I told the girl that you should treat her like a lady and
She told me all the things you did that made you shady, man
She said that what you say and what you do are different things
But you were telling me that you were checking out them blingy rings

She said she's had enough
Well, it sounds to me like you're straight out of luck
And she said she's all through
And life's not blowin' her kisses thanks to you !!

(Chorus)
I wanna know, I wanna know what you were thinkin'
I can't imagine why it didn't even sink in?!!
They say you never know what you got till it's gone
(Never know what you got till it's gone)
I wanna know, I wanna know what you were thinkin'
I can't imagine why it didn't even sink in
They say you never know what you got till it's gone
(Never know what you got till it's gone)

She said she's had enough
So, it sounds to me like your still out of love
And she said you weren't true
And life's not blowin' her kisses thanks to you

I wanna know, I wanna know what you were thinkin'
I can't imagine why it didn't even sink in?!!
They say you never know what you got till it's gone
(Never know what you got till it's gone)
I wanna know, I wanna know what you were thinkin'
I can't imagine why it didn't even sink in
They say you never know what you got till it's gone
(Never know what you got till it's gone)

She said it's gonna be alright
Cause God made a way through the pain and He opened her eyes
And she said you came crawling back
But after what you did to her she wouldn't have any of that

(I wanna know)
I wanna know, I wanna know what you were thinkin'
I can't imagine why it didn't even sink in?!!
They say you never know what you got till it's gone
(Never know what you got till it's gone)
I wanna know, I wanna know what you were thinkin'
I can't imagine why it didn't even sink in
They say you never know what you got till it's gone
(Never know what you got till it's gone)

I don't know what you were thinkin'

They say you never know what you got till it's gone(x3)

Lets see here.... what are my thoughts on this.....

I like meat, so that's okay. I guess I could stand to eat some more red meat. I love it :)
I guess I could give up pork products. I was contemplating that anyway. Never been a big fan of ham or pork chops.. I will miss bacon though
I really don't like fish, and I'm supposed to eat it, so that's a bummer
I LOVE MILK! But I DO know that it doesn't like my tummy sometimes. At least I get to keep butter! And SOY MILK doesn't count as milk....
Pumpkin seeds are tasty but I LOVE CASHEWS AND PISTACHIOS AND POPPY SEEDS and those are on my do-not-eat list... :(
I can avoid beans. I really only eat black beans and pinto beans anyway
Whole wheat, now there's a funny one. That's supposed to be healthy, but I guess not for me. At least I can have rice. And barley. Just no CORN or GLUTEN or WHEAT or OAT or SEVEN-GRAIN or FLOUR or BREAD or PASTA with them in it.... so.... a gluten-free diet? No more pasta w/o great work? You're killing me smalls! I love pasta!
WOOT! I HAVE PERMISSION TO AVOID brussels sprouts and cabbage and cauliflower.
I just recently discovered SPINACH, and broccoli and romaine lettuce. Not a fan of kale or collard greens though.
I HAVE PERMISSION TO AVOID mushrooms!!!!! Ok, so just Shitake mushrooms, but still. And Alfalfa sprouts, which I dislike.
Aww, potatoes and eggplant (yuck) can cause arthritis for me... so less potatoes?
CORN affects the production of insulin and leads to DIABETES and OBESITY for me.... dang... stupid corn-state I live in....
I can have tomatoes! I recently discovered I like those!
I like garlic, recently discovered horseradish isn't that bad, hate kale, like leeks and onions and red peppers, enjoy sweet potatoes and pumpkins and LOVE THAT I HAVE PERMISSION to not like avacados.
I don't like plums or prunes or figs but I'm supposed to eat them to balance my stomach acid.
My allergies are apparently negatively affected by the high mold counts in melons, cantaloupe, and honeydew, which I recently discovered I liked... drat. I hate allergies more than I like melons.
I like berries. Not a big fan of Grapefruits. Oranges are too obnoxious to eat, but I like OJ.... I can only eat a few strawberries and a small amount of rhubarb, so that's ok.
WHAT?!?!?!?!?! WHY ARE THE THINGS I LOVE THE MOST THE THINGS I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE?!?! I love coconut! I love the smell, I love the taste (other than coconut water, that was gross), but apparently I am "extremely" sensitive to coconut and it is bad for me. Lame
Yay for salt.
Yay for curry (I knew I liked it for a reason!)(And Indian food seems to be w/i my diet!)
Yay for cayenne pepper! Wow... those are soothing to my digestive tracts? Strange yet wonderful!
I didn't mush like vinegar anyway, but I do like vanilla and cinnamon (some of my top favorite spices!), nutmeg is pretty good, and what DOESN'T have cornsyrup anymore?
YES! I CAN HAVE chocolate and honey and cocao. Aww, not supposed to have ketchup or mayo. I could care less about pickles and relish.
So wine is good for me, as well as nasty bubbly water, but COFFEE and BLACK TEA (which I love) aren't? I guess that kinda makes sense sometimes based on how I feel after I drink lots of coffee.

