"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? Will it be the God that is justifying those elect. Who is he that is condemning? Will it be the Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also is making intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." - Romans 8:28-37
The statements "It is God that is justifying" and "It is Christ that died..." are actually translated more properly from the Greek as rhetorical questions. Wikipedia gives us the following definition of a rhetorical question.
A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for its persuasive effect without the expectation of a reply (ex: "Why me, Lord?"). Rhetorical questions encourage the listener to reflect on what the implied answer to the question must be. When a speaker states, "How much longer must our people endure this injustice?" or "How many times do I have to tell you to stop walking into the house with mud on your shoes?"; no formal answer is expected. Rather, it is a device used by the speaker to assert or deny something.
Paul is thus asserting that the God of the elect will no lay any thing to the charge of the elect. That the Christ who died, and rose again, who is making intercession for the elect will not condemn the elect. Now, with that said, let me move on to the main topic of this posting.
The predestination of the elect of God is not based on our choices, but rather, it is based on His foreknowledge of the choices that we are going to make. We are predestinated based on that foreknowledge of God, and therefore our predestination is not a conditional predestination at all. However, God still has to allow us to make our choices in real time, in this world, for them to be valid.
Now let me give you an example of what I mean by that. I have two objects. I give you the opportunity to have one of them. However before you even make a decision, because I have a foreknowledge of your choice, I know which one of the two you are going to take. So, can I just hand you that object and it still be your choice? No, I can't. Because if I did that, then I would not be allowing you to show that it was indeed your choice, and by cutting you out of the decision I would actually invalidate the process by doing that. But that doesn't mean that I can't plan my other (future) actions, ahead of time, based on the choice I already know you are going to make. And so it is with Yahweh God.
All is foreseen; and, permission is given. God knows in advance what our choices will be, and everything that He is doing in our lives is therefore based on that foreknowledge, but He still has to allow us to make those choices in real time in this world; otherwise, He would be guilty of denying us our free will (our actual ability to choose). So He foreknew us, and He predestinated us based on that foreknowledge to be conformed to the image of His Son, which makes our predestination in Christ itself to be an unconditional one.
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Are we Predestined ?! Free Will ?!by Living4aReason5,822 views
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