God's Great Purpose of Grace

Q: What does the Bible say about God's foreknowledge?

God's foreknowledge refers to His purposeful, sovereign knowing of His elect, not merely foresight of future choices. In Romans 8:29, the term 'foreknowledge' indicates God's everlasting love for His elect rather than foreseeing their choices. It emphasizes God's sovereign plan and purpose, which was established before the world began. Instead of pre-scientific knowledge that observes future decisions, it reveals God's intimate and committed knowledge of His chosen people, whom He loved from eternity. This means that God's foreknowledge includes His election and unconditional love toward those who are to be conformed to the image of His Son, demonstrating His grace and mercy at work throughout history.

Q: How do we know predestination is true?

Predestination is rooted in Scripture, confirming God's sovereign purpose for His elect to be conformed to Christ's image. Predestination is a biblical doctrine clearly revealed in passages such as Romans 8:29-30, where Paul outlines that those whom God foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. This act is not based on human merit but on God's sovereign purpose and grace. To deny predestination would be to contradict the teachings of Scripture and the apostolic witness of the New Testament. It's an assurance of God's intentional design for His elect, establishing their eternal destiny before the foundation of the world and securing their salvation in Christ.

Q: Why is justification important for Christians?

Justification is essential as it signifies our declared righteousness through Christ, securing our relationship with God. Justification plays a critical role in the life of a believer as it marks the moment when God declares a sinner righteous based on faith in Christ. Romans 8:30 reveals that those whom God called, He also justified, indicating that justification is part of God's eternal decree. This righteous standing before God is not based on our works but on the redemptive work of Christ. Through justification, believers receive forgiveness, reconciliation, and a new relationship with God, which offers assurance of salvation and peace for the believer's conscience.

Q: What does the Bible say about glorification?

Glorification is the final step in salvation, where believers will be fully conformed to the image of Christ in eternity. Glorification, as noted in Romans 8:30, represents the culmination of God's saving work in the lives of His elect. When Paul writes, 'whom he justified, them he also glorified,' he indicates that glorification is a past act, secured by God's sovereign purpose. This doctrine assures believers that they will be ultimately transformed and made perfect, sharing in the glory of Christ, which reflects God's intended design from eternity. It emphasizes the complete and final transformation that believers will undergo, from their current state to being fully conformed to Christ's glory at His return.

