ADDRESSES ON ROMANS the disciples He said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatso- ever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you" (John 15:16). Likewise, Peter in addressing Christians called them the "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the F_ather, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprink- ling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (I Peter 1:2). Foreknowl- edge comes first; then, foreknowing that some would accept His salvation, God then predestined that they should inherit eternal life. You see, my friend, how this takes us back to the past eternity, even as our Lord was "delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" to be crucified for a sinful world (Acts 2: 23 ). He was "the Lamb slain from the founda- tion of the world" (Rev. 13:8 ). And the God who planned to die for us knew alC things from all eternity. He foreknew which ones of His creatures would accept His gift of eternal life. 2. PREDESTINED. "Whom he did foreknow. he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren" (verse 29). Predestination also takes us back to the past eternity. It refers to the marking out beforehand to the high destiny of sonship. The work of being conformed to the image of Christ was begun at regeneration; it continues through this earthly life; and will be perfected when Christ comes again. The object of predestination, therefore, is that we be conformed to the image of Christ. That was God's plan in the past eternity. It will be fulfilled when we see Him. Then "we shall be like . him; for we shall see him as he is." Let us remember that these words were not penned until after Paul had shown that the Spirit leads believers into son- ship. There is no mention of these words in the first seven chapters. But now that Paul has talked of sonship, he goes [Page 157
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