God’s Purpose for Those Who Love God

Transcript

GR 2235
4/26/2020
God’s Purpose for Those Who Love God
Romans 8:28-30
Gil Rugh

We join in worshiping His holy name as we look into His Word together and have His Spirit minister His truth to our hearts. Let’s have a word of prayer together before we look at Romans chapter 8. Thank You, Lord, for the blessings You’ve showered upon us in salvation. Salvation found in Your Son and only in Your Son. Lord, a salvation that has brought us into a personal and eternal relationship with You, the living God. You’ve provided Your Spirit to be our teacher and minister Your truth to our hearts. We commit ourselves to You as we turn to this study of Your Word now. May the truths that have been proclaimed in song now be carried to our hearts as we look into Your Word. May the Spirit use it to challenge us, enlighten us, strengthen us, bring us into greater conformity to the beauty and wonder of Your character. We pray in Christ’s name, amen.

We’re in Romans chapter 8 together. The book of Romans is about the gospel. The doctrine of God’s salvation provided for us in Christ. In a very organized and orderly way, Paul has been unfolding the truths, explaining to us in some detail what God has accomplished for us in Christ. In chapters 6, 7, and 8, he’s talking about what we usually call the doctrine of sanctification, what God has done for us in saving us and making us new, providing His righteousness for us in Christ. We who are under condemnation, separated from God, on our way to an eternal hell, but through faith in what Christ accomplished for us, God has declared us righteous, cleansed us, forgiven us, made us new. Now how are we to live as those who are now God’s children? That’s what chapters 6, 7, and 8 have been about. Chapter 8 stands out as especially important because up until this chapter, the book of Romans really hasn’t talked about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. How does this ministry of the Spirit work in the salvation God has provided for us? And in chapter 8, Paul has emphasized the ministry of the Holy Spirit in bringing God’s salvation to our hearts, and working, strengthening, even praying for us. I made a list of nine things that have been mentioned about the Holy Spirit’s ministry. I’m not going to go through those with you, but you might go through and see if you find those nine things in these first 27 verses of Romans. Maybe along the way I’ll share with you what I’ve found, and we can compare lists.

We’ve come down to verse 28, and verses 28, 29, and 30 are verses that many of you have memorized. If you’ve not memorized them, they’re probably familiar enough that you could give the gist of them accurately. Verse 28 particularly stands out, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God…” And that becomes a verse we come often to in struggles, in trials, and remember, that’s what Paul is talking about in chapter 8. How do the trials that come into our lives, the difficulties, the pressures, fit in what God has promised us, provided for us in Christ, and is preparing for us in future glory? Sometimes it seems these things are out of sync. They’re not in step. God has promised me His joy, His peace, but sometimes it seems the turmoil of the world has intruded into my life. It seems the pressures and struggles and sufferings have increased since I became a believer, not decreased. Am I out of step with what God intends to do in my life? Or is this the normal Christian life? What Paul is unfolding in Romans 8 is the normal pattern for the believer. It’s a life that includes suffering and difficulty.

In verse 18 he said, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this now time) are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” So how do we live in this world with the difficulties and trials that come? Sometimes they are the general trials that afflict everyone, like viruses and sicknesses and illnesses that afflict believer and unbeliever. Then you add to that some of the persecutions and sufferings that come from the opposition of the world, the people of the world, and Satan, the enemy of our souls. They add to the difficulties and trials.

Paul is reminding us that all of this is part of God’s plan in preparing us for glory, and this should only sharpen us, increase our anticipation and expectation and desire for the realization of glory. In verse 23 he talked about the fact that all creation anticipates what we are personally anticipating, when we will be revealed, unveiled with glorified bodies before all creation. We’re encouraged in verse 26 that the weaknesses that we experience are in physical bodies, not yet glorified, not yet fully experiencing the power of God’s transforming grace. But the Spirit is working, in and through us, and acting on our behalf, because sometimes the trials, the pressures, bring us to a place where I would sin. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to say, I don’t even know what to pray for in this. Which way do I go? What do I ask for? Well, don’t despair because we were told the Spirit intercedes on our behalf.