During the Second World War,
there was a lieutenant who was a paratrooper in the Russian
army by the name of Nikolai Aleksandrenko. That's as close as I'll get. When the Germans invaded Russia,
he was sent to defend his homeland, and he took a group of troopers
under him, and they were parachuted right over the German troops.
All of them were shot down in the air. None accepted. He was sure he was about to die. He was taken to the infirmary
and they patched him up and left him to die. But he didn't die. After a while, he began to mend
a little. And one night, freezing to death,
he tried to light a fire in that cold The Russian winter, he was
trying to get somewhere to get warm and he had a piece of paper
and he just couldn't get it to burn. Just shivering in disgust, he
starts to throw it down and something caught his eye. The paper he had in his hand
was something he had never seen before. It was a gospel tract. This man
was raised as an atheist, been taught all his life as a good
Stalinist that God is not. And he read, God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten son. That whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And read
the comments on the tract and the other scripture references
And there he bowed his head before God, tears streaming down his
cheeks, and called upon the name of the Lord. After the war, he
made his way to the United States and was educated at New Orleans
Baptist Seminary, became a preacher and professor of theology. I
could tell you many, many stories of the kind. I recall hearing
Brother Farrell Griswold several years ago Tell about an event
that took place shortly after you became pastor at Miner Heights
Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Someone asked them if they would
print some tracts, and Farrell wrote the tracts and printed
them up. And these folks had a strange way of distributing
tracts. They just flew over Nigeria and threw them out. Just fell
like leaflets all over the ground. And Farrell never heard a word,
never heard a word for 20 years. Twenty years later, he gets a
letter from a young Nigerian runner who's running across one
of those pig paths in Nigeria, and barefooted he is running
along, something stuck in his foot. He picked up a piece of
paper and began to read it. And God brought light and grace
into his soul from a track bin laying there Rotting. Several years ago, I think I
told you, when I was preaching in Newcastle in Australia, New
South Wales, Australia, preaching a small building for Brother
John McMurray, the pastor of the church there. It was packed. When I say it was packed, I don't
mean there's a lot of people there. It was a small building. The folks were
just wall to wall. And the doors and windows were
open. And I was preaching on God's great grace in Christ our
substitute. And there's a fellow who ran
by. I saw him. He went right down the sidewalk.
Had on one of those silly looking jogging suits, you know, it hardly
makes good underwear. And he ran by after his night
run. And as he ran by, I said something.
I didn't realize at the time exactly what I'd said. But I
said something about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, having put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. And he ran back and stopped. Sat down on the stoop right outside
the building. Some weeks later, Brother McLeary baptized him.
Now we are all elated and delighted by such stories. We think, oh,
that's such a great, great story. How wonderfully God has worked
in their lives. Let me remind you of something
that we have a tendency to forget. If you believe God, this day,
if you are one of God's children this day, if right now you call
upon the name of the Lord, God Almighty has worked just as wondrously
in your life. Just as wondrously. Let's look
at it. Romans 8, 28. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, then
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Now, let's focus our attention
this morning on verses 29 and 30. This is the Holy Spirit's
commentary on verse 28. Here he explains for us what
is meant by those marvelous words, according to his purpose. Our experience of salvation in
time is the result of God's accomplishment of our salvation in eternity
in his sovereign purpose. Now get that. Our experience
of salvation in time is the result of God's accomplishment of our
salvation in eternity in his sovereign purpose. Now let's
look at these two verses line by line and word by word. I want you to be sure to get
this. If you are taking notes, write it down. If you've got
space in the margin of your Bible, make a note. Every verb in these
two verses, every one of them, every one of them, is in the
past tense. Now, when we say the past tense,
we mean something before right now, and that's about all that
our English past tense means. In the Greek language, past tense
is aorist tense. The aorist tense in the Greek
language indicates a past action without further implication or
limitation. A past action with no further
limitation or implication. In other words, in these two
verses the Holy Spirit is telling us that everything described
here was done, finished, accomplished in the eternal purpose of God
Almighty before anything ever was. Did he love Jacob? He loved Jacob before he was
born. Did he hate Esau? He hated Esau before he was born.
Did he love you? He loved you before ever the
world was called into being. That which is past. Now the first
thing mentioned in verse 29 is God's foreknowledge of his elect
from eternity. Whom he did foreknow. This word foreknowledge, most
people think of it as pre-science or knowledge beforehand. They
think of it as a God looked down through the corridors of time,
and he saw that the time would come when you would choose to
believe on Jesus. And therefore, he graciously
decided to choose you. What stupidity! What blasphemy! What blasphemy! That would be
God taking credit for something He didn't do. That would be God
claiming to be good to you when really you were good to Him.
That would be God claiming to be the author of your salvation
when really He just knew that you were going to choose to be
saved and you're the author of your salvation. Foreknowledge,
