Pauls Footsteps #350

 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” Rom. 8:30-31. NLT. 

Footsteps #350. Many versions have the word ‘predestined’ in v30. I like the NLT’s ‘chosen.’ Paul is here continuing the pastoral comfort he began with v18. Taking up where he stopped in the previous verse, talking about those who are chosen. These are they who have responded to the preaching of the gospel. God has justified them or counted them as righteous in Christ. Those who remain faithful are here assured of glorification. 

It is significant that Paul uses the past tense with glorification in the sense that every Christian who remains in Christ will be glorified at the Second Advent. Such glorification is not a maybe but a certainty. The believer’s glorification is just as certain as Christ’s, who was not only resurrected but ascended to heaven. 

Paul repeatedly in Romans returns to the topic of glorification of the saints at the end of time. And in Romans 8:30 this theme is all the more beautiful because it is completely in the context of statements dealing with the assurance of those who are in Christ. Not only are they the sons of God through adoption, but the apostle will soon tell them that nothing can separate them from God’s love (verses 31-39). No wonder he so firmly states that glorification is an accomplished reality for those who maintain their faith in Christ.  

And so begins (v31) what some have called the Christian’s triumph song. Paul has completed the first half of his letter to the Romans. He has demonstrated the universality of sin and has set forth God’s plan of salvation in terms of justification, sanctification, and glorification. But before he moves on, he decides to give the trumpet of assurance a blast of certainty. He asks five questions without answers, he just hurls them into space. He challenges anybody and everybody, in heaven, earth, or the grave, to answer them and to deny the truth which they contain. But there is no answer! 

The first question asks, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” The force of that question lies in the assertion that God is for us. That is one of the most important truths that we can ever understand. God is for us is the entire basis of the gospel as presented in the New Testament. The Lord so loved the world that He sent His Son to die in our place while we were still His enemies. That takes love, that takes a “for us” kind of God. He justifies us, then through the Holy Spirit, He Sanctifies us. Finally, He has guaranteed our glorification, if we remain in a relationship of faith in Him. Truly He is for us! 

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