The Unbreakable Chain of God's Purpose Text: Romans 8:28-30
Introduction: The Bedrock of Christian Confidence
We live in an age that is terrified of certainty. Our culture prizes ambiguity, celebrates doubt, and treats firm conviction as a form of bigotry. The modern man wants a god, if he wants one at all, who is more of a celestial guidance counselor, a well-meaning but ultimately powerless observer who wrings his hands and hopes for the best. He wants a salvation that is tentative, a gospel that is negotiable, and a future that is up for grabs. Into this gelatinous, sentimental slop, the Apostle Paul throws a granite boulder. That boulder is the absolute, meticulous, and exhaustive sovereignty of God.
The passage before us is one of the highest peaks in all of Scripture. It is a fortress for the afflicted, a tonic for the faint-hearted, and a death blow to all man-centered religion. These verses are not offered as a topic for polite debate in a seminary classroom. They are given to us as the very bedrock of our confidence in the face of a groaning creation, our own suffering, and the weakness of our prayers. Paul has just described the intercession of the Spirit on our behalf, and now he grounds that comfort in the unshakeable purpose of God the Father. He is telling us why we can have confidence. It is not because we are strong, but because God's plan is unbreakable.
Many Christians treat these doctrines of foreknowledge and predestination like a crazy aunt in the attic. They know she's in the family Bible, but they don't like to talk about her. They are embarrassed by her. They try to explain her away. But Paul does not hide these truths; he brandishes them. He puts them on the center mantelpiece. For Paul, the sovereignty of God in salvation is not a problem to be solved, but the ultimate solution to our problem. It is the anchor that holds in the storm. It is the reason we know, with absolute certainty, that our faith will not ultimately fail and that our suffering is not meaningless.
Here, Paul gives us what has been called the "Golden Chain" of redemption. It is a chain with five links, forged in eternity past and stretching into eternity future. It is a chain that cannot be broken because God Himself is the one holding both ends. And every person who is a true believer is held fast by this chain.
The Text
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers;
and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.
(Romans 8:28-30 LSB)
The Great, Governing Promise (v. 28)
We begin with one of the most beloved, and often misunderstood, verses in the Bible:
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
Paul begins with "And we know." This is not a guess. It is not wishful thinking. It is settled Christian conviction. But what is it that we know? We know that "all things work together for good." Now, we must be careful here. This does not mean that all things, in themselves, are good. Cancer is not good. Betrayal is not good. Death is not good. The promise is not that we will be insulated from the tragedies of a fallen world, but that God, in His sovereign wisdom, is the master weaver who takes all the threads of our lives, the dark threads of sorrow and the bright threads of joy, and weaves them together into a pattern that is, finally and ultimately, good.
But who is this promise for? It is not a universal Hallmark card sentiment. The verse contains two crucial qualifications. It is for "those who love God," and it is for "those who are called according to His purpose." These are not two different groups of people. They are two descriptions of the same people. Those who genuinely love God are the very ones who have been called by Him. Our love for God is not the cause of His favor; it is the result of His call. The effectual call of God creates the love for God within us.
And this call is "according to His purpose." This is key. The "good" that all things are working toward is not our personal comfort, financial prosperity, or a life free from trouble. The "good" is defined by God's purpose, which the following verses will spell out with breathtaking clarity. The good is our final conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. God is not managing the universe to make us comfortable. He is managing the universe to make us holy. He is making us like His Son. Every event, every trial, every providence that comes into your life has been vetted by your Heavenly Father and has been assigned a role in that great project.
The Unbreakable Chain: From Eternity Past (v. 29)
Paul now explains what this purpose is by taking us back into the council chambers of eternity, before the foundation of the world.
"Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers;" (Romans 8:29 LSB)
This is the headwaters of our salvation. It begins with God. The first link in the chain is foreknowledge. Now, the Arminian will tell you that this simply means God looked down the corridors of time, saw who would choose Him, and then elected them on that basis. But this makes a hash of the text and, more importantly, it makes man the decisive actor in his own salvation. The Bible's use of "know" in this context is not about mere intellectual awareness. It is a term of relationship, of intimate, covenantal love. When the Bible says Adam "knew" his wife Eve, it doesn't mean he passed a trivia quiz about her. In the same way, God's foreknowledge is His electing love, set upon a particular people before they had done anything good or evil (Amos 3:2; 1 Peter 1:2). He did not foreknow what we would do; He foreknew us. The objects of His foreknowledge are persons, not their actions.
And what happens to those upon whom God sets His eternal love? "He also predestined" them. The second link is predestination. This word simply means to determine a destination beforehand. And what is the destination? It is "to become conformed to the image of His Son." This is the "good" of verse 28. God's ultimate goal for His elect is that we would be remade, morally and spiritually, into the likeness of Jesus. He is saving us not just from the penalty of sin, but from the power and presence of sin. He is making a new humanity.
And why? "So that He would be the firstborn among many brothers." Christ is the prototype. He is the preeminent one, the head of the new creation. God the Father, in His great love for the Son, has determined to give Him a vast family of brothers and sisters who share the family resemblance. Our salvation is not ultimately about us. It is about the glory of Christ.
The Unbreakable Chain: Into Time and Eternity Future (v. 30)
Having established the eternal foundation, Paul now brings the chain down into human history and carries it all the way to its final consummation.
"and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified." (Romans 8:30 LSB)
Notice the relentless logic. The "those" in each clause is the exact same group of people. There are no dropouts. There are no leaks in this pipeline. Everyone who was foreknown is predestined. And everyone who was predestined, "He also called." This is the third link. This is not the general call of the gospel that goes out to all men. This is the effectual, internal call of the Holy Spirit that raises the spiritually dead to life. It is the call of Jesus to Lazarus in the tomb. It is an irresistible call that creates the response it commands.
And "those whom He called, He also justified." This is the fourth link. Justification is the great declaration of the gospel. It is a legal act in the courtroom of God, where He declares sinful believers to be righteous in His sight. This is not based on our performance, but solely on the basis of Christ's perfect life and substitutionary death, received by faith alone. God credits the righteousness of His Son to our account. We are declared righteous, not because we are, but because He is.
And finally, "those whom He justified, He also glorified." This is the fifth and final link. Glorification is our final state, when we are resurrected with new bodies, completely freed from sin, and brought into the full enjoyment of God's presence forever. Notice that Paul speaks of it in the past tense: "He also glorified." From God's eternal perspective, it is as good as done. The glorification of the saints is so certain that it can be spoken of as a completed act. If you have been justified, your glorification is not a matter of "if," but only a matter of "when."
Conclusion: An Unbreakable Comfort
So, what shall we say to these things? This is not dry, abstract theology. This is the fuel of Christian assurance and the engine of Christian endurance. This golden chain is an anchor for your soul. When you are tempted to doubt your salvation, look to the chain. Your salvation does not depend on the strength of your grip on God, but on the strength of His grip on you. And His grip is the grip that forged this chain in eternity.
When you suffer, when the "all things" of verse 28 include pain and loss, and you are tempted to think that God has forgotten you or that His plan has gone off the rails, look to the chain. The same God who determined your glorious end is governing every painful means to get you there. He is conforming you to the image of Christ, and suffering is one of His primary tools. He is not being cruel; He is being kind. He is making you glorious.
This doctrine does not lead to passivity, as its critics charge. It leads to the opposite. It leads to boldness. It leads to perseverance. It leads to worship. Because we know that the ultimate outcome is secure in the hands of a sovereign God, we are freed to obey Him radically in the present, knowing that nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from His love or derail His eternal purpose. From foreknowledge to glorification, it is all of God. And because it is all of God, it is all of grace. And because it is all of grace, it is all certain.