as it is used in this passage and throughout the scriptures,
has nothing to do with something God foreknew. Has nothing to
do with something God foresaw. The scripture doesn't say what
He foreknew. It says whom He foreknew. And nowhere does it speak of
what He foreknew. What is this word? We know the background of it.
This is the word, actually the root word that's used here for
knowledge, is the word from which we get our word prognosis. The
word is prognosco. Now you know what a prognosis
is. Doctor diagnoses a patient's illness, and then he makes a
prognosis. He says this is how things are
likely going to turn out. But he doesn't really know. It's
just a prognosis. With God and his foreknowledge,
it's much more than a prognosis. For you see, with God, there
are no unexplainable or uncontrolled circumstances and events that
may turn things for the worse. God's foreknowledge is not merely
his thought about things or just his omniscience with regard to
things to happen, but rather God's foreknowledge is his sovereign
and eternal purpose. Let me show you. This word foreknowledge
implies at least these four things. First, it implies foreordination.
Hold your hands here in Romans 8 and turn to 1 Peter. 1 Peter
chapter 1. Peter tells us we are elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Verse 2. Well, there
you see, that's what the Arminian, the free willer, the will worshipper
says. God looked out in eternity and saw that we were going to
choose him, so he chose us. No, not quite. The same word
translated foreknowledge in verse 2 is translated a little differently
down in verse 20. Look at verse 20. It's talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ, who verily was foreordained. That's the same word. foreordained
before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in
these last times for you. So foreknowledge includes the
determination and counsel of God. Christ the Lamb was foreordained
before the foundation of the world, foreknown before the foundation
of the world, if you will. And on the day of Pentecost,
Peter says exactly the same thing about his death. He says he was
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. The Lord Jesus died at Calvary
by the hands of wicked men who wanted him to die. He died at
Calvary by the hands of men who deliberately, willfully nailed
him to the tree, spit in his face, and said, we will be rid
of you. And that all happened by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. By God's sovereign, absolute
foreordination. Now, turn back to Romans 8. This
word foreknowledge then means foreordained. It also has the
idea of love, of everlasting love. God's foreknowledge of
his people, not of things, but of his people, is his everlasting
love for his elect. The Lord Jesus says in his high
priestly prayer, John 17, to the God the Father with regard
to his people, thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Our God declares, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. When God foreknew us, he knew
his elect from eternity. as he knew no one else. He knew us in Christ with love,
affection, infinite delight and pleasure, with complete satisfaction
in his special distinguishing love for us. He said, I know you. I know you. I know my sheep.
I know my sheep. We love him because he first
loved us. Everlasting love. Everlasting
love is free, unconditional, unmerited, indestructible. His loving us has got nothing
to do with anything in us. Is that good? He loves us not
because of any attraction in us. Not because of any beautiful
character in us. Not because of anything he sees
in us. And if that's the case, then whatever there is in us
will never cause him to cease to love us. Can you get hold
of this? His foreknowledge of us is his everlasting love of
us. You remember how our Lord describes
the day of judgment when the wicked come before him? I'm talking
about the wicked folks who go to church every Sunday. He says,
depart from me, you cursed. I never knew you. What? How's he going to judge
him if he didn't know anything about them? That's not what he
said. He knows everything about them. He knows all things. I never knew you. Like I know my sheep. I know
these. These are mine. God's foreknowledge
also implies approval. The Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish, the psalmist
said. That is, the Lord approves of
the way of the righteous. When the Lord says, I know my
sheep, he's saying, I own and approve of them as my sheep.
And when the scripture says, whom he did foreknow, the scripture
is saying that God Almighty, in everlasting mercy, love, and
grace, knew and approved and owned us as his people. and was
completely satisfied with that. God's foreknowledge also implies
the infallible, absolute safety and security of his people. Let
me see if I can show you this. In 2 Timothy, you don't need
to turn there, the apostle says, the foundation of God standeth
sure. The foundation of God. The Lord graciously condescends
to speak to us in a language that our puny brains can get
some grasp of, and yet, even then, the thoughts expressed
are infinitely beyond us. What kind of foundation does
God, who is spirit and has no bodily parts, stand on? What is the foundation of God?
The foundation of God is His purpose! The foundation of God
is the purpose that he purposed in himself before the world began.
The foundation of God standeth sure it shall come to pass. It shall stand as I thought so
shall it come to pass. It standeth sure. How's that?
Having this seal, the Lord knoweth then that it is. Oh, that means
everything's all right with regard to those whom he foreknew. Always
has been, is now, and always will be. He performeth all things
for me. Now think of it if you can. If
you're a child of God, if right now you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, you were known of God from eternity. Loved, chosen,
owned, approved of, accepted, and secured in Christ according
to the eternal purpose of His grace. You're one of those whom
he did foreknow. That's God's sovereign, everlasting
foreordination and election. And we rejoice in it. "'Tis not
that I did choose thee, for, Lord, that could not be. This
