“Glory Awaits Us”
(Romans 8:28-30)
Series: Not Guilty!
Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD
First Baptist Henderson, KY
(8-23-09) (AM)
- Take your Bibles and open to Romans, chapter 8.
We’re continuing our verse-by-verse expository preaching of the Book of Romans. We left off last time in chapter 8, verse 27 and so we’re picking up at verse 28. And verse 28 is one of those grand verses in the Bible that we love and cherish. Many have memorized this verse for comfort and strength and it has become so popular that we need only mention the reference. Someone is having a difficult time and we say to him, “Remember Romans 8:28!” It is a wonderful verse, yet it has all too often been prized right out of its context. And so it is our privilege this morning to study this verse in the biblical framework in which the Spirit of God has placed it.
You will remember that verse 1 of this 8th chapter of Romans is like the “Cliff’s Notes” of the entire chapter. Romans 8, verse 1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Everything Paul writes from verse 2 to the end of the chapter is merely an outworking of verse 1. Paul means to teach that once we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, once we have been justified by faith in Christ, this justification, this “being declared righteous by God” lasts forever. We are no longer under condemnation because of sin. We are “Not Guilty!” We are “in Christ.” We are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
In our previous study in verses 18 to 27, Paul reminds us that we are to look forward to that coming day when Christians will receive the fullest measure of their inheritance. He encourages Christians by saying, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (18).” It is an encouraging reminder that Christians are to have an eternal, heavenly perspective on everything. One day the Christian’s justification will end in glorification, that wonderful future state when Christ reigns on his throne in a new heavens and new earth and sin shall be forever gone. And the idea is, “Be encouraged in this present time. Remember this in your times of difficulty. Glory awaits us.”
- Stand in honor of the reading of the Word of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
- Pray.
Introduction:
One of the many reasons I believe strongly in Bible-book exposition, preaching verse-by-verse through books of the Bible, is that such preaching keeps us grounded in the context and intended meaning of the biblical authors. The true meaning of Bible verses is found in studying the words and sentences and paragraphs around them. When we do this we will also study words we perhaps otherwise may have skipped over.
Having said that, I wonder how many of you have had the privilege of making a careful study of these words in verse 29, “foreknew,” and “predestined,” and in verse 30, “called,” which, taken with the other terms, speaks to the doctrine of election. These words are not words believed only by one denomination or another. These words are not even “Baptist” words. These words are Bible words. And they are good words God uses to describe His wonderful work in and through His people.
Remember that the whole purpose of this chapter is to show that the Christian’s future glorification is absolutely guaranteed from the moment of his justification. When we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior we are justified. God declares us “not guilty” of our sin. We are saved from the penalty of sin. But we look forward to that future day when we are glorified, when we are saved from the presence of sin. Glorification is future. For Christians, “Glory awaits us.” It is coming. So the idea now is, “Hang in there. One day we will be glorified. Glory awaits us.” Christians may be greatly encouraged by what follows in verses 28, 29, and 30. Let me give you three actions for Christians that come from these verses. First:
I. Be Comforted in your Suffering (28)
I suppose every single one of us listening to this message today is going through one thing or another, difficulties in our marriage, in our home, in our school, or at our job. And while suffering varies from one person to the next, the Bible gives encouragement to every Christian undergoing suffering. Paul had said earlier in this chapter, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (18).” This theme is the context for what he writes now in verse 28:
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Memorize this verse! It is a great verse. How many of you have already memorized it? I love this verse. It comforts Christians in their suffering. Let’s break it down.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God. God is the implied subject. He is the one working in the “all things,” working them together for good. But note those to whom He works together all things for good. It says, “to those who love God.” This is very important. All things work together for good to those who love God, or those who are loving God. The verse may be better translated, “To the ones loving God, God works all things together for their good.”
You see, verse 28 is not saying, in a sort of Universalist, or utopian way, “Everything’s going to work out alright in the end.” That is how verse 28 is often used, but that is wrong. This verse is very specific. It is addressing those who are in a state of loving God. Paul is teaching that “to the ones loving God,” to Christians, to committed followers of Jesus Christ, all things work together for good.”
