FIVE GOLDEN LINKS IN THE UNBREAKABLE CHAIN OF OUR REDEMPTION

Part 14

Rom. 8:29-30

Morning Meditation 1/19/17

Verse 29-30 says, “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. 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.”

In our last meditation I dealt with the first two links in the unbreakable chain of our redemption. I will continue in this meditation with the next link. The next link is the word,

Paul says, “. . . Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called . . .” The word “called” translates “kaleo” and means, “to call aloud, utter in a loud voice.” It is an aorist active indicative verb. All five of these golden links are aorist active indicative verbs. All of them refer to a point of time in the past. When did He foreknow them? When did He predestinate them? When did he call them? If we fix the time of the foreknowing we have fixed the time of the rest. I believe the danger right here is to try to make this fit logically into our belief system. When we do that we come up with interpretations that do not fit with other verses in the Bible. That should be enough to make us back off and live with the unexplained and unexplainable. But some are not willing to do that and become lopsided in what they believe. Listen, any teaching that takes away God’s sovereignty or man’s free will is lopsided and NOT TRUE. Now that is my decided opinion. And it is my decided opinion that those who get lopsided in their doctrine do damage to themselves and to their sphere of influence. Nuff sed.

This is the call of salvation. Some talk about irrestible grace. Isaiah knew nothing about this man made doctrine. He says in Isaiah 65:12: “Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.” Man rejects God’s call and God holds him responsible.

The saints are called the called. Verse eight of this chapter says, “ . . .to them who are the called . . .” He says in Romans one verse six:: “Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ.” Paul says again in 1 Corinthians 1:1: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother.” You will notice that the words “to be” are in italics which means they were added by the translators for our understanding. The idea is that Paul was a “called Apostle” not one called of man but one called and commissioned by God Himself. The Christian is one who has the call of God upon him. To God this call was before the foundation of the world but to man it was in his lifetime. For Paul it was on the road to Damascus, Syria. For me it was in Damascus, Arkansas in my grandparents home. God called and I answered.

We had a Master Sargent in the Air Force coming to Shady Grove Baptist Church in Bossier City, LA where I pastored twenty-seven years. My wife and I had visited in his home and talked to him about the Lord. He expressed and interest but was not ready. In a Sunday morning service not long after that during an invitation he raised his hand for prayer. I invited those that morning who raised their hands to pray and ask the Lord to save them right were they were. I led in a prayer and then asked for those to come forward who had just asked the Lord to save them. He shot out of the pew like a bullet and made a public profession of his faith. The next Thursday night my wife and I were doing a follow up visit in his home. He said, “Brother White, when you called my name Sunday during that invitation is what did it. When you did that I had to come.” My wife and I looked at each other in astonishment. I said, “Bro. Tim, I did not call your name. I would never call an unsaved persons name in an invitation. But I know who did!” I am going to tell you it would not have done for me to have done in that man’s home what I wanted to do right then! I would have turned his living room into a “shouting camp meeting.” I think that might have been too much for him at that point. God calls men to salvation. The next link in the chain is,

Paul said of those whom God calls, “. . . them he also justified.” The word “justified” is the translation of the word “dikaioo” and means, “to render righteous.” It is an aorist active indicative verb which means He did it in the past. The word is used to describe the saved. Justification is a judicial act of God whereby He declares a sinner just and treats him as though he had never sinned because of his faith in the gospel. Paul said, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). He says again in Romans 1:17: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” The saved in this verse are called “just.”

This designation has nothing to do with the way one lives. A good illustration of this is found in 2 Peter 2:7: “And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.” God called Lot just. This is the same as saying he was saved. When God says a man is saved he is saved no matter what the scholars think about it. If it were not for this verse in the New Testament, we would have no assurance of Lot’s salvation. He certainly did not live like a saved person. The next link in the golden chain of our redemption is,

Paul says, “ . . . them he also glorified.” The word “glorified” translates “doxazo.” We do not get any help on this word from its definition. The word here refers to the resurrected state of the saved. We get a glimpse of it when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John on the Mount of transfiguration. It is described in 1 Corinthians 15:50-53: “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

This described the glorification of the body of the saved at the rapture and resurrection. But what about this aorist active indicative verb. That means that the word “glorified” in our verse means that it has already taken place in the past. This is one of those mysteries that shoots right passed us. It is totally unsatisfying to say, “As far as God is concerned, it has already happened.” This is true but I doubt if that would explain this verse.

There is one other thing that I want to mention in closing this meditation. I believe it means that our new nature that we received by an act of creation when we were saved (Eph. 4:24) is already glorified. The new man in Christ is in its essence the divine nature. This part of the saved man does not sin. The flesh does sin and needs daily cleansing. But the new nature does not sin: 1 John 3:9 says, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” Someone might say, “That means that a saved person does not PRACTICE sin. I understand that there is some basis for this interpretation. But I do not believe that is what is meant here. If it means that he does not practice sin, what about Lot? What about those who practiced sin in the church at Corinth? Some were chastened by having their lives taken (1 Cor. 11:30). But they still practiced sin. No, I do not believe that it is practicing sin that is being referred to here. I do not believe the new man sins. This is were the conflict comes between two natures that are completely opposite from one another. God will not impute sin to the new man (Rom. 4:8). This is the only sinless perfection the believer will every have in this life. It is work God has done in his life by grace and it is not subject to sin.

The five links in the golden chain of our redemption are Foreknowledge, predestination, Called, Justified, and glorified.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White