"He Also Did Predestinate”
Romans 8:29
Do not be afraid of predestination. And do not be ashamed of it. We are predestinarians, because we believe the Bible; and predestination is a Bible doctrine, full of comfort and joy for God's saints. Predestination is God's infallible purpose of grace regarding his elect whom he foreknew. It simply means that our eternal destiny was settled by God, and infallibly secured by him before the world began.
THOSE WHOM GOD
FOREKNEW IN ELECTING LOVE, HE PREDESTINATED TO BE
CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON. Salvation, in its ultimate completion
and perfection, is conformity to the image of Christ who is the express image
of the invisible God. Our conformity to Christ is the object of God's election
and predestination (Eph. 1:3-5). This conformity to Christ is threefold: It Is A Climatic
Conformity. In regeneration, Christ
is formed in us. His righteous nature is imparted to us (II Pet. 1:4). It Is A Gradual Conformity. We are day
by day conformed to the image of Christ as we put on Christ and grow in his
grace and knowledge (Eph. 4:17-24; Col. 3:3-10; II Pet. 3:18). By the grace and
power of God the Holy Spirit dwelling within, by the working of God's Word upon
us, and by the loving nurture and discipline of our heavenly Father, the lives
of God's people are graciously molded to Christ in all areas, not perfectly but
gradually and increasingly. We do not become more holy in God’s sight. We are
perfectly holy in Chris! But every believer does grow in faith, love, and
commitment It Is A
Consummate Conformity. We shall be perfectly conformed to Christ's image in
perfect holiness of nature, both physically and morally, in the resurrection
(Eph.
In sovereign predestination, God eternally and immutably determined WHO he would save, HOW he would save them, WHEN he would save them, and WHERE. he would save them. Then he sovereignly arranged everything necessary, both to accomplish their salvation and to bring them to glory at last, perfectly conformed to the image of his dear Son. Predestination marked the house into which grace would come, paved the road by which grace would travel to that house, set the time when grace would enter, and guaranteed that grace actually would come and enter in at the appointed time. Nothing was left to chance, blind fate, luck, or man's imaginary free will!
Would it be considered a horrible, monstrous thing for a father, as soon as he is aware that his wife is expecting a child to start preparing for that child’s education and future to the best of his ability? Would anyone think him evil for having secured everything necessary to give his child the best education and life possible? Of course not. We praise such action on the part of men. Let no one think hard of God for having done the same thing. Predestination is no more and no less than God Almighty having arranged from eternity everything necessary to bring his elect children into heaven in the perfection of everlasting life.
Don Fortner