Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. the founder and perfecter of our faith. As believers mature in the faith, they realize that salvation is not a result of our seeking God. It's the result of God choosing us first. Today.
Why, if God had not done this, none of us would ever have chosen Him. Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, many believers will testify that they accepted Christ and even know the date when they did.
They may not realize this. They are now children of an awesome God who made their salvation possible. And you know, Dave, I have to emphasize this. Throughout all of eternity, we are going to understand more and more. as to what God has done for us and our inheritance in Christ.
But I want to ask everyone who is listening this question. Are you able to witness for Christ? Many people who have received the gift of salvation have never shared the gospel with others. And I believe one of the reasons is we forget that God is the one who saves, God is the one who is at work in other people's hearts. And you might be surprised.
how open they are to the gospel. I'm holding in my hands a book entitled Scent. It's written by a husband and his wife. And they are involved in evangelism, but one of the things that they learned is this. the people around us just by living our own Christian lives, And helping them to understand what that's all about.
The people around us, God is already working in their hearts to bring them to faith. This book will be a tremendous encouragement and will help you in your effort to share the good news with others. Here's what you do to receive a copy: you go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com or you can call us at 1-888-218. 9337.
Now because this is such an important book, I think I'm going to be giving you that contact info again at the end of this message. For now, let us listen. Uh Um This morning, we're going to jump into the deep end of the swimming pool. No shallow water today. But we're going to swim, and we're going to swim with blessing.
Going to speak to you today on the topic of God's relationship to you and your salvation. If you're here today as a teenager, I want you to listen because this is not above your ability to understand and to grasp what God has done for us in Christ. If you're an older Christian, you are going to rejoice because you may already know this. If you're a new Christian, you will be standing in wonder. About the glorious salvation that God has given to us.
And if you're not a Christian or you're a seeker, and you don't think that you're going to be interested, be sure to listen. Because at the end of this message, I'm going to give you hope and I'm going to give you the best news that you will ever hear. Because the best news that you will ever hear will never come from Washington. The best news you will hear is that which comes from the Word of God applied by the Spirit of God designed to transform your life.
So listen carefully because you are listening to that which God has written in His Word. The text of Scripture is Romans chapter 8, verse 28. And by the way, if you missed the last message, I encourage you to get a copy of it because this message follows the other in sequence. This is number five, by the way, in a series entitled Children of an Awesome God. uh from the eighth chapter of the book of Romans.
So take your Bibles and turn to Romans 8. And today, as perhaps never before, it is so important. That you have an open Bible. And if you just happen to have left yours at home, I think it's on page 944 in the Bible that is in front of you there in the pews. 944, Romans chapter 8, because you have to see it.
in order to believe it.
Now in Romans 8.28, the Bible says that all things work together for good and last time we learned how God takes things that aren't good because much that happens to us isn't good. Much that happens to us is evil. But God takes that which is even evil, and He never changes evil into good, but He does use evil to work together for good. To them that love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. And last time we learned how that even the worst of circumstances can become our servants.
if we respond to them correctly.
Now, the promise of Romans 8, 28 is limited to people who love God. To those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose. And now, verse 29 begins with the word for. Notice it carefully. What he is saying is that we can be sure that all things work together for good to them that love God because all things are good.
Or four, and now he begins to go into the interesting subject of all that God does for those who believe in Jesus Christ and are members of a very select company. And now he begins. Look at the text there in verse 29. There are five verbs. Five verbs.
That are listed in the text, each of which should be underlined in your own personal Bible. It says in verse 29, for those whom he foreknew, there's the first word, he predestinated, that's word number two. 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 That's number three, and those whom he called, he justified. Number four, and those whom he justified, he glorified.
Five verbs in these two verses describe what God has done in order to save you. Couple of uh preliminary thoughts. First of all, notice that this is what has been called by commentators the golden chain. the golden chain with five links. Because each of these verbs is linked together.
The group that God starts out with, those whom He foreknows, They are the very ones that he ends up with, those whom he glorified. There's no slippage. in the process.
So the five verbs are linked together in a golden chain, beginning in eternity past and going forth. to eternity future. Notice also that God is the one who acts. He is the subject of these five verbs. It is God who foreknows.
It is God who calls. It is God who justifies. God is the one who is acting, and you and I are the ones that He is acting upon. We are the subjects. And God, actually, I should say, God is the subject and we are the object.
We are the beneficiaries of these five incredible. Verbs. Notice also that all the verbs are in the past tense. I love this. You notice he says, he foreknew them, he called them, he justified them.
And he glorified them. It's a done deal. It's a done deal. God says it's a finished process. They're in the past tense.
All that by way of introduction, and thank you to those of you who are sitting in the front row. Because I can see that some of you have your Bibles open and some of you in the balcony. You've found the Bible, and now is the time to listen. Yes, it is deep. But the deeper you go, the deeper and the greater your blessing.