You see something of the riches God has provided for us in His salvation. He intercedes for us according to the will of God, and as we’ve talked about, the three Persons of the Godhead always work in perfect harmony, and the Spirit of God knows perfectly, completely, and clearly what the will of God is for me, what God has planned for me, what is best for me, and He is praying for me, if you will. Some religious groups have saints that they pray to. I don’t need the saints to pray for me. I have Jesus Christ who intercedes for me. We noted that, and we’ll get to that again in verse 34 of chapter 8. And I also have the Holy Spirit who dwells within me and intercedes for me. So, I’m well taken care of, well provided for. That doesn’t mean we don’t pray for one another. We’re instructed to also go before the throne of grace on behalf of others, as well with our own requests and desire. But it’s comforting and encouraging that the Spirit of God is also representing us before the throne of God.

Paul is now going to remind believers that God is sovereign, and we don’t have any problem talking about that. Yes, God is sovereign! He’s in control, but it’s when the pressures come…Remember the book of Job and the experiences of Job, the most righteous man of his time, God says. He was doing fine and then the pressures come, and he’s reduced to saying, I wish I’d never been born, and I don’t understand what’s happening. Lord, I’ve lost everything! Every one of my precious children died in the same natural disaster, the storm that collapsed a building on all ten of my children. What a loss! We know from the book of Job that it wasn’t a ‘natural catastrophe.’ It was a spiritually supernatural catastrophe caused by the devil himself. Is God still sovereign? You’re trying to live the most godly life, the most consistent life with the Word of God and the power of the Spirit, and it seems like all of a sudden, the world collapses in on you, and things you couldn’t have planned for, things you couldn’t have foreseen, and your life is turned upside down. Well, that’s why we’re so familiar with Romans 8:28, that these are part of God’s plan. His sovereignty determines what will happen in my life that is best in preparing me for glory, best for honoring Him.

So that’s what verses 28, 29, and 30 are about, and that’s what we’re going to look at now. Look at verse 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.” This “all things work together for good”, you may have a little note, a number 1 in front of God, if you’re using the same translation I am, and then you have a marginal note. One early manuscript reads all things work together for good. It doesn’t use the name God; “…God causes all things to work together for good…” But the context indicates it, whether it’s there in that particular verse at that point. There’s no other way to understand the context, so the difference there in the manuscripts won’t make any difference in the meaning here, because what he’s talking about is the sovereignty of God and God’s action. And you’ll note here, it’s all things are brought about by the plan of God. It’s interesting if you take the time to read other commentators who reflect on this verse, you’ll see one of the challenges is to think, what is included in “all things”? And I always remember my very astute professor in seminary. We were learning Hebrew and Greek so we could delve into the depths. “Remember men, all means all, and that’s all all means!” So, I come here and with my vast grasp of the Greek language, I read the word all. And all that comes ringing back to my mind, …all means all. That’s all all means.

“…God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God…” Now we say, well, I can see that in the context, for sure the good things. And we’re quick to thank God, or at least we should be, for the good things He brings to our life. That today we are here, there’s disasters that go on in the world, but God has graciously brought us together so we can open the Word and look in it together, have enough health to do that. If you’re bound in your home because of some physical problems, be of good cheer! Most of us are bound in our homes today regardless of our health or lack of it, but we thank God for our health. The blessings that we enjoy in our jobs, in our families, in our health, we thank Him for that. What about the sufferings? Well, now I see all things. But then I think, maybe my health has deteriorated. Maybe I’m going through some very serious physical difficulties. Are they included in the all things? Well, I would assume they do.

If it was just what we call the good things, he could have said, God causes all good things to work together for good. I don’t have any problem with that, and I can sort that out, quote, almost on my own, if you understand what I mean. But when the things don’t seem good, it’s nice to know those sufferings, those trials, those unpleasant things, are part of the all things that God is working together for good. What about when I fail? What about sin? We want to be careful here. I’ve reflected on this off and on through the week because I don’t want to say things that will get me in trouble, and I want to say them accurately and I want to be correct theologically, but does all things include sin? I’ve failed, I can’t undo what I’ve done. Remember Ecclesiastes, we can’t change what happened yesterday. I’m here today. Lord You know I failed. Does that mean my life is over? Any usefulness for me is done? I’m just on the garbage heap of Christians? Maybe I won’t lose my salvation, but I can’t look forward to any real usefulness. Could God turn that into good? Honestly, in light of Scripture, I would have to say, yes!

