Amazing! But Difficult Doctrine
Romans 8:28-30
Turn to Romans 8. In our passage this morning, which I have titled Amazing! But Difficult Doctrine, I thought it would be good to sit down and talk about this passage, knowing that we have all come from different backgrounds, and some of the things we are going to address are hard and difficult. I grew up in a church that was very strong on the sovereignty of God, and that understanding has really grown over the years. And I believe that what I would teach today is a firm confidence in God’s sovereign work and reign. And to begin in our passage, we find one of the most quoted verses in all the Bible.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28 (LSB)
Just think of the magnitude of such a verse: “and we know … that God causes everything to work together for good … to those who love God … according to His purpose.” That is quite the promise, and then Paul goes on.
“Because 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 brothers; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Romans 8:29-30 (LSB)
I did notice that Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached seventeen messages on Romans 8:28-30. Now, most of his messages are close to an hour. That’s 170 hours, for 7 straight days, 24 hours a day on these three verses. Well, we will spend some more time next week on these verses, but for this morning I have chosen to focus on two questions, and here is the first: What does Paul mean when he says that those whom God foreknew, He also predestined?
Now I understand that with a passage like this there can be an uneasiness, for it would seem that the focus here is on God and not on man’s effort. And when Paul says such things as the person who is called by God is the person whom God has predestined for salvation, some might throw up some red flags. Because does this mean that there are those whom God has not called? Or could we say even worse, are there those whom God has predestined to hell or damnation? Well, it would be good first to understand that the one who is called to salvation has been predestined by God. That God had to quicken or make alive the dead sinner before he or she could believe; otherwise, the sinful heart would not believe, nor would the sinful heart ever repent. Paul told Timothy (2 Tim 2:24) to pray that God would grant repentance. In other words, if God chose not to grant repentance, people would not repent. Also, Paul told the Ephesians that faith was a gift of God. In other words, if God did not give faith, people would not believe.
So, the fact that our passage this morning states that God called and God predestined the one who would ultimately be justified is certainly a doctrine we need to celebrate because it places such glory on God, and it forces us to understand that without the resurrecting power of God spiritually in our lives we would have never believed. A verse that helps us here is Acts 13:48, where Paul and Barnabas have been preaching the gospel, it says:
“And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”
Acts 13:48 (LSB)
I suppose we could say from the verse that as many as believed in Christ were then appointed by God. But it doesn’t say that. It says as many as were appointed by God believed. And the troubling part of the doctrine is not those whom God called and who then believed, for if that is all we were dealing with, we would not have any real perplexity with the doctrine. Yet the questions come when thinking about those who do not believe, insinuating that they were not called. Some theologians have called this double predestination: that God determined that some would be saved and God determined that some would not. So, I don’t want to lose you this morning, so let me give you a definition of predestination, and then I will give you a definition of double predestination. The word itself is the Greek word proorizo, and means to mark out beforehand. Paul Enns wrote this:
“Predestination includes all events—not just individual salvation; it determined our status as adopted sons of God; it assures our ultimate glorification; it is for the purpose of extoling the grace of God; it secures our eternal inheritance; and it is according to the free choice of God and according to His will.”
Paul Enns
And the focus that I wish us to see this morning is the fact that predestination is the choosing by God for salvation. So, in this sense predestination deals with the positive side. Again, there is much to celebrate here, that the God of the universe would choose me! Whereas some theologians use the term double predestination to refer to the negative side, that God chooses individuals for eternal death. Therefore, some have tried to make the term predestination mean that God merely looked ahead and saw those who would believe. And therefore, those are the ones He chose or the ones He called. However, if you choose to go that route to try to avoid problems, you do not alleviate all the problems. For then you would have to go through all the stories of the Bible and say that the outcomes that occurred were merely the result of what happened, and God’s role simply was that He knew ahead of time what would happen but did not determine what would happen. In other words, you would have to do some juggling or some tiptoeing around the sovereignty of God. But if you take this position, that God merely looked ahead and knew what would happen, it still does not eliminate the fact that even if God did not determine all things, He still knew ahead of time that the vast majority of men and women would go to hell before creation.
Do you understand that? That holding to the position that God did not determine but merely saw ahead of time does not make things any easier or at least does not solve all the questions we might ask, for God still knew before creation that most of humanity would suffer in hell forever. There are three passages that I believe we must consider in this discussion, which we could describe as the negative side of this topic or the term double predestination. As opposed to the positive side, which we have before us this morning in our passage regarding those who are called. One is from 1 Peter 2:
“This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This has become the chief corner stone,’ and, ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this stumbling they were also appointed.”
