ROMANS 8:28-39
that God chooses some for heaven and others for a terrible hell. But this is simply not the meaning God intends for the pas-
sage. What God wants believers to do is to take heart, for He has assured their salvation.
God knows the suffering that believers go through daily (cp. Ro.8:28-39). God “did foreknow” even before the foundation
of the world (v.29). But no matter how great the suffering, no matter how great the opposition, no matter how great the strug-
gle, God is going to complete His purpose for believers. God has “predestinated [believers] to be conformed to the image of
His Son,” and absolutely nothing can change that. Why? “That Christ might be the first-born [have the preeminence] among
many brethren” (Ro.8:29).
God loves His Son in the most supreme way possible. God has ordained that His Son shall have many brothers (adopted
brothers) who will love and serve Him as the first-born, that is, as the first Person or the most preeminent Person of the un-
iverse. God has ordained that Jesus Christ shall hold the highest rank and position: that He be the exalted Head of all creation
and the One to whom all men look (cp. Col.1:15, 18). Therefore, God is going to allow nothing to permanently defeat believ-
ers. God is going to allow no fallen child of His to ever remain down permanently. God is going to fulfill His purpose in
every child of His, and nothing can stop His purpose. Jesus Christ, His Son, will have a multitude of brothers and sisters who
worship and serve Him throughout eternity.
2. Believers will be conformed to the image of God’s dear Son. The words “conformed to the image” (summorphous
tes eikonos) mean both an inward and an outward likeness.
a. “Conformed” (summorphous) means the very same form or likeness as Christ. Within our nature—our
being, our person—we shall be made just like Christ. As He is perfect and eternal—without disease and pain,
sin and death—so we shall be perfected just like Him. We shall be transformed into His very likeness.
b. “Image” (eikonos) means a derived or a given likeness. The image of Christ is not something which
believers merit or for which they work; it is not an image that comes from their own nature or character.
No man can earn or produce the perfection and eternal life possessed by Christ. The image of Christ, His
perfection and life, is a gift of God. To be conformed to the image of God’s Son means...
• to become a partaker of the divine nature (2 Pt.1:4).
• to be adopted as a son of God (Eph.1:5).
• to be holy and without blame before Him (Eph.1:4; 4:24).
• to bear the image of the heavenly: which is an incorruptible, immortal body (1 Cor.15:49-54; cp.
1 Cor.15:42-44).
• to have one’s body fashioned (conformed) just like His glorious body (Ph.3:21).
• to be changed (transformed) into the same image of the Lord (2 Cor.3:18).
• to be recreated just like Him (1 Jn.3:2-3).
3. Note what it is that assures the believer’s deliverance from the suffering and struggling of this world. It is two things.
a. The foreknowledge of God. The word “foreknow” (proginosko) is used three different ways in Scripture. It
means...
• to know something beforehand, ahead of time.
• to know something intimately by loving and accepting and approving it.
• to elect, foreordain, and predetermine something.
The present passage is interpreted differently by scholars. Note that the second and third meanings are
much the same. When a person is loved and approved, selection or election is involved. The person
becomes a very special or select person.
Again, the point to see is not the pure logic of the theological or philosophical argument. This is not God’s
purpose in this passage. God’s purpose is to assure the believer: the believer is going to be conformed to the im-
age of Christ, and nothing can stop the glorious process. God foreknew the fact, saw it even before the world
was ever founded. He has always loved and approved the believer, electing and ordaining him from the very
beginning. (See DEEPER STUDY # 3, Foreknowledge—Acts 2:23 for more detailed discussion.)
“Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).
“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” (Ro.8:29).
“God hath not cast away his people [Israel] whom he foreknew” (Ro.11:2).
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the pre-
cious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreor-
dained [foreknown] before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times
for you” (1 Pt.1:18-20).
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth
them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity”
(2 Tim.2:19).
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and
peace, be multiplied” (1 Pt.1:2).
b. The predestination of God. The word predestination (proorisen) means to destine or appoint before, to
foreordain, to predetermine. The basic Greek word (proorizo) means to mark off or to set off the
boundaries of something. The idea is a glorious picture of what God is doing for the believer. The boundary
is marked and set off for the believer: the boundary of being conformed to the image of God’s dear Son.
The believer shall be made just like Christ, conformed to His very likeness and image. Nothing can stop
God’s purpose for the believer. It is predestinated, set, and marked off. The believer may struggle and suf-
fer through the sin and shame of this world; he may even stumble and fall or become discouraged and
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