Now be careful, back up to Romans chapter 6. We want to be careful we don’t read into something and don’t read into what I’m not saying. Chapter 6, verse 1, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be!” That is not a thought that’s possible. I can never look at sin and say it won’t matter if I sin and God can bring good out of it, so maybe sin won’t be so bad. Let me use an example. I try to sort out different examples from the Old Testament and I’ll take one that everybody’s familiar with—David—because he sinned in a big way. He not only committed adultery, he committed murder, and all the sins that go with that; lying, and deceit, and coverup, and all of that. And out of that, even the relations with Bathsheba who ended up being David’s wife, and he will father four sons with her, but we’re most familiar with the one that God said, call him Jedediah because I love him.

And that’s what Jedediah means—the one who’s loved of the Lord. We know him better as Solomon. Well, did God bring good out of that? He did! Did David say, Solomon, I wish you’d never been born? You’re a constant reminder of my failure. You know, the one that was the firstborn of Bathsheba and me. He had to die because of sin. Why would God use that and bring David along? And David is not rejected from God. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any consequences. Did God work in such a way that He brought good out of that? God has some great things to say about Solomon. He’s going to use him in a unique way, and He uses him to write Scriptures. Would I say, if Solomon had never been born? Sometimes God brings good out of evil. That doesn’t make evil good. Don’t get confused. But it does bring hope. Another one I thought of is Joseph being sold into slavery by his own brothers. That was sin! How else could you say it? Yet those brothers become leaders of the tribes of Israel. The sons of Jacob and when finally, they meet their brother Joseph, what does he say? You meant it for evil; God meant it for good. Don’t beat yourself up over this. It was God’s hand doing it.

We want to be careful. Charles Ryrie wrote a book many years ago, Balancing the Christian Life. I’m just taking the title because I’m not saying he would agree with me, but I think he might, but that’s beside the point. I think we want to be careful. We don’t want to go soft on sin and its seriousness, but we don’t want to go light on grace and His greatness. God causes and works all things together for good. Have you ever stumbled? Well, not in a big way since I became a believer. We probably measure things differently than God does. It’s not over. David is still going to be used in great ways and he’ll still write Scripture, and the covenant God established with David will go on, and we’ll see him ruling and reigning with Christ in the kingdom in which we’ll rule and reign. So, we want to be careful.

Peter sinned. He denied the Lord three times in an opportunity that would not be repeated. How do you repeat that night? Boy, when my life is over, I denied the Lord that night. And I read some commentators that reminded us of that. That’s a time not to be repeated! Christ won’t be back on that night to go through those experiences, and Peter, you blew it three times! Was God done with Peter? No! Did He bring good out of evil? Work that all together? Peter grew and learned from it and went on with the Lord, and we find towards the end of the Gospel of John where he is being encouraged, “Tend My sheep.” So all of that to say, when we say that God is working to make all things to work together for good, I understand as serious as David’s sin was, all he could do was get right with the Lord and go on and allow God to do what only He could do. And God used it for good. That did not make God the cause of sin. That does not mean we can take sin more lightly, and in our concern to deal with sin seriously in our own life and in the lives of others. Don’t take grace lightly either.

What does Romans 8:28 mean? God is working all things together for the good of those who love God, and this is at the beginning of verse 28. As we had an example this morning in our study of Titus, sometimes in translating they rearrange the structure and that’s fine, we still get the point. But the emphasis in verse 28 is to those who love God. And we note that, to those who love God, He causes all things to work together for good. So, this is not for everyone. We want to be careful in quoting this verse; it’s in a context. To those who love God, He works all things together for their good. I have that confidence. For the unbeliever, he’s on his own. God is using his sin to accomplish His purposes, but it’s not for good. I don’t want to give them any hope, there’s not. All I can say is, the issue may have made a mess of your life. You’re mired in sin and quite frankly, there’s no way out except there is a Savior who rescues you from your sin. That doesn’t mean a person may not have to deal with certain consequences, go to prison, whatever.