It's a promise. When we have finished this message, if God fulfills the prayer that I've had, You're going to worship in a way that perhaps you've not worshipped before. Your pride is going to be crushed in the presence of God. And I hope that you will be able to say, wow, I didn't know he did all this for me. Are you ready now for the five verbs?
How many of you say, Pastor Lutzer, I'm ready now for the five verbs? I'll go. with all those who raised their hands and those of you who didn't, you need to listen even more carefully. All right, that's the deal. Let's plunge in.
First of all, those who we know, by the way, we know that all things work together for good. You say, well, how do we know? We know because our salvation is so deeply rooted in God. That's how come we know. And now let's begin.
It says, For those whom He forenew. You know, from time to time people say to me, Oh, Pastor Lutzer, do you believe in the doctrine of election? I always smile when they ask that question. I say, of course I believe in the doctrine of election. All Christians believe in the doctrine of election and predestination.
If you don't believe in election and predestination, you either are not saved or you've not read your Bible because it's there and it is in many places of Scripture. Of course, all Christians believe. It's the interpretation that some give it. that is the cause of differences.
So, what I want us to do as we go through these five verbs is to simply lay aside all of the pre-ideas that we have as to what we think it should say or what we think, no, God could not have said that. Let's just take and put all that aside. All of you motor boaters, shut off your motor. You know, the motor boaters. Yeah, but but but but but but but but Quieten your engines.
Put your gun away. Let's just go into this text and say what it says, and then we'll deal with some of the implications. And when it's over, those of you who are not part of this inner circle, you'll be taught as to how you can become a part of it. We'll get to that. But let us just rejoice.
in what God has done. Those whom he foreknew, verb number one.
Now the average Christian thinks this. Because the Bible talks about those who are chosen or those who are elect, the average Christian thinks, oh, see, there it is. What God did is he saw into the future. And he saw who would believe on him, and on that basis he elected them to eternal life. And you see, because he knows all things, he foreknew those who would believe, and it's the basis upon which they were saved or elect.
Well Nice idea, not taught in the Bible. The word foreknowledge does not mean simply to know ahead of time. Of course, God foreknows who's going to believe. He foreknows all things because He's omniscient. But that's not what is being taught here.
The word foreknowledge, as it is used in this context and used elsewhere in the Bible, invariably means to forelove. It means to have a relationship with. Even way back in the Garden of Eden, when it says that Adam knew his wife, it wasn't a matter of intellectual knowledge, it was a relationship. And that's the way the word is used throughout scripture. The Bible says in Amos, You only have I known, God says of Israel, You only have I known of all the families of the earth.
No wonder some translations simply translated, you only have I chosen from all the families of the earth. Obviously, God knows all the other families in the sense of his omniscience. That's not what is meant.
Now your Bible is open. Turn to Romans chapter 11 verse 2. Just flip it over. I want to hear the page turn.
so that you can see it there in the text. Romans chapter 11, Paul is talking about the Jews, and he says in verse 2, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.
Well, obviously, if you're talking simply about God's omniscience, He knows all the nations of the earth. He means God has not rejected his people whom he forechose and foreloved. And that's the way Peter uses the word too. 1 Peter 1, verse 20 says that Jesus was foreknown from before the foundation of the world.
Well, didn't God, in terms of intellectual knowledge, know all people from before the foundation of the world? No wonder the NIV simply translates it, he was chosen. from all the people of the world.
Now here's the bottom line folks. There is no instance in the New Testament where the Bible talks about foreknowledge regarding future events. It only speaks about the foreknowledge of people. In a sense, we have to go back to Ephesians chapter 1, where the Bible clearly says that we were chosen in Christ. from before the foundation of the world.
I'm amazed at the amount of ink that writers have sometimes dedicated to trying to explain the two things that that verse says, namely that God made the choice and it was made from before the foundation of the world. The bottom line is this. The reason that you believed in Jesus is not because God foresaw that you would believe. Even though, bless God, he knows all things, and he did foresee who would believe, but it was based on God's choice, those whom he foreknew. It is what God did for us.
And this knowledge of God, this idea of God about you has existed from all of eternity. Do you realize that you existed as a loved one in God's mind For as long As God Has existed, namely, from all of eternity. Because God never learns anything new. Has it ever dawned on you that nothing has ever dawned on God? There was never a time when God says, Well, yeah, you know, I didn't know about that person, but now I'm working him into my schedule.
You were, in God's heart, foreloved. From before the foundation of the world. All right, those of me four new. You'll notice that the text says he predestined. He predestined this group.
Very clearly, it's the same group. He predestined them. What does it mean? It means to predetermine. Literally, it means to mark out beforehand.
It was a word that was sometimes used by surveyors. For example, the city of Washington, D.C. was worked out by surveyors before the buildings were built. That's why you have Pennsylvania Avenue going up to the Capitol building going past in the direction of the White House. It was all worked out ahead of time.
In the very same way, God mapped out ahead of time what He wanted you to be, namely to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that Jesus might be the firstborn among many brethren. God says, I have one son, I want more sons and daughters, and I will redeem some for myself. And that was mapped out, that was his intention for you. You always say, well, what does God have in mind for me?
