CALLED
- JUSTIFIED - GLORIFIED
“For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren. (30) 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.” Romans
8:29-30
“Them he also
called”
Matthew Henry
wrote,
“All that God did from eternity predestinate to grace and glory he does, in the
fulness of time, effectually call.” “Them
he also called” that the purpose of God, according to election, might
stand, at the appointed time of love and grace, God’s elect are called to that
to which we were chosen and predestinated.
Sinners come to
Christ when God the Holy Spirit calls them to Christ and graciously makes them
willing to come. He convinces the heart. He bows the will. He enlightens the
mind. He inclines the soul. He makes chosen, redeemed sinners willing in the
day of his power (Ps. 65:4; 110:3).
The word “called”
here was a legal term in the Roman world. It means summoned, as when a
person is called to appear in court. The call of God the Holy Spirit is not an
invitation. It is a divine summons, issued upon legal the grounds of blood
atonement. All who are thus called to Christ come to Christ, and come most
gladly!
The only way to
make our election sure is to make sure our calling (2 Pet. 1:10). If you come
to Christ it is because God the Father chose you in eternity, Christ redeemed
you at Calvary, and the Holy Spirit has effectually called you. Your faith in
the Son of God is the fruit and evidence of all God’s saving operations of
grace toward you and in you.
“Whom he called those he
also justified.”
All that are
called by the Spirit of God are justified, absolved from all guilt, and
accepted as righteous in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. We are right in
court. No sin we have ever been guilty of, no sin we are guilty of, and no sin
that we shall yet be guilty of shall come against us to condemn us. The book is
crossed, the bond cancelled, the judgment vacated, the debt is paid, the
indictment is reversed; and we are no longer dealt with as criminals, but owned
and loved as friends and favorites. Blessed is the man whose iniquity is thus
forgiven. None are thus justified but those that were foreknown and
predestinated, and are effectually called. And all who are predestined and
called are justified stand before the holy Lord God in Christ as righteous
people, justified in him, completely, fully, immutably justified.
“Whom he justified those he
also glorified.”
I
cannot say much about this yet because I do not yet know much about it. I hope
to know more soon. However, Of this much I am certain - Glorification is exactly the opposite of condemnation! God removed
the guilt of sin from us in justification He broke the reigning power of sin in
us in effectual calling. Soon, he shall deliver us from the presence,
influence, and being of sin, and from all the evil consequences of it in
perfect, complete glorification.
AMEN.
Grace Baptist Church of Danville - Grace For
Today Radio Message #706
2734 Old Stanford Road -
Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438
Donald S. Fortner, Pastor -Telephone 606-236-8235 - Email grace@mis.net