But “…God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God...” But it’s to those who love God, so remember the emphasis in this verse is to those who love God because that’s who we’re talking about—believers. Those in verse 14 of this chapter, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God… But there are trials and difficulties. It seems like walls we run into, failures, sins that happen. I don’t mean happen as in they’re out of our control. No, our sin has always happened under our control because I never had to sin. But sometimes the believer’s response is to go into depression. There should be some remorse. I want to recognize the sin. I don’t want to just blow by it. I mean, David just didn’t go, you know, it was nothing. He recognized the seriousness of it, and we have Psalm 51 from his pen to recognize that, but I’m not going to park in that puddle.

All I can say is, Lord, I failed. Lord, I sinned. That’s all Peter could do. That’s all Joseph’s brothers could do, and then you need to go on. And other examples as well. “…God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God…” We looked earlier in our study today, and you’ll see an overlap because the book of Titus we’ve been studying about in our Sunday morning study has been about godly living. What is the doctrine of sanctification? It’s about godly living. Where did Paul bring Titus back to? The foundational provisions of our salvation. What is Paul talking about here in Romans? The foundational provisions of our salvation, so we can live godly lives. And we understand behind it all, God is at work. God is sovereign, and all things are brought together for good because you know what, even when I sin, I don’t cease to be God’s child. He just doesn’t put me out the door and close the door any more than you do when your kids do wrong. You know, there may be consequences, but I don’t stop being His child. John wrote in the first epistle, if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He’s acting on our behalf, so I’m still God’s child. Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve it, I don’t belong, but I never did! And there’s never an excuse for my sin, but He hasn’t given up on me. Christ is still interceding for me at the right hand of the Father. Yes, I paid the penalty for that sin. The Spirit is still interceding for me, on my behalf, so God is working all this together for good. I do want to learn from it, I want to grow, I don’t want to go back there, but that’s the part I have the confidence in. God is going to work His purpose.

We have to go on here. “…for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” A believer is described as one who loves God. We looked at 1 John chapter 4 earlier today. We love Him because He first loved us. Jesus said one of the characteristics that mark us out as God’s children, this is in John’s Gospel now, John 14, verse 15, we obey Him. “If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” That’s not the Mosaic Law, now that He’s talking about. John uses a different word when he’s using the Mosaic Law and its commandments, and the commandments that come now and what we call the Law of Christ. We want to obey God, we want to please Him, and if we don’t obey Him, we don’t love Him. That’s what John 14 talks about. So those who love God are those who have come into a relationship with God through faith in the finished work of Christ. They are those who have been called by God. That’s the call of God to bring us to salvation. He is the initiator. He has planned this. We are called according to His purpose. He’s working all things together for good to those who love Him, because we love Him because He initiated the relationship and called me to Himself.

Back in Romans chapter 1, we’ll say more about this word “called”, a little further on in our section here because he’s going to use it again. But in Romans 1:6 as he unfolds and you have to break into a sentence here, he says in verse 6, “…among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ...” You are the “called of Jesus Christ”. You are the called of God. And we’ll refer to His initial call to bring us to salvation. In Paul’s letters, this call of God always is effective. We call it the Effectual Call of God because it is always effective. This is different than the way it’s used in the Gospels. We want to be accurate. In Matthew chapter 22, verse 14, Jesus said, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” There He used the word called as a general call that goes out to all people, but there are a select few out of those many who are chosen of God to belong to Him. When Paul talks about it, he uses it as an equivalent to being chosen. They’re the same people, those who are called. We’ll get to that further in a moment. We’ll look at some other verses.

So “…those who love God” are the same ones who are the “…called according to His purpose.” We have responded to the call and loved God, because He loved us and called us to Himself and the salvation He provided in Christ. You’ll note, it’s “…according to His purpose.” This refers to God’s sovereign decision. We have struggles with this because sometimes we try to figure out the fairness, the unfairness. If God doesn’t call everyone and choose everyone, then His love is not real. There have been books written on this, as you are familiar with. But it is a real love and it’s a love for the world! We saw in Titus chapter 3, His love for mankind. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son in order that whosoever believes in Him. It was a great demonstration of love for God to provide His Son to die for us, but it’s our fault that we refuse to believe. We reject that love. We spurn it.

We determine we will do our own planning and our own work. We “…are called according to His purpose.” This is a reference to God’s determination. That special call that will result in salvation only goes out to the elect, the chosen. Why? Well, Christ died for everyone, but everyone’s not saved. Why? They choose not to. Well, I’m saved. I must be better than him. I chose to be saved. But the Bible tells me no one chose to be saved! There are none who seek after God. God made the provision, and everyone says, no! But God in grace, goes beyond making the provision. He also determines He will act in such a way in the lives of some, that they will be drawn, called to believe in Christ. So why didn’t He do that for everyone? Because He didn’t have to do it for everyone. He didn’t have to provide a Savior for everyone. He didn’t have to provide a Savior from anything.