Well, that was insightful. Look at your own, here

An Exegesis of Romans 8:28-30
Jessica Erickson
BS 406E: Romans
Instructor: James Hayes
May 20, 2011

Romans 8:28-30

Main Idea

Though there be troubles around us, those who love God have assurance that He is in control and will make all things work together to conform us to the image of Christ.

Outline

1. Who has assurance (v. 28)
   1. Those who love Him
   2. Those who have been called according to His purpose
2. Reason for the assurance – God works all things for good (v. 28)
3. What is the assurance (v. 29)
   1. Those He foreknew
   2. He predestined…
   3. …to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus
   4. Firstborn among many brethren
4. How God orchestrates assurance (v. 30)
   1. He predestined
   2. He called
   3. He justified
   4. He glorified

Introduction

Paul J. Bucknell wrote a wonderful analogy concerning Romans 8:28-30, relating it to an arranged marriage where God is the groom and we as believers are the intended bride. Just as the man has no prior obligation to love or desire the woman, so God has no obligation to love or save us (He is actually obligated to do the opposite). The man thinks about the woman (i.e. foreknew) and decides in his heart that she is who he wants to marry (i.e. predestines). At some time he makes his choice of her known (i.e. calls). He has already gotten her parents’ approval (which God, as our creator, does not need to do) and has everything ready. He has paid the dowry (i.e. redemption) and shares with her all that is done (i.e. justifies). She is overwhelmed and filled with glee, and who wouldn’t be after he had done all that for her? How could she refuse? Her heart responds with warmth and anticipation (i.e. being “born again”). She is thankful for all he has done and waits for the day when it will all come to be (i.e. glorification). She is getting married! (2009, pt. 7).

This is essentially what is to follow, focusing on what God has done and not what we as believers, or humans, do. As Paul later wrote in Ephesians 1:1, “In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.”

Historical-cultural Context

The author of this letter is identified as Paul in Romans 1:1. He wrote it to the believers in Rome, the seat of government for the entire Roman Empire, sometime between AD 56 and AD 60, most likely while he was still in Corinth. He had not yet taken the gifts from the Gentile believers to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem who were in need. Just  before writing the letter to Rome, Paul wrote the letters to Corinth and Galatia; the believers in these two cities were struggling with allowing too much pagan influence and with being tied down to the rules of Judaism, respectively (Arnold & Ford, 1889, p. 12).

One of the reasons Paul wrote this letter was because he hadn’t visited Rome yet, although he had long wanted to (Romans 1:9-13) as their great faith had been spoken of throughout the Roman world (1:8). He wanted to encourage them and be encouraged by them but had not yet gone to visit them because he always tried to go to places where the Gospel had not yet been preached so that he “would not be building on someone else’s foundation” (Romans 15:20). This letter can be seen as an introduction of sorts as well as a compilation of what Paul believed about the gospel and the work it did in a person.

