Foreknowledge, Election & Predestination (Romans 8:28-31)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Since we have this ministry, since we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. And think about who we are compared to who God is.

Partakers of the Divine Nature and the Glory of Christ

And yet he loved us so much that we might actually become partakers of the divine nature. That's an amazing statement. You can just jot this down, 2 Peter 1, 4, that we become partakers of the divine nature.

So we will, what does that mean? We will be like Christ. But Christ is the firstborn, meaning he will have, has now, will always have the preeminence. So now we are to be like Christ, we're in Christ, but in glory we will be like him.

Romans 8:28 and the Sovereignty of God

Look at Romans 8, 28, a great verse for the sovereignty of God. Romans 8, 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.

For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. That he might be, that is Christ, he might be the firstborn among many brethren. So if God can make this promise to believers that all things are working together for our good, what does that tell you?

It tells you that God is in control. God is in control. God's providence is, has been said that his providence is the hand that is guiding human history. God is in control. That's not just something that we say.

That's the way it is. God is in control. And you know what? We need to be reminded of that on a regular basis, maybe every day. So if you are a believer, all things are working together for your good.

Even the bad things. Even the tragic things. All the trials and tribulations and the thorns in the flesh. It's all working together for good. Do you believe that? See, this requires faith, doesn't it?

This is the whole point. It requires faith. So it's all working together for our good, for God's glory, and God's purpose is a good purpose. And from the foundation of the world, God had a plan. God had a purpose.

And nothing catches him off guard. So God has a purpose, but he also has a people. Look at verse 29. For whom he foreknew. Speaking of God. For whom God foreknew. Stop there. Alright, what does that mean that he foreknew?

I think most people's idea of foreknowledge, well this is just what God knows ahead of time. Well listen, God is omniscient. He does know things ahead of time. Nobody, nobody disagrees with that. But the word foreknowledge here is much more than this.

If you don't believe me, look it up afterward. The word foreknowledge really is a synonym for election. Back in 2016, I don't know if you remember this, I said this morning's sermon is going to be on election.

This was whatever, November, end of October, and everyone's thinking, well this is, you're going to preach on the election. Well, I thought about doing that again this year, but really it's the doctrine of election, okay?

But foreknowledge is a synonym for election. God choosing a people for himself. And it says, for those whom he foreknew, he's not talking about events, he's talking about people, right? So God is choosing a people for himself.

The Greek word, progenosko, means to foreordain. It's translated that way elsewhere in the scripture. So what is God foreordaining? He is foreordaining a people, his chosen, his elect. And look down at verse 33, what does it say?

Who shall bring a charge against what? God's elect. So foreknowledge is God choosing a people. It is a foreordained relationship. And the term to know, you think of fore, fore is before, right? And then foreknowledge.

It's not just head knowledge. To know in the scripture speaks of intimacy. To know speaks of a relationship. Adam knew his wife, and she conceived. The Lord said in Amos chapter 3, verse 2, speaking to the children of Israel, he said, You only have I known of all the families of the earth.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, he gives that warning. That he will say to many on that day, I never knew you. And what is he saying? I never had a relationship with you. So foreknowledge is a foreordained or predetermined relationship that God has with his people, the elect, the chosen.

So God has a chosen people, Romans 8, verse 29. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he, that is Christ, might be the firstborn among many brethren. So God has elected a people, and he is working all things together for the good of those people.

And he has also predestined those people to be conformed to the image of his son. So again, today Christians are in Christ, but in glory, one day we shall be just like Christ. Look at verse 30. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called.

Whom he called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these he also glorified. So that one verse is moving from eternity past to the present to eternity future. And all things are working together to and for that end.

This is the sovereignty of God. Our glorification with the son of God, Christ having the preeminence. So based on all of that, Paul says in verse 31, what do we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Again, we do not lose heart. That is the glory of the new covenant. So God has his people and he's keeping his people. He's predestined us. He's keeping us safe and secure. And as hard as this is to believe, sometimes he has his people right where he wants them.

God's Sovereignty, Human Resistance, and the Drawing of the Father

You know, some people, I think, misunderstand the sovereignty of God and election and predestination and all of that. People misunderstand it. And one of the most common responses I've heard, if I've heard it once, I've literally probably heard it a thousand times.