And we always use the example of the angels. You know, the angels sinned at one point in choosing to follow Lucifer in rebellion against God. That settled their doom forever. There was no salvation ever provided for angels, Hebrews chapter 2. They chose to rebel against God. They sinned, that settled their destiny forever. We’re in the same boat, but God chose to provide a Savior for fallen humanity. Now that humanity rejects that provision, they’re left where they deserve to be. I’ve talked to people, If God didn’t choose me, I can’t be saved. Well, you don’t want to be saved. Well, if God didn’t choose me, I couldn’t. Well, wait a minute! God made the provision. The responsibility is now on you. He says if you’ll call upon Him, He’ll save you. If you place your faith in Christ, He’ll save you. Do it! You say you can’t, I say you won’t. This is where we are. Now that God would go further and say, Well, I’ll select some who will be the recipients of this saving love. You can say that wasn’t fair, why? He provided it for all men. All reject it. We’ll get to that in Romans chapter 9 when we get to the doctrine of election a little more fully.

Everything’s done according to God’s purpose. Look in chapter 9 of Romans, verse 11, and this is where we’ll get into, but I’ll just mention it now. We’re talking about the twins that are born, one will be chosen, one will not be chosen. Verse 11, “…for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good of bad…” Keep this in mind. We’re going to talk about God’s foreknowledge in a moment in chapter 8. “…so that God’s purpose…” Here we are, He works “…according to His choice…” (His purpose, and that word translated choice is the word we bring it over, election). “…according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls…” There is our word “calls”. It’s God’s sovereign action. Two twins, so that’s about as much alike as you can get, and to even make it more difficult, He’ll choose the younger of the two twins over the older because that was His purpose. So that word “purpose” denotes God’s plan.

Come over to the book of Ephesians. You could say we’ll go into a little more detail in the doctrine of election when we get to chapter 9, because that’s where God goes into detail because the Spirit knows the questions that will come up in our mind. He’s going to deal with that with clear examples in chapter 9, particularly in chapters 9, 10, and 11, it will come out. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 11, “…also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose…” We’re going to get to “predestined” in a moment in chapter 8. We’re “…predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will…” You know what, God counsels with Himself. Remember there are three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He didn’t need us. Some write and say, well, He needed some to love. How could He express His attribute of love? He could express it within Himself. The Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, the Spirit loves the Son, the Son loves the Spirit, those things go on. God counseled within Himself, formed His predetermined plan, His purpose, and He works all things after the counsel of His will. You see the absolute sovereignty of God here, and man thinks God should counsel with him. He counsels with Himself, and purposes what He will do in light of that. We come to God’s Word and we need to come with humility to learn what He does. We’re not there to be judges of what He does because it’s already been judged and determined to be right, because whatever He does is right, and we can be thankful He always acts consistent with His will. So, He’s not a God who acts contrary to His own character. He is God.

Other passages, you’re in Ephesians, we’ll look at chapter 3, verse 11. “This was in accordance with the eternal purpose (or the purpose of the ages) which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord…” You see it all comes back. How far can I go back? I can only go back to what God purposed to do. When I try to go back beyond that, I try to be God, and I can’t. I can only go back to, here’s what God purposed to do. Now I see how He unfolded that purpose, to provide salvation for all, to recognize its rejection, and yet it is applied to some because God purposed to do that. We could look at some other verses but let’s go back to Romans 8, move on from here and get the overall picture.

He’s working for those who love God, that’s where we are. So that’s settled in my mind. Trials, difficulties, whatever happens, He loves me. He loves me! Nothing will change that. The sufferings that come into my life don’t come because He doesn’t love me. The sin that I commit as His child, and I want to be careful and don’t misunderstand, it’s true, He still loves me. You know, I used to think in the early years of my Christianity because of some faulty theology that I had been taught, that He didn’t love me anymore, and I had to come and beg Him to forgive me because I thought He didn’t love me anymore. He kicked me out of the family because I sinned. I needed to ask for a second work of saving grace in my life. I had to get resaved. No! He still loves me. He still loves Israel; the Old Testament says. His love of David didn’t stop. Samson is another example we could have looked at. He turns up in the heroes of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t have put him there, but I’m not God. It’s His purpose at work, not mine. He failed, he failed, he failed, yet God didn’t stop loving him. He claims him. You get to Hebrews 11, that’s a select group, and there’s Samson because God didn’t stop loving Him.