What is “the good” being worked together for Christians? Well it is not primarily defined as some sort of materialistic good or selfish good. It is a good primarily defined by what follows in verses 29 and 30, namely being conformed to the image of God’s Son and including being somehow better prepared and shaped for our ultimate good in glorification. Verses 29 and 30 are the expounding of the “good” of verse 28 or, the “according to His purpose.” In one sense, “the good” being worked together by God is anything that helps Christians fall more deeply in love with Jesus.
Note something else here about “those who love God.” Paul identified these who love God, these Christians, with the phrase, “those who are the called according to His purpose.” Some translations leave out the definite article, “those who are called according to His purpose.” In either case, Paul is talking about genuine believers, Christians, those whom God has called into a loving and saving relationship with Him. A genuine Christian is the one who responds favorably to the call of God upon his or her life.
For this reason we sometimes speak of a “general call” and an “effectual call,” or “effective call.” Two people sit in a congregation and hear the Gospel being preached. The “general call” of the Gospel has gone out to both. But what then happens? The one person says, “I’m not interested in all that.” The other says, “I need Christ. I must repent.” And this person receives Christ as Lord and Savior. For the second person, God’s call became effectual, or effective. God did it. God opened the heart of the person to understand his need for Christ. He is the called according to God’s purpose.
You see, verse 28 is a word of comfort to Christians only. Paul says, “And we know.” We! We Christians know this. I wonder whether we really know it at all. Do we really know that which Paul takes for granted that we know? Do we Christians really know and believe that “all things work together for good to those loving God, to the called according to His purpose?”
That’s the comfort of Romans 8:28. Be comforted in your suffering. Know that God is at work in your life, working all things together for your ultimate good. God overrules all things for the good of those who love Him. “All things,” not just “some” things. Christian, God is working through every single circumstance of your life to conform you into the image of His Son, working every single thing together for your ultimate good, doing whatever it takes to lead you into a more loving relationship with Christ.
So God may remove that job since He knows that it will draw you away from Him. He may give you another job since He knows it will draw you closer to Him. He may allow the relationship loss because He is working in your life to conform you into the image of His Son and He knows best. Sometimes we can look back and see His hand at work and thank Him for what He has done.
And those times we cannot trace His hand, we can trust His heart. He is working all things together for good to those loving Him. All things. All things. Even that tragedy or sudden loss. This is the encouragement to the Christian. One day we will see the evidence of what we have always known, that, for the Christian, everything happens for a good reason. One day we’ll see that. Everything that happens in the Christian’s life is used by God to prepare him for the future glory that awaits him. So be confident in your suffering. Secondly:
II. Be Conformed to your Savior (29)
Here in verse 29 is the most specific way in which God is working in our lives. God means to conform us to the image of His Son. God wants Christians to be like Jesus. That’s what Paul says here in verse 29:
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Paul writes first about those whom God “foreknew.” The word includes more than prescience, knowing the outcome of future events before they happen. The word means more than omnipotence, knowing all things. When the Bible says that God “knows” a person, it does not mean that God learns information about a person. It means that God has entered into an intimate relationship with a person. Foreknowledge has to do with a loving relationship. Foreknowledge is God’s setting His affection upon a particular people. That is foreknowledge.
It is as God speaks of His people in Amos 3:2, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” That’s the idea. God sets His heart and affection upon a specific and chosen people. Hosea 13:5, “I knew you in the wilderness.” 1 Corinthians 8:3, “If anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.”
Foreknowledge speaks of God’s special love for His people. God has entered into a loving relationship with those whom He has justified by faith. He has entered into a loving relationship with Christians. God has set His affection upon Christians.
Now watch this progression here in verse 29. God foreknew. He lovingly set His heart upon a particular people, those who would trust Christ as Savior. “Those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.”
The word “predestined” means, “to mark off beforehand” or, “to set the limits” of a thing beforehand. Predestination has to do specifically with the purpose for which God set His loving affection upon the Christian. God sets His affection upon a particular people, enabling them to believe the Gospel for what ultimate purpose? Verse 29, “to be conformed to the image of His Son” and, ultimately, verse 30, to be glorified with His Son.
