Roman's 8:29 and 30.
In these two verses you will see four things...
One: God's plan of salvation for His people.
Two: The five ingredients in accomplishing His plan
Three: The one major element in the plan.
Four: The purpose of God's plan.
These verses have been described as...a golden chain of five links.
A chain is anything that binds, ties or hold together something even to the point of restraining something.
Where the links are joined together the words He also should be written at each joint...
Four times the words He also ought to be written as there are four places the links are joined.
The words He also means God joins the links of this chain together it is not us or any other person that holds the chain together.
The plan of salvation for our lives is a work of God and the plan is held together by God Himself as He is the One who joins the links together.
At the top of the chain write the word...
Past.
Then write at the bottom of the chain the word...
Future.
This means the chain of five links represents the entire life of the believer from the past to the present to the future.
Now look at the first two links of the chain.
The first two represent or are concerned with God's past redemptive work in the believer's life.
These two works are foreknowledge and predestination.
Foreknowledge is defined as God setting His love upon those who would be conformed to His Son.
Predestination is defined as God determining the destiny of those upon whom He has set His love.
Just a note: Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that God predestines people to be eternally condemned.
A person is condemned because they refuse to accept and trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Many people miss the meaning of these verses because they debate and focus on wrongly on the word predestination.
This chain of five links is about God's plan of salvation. Paul is speaking about saved people not unsaved.
This means predestination applies to people that are saved.
What this is saying is God predetermined that one day we would be conformed to the likeness of His Son.
Now look at the last two links...
These two links are concerned with or represent all that God has done, is doing or will do on our behalf as a believer.
They are justification and glorification.
Justification refers to God declaring as righteous those who have repented and believed.
Glorification refers to God's fulfillment of His purposes or the making of fallen sinners into the image of His Son Jesus Christ for all eternity.
Now look at the center link
The center link connects the past with the present and future works of God in our lives.
The middle link is called or effectual call.
Called means God's effectual call from death to life. The best example in Lazarus being raised from the dead.
Mary and Martha could have called but it would not have done any good.
Their call to him was not an effectual call.
Each of the five links describes and puts the emphasis on something God does...
None of them describe anything we do.
- God setting His love upon us...
- God determining our spiritual destiny...
- God calling us to life...
- God declaring us righteous...
- God fulfilling His purpose in our lives...
This chain also shows us the meaning of Phil. 1:6...
He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus...
This chain and work of God in this chain tells us how we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Roman's 8:37.
Many people get hung up with the five things I just spoke about and miss or overlook what the verses are about.
Verse 29 tells us a two-fold purpose of God's plan of salvation.
One: to be conformed to the image of His Son.
What God has in mind with His plan of salvation or golden chain of five links...
Is for every believer to be constantly moving toward perfection in righteousness...
With each step or link Glod is making for Him self people re-created into the likeness of His own divine Son.
People who will dwell and reign with Him in heaven throughout eternity.
God's purpose of salvation is to redeem for Himself an eternally holy and Christ-like race to be citizens in His kingdom an din His divine family.
The first of the two fold purpose of God's plan of salvation...
Is the believer being conformed to the image of His Son.
What does being conformed to the likeness of His Son mean to us?
First of all it means we will be like Jesus bodily.
Phil. 3:21 says He will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.
Earlier in Roman's 6:5 Paul says for if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death...
He says certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.
1rst Cor. 15:49 says...And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
This means when we get to heaven as well as those who go to hell people's individuality will not be destroyed and that we will not be unidentifiable.
On earth we share a common physical body...
We all have a heart, mind, arms and legs, ears and nose, glands and so on...
But we are all distinguishable from one another even our identical twin grandsons are distinguishable from one another.
Secondly: although we will not be deity we will become like Jesus spiritually.
Our incorruptible bodies will be infused with the very holiness of jesus Christ...
This means we will be both outwardly and inwardly perfect just like The Lord Jesus Christ.
All of this is what being conformed into the image of His Son means for us.
And the purpose of God's plan of salvation for our lives.
This is what the 5 ingredients of the chain represent for our lives.
The first purpose of God's plan of salvation is for us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.
The second purpose of God's plan of salvation is...
That Jesus might be the first born among many brethren.
Short and sweet it means God's plan will provide Jesus with many brothers.
God was not satisfied to have a family with an only child.
The entire human family all of the descendants of Adam and Eve were to have been God's family.
But that all changed when Adam and Eve sinned and sin entered the world.
Sin alienated them from God.
This resulted in God not having the family He wanted.
So God sent his only Son to redeem a family for Himself out of the fallen race.
In Jewish culture the term first born always refers to a son unless a daughter was specifically stated.
The first born male child in a Jewish family had privileged status.
God's supreme purpose for bringing sinners to salvation is to glorify His Son Jesus Christ by making him preeminent in the divine plan of salvation.
Preeminent means surpassing or excelling others.
It is God's desire and intent for Jesus to be the first born or privileged among many brethren.
Brethren is a synonym for believers.
Those who trust in Him become God's adopted children...
Because of that adoption Jesus the true Son of God graciously designs to call them His brothers and sisters in God's divine family.
God's purpose is to make us like Christ in order to create a great redeemed and glorified humanity over which He will reign and be forever exalted.
As the redeemed of God conformed to the image of His Son we will forever glorify Him with the glory He has given us.
We will cast our crowns at the Savior's feet like the 24 elders in Rev. chapter 4 exclaiming...
You are worthy O Lord to receive honor glory and power for You created all things and by Your will they exist and were created.
Verses 29 and 30 has one key element and it is seen four times and when the key element of the verses is overlooked it brings confusion...
Even I myself at first was focusing on the wrong things.
Most focus on and debate the five links of the chain.
Foreknowledge...
Predestination...
Calling...
Justification...
Glorification...
They are all key ingredients of the plan.
But the focus should be on the key element.
The Key element is different from the ingredients and when it is recognized and realized it gives us focus and clarity to the verses...
It is found in the words He has or He also
The key element in these verses is God Himself and that God has a purpose and a plan to accomplish his purpose.
Our focus should not be on the plan...
Our focus should be on the planner and who is carrying out the plan.
For many years many have...
Overlooked the key element or planner and the purpose of the plan...
By focusing on and debating the ingredients of the plan.
The thing to understand today is...
God has a great plan and we are or can be a part of it.
And not only do we benefit from God's plan...
But God benefits...Jesus benefits and we benefit from it.
His plan is great and each link is forged together by God Himself.
God has shown His love by saving us...
in saving us God has determined our spiritual destiny...
God has called us from death to life...
God has declared us righteous...
God is making us into the image of His Son.
These verses are all about God and His plan of salvation, purpose of the plan and benefits of the plan.
Satan also has a plan represented by a golden chain of five links...
But there is a major difference his is made of fools gold.
Doubt...makes you question God's Word and His goodness.
Discouragement...make you look at problems rather than God.
Diversion...makes wrong things seem attractive so that you will want them more than the right things.
Darkness...keeps you in the dark concerning and believing the Word and promises of God.
Death...spiritually dead to the things of God and eternally doomed.