The group of believers in Rome was comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. It is not known exactly how there came to be a group in Rome, but it is known to be the only Messianic congregation not directly founded by one of the apostles (YashaNet, 2000). There are two conjectures that hold for the origin of the Roman congregation: either the group from Rome who was at Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 2:10) went home and grew in number, or believers from other cities moved to Rome and met and grew together. It is believed that the congregation was originally led by Jews, but due to the expulsion of the Jews from Rome in AD 49, the Gentiles assumed leadership. When the Jews were allowed to re-enter Rome again in AD 54, differences between the two groups had grown.  Compared to the Gentile converts in Jerusalem, the Gentile believers in Rome weren’t familiar with the Jewish faith and “entered their ‘new faith’ directly from the pagan Roman world, full of its anti-Jewish prejudices” (YashaNet, 2000).  They didn’t have the intense historical training on how God had worked in Israel in the past or the understanding of who God was in relation to them. They didn’t know how best to love God, i.e. the commands from the Old Testament (YashaNet, 2000).

Literary Context

This letter was written to declare the gospel; that is its theme. Inside that theme, Paul very much addresses the issues of being a joint Jewish and Gentile community of believers. This would have been at the front of his mind since he had just written the letters to Corinth and Galatia (mentioned above), concerning the struggle between being too pagan and being too Jewish. He attempted to draw the two together and explain their united relationship in God’s plan.

Romans chapters 5 – 8 deal with the assurance provided by the Gospel, the hope of salvation. Chapter 8 discusses life in the Spirit, addressing all believers, whether Jew or Gentile, so as to be an encouragement about the trials that face them. Verses 22-25 discuss hope; verses 26-27 discuss prayer, and verses 28-39 discuss assurance. Verses 28-30 are most important because they explain who this assurance applies to and how it works. It gives a positive though difficult answer to those who question why there is pain and suffering in the world. It is an encouragement to all who believe.

Exegesis of Romans 8:28-30

Romans 8:28-30 (NIV1984)

“²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

Who has assurance (v. 28)

            In the original Greek, the first phrase of this verse is “And we know that with those who love God all things…” (Allen, 1970, p. 220), so it is only fitting that the explanation for this passage starts with who is the recipient of the assurance. There are two categories, both explaining the same people group. The first is “those who love God,” an action we as humans make toward God, and the second is “those who are called according to His purpose,” an action God makes toward us. (Gæbelein, 1976, p 97)

Those who love Him

            It is common in the New Testament for writers to have used a variation of “those who love God” as a synonym for a follower of Christ (1 Cor. 2:9, 8:3). The visible proof of Christian love, agapaō, focuses on God and is shown through obeying what He commands (Vine, 1989, p. 703). The Romans would have found God’s commands by studying the Torah; we find it by studying the Bible, which has the Torah and the Torah-inspired New Testament. People who do not love God do not do in their heart what He desires, such as love their brothers (1 John 4:21), but rather become lovers of other things, like pleasure (2 Tim. 3:4).

Although loving God is the human response, it is something believers cannot do on their own. For as Charles Spurgeon (1857) put it, no one can love God “unless grace has been poured into his heart, to turn him from that natural enmity of the heart towards God, in which all of us are born” (para. 2). We cannot love Him without Him working in our lives, but when we realize how He works in our lives, we can’t help but love Him. Loving God is the proof and the result of having been called by Him (Arnold & Ford, 1889, p. 206).

Those who have been called according to His purpose

            The word “called” as used here is the action of God toward all humankind, reaching both Jew and Gentile .Rom 9:24). Paul wrote that those called are called “not because of anything [they] have done but because of His own purpose and grace” (2 Timothy 1:9) and that this calling is irrevocable (Rom. 11:29).

            God’s purpose is eternal (Eph. 3:11), and was known and decided before we had any ability to do right or wrong (Rom. 9:11); really, before time began, it was. Because God’s purpose and plan were set into place before creation was created, and there was no other God before Him (Isa 43:10), only God had input on that purpose; it is “His own” (2 Tim. 1:9). There is nothing that can be done to change it. This purpose is revealed in verse 29 and explained in verse 30.

