ROMANS 8:28-39
downhearted. But if he is a genuine child of God, he will not be defeated, not totally. He will soon arise
from his fall and begin to follow Christ again. He is predestinated to be a brother of Christ, to worship and
serve Christ throughout all eternity. And Christ will not be disappointed. God loves His Son too much to
allow Him to be disappointed by losing a single brother. Jesus Christ will have His joy fulfilled; He will see
every brother of His face to face, conformed perfectly to His image. He will have the worship and service of
every brother chosen to be His by God the Father. The believer’s eternal destiny, that of being an adopted
brother to the Lord Jesus Christ, is determined. The believer can rest assured of this glorious truth. God
has predestinated him to be delivered from the suffering and struggling of this sinful world. (See notes,
Predestination—Jn.6:37; 6:39; 6:44-46 for God’s part and man’s part in salvation. See DEEPER STUDY # 3—
Acts 2:23; DEEPER STUDY # 1—Ro.9:10-13; note—9:14-33 for more discussion.)

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will” (Eph.1:4-5).
“According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: in whom
[Christ] we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him” (Eph.3:11-12).

3
(8:30) Glory of Believer: God has set the glorification of the believer once-for-all. This is the third assurance of deliver-
ance. It must be remembered throughout this passage that Scripture is talking about the genuine believer. A genuine be-
liever is a person who sincerely believes in Jesus Christ and diligently seeks to please Him by living soberly, righteously, and
godly in this present world (Tit.2:11-13). It is the genuine believer whose glorification is predestinated, set forever and ever
by God. The true believer can rest in this glorious truth, for God has done three wonderful things for him. God has called,
justified, and glorified him. Note that all three steps are in the past tense; all three steps are something already accomplished.
The believer’s glorification has already taken place in the plan and mind of God. God already sees believers glorified; He al-
ready sees believers in His presence. It is assured and predestinated—already written down in the annals of heaven, never to
be erased.
Again, does this mean that some are destined to hell and some to heaven? No, a thousand times, no! This is not the pur-
pose of this Scripture. God’s purpose is to give enormous assurance to the true believer: he shall be delivered from the strug-
gling and suffering of this sinful world. He is going to be freed—if he is a true believer—freed from all the sin and shame,
failure and shortcoming, pain and death. He is going to be glorified right along with God’s dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. God has called the true believer. Some time ago the Spirit called and stirred the heart of the true believer to come to
Christ. The believer responded to the call. Scripture definitely teaches that the believer had a choice. He could have chosen to
respond or not to respond. (Cp. Rev.22:17.) Thank God he responded and came to Christ. Therefore, the call was effective;
the call worked. The believer did respond to Christ. (See note, Draw—Jn.6:44-46 for God’s part and man’s part in salvation.)

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt.11:28).
“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in
Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Cor.5:20).
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will
come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev.3:20).
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev.22:17).
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Is.1:18).
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy,
and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is.55:1).

2. God has justified the believer. Again, note the past tense. Justification has already taken place for the true believer.
(See note, Justification—Ro.5:1.)

Thought 1. The point is clear. If the believer has been truly called, if he has been truly saved, then his deliverance
from struggling and suffering is assured. His deliverance is a past fact and it is set eternally by God. No matter how
deeply the believer senses his shortcoming and failure, his struggle with the sin and suffering of this world, he is a
child of God. Every time he comes short or stumbles and falls, he needs to get up and begin all over again. He must
not become discouraged and defeated, self-accusing and incriminating, feeling unworthy and undeserving, or un-
wanted and rejected. Such a state of mind is one the most useful strategies of the devil—a strategy which he uses to
defeat believers by the multitudes. God has called the believer, so he must arise and begin to diligently follow Christ
once again. Every believer who is walking about defeated—no matter how great his fall—should arise right now and
turn back to Christ. This is our call, our duty.

“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor.6:11).
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not
for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn.2:1-2).
Paul the apostle, who was a converted murderer, is a dynamic example of this victorious attitude, the very atti-
tude needed so desperately by all believers.

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