God knows and knew and glorifies

Monday July 28th, Romans 8: 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Predestination is not a subject for most cocktail conversation, or even church conversation for that matter. Martin Luther and Calvin went round and round on it. Most theologians today tiptoe quietly past the subject. My wife after having been in a Bible study that broached the subject, when she hears the word, throws up her hands and mutters something like, “Oh, No, No, No, No, I don’t want to go there again. So let’s take a look at what Paul says. God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called, they may be the same people, but then again, they may not. When you throw in those who are called however, the pretty much includes us all. Those God foreknew are predestined to be like his son, Jesus, and God created all that is, proclaimed it good and created humanity in the image of God, and so like Jesus. Those predestined, are called, justified and glorified, and since God foreknew all that was and called it good, then all are called, justified and glorified. Some of us don’t respond very well to that call most of the time and all of us don’t respond very well to that call some of the time. That is our bag. On God’s side of the equation, all are called, justified and glorified and our task is to learn to live with that.