Reason for the assurance – God works all things for good (v. 28)

            For those who love God and are called according to His purpose, all things work for good. It is for this select group only, and God is the one in control of all things. The word “works” is in the present tense, meaning that God is at every moment, in every thing, working them to bring about good. This good is not necessarily a material good or a physical good, but will always be a spiritual and eternal good.  It may not necessarily be what we think is best, and we may not be able to see good in it in the moment, but the good ties into His purpose, explained in verse 29 as conformity to Jesus, God bringing us closer to Him.

            As this verse comes in the middle of Romans 8:17-39, which discusses sufferings and hardships that face believers, when this verse says “all things,” it includes both the good and the bad. Paul wanted to encourage the believers that God was in control and behind it all, working it ultimately for their good and to fulfill His own purpose. If we love God, nothing can come into our lives that God hasn’t given the “go ahead,” that He hasn’t planned into our lives for His own purposes.

Sometimes we can see how the things of life work out for good and can say, like Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” Other times, what that good is may not be understood until the next life (Moo, 2000, p. 278). However, when we realize that God is as loving a God as He is made out to be, when we understand what His love has done for us, how can we not trust that God to know what is best for our lives? Paul encouraged the Romans that their sufferings were small in comparison to the greatness of the glory to come (Rom. 8:18).

What is the assurance (v. 29)

The first thing that needs to be addressed is our understanding of time. We are in time, and see an endless past, present and future, knowing what happened before, learning what is happening as it happens, and not knowing what comes ahead. God is outside of time, being able to look at all of time, knowing it intimately and instantly, existing in the beginning and the end at the same time. Time is a worldly construct not applicable to God, but so as to best explain certain ideas, Paul had to ascribe the time-based language of “foreknew” and “predestined” to God to “[help us] understand our present condition and our hope for the future” (Schultz, n.d., p. 74). He says all of the following to encourage the believers, not to cause arguments. Therefore, we also should focus on how this passage builds up our faith, enjoy what it says, and be encouraged by its truth. In all reality, it makes no practical difference to us as believers whether God predestines people or not. It is our job to go and share the Gospel with all those around us and to find the rest of the called. We should simply be grateful and feel extraordinarily loved by God and want to find the others like us. Only God knows the others like us and so we need to talk to all people around us. Jesus Himself spoke to all around Him – crowds, Pilate, Pharisees, etc. – although not all of them were called.

Those He foreknew

            “Foreknowledge” is knowing something beforehand, which when applied to God usually means before time began. In the language of the Bible, to know someone is to know them intimately: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” (Jer. 1:5); “Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O LORD” (Ps. 139:4); “The man who loves God is known by God” (1 Cor. 8:3); “I know My sheep and My sheep know Me” (John 10:14). Hand-in-hand with His purpose, God currently knows, and has known since the beginning of time, who it is that will love His Son. “The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Tim. 2:19).

            The debate about foreknowledge arises when it is argued if, when God knows something beforehand, whether that means He chooses it to happen, or not. As humans, we have a tendency to assume that if God knows all things before they happen and is all-powerful, then that means He chooses and decides all things that happen. What we do know is that if He knows it, then it will happen. Foreknowledge means that an event is sure to happen. It may not be the cause, but it is a proof of the certainty. It does not, however, rule out the involvement of voluntary and responsible action. (Arnold & Ford, 1889, p. 207)

            Arnold and Ford (1889) had a lot of good to say on this topic. First, they believe that foreknowledge and predestination go hand in hand.

He predestined…

Predestination is an act of God, “directing a person to a particular goal” (Moo, 2000, p. 270) and nothing can be done to stop it as God joins with us to maintain that goal. Because of the confusion of human minds trying to comprehend God’s eternality, it is impossible for us to find totally compatible the truth and existence of both human freedom and God’s predestination (p. 208); and subsequently, any attempts to make them compatible will be “futile” (p. 209). In this instance, I’m not sure why those who receive this particular predestination would WANT to choose otherwise. Thankfully, the choice is not ours to make but God’s. If we were left up to our own devices, “we would all choose to rebel against God” (Bucknell, n.d., pt 3). There are none who do good (Rom. 3:12) and each of us has turned to our own way of doing things (Isa. 53:6). Men used their free will already, and it got all of humanity in serious trouble. Now we need help, and the only one for that job is God.