People say, well, I don't believe in all of that because I don't believe that God drags some people kicking and screaming into heaven. While at the same time, he's stiff arming others, keeping them out of heaven when they desperately want to be there.

I've heard that so many times. That's people's response often when they hear about God's sovereignty and these subjects. Number one, what did Jesus say in John 6, 44? No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day.

The Greek word to draw, that's the Greek word for dragging someone. Go look it up afterwards. Elsewhere, that same Greek word is used to drag. And what did the Lord do to Paul? Think about this. Paul was kicking against the goads, right?

Whatever the translation says, he was resisting God. And then God one day grabbed him and said, no, now you belong to me, Paul. Paul was not searching after God. God dragged him to where he wanted him to be.

Now, God changed his heart. Did Paul make a choice? Did Paul make a choice to believe? Of course he did. But God acted first. Number two, this statement, God would never drag people and stiff arm others.

Who are all these people desperately seeking after the Lord, but God just won't allow them to come unto him?

That's not happening.

That is a complete straw man argument. Nobody is claiming that's the case. It's not the case. And then finally, number three, the Bible says in Romans 3, 11, that no one searches after God. But on the other hand, we know, as Peter says, that God is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

So God gives people an opportunity. God gives people time. And the elect are those who believe, those who continue to reject the Lord, continue in rejecting the Lord. At some point, God says, that's what you want.

Fine.

That is what you will get. Another example of this, when Jesus preached throughout Galilee, some of the people were saved. Many, most rejected the gospel. And what did Jesus say? That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.

Why?

Because they heard the truth. The truth incarnate was in front of them. They heard the truth, and they rejected it. This is why Jesus began speaking to the crowds in parables. You ever read the parables and say, why doesn't Jesus come out and say what he wants to say?

Matthew 13, verse 10, the disciples came to him and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables? And what did Jesus say? He answered and said to them, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

But to them, it has not been given. What was Jesus doing? He was making sure that those people remained blind. Now, initially, it was their choice. But from then on out, he was making sure they remained blind.

And in some ways, this was a gracious act. Because the more truth a person has, and they reject it, the greater their guilt. All right, turn back to 2 Corinthians, chapter 4.

We're almost done.

The Light of the Gospel in 2 Corinthians 4

So the false teachers, they were accusing Paul of preaching a veiled gospel or a deficient gospel. They accused him of not being honest. Well, they were the ones not being honest. They were the ones handling the word of God deceitfully.

But they accused Paul of this. And they would say that Paul was just in it for himself. Paul was just in it for himself. But in reality, the false teachers were just in it for themselves. So you see how this works.

And that's the way it is today. False teachers are in it for themselves. Look at verse 5. For we do not preach ourselves. This is Paul speaking. We do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. And ourselves, your bondservants for Jesus.

He said, I'm just a slave. That's the Greek word. That's humility. I'm just a slave. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

So the same God who said in the beginning, let there be light. That same God is saying that now when the gospel gets in, when the light of the glorious gospel shines in on a person's heart, he's saying, let there be light.

And they come to salvation. So have you done that? Have you allowed the light, the glory, the gospel of Christ to shine in on your heart? You've heard the truth. You've heard the truth. So right now, is your heart soft or is it hard?

Pharaoh, Moses, and the Hardening of the Heart

One final thing. I mentioned this in the beginning of the message. Pharaoh and Moses. In the book of Exodus, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, after Pharaoh heard the word of the Lord, what did he do? He hardened his heart.

Pharaoh made a choice and Pharaoh did exactly what Pharaoh wanted to do. Pharaoh hardened his heart. He hardened his heart. He hardened his heart. And then finally, the Lord stepped in and God hardened Pharaoh's heart once and for all.

Don't let that happen to you. Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank you for your word. And I pray, Lord, if there's someone listening right now who has never placed their faith in Christ, that they wouldn't put it off another day.

And I also pray that if someone needs to recommit their life, that you would show them that. And that you would help them through your spirit so that they could let go of their sin. Instead of clinging to that, that they would cling to the gospel, the only thing that brings forgiveness and peace.

To those who have an ear, let them hear. I pray in Christ's name.

Amen.

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.