- Peter 2:7-8 (LSB)
That sounds similar to being predestined, doesn’t it? As those who disbelieved were appointed to this stumbling. The second is from Proverbs 16.
“Yahweh has made everything for its own purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of evil.”
Proverbs 16:4 (LSB)
Now this verse does not address everything here, but it does clarify that God made some for the purpose of destruction, for it would be hard to understand that verse any other way. And the third is Romans 9, and when we get to Romans 9, it will not get any easier.
“And what if God, wanting to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath having been prepared for destruction, and in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory—even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles?”
Romans 9:22-24 (LSB)
This passage seems to speak of the appointing or predestination of those described as vessels of mercy, which we embrace and celebrate. But it also describes those whom God has predestined as vessels of wrath, which we may not want to embrace. Yet, we cannot turn away from these passages and try to downplay them. But I would also say, on the other hand, that we do need to be careful that we do not teach these harshly or defiantly, but very carefully, very thoughtfully, and very truthfully, understanding that they are difficult and understanding as well the greatness of God. And I do believe using the term “double predestination” may go a little far, as the Bible does not negatively use that term. But to understand that because God does predestine the believer, therefore, it is only logical to think that He predestines the one who is eternally damned. But it is more than just logical thinking, for Scripture does use terms as we have read of (1 Pet 2:8) “appointed to stumble” and (Rom 9:22) “prepared beforehand for destruction.”
So, we will discuss this further in Romans 9 when we get there, but I also do not want to leave you hanging here this morning. But to say that those whom God did not call, and who remain in their sin, are completely responsible for their own damnation. In other words, there is nothing in them that deserves salvation. And their choice to reject the gospel message and their choice to deny the creation of God, as Paul has been teaching for eight chapters now, is completely their responsibility; in other words, they can blame no one else but themselves.
You know, I was thinking as we have been going through this book of Romans, seeing the sinful heart of man in his rejection of God. And I thought that this is a good way for us as Christians to explain the reality of God to people who do not believe. As the book of Romans begins in the same way. I mean, creation is so obvious. For to look at the beauty of creation, flowers, birds, and waterfalls; to look at the vastness of creation, the universe, mountains, and oceans; to look at the brilliance of creation, the human mind and the instinct of animals, and then for mankind to conclude that it all happened by chance is an amazingly odd conclusion. But if we can get people to start thinking that there must be a Master Designer, for look at creation! And if we can get them to go that far, they must conclude that this Creator, this Master Designer, is brilliant and powerful. And that if He created, He must have a purpose for His creation.
And, as Paul then taught about the conscience. That if the Master Designer created man and placed within man a conscience that condemned wrong and approved right, this must prove the Creator who created that conscience is good, for there is something within His creation that knows right and wrong. Now that does not yet bring them to a Saviour, but it does at least bring them to start thinking that humans must be responsible and grateful and amazed at the One who created them. But it would only make sense that if God did create and had a purpose, He must have loved His creation, and therefore this introduces the reason that god sent His Son, Jesus Christ. But to deny the Creator when looking at creation places the responsibility for evil upon oneself, for creation is a very obvious revelation of God. Yet on the positive side, think of a passage such as Ephesians 1:
“[J]ust as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love, by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He graciously bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
Ephesians 1:4-6
And again, we would all applaud this part of the doctrine. I mean, nobody who gets saved would go around and say things like “I figured this out.” So, of course it is to the glory of His grace. How could it be any different? For when someone comes to Christ and believes. What do we say? Praise God! We would never say to the person, “Way to go, you did it!” No, God did it! So, we understand in that practical way that God must have done a miraculous work in us so that we would get past our stubborn humanity and believe. And we see this in our passage as well (vs 29) “Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son … (vs 30) and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.” In other words, the ones who will ultimately be glorified in heaven are the same ones whom God has justified. And the ones justified are the same ones who have been called by God. And the ones called by God are the same ones who have been predestined by God. And the ones predestined by God are the same ones whom God foreknew.
Jesus used this same terminology (John 6:44), saying that no one comes to Me unless the Father draws him. Now that would be an odd statement to make if the Father draws everyone. Jesus said (John 6:65), no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father. Again, that would be an odd choice of words if everyone was granted by the Father. And I know within this issue there is the whole argument of Calvinism and Arminianism. And many of the men who we listen to, and quote and study are definitely on the Calvinist side. Men like John MacArthur, D. A. Carson, R. C. Sproul, and Paul Washer, who would all call themselves five-point Calvinists. And someone like John Piper who jokingly calls himself a seven-point Calvinist, just so you get the point that he is a Calvinist. But we do not even need that argument, for this is right here before us here in Romans 8.
