God Is FOR Me
I truly love this verse. It is the inspiration behind this blog’s
name – If God Is For Her. However, just looking at this one verse leaves a lot
of questions unanswered. What are the things we are responding to? That is the
1st question.
A quick glance at the immediate previous verses gives more
context. Romans 8:29-30 in the New International Version read like this:
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
I believe these verses are what verse 31 is in response to.
The next question would be, “Who did God foreknow?”. Some synonyms of foreknew are – anticipated and foresaw. If God created each of us – formed us in our mother’s wombs (Psalms 139:13) – then He foreknew us all.
Now, there are various beliefs regarding the word ‘predestined’
which means determined in advance by divine will or fate.
These beliefs lead to a question of who is to be conformed to the image
of Christ. Who did Christ die for? Here are three options:
- He died for no one. *Believing this is discounting at least the New Testament if not the entire Bible. God foreknew no one. Predestination is hogwash.
- He died for some. *If
I understand correctly, Calvinist believe that Christ died for the Elect.
Predestination is limited.
- He died for all. *This is my belief. Christ died for everyone. Each of us is predestined. God has chosen us all. Predestination is unlimited.
The fact that verse 29 states that ‘those God foreknew he
also predestined’ answers who is predestined for me. God foreknew each of us.
Each of us is predestined. Christ died for us all. We are all predestined to be
conformed to the image of God’s Son.
If we believe these things, then we are all
called, justified, and glorified – right?
Well, to get
the answer to that question, we need to have more context. See, Paul is writing
this letter to the Romans during the mid 50’s AD. The letter begins much
earlier than the scripture we are studying today. However, the answer is still found
in Romans 8. I encourage you to read the entire chapter as Paul writes to
great extent on the differences of living for flesh versus living for the
Spirit of God. Romans 8:14 is a key
verse. It says:
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
It is our
choice. While we are all predestined, there is a catch. The catch is that God gave us free will to choose the predestined
path He offers. The path is already waiting for us. God is calling each of us to
choose His path – to be led by the Spirit of God rather than flesh. If we
answer that call with, “Yes, Lord. I choose to stop being led by my flesh (accept
& confess our sins) and start following You (begin to be led by the Spirit
of God).”, then we are justified (worthy, redeemed, absolved) and glorified
(our sins are forgiven).
There is so
much more to Romans Chapter 8, but today I want to return focus to our original
verse 31 – What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for
us, who can be against us?
What excites
me about this verse to the point of naming my blog – If God Is For Her?
God is FOR
me! No one can judge me, but God and He chose to love me despite my past.
I am
foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified!
Heavenly Father,
thank you for showing me that you are FOR me. You sent your Son, Jesus Christ,
to die for me, knowing who I would be and the mistakes I would make. Thank you
for loving me – JUST AS I AM. Please give me wisdom and courage to go where You
lead on my predestined path.
Amen – for now.
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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