Lord willing, we’ll deal next Sunday evening with what that word does not mean. There are some strange ideas among Christians about predestination and we’ll deal with those ideas next Sunday evening.
So many people want to talk about these words in abstract, taking them from the context in which we find them, arguing about them, and missing the entire point of what Paul is teaching in these verses. Our fallen nature is such that we want to talk about things we do not understand at the exclusion of the things which Paul makes clear!
The Bible says that God’s purpose for Christians is that they be “conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Paul writes of Christ in Colossians 1:18 that Christ is “the firstborn from the dead.” He is referring to Christ’s resurrection. Jesus was the first of many to be resurrected. Because we are “in Christ” we are “joint heirs” with Christ. We share in the blessings of Christ. Just as He has been raised from the dead, so are we raised from the dead. This is what Paul means in verse 29 by referring to Christ as “the firstborn among many brethren.”
In a few words verse 29 is about the Christian’s being conformed to his Savior. Our aim and goal in life is to be like Jesus. I wonder how many of us endeavor, really, to be like Christ? And how can we be like a person we do not really know? We must study that person, spend time with that person, love that person, in order to really be conformed to the image of that person. This is part of the “all things” God is working together for our ultimate good, our being conformed to the image of His Son.
Be comforted in your suffering, be conformed to your Savior, thirdly:
III. Be Confident of your Salvation (30)
Here is the “ultimate good” for which God is working all things together for the ones loving God. The ultimate good is our final salvation. That’s what Paul is teaching here in verse 30:
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Paul is teaching that Christians may be confident of their final salvation. We will one day be glorified. It is guaranteed. Remember these words justification and glorification?
When we trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior we are justified. God does that. He declares us righteous. We are justified by faith. We are saved from the penalty of sin. We look forward to that future state of glorification, when we are saved from the very presence of sin.
What Paul is teaching here in this verse is that Christians will absolutely positively be glorified. There is no doubt whatsoever. You can be confident that your present salvation will result in final salvation.
This is sometimes referred to as the doctrine of eternal security, or the doctrine of assurance, or, the final perseverance of the Saints. That’s what I like to call it. True Christians will persevere to the end. They will make it. God will see to it that it happens.
This is what Paul teaches elsewhere such as in Philippians 1:6, “(I am) confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Or, 2 Timothy 1:12, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”
This is really what Paul is saying here in verse 30:
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Do you see the permanent links in this golden chain of salvation? God is the “Master Forger” of these golden links. He takes the initiative in every single instance. God predestines, God calls, God justifies, and God glorifies. God takes the initiative every single time.
God predestinated Christians. He “marked them out” to be conformed to the image of His Son and He “marked them out” for future glorification. These He also called. He lovingly set His heart and affection upon this people. And then what? These He also justified. God did that. He declared them righteous by faith. Then what? These He also glorified.
Now get this! The verb tense in these words is the aorist tense. It denotes a completed action. That is particularly significant in the very last phrase in verse 30. “These He also glorified.” This is a completed action. So certain is the Christian’s glorification that the Bible speaks of it as having already occurred! Isn’t that wonderful? There is no doubt here. These God also glorified.
I mean, we have not yet been glorified in a chronological, historical manner. It is a glory that awaits us. But you see, so certain is the future fulfillment of it that Paul writes of it as having already occurred. How? Well, remember Christian, you are “in Christ.” What is true of Christ is true of you! You are indissolubly in Him. He is in heaven and, in a very real sense, so are you, even now.
This is what Paul meant in Ephesians 2:5-6, where he says that “even when we were dead in trespasses, (God) made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Fascinating, isn’t it?! Christians are here now on this earth, but because we are also “in Christ,” we are also at the same time in the “heavenly places.” That is just how secure our salvation is.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. We are saved forever. We are secure. Christians cannot “lose” their salvation. The whole point of this chapter is to show that the Christian’s future glorification is absolutely positively guaranteed from the moment of justification. In Christ, God has saved Christians from past, present, and future sin. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
- Stand for prayer.
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