heart would still refuse thee, hadst thou not chosen me. My
heart owns none before thee. For thy rich grace I thirst,
this knowing, if I love thee. Thou must have loved me first.
Alright, now let's look back at our text. Romans 8, 29 and
30. Whom he did foreknow, then he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. The second thing
here is predestination. Now don't be afraid of predestination. And don't be ashamed of it. Folks
say, well, people don't understand that term. Anybody here not understand
what that means? Predestination? To predetermine? That simple enough? It's not
that folks don't understand it, it's just they hate God doing
it. That's all. That's all. You'd be happy if
you could, wouldn't you? Well, sure you would. You'd see
a smile on your face. Wouldn't it suit you and your
whole family and those children well if you could predetermine
everything good for those children, everything good, and fix it so
they like it? Well, sure you would. The only
thing men don't like about predestination is that God does it. Because
we want to be God. We want to control things. We
want our mighty way and our mighty will to control God Almighty.
It ain't going to happen. But bless God, He did predestinate
somebody to be conformed to the image of His Son. We're predestinarians
because we believe this book. And anyone who does not believe
predestination does not believe this book. It's just that simple.
I believe in the Bible and I believe in predestination. You don't
believe the Bible. This is what the book says. Did
you read Predestinate right there? Now you might be confused about
what it means, but this book teaches something about predestination.
Predestination is a doctrine revealed in scripture full of
comfort and joy for God's people. It is God's absolute purpose
of grace regarding His elect whom He foreknew. Our eternal
destiny, that is, our perfect, absolute, full conformity to
Christ. was fixed, settled, and made
certain by God Almighty before the world began. And He's not
going to let anything interfere with it. Predestination speaks of this
work of God Almighty in which He determined to conform us to
the image of His own dear Son from old eternity. He predestined the people of
his love, the people of his choice, to be conformed to Christ. You
remember when God made Adam back in the garden? He said, let us
make man after our image and after our likeness. And the Lord
created Adam, and then he saw that it was not good that man
should be alone, so he made Eve out of the side of Adam to be
a help meet for him. So it was with regard to Christ
Jesus our Lord, the last Adam. The Lord God looked on His Son,
our surety, our mediator and substitute, and said it's not
good for Him to be alone. And so He created His bride. He chose a bride, a people whom
He would create to be a help meet for Him. His own sons and
daughters. He looked upon His Son with such
delight and such satisfaction, with such bubbling up joy in
his heart, that he said, I'll have a whole race of sons just
like him. And he fixed it. Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God. And He predestined us to be conformed
to the image of His Son, so that when God has finished all things
in this world, when He has finished all things in time, He's going
to make you and I, who are by nature more vile than hell itself, He's
going to make us exactly like His Son, as He is right now. Now this conformity to Christ
is a climactic conformity in the new birth. In the new birth,
we're made partakers of the divine nature. He gives us a new nature. He gives us a new heart. Folks
talk about, that says the Lord changed your heart. No, He hasn't. And he ain't gonna change your
heart. Ain't gonna happen. Ain't gonna happen. What does
God do when he saves a sinner? He gives him a new heart. All
together new. It's that which is born of God.
Christ in you. Christ formed in you by the power
of God the Holy Spirit. That's the new birth and the
hope of glory. And then this conformity to Christ
is a gradual conformity in our day by day experience of his
grace. by the sweet indwelling Holy
Spirit. by the power of His omnipotent
grace, by the constant influence of His Word and the power of
His Word, by the loving nurture and careful discipline of our
Heavenly Father, we are day by day in our experience conformed
to Christ as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. So that we are taught of God
to submit to His will, and taught of God to believe Him, and taught
of God to love our brethren, and taught of God to turn loose
this world, so that we're taught of God to set our hearts upon
the glory of God and the things of God. But then there is a day
coming. Oh, blessed prospect, soon. in resurrection glory, we shall
be exactly conformed to Christ. When we drop this robe of flesh
and rise to take our mansion in disguise, then we will be
like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. That's God's purpose. That's God's goal. That's God's
intention for all His people. having determined that we should
be made like his son, then the Father, in infinite wisdom and
grace, said, all right, this is the way I'll do it. And he arranged everything. Now, we can't hardly get hold
of this, but understand that God Almighty doesn't have to
think like I do. I have put things down on paper.
Now that doesn't go there, that comes here, that comes next.
God doesn't have to do it. God doesn't learn anything, He
doesn't forget anything. All at once! He arranged everything
that comes to pass in time by which He absolutely secures the
ultimate glory of His own people and He does it in the way that's
best for them and best for His honor. And so everything in eternity
was arranged that comes to pass in time. And this is how God
works all things together for good. to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. Predestination
marked the house into which grace would come, paved the road upon
which grace would travel to that house, set the time when grace
would enter the house, and guaranteed that grace would actually enter
that house at the appointed time of love. You see, God leaves
nothing to chance. God leaves nothing to luck. God leaves nothing to the will