As well, if we were to have any say in our salvation, it would end up being works-/deed-related instead of a gift from God. Being foreknown cannot be explained as just knowing beforehand that someone would have faith and be repentant, because then those actions of faith and repentance would be the cause and not the result of having been predestined (Arnold & Ford, 1889, p. 207).

… to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus

The result, the purpose, of being predestined is to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus. Other translations translate eikōn as “image” instead of “likeness”. Both ways it means “having the same form as Jesus.” Being conformed to the image of Christ is being made to look, act, and think like Him; it is not merely resembling Him, it is being His representation on earth (Vine, 1989, p. 587).

God’s method for that conformation is the molding of our heart, desires, will—all of us, really—to match the example that Jesus set. This is the purpose that was spoken of in verse 28. All things work together to mold us into His image, His example. The Broadman Bible Commentary says the pattern of being conformed is “the humiliation and exaltation of Christ” (p. 222), as laid out in Philippians 2:1-11, namely being humble, having a servant nature, and being obedient unto death so that later we may be exalted and glorified with Him. John Calvin (n.d.) wrote that the “afflictions of the faithful are nothing else than the manner by which they are conformed to the image of Christ.”

Christ was obedient to the Father (“not My will, but Yours be done” Mt. 26:39), and “although He was a son, He learned obedience from what He suffered” (Heb. 5:8). We likewise should expect difficulties in being conformed. However, these difficulties are the medium God uses to teach and grow us in things like perseverance, character, and hope (Rom. 5:3-4).

Firstborn among many brethren (v. 29)

            It is stated often in the New Testament that those who are believers also become children of God (ex: Rom. 8:16-17, Eph. 1:5, 1 Jo. 3:2). As Jesus is the Son of God, that makes us siblings with Him – “Both the One who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Heb. 2:11). Jesus is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation” (Col. 1:15), so when we are conformed to His image, we are logically also being transformed into the image of God as well, having His heart and love and desires. In order to bring “many sons to glory”, God found it fitting that He “should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Heb. 2:10). If that is the method God chose to bring perfection, we should therefore “refuse nothing which [Jesus] has been pleased to undergo” [JMH13] (Calvin, n.d.).

How God orchestrates assurance (v. 30)

            The verb tense for the following four words is the past tense, reflecting that Paul is viewing things from God’s perspective, and God has decided that all these will happen. If God has declared something, it is so certain to happen that it can be stated as if it is already done. [JMH14] As Arnold & Ford (1889) put it, “Whom God predestinated before the world, He called from the world, justified in the world, and will glorify after the world” (p. 210). We are conformed to the image of Jesus also in the ways of being predestined, called, justified, and glorified.

He predestined

            This is referencing the “predestined” from verse 29. It is the act of God picking us to be His own with no act of our own; we weren’t created yet!

He called

            The word called as used here is a different word than the one used in verse 28. This one, kaleō, means “to call, invite, or summon,” and the Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance says the authority of the speaker dictates the nature of the calling. Friends would invite; kings and God would summon. It is an inward calling, to the heart and not the ear, “made effectual by the Holy Spirit” (Arnold & Ford, 1889, p. 210), who has been given to us by God.  Vine (1989) said that this is the “divine call to partake of the blessings of redemption” (p. 165).

He justified

            Justification is the theme of Romans chapters 1-4, and Paul wrote in 5:1 “we have been justified through faith.” By accepting the call (faith), our sins are no longer counted against us (justified). We have been accepted as righteous through Jesus. We were “washed… sanctified… justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). Our sins are not simply dismissed; instead, it is declared that the punishment cannot be justly applied because Jesus has already paid the price for them. The visible proof of justification is seen through our actions (Jas. 2:24), how we love others and love God.