And I do not claim to fully understand this paradox in the Bible. A paradox that only seems to contradict, yet it does not contradict in the mind of God. John MacArthur describes it this way: a paradox is two truths laid alongside each other, which are both realities, and yet are somewhat contradictory in the human mind. But I would understand this from studying the Bible, and listen carefully: that those who come to Christ have no other response than that they have been called by God and therefore they owe Him all praise and glory forever and ever; and those who reject God are completely responsible for their rejection and will be judged as sinners in the resurrection. These are two truths we know.
Now, some questions may come to mind. On the positive side, if the one called will become a Christian, then how does that person even have a choice? And even worse, on the negative side, how does the one who is not called ever have an opportunity to come? Firstly, the one who comes to Christ, it is always described as a choice. Choose you this day whom you will serve. Secondly, the one who does not come has sinned against his own conscience and his disregard for creation and is therefore fully guilty. But I would also add that these are two truths that are very difficult to reconcile in the human mind. But though I do not fully understand them and how they gel together, it does not make them any less true. So, we can never downplay one side or the other. In other words, when I say I do not fully understand this, they are still completely true because this is what Paul is teaching here. In fact, because I do not understand it, in some ways, it makes it even more amazing. Is that not true, that the truths that we do not understand are often the most amazing and deepest in the Bible? Do we not marvel at the truth that Jesus is both truly God/divine and truly man? And just because we do not understand it, it does not make it less true.
I cannot even come close to comprehending eternity past. That God has always existed, that as far back as you can go, He has always been there. And though I do not understand it, that has to be one of the most amazing truths in the Bible. I have mentioned to you before that scientists today are starting to believe that there are as many stars as grains of sand. Yet amazingly, though the Bible does not say that specifically, it does hint at that. Whenever the Bible describes something numerous, it often refers to grains of sand or the stars of the sky. Did you know that in one handful of sand, even coarse sand, there are about 10,000 grains of sand and can be up to 150,000 grains with finer sand. And yet on a dark night with the human eye, we can only see about 1,000 stars. So, why would the writers of the Bible use both stars and sand with the same analogy? Because the Bible already knew that there are trillions and trillions and trillions of stars. And we could speculate that there may be no end to God’s universe, signifying His awesome power and might. In other words, no end of the universe because there is no end to the glory of God. When I was out with Jack, we were speaking of the greatness of God’s universe. We were laughing, trying to comprehend a universe that does not end. But then we concluded that if it did end, God would have had to create a great wall. But how thick is the wall, or what is behind the wall? The back of the wall! Things way too much for the human mind, but not God’s!
So because we do not understand the magnitude of creation, it does not lessen creation but actually magnifies creation. And because we do not understand how God could choose people for salvation and yet at the same time sinners are responsible for their rejection of the gospel, it should actually magnify to us the bigness of God and the awesome mind of God. Here is how John MacArthur states it: God is one hundred percent sovereign over who is saved, electing His people before the foundation of the world. Humans are one hundred percent responsible for their choices, commands to repent, and have ultimate accountability. And trying to reconcile those two truths logically is impossible for the human mind, but both must be accepted as fully true because Scripture affirms both. So, what does Paul mean when he says that those whom God foreknew, He also predestined? Answer: God chose those who would come to Christ before the foundation of the world, as it was His sovereign choice, His sovereign calling, and His choice was according to His good pleasure. The second question from our passage.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28 (LSB)
Here is the question: How can all things work for good according to His purpose? And this seems like an easier question, but is it? Of course, the classic example of this was from the life of Joseph, who was treated so wrongly by his conniving brothers. And yet he was able to say at the end, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” In other words, God used all their evil plans to place Joseph in leadership in Egypt so that he was able to save his people during the famine. Now, no matter where you sit on this topic, there is no way anyone could ever try to explain that one, is there? Come on! How brothers made evil decisions that they were responsible for, and yet at the same time God had predetermined to use those evil decisions to bring about His perfect will for Joseph and his family and ultimately the Jewish nation. And I know some would try to simplify the Bible and claim that the way they see it, it is all quite simply explained. No, there is no way of explaining that one, except to sit back and be completely amazed at the mind of God.