of man. God leaves nothing to the whim
of Satan. God leaves nothing to blind fate. Everything in God's universe
was arranged by God's purpose in eternity and is brought to
pass by God's hand in providence for the salvation of his people
because he's determined. to make us like his son. God's great design and predestination
is the glory of Christ, the honor of his dear son, that he might
be the firstborn among many brethren. Here, as in everything else,
Christ has the preeminence. The firstborn is the first to
be born. And Christ is the firstborn as
God the servant because he is the eternally begotten of the
father. He is the firstborn in the family of God as our mediator
because he is that one who was set up from everlasting and brought
forth from eternity and by God, by his side when he made the
world. That's what he says in Proverbs
chapter eight. He could not be said to have been brought forth
at any time as the son of God. He was brought forth as our covenant
surety. The firstborn son is the one
in whom the whole family was dedicated to God, the law tells
us in Exodus chapter 13. The firstborn son is the head
of the family under the father. The father has a large family.
The firstborn son, you take charge of things. That means all the
boys obey him. That means all the boys do what
he says. The firstborn son holds and manages all the property
of the family in his father's name. It's the right of the firstborn. The firstborn son is that one
who, by God's law, if his brother should die, then he would take
his brother's wife and raise up the name of the dead and preserve
the life of the dead. All that Jesus Christ is. Because
God has predestined us to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. And God
predestinated many sons in the family of grace. Many. People all the time tell us,
oh, you just believe God has just a little in that handful.
He's going to say, well, But look whose hand they're in. More numerous than the ocean
sands. More numerous than the stars
of heaven. Vast. A vast, vast multitude,
which no man can number. At any given time, at any given
place in history, it looks like few are chosen. Ah, but when God gets done, When
God gets done, 10,000 times 10,000, yea, thousands of thousands,
no man can name that multitude. That Christ might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Now, look at the next line, called. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. Now I remind you, of the tense
of these verbs. They're all past tense. They're
all in the aorist tense. The Holy Spirit is not talking
to us now about what God shall do in time, but about what God
has done in eternity in his purpose of grace, according to which
he rules the world. He's talking about something
done, done once, done with finality, done in eternity, with no other
implications called. He declares that which
he's going to do, and then he does it. Listen to this. Remember
the former things of old, for I am God. There is none else. I am God, and there is none like
me, declaring the end from the beginning. He declares that which
he's going to do before it's done, and then he does it. Here
in verse 29, the apostle is talking to us about God's purpose of
grace by which he rules the world, which he spoke of in verse 28.
He's telling us that the purpose of grace is absolute. It is that
which makes the salvation of God's elect absolute. Now, this
is what he's going to do. He's going to conform us to Christ.
And then in verse 30, he says it's done. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. Because whom He did foreknow, them He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. It's
done. That's exactly what verse 30
says. You see, nothing that God does can have anything put to
it or taken from it because it's done forever. That's what the
book of Ecclesiastes says. The text then is not talking
here about the general call that goes forth as I preach the gospel
to you and call you to come to Christ. It's not talking about
the irresistible call of God the Holy Spirit and efficacious
grace by which He graciously forces sinners to come to Christ,
forcing them to bow to Christ, forcing them so that He makes
them willing in the day of His power. No, not talking about
that. This text is talking about a call made by God in His eternal
decree. What on earth can that be? Let
the Scriptures answer. Turn to 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy
1. Paul is defining the gospel for
which he suffered imprisonment and was about to be executed. It is the gospel that declares
God, verse 9, hath saved us. and called us within holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Now back here in Romans 8. The
word that's translated called in verse 28, to them who are the called, you
see that word? It's a word that means invited, summoned, You
may get nearly as many as I do. I get a lot of invitations to
graduations. This time of the year they come
flying in, get a bunch of them. That doesn't mean anything except
you're invited. That's all it means. You're invited
to come to my graduation. You're invited to come to my
wedding. Now, if you're polite, and you ought to be, you let
folks know whether or not you're coming. But the invitation itself
is just an invitation. That's the word that's used there.
To them who are, they call, invited. Even summoned. Even commanded. Even commanded. But that's not
the same word that's used down here in verse 30. That's not
the same word that's used in 2 Timothy 1.9. And I didn't know
that until yesterday morning. I got to looking at this passage,
studying it, and I thought, that's a different word. That's a different
word. In verse 30 and in 2 Timothy
1.9, the word that's translated called means named. I dubbed you, the queen would
say, sir so and so. I named you. It means made to
bear a name, saluted by a name. 35 years ago, next week, that
dear lady was given a different name, a new name. She'd been wearing it for 35
years. She is now not just Shelby Jean Peters, she is Shelby Jean
Peters Fortner. And the latter name became the
most important of all the names. You understand what I'm saying?
That's the word that's used here. Whom he did predestinate to be
