Monday, October 28, 2019

Romans 8:28-30 DeCalvinized? Not So Fast.

I have grown to value Leighton Flowers' Soteriology 101 channel and website because it's good to hear and consider counter perspectives to my own. Often I have wondered how do those who reject the predestination of the elect to salvation see passages in scriptures that I think clear teach such things. Romans 8:28-30 is such a passage.

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28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. 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.


Flowers attempts to throw away the Calvinistic lens he says he used to uses and makes arguments that I cannot support. In his argument he tries to make a distinction between believers making the choice to love and follow Jesus today and those in the past. He said that the ones who were predestined have already passed on but I have problem. Those that were predestined and called are the same ones whom God works out all things for their good. They are also the ones who love God and called according to God's purpose. They are also supposed to be the adopted brothers and sisters of the SON. They are also the ones justified and glorified. Therefore, taking Flowers' argument to its logical conclusion,  believers today are not justified or called according to God's purpose. God does not work out all things for our good. We are not the Son's brothers and sisters. All because we were not predestined to be in the image of His Son. Is that what we really believe? I don't think so. Being justified and conformed to be in the image of Christ is the goal of every believer. The real power of this passage is that God is going to do this for us and he predetermined how God will do it for each one of us who believes. This is why I see no reason to assume Paul is talking about a different group of people than he was talking about throughout the chapter. The same people whom God predestined, called, justified, and glorified are the same people in verse 1 for which there is no condemnation, If Apostle Paul is not also referring to us today then no one is saved and we will die in our sins. This conflicts with the rest of scripture. Nice try, but no cigar.

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