He glorified

As predestined and called were done in the past, so justified and glorified will ultimately be done in the future, though we can claim both as having been done now. “We look forward to what for God is an eternal present… [and] we may consider it done, since God considers it done” (Schultz, n.d., p. 75). To be glorified means to be given glory, praise, or honor. Sanctification is glory working in our lives. Being glorified is sanctification completely done, occurring at the resurrection. At that time, He will “transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body” (Phil. 3:21).

 ---

We have confidence in Him who saves and who loves us enough to send Himself to die in our place. We have confidence that, as Philippians 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Application

This section of scripture stressed what God does, and although Paul tries throughout Romans to preserve a balance between our actions and God’s actions, “we must emphasize [God’s gift] in our application [of this passage]” (Moo, 2000, p. 280) because that is what this is about. Faith and holiness/sanctification are things that we have or strive for and are not on this God-list.

One application of this to real life would be changing how you view life. While we are loving God and being responsible by obeying what He commands, we can take peace in knowing that God has a plan which is bigger and better than ours, and that He is working it out for good. When we realize this, we approach struggles with hope and attempt to have God-given patience. For instance, with all this destructive weather around, we should not fear for the worst, but trust God and rest in the knowledge that whatever comes our way has been given the okay by God. If my house is destroyed, I will rejoice that I have my life and I will look ahead to what God has in store for me next.

When we trust that God works all for the good of making us like His Son, it frees us from worrying about the future and gives us more time and brain power to spend loving Him and being obedient to His commands. I have in the past had a self-endangering understanding of this concept: I trust in God to the point that I don’t give much regard to personal safety. However, God has never left me and has always worked things out. Also, I have been learning that in some areas the best way to be loving toward other people is to not allow them to actually take advantage of me.

One more thing to glean from this, as well as the rest of the letter to the Romans, is that just because we are foreknown and called and predestined doesn’t mean that we don’t need to share the Gospel. God chose humans as the means for sharing His truth and people need to hear the Gospel so that their hearts can know what it is they are being called to. And just because some are called and others aren’t doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t tell everyone we meet about Christ. Only the Father, Son, And Holy Spirit know who is or isn’t called. Our job is not to choose, ours is to go into the entire world and tell the Gospel message. The Holy Spirit does the work in the heart.

Bibliography

The New Student Bible: New International Version. (1993). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Allen, C. J. (Ed.). (1970). The Broadman Bible Commentary (Vol. 10: Acts – 1 Corinthians). Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.

Arnold, A.N. & Ford, D. B. (1889). Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. Valley Forge, PA: The American Baptist Publication Society.

Bucknell, P. J. (2009). Election and Predestination: Study on Romans 8:29-30. Retrieved from http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/Topics/Theology/Election-Predestination-Romans08_28-30.html

Calvin, J. (n.d.). Commentary on Romans: Chapter 8, Romans 8:28-30. Retrieved from http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom38.xii.ix.html.

Gæbelein, F. E. (Ed.). (1976). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Vol. 10). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Goodrick, E. W. & Kohlenberger, J. R., III. (1999). Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance (2th ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Moo, D. J. (2000). The NIV Application Commentary: Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Schultz, J. (n.d.). Romans. Retrieved from http://www.bible-commentaries.com/source/johnschultz/BC_Romans.pdf.

Smith, W. (1901). Entry for ‘Rome’. In Smith's Bible Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.studylight.org/dic/sbd/view.cgi?number=T3675.

Spurgeon, C. H. (1857). The True Christian’s Blessedness. Retrieved from http://www.biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/0159.htm.

Vine, W. E. (1989). Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words: A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Original Greek Words with their Precise Meanings for English Readers. McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Company.

YashaNet. (2000). Background – Part 1. In Book of Romans Study. Retrieved from http://www.yashanet.com/studies/romstudy/rom1.htm.