because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me." You can't, you belong to Satan, your minds are blinded, your dead in sin, you're a slave to iniquity, you're a natural man who cannot understand the things of God. You can't make that decision on your own. It's impossible.
This has to be initiated by God. John chapter 6, if you back up just a little bit, and this is very familiar so I won't spend a lot of time on it. John 6, verse 44, "No one can come to Me," Jesus said, "unless the Father who sent Me draws him...No one can come to Me unless the Father who set Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day." That is the same pledge. You can't be saved, you can't make a decision quote/unquote for Christ unless the Father draws you and whoever the Father draws, Christ will raise to eternal glory. Nobody gets lost in the middle. This is the plan and the purpose of God unfolding in redemptive history.
In the seventh verse of Romans 8 it says, "The mind...this is the unregenerate person again...the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, it does not subject itself to the law of God for it is not even able to do so." Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You see, when you talk about human depravity, we talk a lot about what human depravity is, human depravity, sinful depravity does not mean everybody is as wretched as they could be. Some people are basically, humanly better than others, they're more moral, more loving, more kind, there's more goodness in their lives and things like that. Not everybody is as bad as they could be. But the doctrine of total depravity, human depravity, fallenness is not to say that everybody is as wretched as they could possibly be, but that everyone is utterly unable to do anything to change their sinful condition. Nobody is going to come and make a decision for Christ unless God draws them. That's essential. Man can't make a move toward Christ until God moves him that direction, in line with His eternal purpose.
So, this passage bases our salvation security not on what we've decided or will decide in the future, but on what God decided long ago in the past before the world began. And since salvation is His plan and His purpose ultimately for the love of His Son that He might give a bride to His Son, since God chose to save some out of the human race to be a bride to His Son, He is the one who purposed it and He is the one who pledges to bring it to pass. It is His plan. It is His purpose. And it will be brought about by His will and His power. We respond by faith to the prompting of the Spirit of God, that is true, but it is His purpose.
Now let's go back to Romans chapter 8, and with that in mind, just some basics on understanding, let's go in to verse 29. We talked about the purpose of salvation, we talked about that last time, I'll just mention briefly...the purpose of salvation according to verse 29 of Romans 8 is this: first of all, that we might become conformed to the image of His Son. That is the purpose of salvation from God's initial planning, at the end of verse 28, according to His purpose, and what is His purpose? That we might be conformed to the image of His Son. He wanted to give, as I said, a bride to His Son that He wanted to give to His Son this redeemed humanity that would be able to reflect His glory, that would somehow be made like Him. That's what we talked about last time. We are saved in hope and some day we will be conformed to the image of Christ. Philippians 3:21, that we'll take on the same kind of glorious body that He had in His resurrection, would be made like Him.
So that the plan of God from eternity past was not to get us started, but to get us finished. That's why we often hear the little expression, "The Lord is not finished me yet." He's taking us through justification and all the way to glorification. And so the first aspect of God's purpose is indicated that we would be conformed to the image of His Son.
The second aspect of it is, "In order that He, the Son, might be the firstborn, the chief one, the prototokos among many who are like Him." He wanted to create a fellowship. He wanted to create a brotherhood. He wanted to create a whole, redeemed humanity who would be made like Jesus Christ so that He would be the chief one, one among man who would reflect His glory. But the glory of the Son would be the objective of worship of the redeemed humanity. So, we talked about the purpose and that is basically the purpose and that is just a brief review.
Tonight I want to talk about the progress...the progress. This is very, very important and we go back to verse 29 and 30 for the progress. We know the purpose, God purposed before the world began, before the foundation of the earth that He would save some out of the human race, that they would be brought to heaven, that they would be given the very image of Jesus Christ, they would be like Him as much as glorified humanity would be like incarnate deity. They would be like Him so that He would be the chief one among many brethren who would spend forever serving Him, honoring Him, exalting Him, and glorifying Him. In other words, we were saved for Christ's sake and not our sake. There are some wonderful side benefits to us, but the ultimate purpose was His glory.
Now let's look at how the plan unfolded in verses 29 and 30. Start at the beginning of verse 29. "For whom He foreknew He also predestined." Now verse 30, "And whom He predestined these He also called, and whom He called these He also justified, and whom He justified these He also glorified." There's the progression right there. We saw the purpose of salvation, here's the progress of salvation. And Paul outlines the unfolding eternal purpose of God in five steps...foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification and glorification. Those are very, very important to understand because now you will be able to grasp the progress of God's unfolding saving purpose.
Let's take step one. "For whom He foreknew." Foreknowledge, foreknowledge is the first one. This is the first one because it is the most primitive of these steps, that is to say it's the first one. It is the most foundational. It is the most essential. The purpose of salvation, the purpose of bringing men and women to eternal glory that they might manifest the image of Christ is determined initially in foreknowledge.
Now what does that mean? When you have a word "foreknowledge," what do you think of? What does that word mean? Well, let me give you some options. Some people think it means foresight. It means that God...this is for some people a great escape from the burden of the doctrine of predestination...and they want to say that all this is is foresight. God, because He is God and knows everything, past, present and future, can look down through history that hasn't happened yet and see who was going to believe and He could see who was going to decide for Christ and who was not. And once He looked down through history and saw what all of us were going to do, then He predestined those whom He saw were going to believe to be saved based on what He saw they were going to do.
Well, I admit it is true. He can see history before it happens. He can write it before it happens, and He does. He knows everything. The problem with that doctrine is a very serious problem, and it is this: Man--wicked, ignorant, blind, unable to understand the truth, unable to understand the gospel, unable to comprehend God, unable to get past his iniquity, who hates God--is God's enemy, loves his wickedness, is dead in trespasses and sins can't make the decision for Christ. That's the first thing we have to recognize.
Secondly, even if you agree that God just saw what people were going to do, you really don't save God from some imagined injustice because you still have to ask the question if you do that, and He knew people were going to choose against Him and go to hell forever, why did He create them? And if you say He didn't have any power over whether they were created or not, you really have a problem because now you have a God that's less than sovereign, you have a God that's not the King of the universe and He's not in control, and that's not the God of the Bible.
Then you have to ask the question...all right, if He just looks down the road and sees some people believe and some people not believe, you have to ask the question...where did their faith come from? Is it natural for an unregenerate, wicked, blind, hopeless, helpless sinner to all of a sudden exercise saving faith in Jesus Christ? No, it's not natural, it's impossible, right? It's absolutely impossible...can't happen, couldn't do it. I mean, the terminology is dead in trespasses and sins, cannot understand the things of God, blinded, ignorant, hopeless, helpless, desperately wicked, no knowledge of God is in them. They love darkness. There's no way that this could mean foresight.
God does have foresight and He does see who will have-- listen to this--He does see who will have faith but it is the faith that He Himself grants that He foresees. But that's not what the word "foreknowledge" means. I mean, He knows...of course He knows because He knows everything. But there's something preliminary to that information.
You know what it says in John 3:3? "You can't enter My Kingdom, Nicodemus, a man cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless he is...what?...born again." How you going to pull that off? How you...how you going to do that? The prophet says, "Can the leper change his spots?" It can't be done, you can't do it. "No man comes unto the Father unless the Father draws him." It's impossible. In Philippians 1:29, "For you...this is so good...for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake." Listen to that verse. God granted you the privilege of believing for Christ's sake, for the glory of Christ, for the honor of Christ He allowed you to believe. You can't believe apart from that, you who are dead in trespasses and sins.
&nbs