So, this love, His purpose, is for those, here we come, verse 29 of Romans 8, “For those whom He foreknew…” So now we’re going to see His purpose now worked out. For those that love Him, they experience the call of God that brought them to salvation, all working according to His purpose, and now he’s going to explain how His purpose went, how that was worked out. “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…” He gives you the total picture, then he’s going to back up and pick up verse 29, for whom He foreknew, He predestined, and he explains there what the predestination involved, and why we’re going to get there. We were “…predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son…” That’s security. Those that He called, He predestined. We’re destined “…to become conformed to the image of His Son…” verse 29. So that gets us to the final glorification that we will be brought into conformity with the glory that was Christ’s. The ultimate glory, as 1 Corinthians 15 goes into this. So that the resurrected, glorified body that Christ had, we will have one like it, and the final glorification, complete[RG1] sanctification as we talk about. “…so that He (Christ) would be the firstborn among many brethren…” He wasn’t to be the only one, He was the only one of His kind but there’s more to come, and these bodies will be transformed and brought into conformity to His body, His resurrected body, a body of glory, prepared for the glory of the presence of the glory of God.

So that’s the process. We’re back to the salvation we have in Christ, when God intended to accomplish in Christ and through Christ in the lives of those, He called and predestined. We can pick up with verse 30. Maybe I have to say something about foreknowledge, otherwise all the questions that come will be about foreknowledge. Foreknowledge, when it’s used of man, could only be used of something we knew of the future, to the best that we could tell. The best I could tell, this afternoon, was that I was going to be here at 6 o’clock, looking into the book of Romans. I could write down what was going to happen at 6 o’clock, but of course that’s contingent, we’ve talked about that. Lord willing, because His sovereignty might overrule. I could have had a heart attack at 4:30 this afternoon and I wouldn’t be here. So, my foreknowledge is a contingent and a lot of things can influence and the further out you get, the less certain it is. Many people’s plans have radically changed in the last few months. We have marriages that were canceled because we couldn’t get together. Jobs that are not operative because we have a virus. That’s not what I planned six months ago. Foreknowledge of man is one thing. Foreknowledge of God is something else. When the Bible talks about God’s foreknowledge, it’s talking about what He has determined will happen. What He foreknew, what He knew, what He determined to bring about. I have a number of verses that we can look at.

Let’s go back to the Old Testament. This word knowledge, that’s where I usually start. The word ‘to know’ in the Old Testament’s used in a more specific way. We could have gone to Genesis 1, but just come to Genesis 18. Remember Adam knew his wife and she conceived and bore a son. So, it’s used of that intimate knowledge that’s not just some information about someone. It involves a personal relationship. It’s used of the sexual relationship in the Old Testament where a man knows his wife. It’s talking about the sexual intimacy there. It’s used of God’s relationship with Abraham in Genesis 18, verse 17. “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do…” because of God’s purposed plan for Abraham in verse 18. Verse 19, why? “For I have chosen him…” And you note that little number 1 in front of chosen; it’s literally the Hebrew word for, to know, for known. Well, God just didn’t gather some information about Abraham. He had chosen him, that’s why our English Bibles translate it as chosen, so there’s no misunderstanding. I have known him. When it says God knew him, it means God has put His favor upon him. There is a relationship established there, of God’s choice. I have known him. He’s the one I’ve placed My love upon, to establish a relationship with, so that what I have purposed through him will be accomplished.

