For Those whom He foreknew(of whom He was aware and loved beforehand) He also destined from the beginning (foreordaining them) to be molded into the image of His Son (and share inwardly His likeness), that He might become the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:29 amplified bible
I am not a certified bible scholar, but I do spend time reading, studying, praying and discerning the word of God. Sometimes there are things that grab me and won’t let go until I am exhausted and drowning in the truth of God’s word. This happened to me most remarkably prior to my divorce, when I was desperate to know what God said about divorce. All I had heard was that He hated it and not to do it. But I also knew that this very same God wouldn’t want his child living how I was living…I needed truth and after hours of seeking, I found it and God led me to higher ground and I was free, just as God foreknew that I would be…..
…and so I share with you parts of what He has taught me concerning Romans 8: 29 & 30. We’ll take little parts at a time. Today we will come to the conclusion that there are some things where only FAITH is the answer. Some things that we acknowledge and that we don’t have to explain.
This is one of those things.
Foreknew, foreknowledge, predestined.
This word means God was aware and loved those he called before all things began. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world (eph 1:4) His gracious purpose to work all things together for good began with foreknowledge and foreordination. Not only was God aware but this also leads us to understand the idea that God gave prior consent to those things he works together for the good of those he has called and love him.
This word ‘foreknew’ is reserved for those matters which God favorably, deliberately and freely chose and ordained. This is something we just acknowledge and we cant really explain. We use this as a moment to have faith and rest in what He says, for His ways are higher. Without faith, questions like ‘did God predestine everyone to know him?’ and ‘what if he didn’t foreknow my child?’ get in the way of our faith in a good and righteous and perfect God. They tie us up in our earthliness, in our little minds and we worry and complain and judge the goodness of God.
This limitation is not with God. Its with you and I. To question any of these things is only a manifestation of our ridiculously feeble and proud minds. We were not made to reconcile our little minds with the vast purposes of God.
Here is what I do know:
There is no where in scripture where it says God foreknew or predestined any person to hell.
Only faith can give us peace with the truth of God.
Nothing takes God by surprise, his decisions are not determined by our decisions.
Whatever God purposes to do he does it and nobody can stop it.
He is God.
“The deeper things shall be left with God” ~Charles Spurgeon