Romans 8:28-30 De-Calvinized

romans 8:28 through 30 is one of the most reference passages by Calvinists to support their view of individual election to effectual salvation verse 28 reads and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose now before proceeding let's look at the context of the passage remember what we've learned a text without a context is a pretext for a proof text earlier in the chapter Paul wrote we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up into the present time Paul goes on to encourage the believers that we wait eagerly for the hope of our glorification as we endure the sufferings today and he reminds us that the Spirit will help us when we pray in our weakness with groanings and words that we cannot possibly even understand in verse 28 there's a shift to provide comfort for believers who in their weakness are suffering and Paul reminds the Christians we know that in all things God will work things out for good he will redeem the bad that is happening for those who love him those of us who have been called according to his purpose and how do we know that God will do this we'll just look at all that God has done for those who followed him before which leads right into verse 29 for those he foreknew notice the shift to the past tense in verse 29 he references those four known in the past in fact all the verbs from verse 29 and following are in the Erised active indicative tenses which indicates that the action of the verb has already taken place with respect to the subject of the verb so when we read verse 30 it says and those he predestined he also called those he called he also justified those he justified he also glorified again all in the past tense which the most basic understanding grammatically would be in reference to those in the past thus the word Poconos Co which we translate into the word for new can simply be in reference to those formerly known in times past in the Calvinism versus arminianism debate since the 16th century that's dominated Western Christianity many have failed to look outside of the parameter set in the 16th century to understand various ways to interpret this passage that would be more consistent with the first century language many modern scholars therefore only see two options with regard to this text progra no schoo either means foresee or it must mean - for ordained prominent Calvinistic pastor John Piper for example says option one is God force all are self determined faith we remain the decisive cause of our salvation and God responds to our decision to believe option two according to John Piper is God chose us not on the basis of forcing faith but on the basis of nothing in us he called us and the call itself creates the faith for which it calls we believe that John Piper like many modern-day theologians have simply set up a false dichotomy by presenting only two possible options to this text when more options are actually available in fact the most simple basic understanding of the word program no schoo is formally known or known before Romans 11 - is the only other time the word pro-bono schoo is used in the letter to the Romans God did not reject his people whom he foreknew this clearly is in reference to the Israelites of the past who God knew formerly one other time the Apostle Paul uses this term is in acts 26 verse 4 and 5 when he speaks about his manner from youth and says they have known for a long time which is again the word progra no schoo simply interpreted as knowing something in the past so the term pro gano schoo or foreknew simply means to formerly know or to know before it does not need a lot of philosophical esoteric baggage attached to it it's a very simple word and just as Paul uses it in acts and in Romans 11 - it simply can be in reference to the Israelites of the past who loved God and were called according to his purpose dr. William Lane Craig in his book the only wise God references the word study of doctors forced and Marston God's strategy in human history saying quote God foreknew them or knew them of old thus it does not mean that God entered into some former time into a relationship with the Israelites of today it means that he entered a two-way relationship with the Israel that existed in early Old Testament times and he regards the present Israelites as integral with it dr. William Noel a friend and colleague of DL Moody and RA Torre taught thousands of people as a Bible teacher in Moody's Bible College in his book Romans verse by verse he discusses that God quote had acquaintanceship with the Israelites of the past so it was not quote mere divine pre knowledge of certain individuals but a real intimate pre acquaintanceship so what was Paul's intention in this passage I believe he simply is saying Christians don't worry we know from past experience that God always works out everything for those who love God and are called to follow him if you want proof look at those God previously knew loved and called in the past he determined them to be conformed to the image of his son so that his son would become the firstborn of many brethren what better example of God working out all things together for good than his work through the Israelites of old to bring the Messiah to this world for the redemption of all mankind while I am convinced that the term progra no schoo is best understood as in reference to those of the past there are other viable interpretations from a non Calvinistic perspective some classical Armenians have simply understood foreign oan has to mean foreseen in the sense that God simply knows beforehand who's going to have faith and those are the ones he is predestined to be conformed into the image of his son some non Calvinists believe that God's foreknowledge of an individual's faith is the basis for his decision to save them and predestined them to be conformed to the image of Christ Calvinists often character true this position by saying something like God looks to the quarters of time to see who will believe and therefore elects those individuals and then they paint all non Calvinists as to holding this position what must be understood is that on this perspective God is omniscient not Omni deterministic which means that God's knowledge is rooted in his eternal nature as God not his ability to look through the quarters of time which is why this is a character painted by Calvinists to dumb down this perspective and make it sound unreasonable another non Calvinistic interpretation of Romans 8:29 is to understand the word pro gano schoo or for known to be in reference to those known in Christ through faith this is known as corporate election it observes that the election of God's people in the old testament was a consequence of the choice of an individual who represented the group the corporate head and representative so from this perspective the verse might mean for those God foreknew would be in Christ by faith he predestined to become conformed to the image of his son I believe any of these interpretations are more valid than that introduced by Calvinism and their golden chain of redemption as seen exemplified here what Romans 8:28 through 30 or maybe even just 29 and 30 would recall would be called what we see is the golden chain of redemption as was classic they don't have in other words there are links within that change whereas none of them are ever broken so if you are part of any one of those you will make it to the end and it starts with the for knowing of God in all eternity pass in the predestination moves on to the calling the justification of the glorification and there's not a broken link in any of that so Calvinist more fatalistic interpretation of the word Pro Bono's Co is understood as four chosen or four ordained and thus those who are four known in eternity past are fated to believe when they are called and then they are justified and glorified for reasons that are beyond their control which logically entails that all other people are fated to damnation for reasons beyond their control as John Calvin himself wrote quote by predestination we mean the eternal decree of God by which he determined with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every man all are not created on equal terms but some are preordained to eternal life others to eternal damnation and accordingly as each has been created for one or the other of those ends we say that he has been predestined to life or to death there is no basis on which to conclude that most people are fated to unbelief for reasons that are beyond their control which is ultimately the logical end of the Calvinistic interpretation of Romans 8:28 through 30 as Paul reminded Timothy this is good and pleases God our Savior who wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth for there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all people please like and share this video and don't forget to subscribe to the channel and don't forget to visit so triology 101.com if you can help us spread the news of God's love and provision click the support link in the top right corner if you're interested in a higher theological education click on the classroom link and learn more about trinity seminary

Channel: Soteriology101

Views: 18,380

Rating: 4.7812791 out of 5

Keywords: Romans 8, 8:29, Foreknow, Foreknown, foreseen, foresight, predestination, predestined, calvinism, Piper, Sproul, golden chain, redemption, called, justified, sanctified, glorified, arminian, arminianism

Id: 5aqR23SrHy0

Length: 10min 48sec (648 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 26 2019