Come over to Jeremiah chapter 1, one of the great prophetic books. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. After Psalms and Proverbs, you come into Isaiah, then Jeremiah, and come to Jeremiah chapter 1. It’s talking about God’s predetermined plan, His purpose for Jeremiah. Look at verse 5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” This is God! Well, He just knew about Jeremiah? Before I formed you in the womb I knew some things about you? No. I knew you. I placed My love upon you. Determined to have a relationship with you as My servant. And even before you were born, I appointed what you would do. You were appointed a prophet to the nations. He wasn’t even born! How do you know what is My sovereign purpose that determined it? We won’t go there, but you can write down Amos 3:2. Amos 3:2, God says to Israel, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth...” Was Israel the only family, only nation on earth that God knew? That’d be a pretty restricted God. Of course not! But as the only nation that God knew in the sense of loving, choosing for Himself.

Come to the New Testament. Now those are just the word knowledge, showing the background for it in the Old Testament. Any time the word foreknowledge is used of God, it’s used of God five times in the New Testament. God’s foreknowledge. We’ll look at all five, so we understand. You can turn to Acts 2:23. That’s the first time the word foreknowledge is used of God in the New Testament. Some people define foreknowledge as God looking ahead into the future and saw what you would do and so chose you on the basis of His foreknowledge. But we already read a verse that we’ll get to, that says He didn’t do it based on our works. But if all He did was look and could see into the future what you would do and chose you based on what you would do, then His choice was based on your work, your action. The very thing He said it’s not based on. Acts chapter 2, verse 23, Peter is preaching. We’ll have to pick up here, and he’s talking about Christ, “…this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men…”

Now we’re at a serious theological confusion if you think that, if you’re going to say, well, God just looked ahead and saw when He sent His Son to earth they would crucify Him, so then He determined that’s what I’ll have done. God is just an observer. You can’t define God’s foreknowledge that way! He delivered Him “…over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God…” Those two together, foreknowledge becomes just a variation of talking about God’s predetermined plan, what God predetermined and settled would happen. So, His foreknowledge, when He foreknows something, that settles it will happen, and it indicates this happened beforehand, that He determined it. It’s just like predetermined plans. These words just overlap so much it’s hard to sort them out. The death of Christ, did God determine that in eternity past? Of course! Was He just looking ahead, let Me just look ahead and see what’s going to happen in this world I create, and then I’ll know what to plan for. That’s a serious theological heresy! And yet there are many who have believed it and promoted it.

We’re in Romans 8:29, that’s the second use of foreknowledge. Go by that to chapter 11, verse 2. Verse 1 says, “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!” There’s our expression again, ME GENOITO, King James translates it “God forbid!” It’s something that’s not a possibility. Verse 2, “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” He chose Israel, put His love on Israel, He can’t reject them! That would put God working against Himself. If He ever rejects Israel, He’d be working against Himself because He foreknew them. They were the only nation on earth He knew, and He foreknew them because He foreknew them before time. He chose them. Now to say, well, He rejected them; they blew it! That is the very thing Paul is saying can’t happen, because those that God foreknows, it’s settled. We’ll talk about that when we get in there.

Come over to 1 Peter 1. We look at all these verses and they’re one sentence. Peter is writing to the elect sojourners of the diaspora. We have it translated that he’s writing “…to those who reside as aliens…” and he tells the regents “…who are chosen”, but grammatically it simply says he’s writing to the elect sojourners of the diaspora. That word “chosen”, which is last there, is our Greek word for election. The elect sojourners of the diaspora. What does he say in verse 2? They are elect “…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…” This becomes the basic verse that people say, well, God made His choice based on His foreknowledge. But it’s not a possibility, and His foreknowledge is His prior determination. He elected believers from Israel. That’s who Peter is writing to, to whom he is writing. He is writing to the elect sojourners of the diaspora, those scattered outside the homeland of Israel, those chosen of God. They were chosen according to His foreknowledge because He placed His love upon them and thus chose them for Himself. And that included the foreknowledge of God the Father, the sanctifying work of the Sprit, and the obedience, being sprinkled with the blood of Christ. The three Persons of the Triune God, as we saw in Titus 3 earlier today.

Also, foreknowledge is used down in verse 20 of 1 Peter 1, and it’s talking about Christ. Verse 18, “…knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things…” then verse 19, “…but with the precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times (days)…” Remember we talked about that word, it appeared in Titus 2 and 3 earlier today. He’s the lamb that was “foreknown before the foundation of the world”. Are we going to say that it wasn’t the eternal plan of God? He just looked down in history and saw what man would plan and do? And He saw His Son was going to be crucified? So, God lined up with man? You know, bad theology always catches up to you and that is bad theology! We ought to be clear on it, God’s foreknowledge. When foreknowledge is used of God, it means something that has been settled by God, determined by God, a result of His predetermination.