conformed to Christ, then he named. Named what? The sons of God. His own sons
and daughters. In old eternity, He named us
His sons. Now, look at 1 John 3. 1 John
3. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be named the sons of
God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not because it knew him not. Now then, that's what happened
in eternity. This is what he says now. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. He named us his sons in eternity. And he gave us the spirit of
adoption in time when he called us by his grace. Look at Jude
verse 1. Because he called us to be his
sons, We were sanctified by God the Father from eternity, due
the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James to them that
are sanctified by God the Father, separated from the rest of folks,
declared to be holy by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus
Christ. God said to Adam, in the day
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, but he didn't. He
didn't. Well, he died spiritually. That
is what God said. He said, you're going to die. But he didn't. But he died morally. That's not
what God said. He said, you're going to die.
But he didn't. How come Adam didn't die? Because
when Adam sinned, God had his elect in Adam who were preserved
in Jesus Christ because God sanctified them, calling them his sons from
eternity. And then through the ages of
time, through the ravages of time and sin, and then we came
forth from the womb speaking lies and lived with our fists
shoved in God's face, and if we could have, we'd have stepped
right up to the throne of God and choked Him to death. But
He still preserved us. Preserved. He wouldn't let you
die. Hell couldn't make it happen.
And you couldn't make it happen. Though you played with hell,
wouldn't happen. Preserved in Jesus Christ until
that time called the time of love and now called. Commanded of God to believe on
His Son and to come to His Son. The fourth thing mentioned in
our text is justification. whom he called, then he also
justified. Being called the sons of God
in the eternal decree of God, we were justified in Christ then,
in God's eternal decree. All who were called were at the
same time and by the same decree justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus through the blood
of the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world in
the mind and purpose of God. We were declared just with God,
absolved of all sin and guilt, forgiven of all iniquity, and
made righteous by divine imputation, accepted as righteous in the
beloved. Now, try to get hold of what
Paul's teaching us here if you can. If this won't put a hallelujah
down deep in your soul, I don't know what will. When the Lord
God predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son, He called
us His sons and justified us in His decree looking on us in
His dear Son. Our sins were cancelled before
they were committed. Our debt was paid before it was
incurred. The curse was removed before
it came. The law was mended before it
was broken. Justice was satisfied before
it was offended. We were justified in Christ before
we were fallen in Adam. We were accepted in Christ before
we were banished in Adam. Yes, redemption was done. Done. Fully done. Salvation was done. Fully done. Justification was done. Fully
done. When God Almighty looked upon
Christ as our surety. And the Father struck hands with
the Son in covenant grace. And he said, deliver him, talking
to the whole body of his elect, talking to justice, talking to
hell, deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found
a ransom. He has laid help upon one that
is mighty from eternity, and deliverance is absolute. Our
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ is he, in whom we were blessed
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places before the
world began. Is that what the book says? All
spiritual blessings? Now let men fuss and argue about
what I'm preaching to you this morning all they want to. Is
grace a spiritual blessing? I kind of think so. Is calling
a spiritual blessing? Might be. Is justification a
spiritual blessing? I believe it is. Is sanctification
a spiritual blessing? I think so. Is heavenly glory
a spiritual blessing? I think so. Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus before
the world began according as he hath chosen us in him. Well then that makes justification
in time, justification at Calvary, justification by faith, Meaningless. Oh no! Make some sure! Make some sure! Did God adopt
us in eternity? Well, sure He did! Sure He did!
Does that nullify our need to experience adoption in time?
Or mean we won't experience it in time? No! Make certain that
we shall! The Lord Jesus Christ is He.
in whom we were and are everlastingly accepted, accepted in the beloved
with his spotless garments on, holy as the holy one. And then,
back in our text one more time, I've saved it to last and won't
spend much time on it because I don't know much about it yet.
Whom he justified, them he also glorified. Soon I'll know a little bit about
that. You do. But this says past tense. Something done in eternity, Merle.
To which nothing can be added. From which nothing can be taken
away. What's he talking about? Is Christ glorified now? Indeed
He is. Glorified how? What did he say,
Lindsay? With the glory which he had with the Father before
the world was. That's the glory he has right
now. And that's the glory we had with the Father before the
world was.

God's Great Purpose of Grace

What does the Bible say about God's foreknowledge?

How do we know predestination is true?

Why is justification important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about glorification?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

God's Great Purpose of Grace

What does the Bible say about God's foreknowledge?

How do we know predestination is true?

Why is justification important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about glorification?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

More from Don Fortner

Same Scripture

Articles by Don Fortner

Books by Don Fortner

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book