I mean, the same illustration could be said of the crucifixion of Christ. Thinking about all that the Romans did, what the hateful Jews did, and what Judas did in the ultimate death of Christ. Who said, by the way, I give up My own life. But all these people who did to Him what Christ had already planned to do, and they all contributed to what God used to save those whom He had chosen. This explanation is given in Acts 4.
“For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.”
Acts 4:28-29 (LSB)
And the explanation is given in an even stronger way in relation to our topic this morning about predestination in Acts 2.
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God did through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know—this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of lawless men and put Him to death.”
Acts 2:22-23 (LSB)
So, as I considered this verse (Rom 8:28), that “all things work together for good,” and then considering all the things that could happen in the course of someone’s life, all the good, all the bad, and all the ugly, and thinking, how could all this be explained? And my conclusion is this: here is my answer; it cannot! Why? Because it cannot be explained in the life of Joseph, and it certainly cannot be explained in the crucifixion of Christ. If God planned to rescue Christ, so that He would destroy all those who came against His Son, we may feel we have come to a better explanation. But God did not do that. God did not see all this evil coming against Christ, and at the last minute, He sent fire down from heaven and destroyed all those against His Son. That we would get. But to actually use the evil to bring about what He had planned in the first place, certainly, cannot be explained by me, unless you have a good explanation. Or why not just wipe out Joseph’s brothers from the get-go, as opposed to going on for about eight chapters of these scoundrels doing what they were responsible for, only to find out later this was all part of God’s plan, unexplainable!
Now, on a simpler note, Paul has already talked about the present-day sufferings not comparing to future glory. So, there is that progression of suffering to glory, which would account for things working for good. But I believe the deeper question we might have is how we could say “all things” work together for good. Could we actually describe this statement as saying that it does not matter what happens to you, but that God will use it and overrule it all for your good? And the way Paul words this statement is with the assumption that we can be certain of this. And I also want to say that in this statement within itself, it must strike us with the reality of the complete and full sovereignty of God, for how could God guarantee such a thing unless He was sovereign over everything? Do you understand that? That for God to say that all things will work for your good, all things, must include the amazing reality and truth of God’s sovereign work! For God is not simply saying that he will wipe away all your enemies and problems in the end, but as God did with Joseph and with Christ, He will actually use it all for good.
If, as a parent, I was responsible for the safety of my child, I could not allow or even know the damage that might be caused if I did not wipe out all negative situations or all the threatening encounters. But God amazingly can, because God can allow danger; He can allow risk, and even great sorrow and heartache; and still guarantee good at the end. Could I have allowed, if I were Joseph’s father, what happened to him? No, for I would have no guarantee that the brothers would not have just killed him at some point. How would I have orchestrated Reuben talking the other brothers into selling him, instead of killing him? How would I have orchestrated Pharaoh partly siding with Joseph, when he was accused by Pharaoh’s wife? And we are not just trying to explain all this by saying that God simply reacted to save Joseph. No, God planned it all, using the evil actions of the brothers, and whom God held accountable for those actions, though it was God who predetermined the whole thing. Amazing! See, to be completely amazed at the immense brilliance and greatness of God, you must have a strong belief in the sovereignty of God.
So, back to our question: How can all things work for good according to His purpose? I can’t answer the question. I have no idea, for only God knows. For God’s ways are way above man’s ways! Now, we could ask the question: Will all things work out for good according to His purpose? Answer: Yes, a thousand times yes! How will all things work out? No idea. Will all things work out? Yes! Can we say that? How will all things work out? No idea! Will all things work out? Yes! A resounding yes!
Well, I want you to notice one last thing from the verse. And it is that the good that is promised is only for those who love God and have been called by God. And if you are sitting here this morning unsure about your standing before God, and you are thinking that you don’t even know if God has called you. I wish to leave you with the perplexity of what we have been talking about this morning. For I gave you words of Jesus in John 6: unless the Father draws them or unless the Father grants them permission. And I will never be able to explain to you this paradox. But in that same passage, Jesus said this (vs 47): he who believes has eternal life. Do you believe this, this morning? Is it your desire to receive Christ as your Saviour and Lord? Because if this is your heart, Jesus said (vs 37), the one who comes to Me, I will never cast out. In other words, if you are unsure of your salvation, come to Christ today. For Paul said (2 Cor 6:2), today is the day of salvation. Come and receive Him as your Saviour and Lord. If that is your heart, I would love to talk to you after we close about that decision this morning. Let’s pray. Father, for what we know not, teach us. For what we have not, give us. And for what we are not yet, make us. And all God’s people said, amen.