Come back to Romans 8. We’re not going to get all through this, but that’s alright. We can pick up next time, but I just want you to put the connection. Those whom He foreknew, with that understanding of foreknowledge, He predestined. But who did He foreknow? He foreknew those He called, they are predestined, He foreknew them, He predestined them. Then they’ll become conformed to the image, these whom He predestined, He called. You see the package now. It starts with Him placing His love on them with His foreknowledge, and then He predestined them to become conformed. Then those He predestined He called. That’s the Effectual Call that brings it into time, if you will. Of us, why did I respond? He didn’t save me before I placed my faith in Christ, but the Spirit worked on me so that I would be moved to do something I would not do without that act of the Spirit of God. He moved me to see that I was a sinner and Christ was the Savior, and so I believed.

So those He called, they responded in faith, and He justified them, declared them righteous. And these whom He justified, He also glorified. So you see what He’s done here, He’s put together this package and interesting, it uses what is normally the past tense in Greek, the aorist used in the present, usually refers to past tense, and he uses the word glorified in the aorist tense here. It’s done! That’s the point, everything He did here, we could say, yes, He justified, and those He justified, He glorified. What he’s talking about is the plan that God established. Verse 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…” Then he goes back and unfolds the certainty of that plan.

That’s to assure us in times of suffering and trial and so on, the plan will be accomplished because God settled it in eternity past, from beginning to end. And the sufferings and the stumbles and the trials and the difficulties and the failures can’t frustrate the plan. That’s why Paul could write to the Philippians with assurance and say He who has begun a good work in you will continue to bring it to perfection in the day of Christ Jesus. It’s settled! Now that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter what I do, I’m going to heaven. No! If that’s the attitude you have, maybe you’re just a false believer. Because when God brings His salvation into our life, He changes the heart, the will, the desire, and I no longer think like I used to. I have talked to people, well, I know I’ve trusted Christ, I’m going to heaven, so it doesn’t really matter what I do. All I can say is, the Bible says it does matter what you do! Not that you can save yourself, but if God changes your heart and mind, you may have at some time rebelled against Him, but if that’s the attitude of your life, you never did belong to Him. That’s a serious matter! This is our assurance, it’s great when we come to these verses, but we want to understand what they mean. Put everything in context. And it reminds me, this is the love God has for me. I want to respond in love to Him. I love Him because He first loved me and I want to respond to that love, because what He’s done in my heart. He’s done something supernatural that brings out of the new person that He’s made me to be, of love to Him. I don’t want to fail Him. I don’t want to disappoint Him. I don’t want to disobey Him. Sometimes I do, and I know I do. My conscience bothers me and I’m troubled, and I cannot persist in it. Look how long David went! Sinning, going on with his life, but you can’t live there. And David acknowledged he couldn’t live there. You read Psalm 51. This is encouraging. He’s working all things together for our good. He’s determined the end. I want to tell you, it was like a load lifted from me when I finally was taught and understood that I have security in Christ. I don’t have to get saved at every service I go to because I fail every week. Oh, Lord, forgive me one more time, I’ll never do it—Lord, well, I meant it but I didn’t really mean it. No, I belong to You. I can thank the Lord for His forgiveness, and that is a greater motivation than I had before. Well, we need to stop here, and I didn’t leave time for questions. Oh well. We’ll get to the questions next week because I have the answers all prepared.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord, for Your Word. Thank You for its riches. Lord, it’s inexhaustible, and we delight, Lord, to immerse ourselves in it, to have the Spirit open it to us in new and greater and fresh ways. But Lord, I pray these truths will be impressed upon each of our minds so that we might face trials and difficulties and disappointments and frustrations. Lord, it’s with a joy and a peace and a confidence that is only found in the relationship we have with You, our God and our Savior. We commit the days of the week before us to You. Pray that each day would be a precious day to us, a day when we don’t lose sight, when we don’t forget that You are with us. You are there to act on our behalf, and we are secure in Your care. We pray in Christ’s name, amen.
[RG1]Can’t tell if this is the verb or an adjective for ‘sanctification.’ The difference is one ‘s’ but could change the sentence slightly.