Nero’s Torches (Leading Light of Christianity)
Henryk Siemiradzki, 1876 (credit: WikiArt, HT: John Paine)
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,in order that he might 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 ESV).
“Predestination” gets a really bad rap in our culture today. It conjures up images of an aloof or angry deity arbitrarily sending some people to bask in the fragrances of heaven and the rest to go burning in the fiery flames of hell. Who wants to worship a God like that? But does this popular image of “predestination” conform to what the Bible actually teaches?
In Romans 8:28-30, the Apostle Paul does something that has puzzled and frustrated readers of the Bible for centuries. He brings up this subject of predestination, but he does not go into exhaustive detail here. What does Paul really mean by predestination? Do we get any clue by looking at the word foreknew that precedes predestined in this text?
Veracity 