Well, there it is, the text. to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn. Among many, many, many brothers and sisters.
So he predestined you. Perfectly good word used many times in the New Testament, especially for those who are chosen. All right, third. You'll notice that The vexed word is called. I pointed out last time that in verse 28, when it says to those who are the called according to his purpose, this is not the external call.
This is not the call to everyone to believe on Jesus, and we always give that call, and we're going to be giving that call at the end of this message. But that's not the call that we have in mind here, that Paul has in mind. It is the call, the inner call, of the individual drawn by God who responds to Christ. You say, well, does Paul use the word call in that inward sense elsewhere? Oh, yes, he does.
1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 24. Paul says, Notice this: we preach Christ to the Jews a stumbling block, to the Greeks, Foolishness. In other words, we preach Christ to everyone. But to those who are called by God. Among the Jews and the Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
This is the inward call. It's what you sensed when you knew that you had to receive Jesus Christ as Savior, and God overcame your blindness, overcame your stubbornness, overcame your resistance, overcame your great propensity for self-protection, and you finally acknowledged that you needed a Savior. That was the call of God.
Now. Let's just get blessed by this. In eternity past, he forenew you. In eternity past, he predestined you that you would become a member of God's family, that Jesus would be the firstborn among many. And now you had to be born.
You had to hear the gospel. And that's when the calling took place. The calling took place when you believed on Christ, the inward call of the gospel. It is an effectual call. When God calls somebody, they respond.
When Jesus was at the tomb of Lazarus and He said, Lazarus, come forth. Lazarus didn't say, Well, Jesus, I'm not sure whether or not I want to. Jesus said, I didn't ask you. Come forth. And Lazarus came forth.
You say, oh, but does God override the human will? Of course not. What God does is, He works in our hearts to change our disposition so we do exactly what we want to do. And in doing what we want to do, we are responding to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We think it's our decision, and it is.
But behind that decision is God because no man can come. Except the Father drag him, the Bible says.
So that's the call.
Now, those whom he called, he justified. We're going down and we're looking at the verbs. He justified. Justification is so critical that I'm not going to comment much on it here because I have an entire sermon coming up on it when we get to verse 33. Who shall lay anything against God's elect?
It is God who justifies. But if you don't understand justification, If you do not properly get a handle on justification by faith and what justification means, you cannot, in my opinion, live. a confident God-filled life, unless you understand it. But let me give you just a little indication. It is not just forgiveness.
It is forgiveness, but it's so much more. Imagine this. Imagine that when you came to Christ, all that God did was forgive you.
So, if that's all that happened, the next time you sinned, where would you be? Oh, you know, God forgave me and now I sinned and... I confess my sins and God forgives me again, but where do I really stand when I do sin? Do I have a permanent relationship with God or is it just based on when I'm forgiven and when I'm not forgiven? Oh, no, no, it is so much more.
It is God declaring you to be as righteous as Christ.
Now, I'm going to say something to shock you. If all that he did was forgive you when you came to Christ, you'd never make it to heaven. Because forgiving you does not make you perfect, and you can't get into heaven unless you're as perfect as God. If you're not as perfect as God, forget it. Wives, look at your husbands and say to them, husband, forget it, all right?
Because you know he's not perfect. None of us is. None of us is, but God credits us with the righteousness of Christ and says, I count you as perfect as Jesus. That's how we get into heaven, and that's what justification is all about. Those whom he called, he justified.
And then those whom he justified, oh, I love this, he glorified. God said, it's a completed deal. The group that I justify is the group that in my book is glorified. As I say, the verbs are in the past tense. Be blessed by this, folks.
I have to say that in my ministry, nothing has blessed me more than the fact that we are accepted in Jesus Christ. declared as perfect, as he is. But I want you to imagine your neighbor, your friend, perhaps a relative. Who does not enjoy this blessing? Because they've never understood that faith in Jesus Christ is what gives us eternal life.
It gives us the righteousness of Christ. and it creates within us a desire to please God. If you're a child of God, have you ever taken the opportunity to share your faith? I have to say I'm really amazed when there are Christians they have been believers for many, many years and they have never witnessed, because they think it's complicated. They ask themselves the question, how am I going to be able to touch my neighbor with the gospel?
Maybe they aren't interested. Yes? On the other hand, They might be. I'm holding in my hands a book entitled SENT. Yes, the simple word SENT.
it emphasizes that we are all sent by God. And you don't need special training, though of course that has its place. You need to understand how you can enter into other people's lives. to show them Christ. For a gift of any amount, We're making this book available for you.
Here's what you do. You go to rtwoffer.com. Of course, rtwoffer is all one word. RTWoffer.com or you can pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. The title of the book.
Sent. You can write to us at Running2Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Believers in Jesus were chosen by God in eternity past. This involved forgiving their sins and declaring them to be as righteous as his son. If life now seems uncertain, know this.
Your future is as secure as the God who will make sure you get there.
Next time I'm running to win, why being justified is really more important than being forgiven. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
