Predestination in Romans 8:30 (corrected)
Channel: Galen Currah
Date: 2022-08-14

INTRODUCTION
“Those whom [God] predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (NRSVue, 2022)
Some theologians interpret this verse to mean that God decreed, in eternity past, to save certain human beings, and to let all the rest go to hell. They explain that God “predestined” to save “elect” individuals before he created the world. 
Without arguing for or against that theology, I shall try to assess whether this verse actually teaches what those theologians say about it. To do so, I appeal to the text’s immediate context, along with a point of Greek grammar. I shall not appeal to an alternative theological system.
CONTEXT AND GRAMMAR
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
We observe that this text deals with believers who are already called, for whom all these things are working together in the present time. God’s purpose may come from eternity past, but its outworking is in the present time.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.
In this context, God’s foreknowledge of believers does not date from eternity past, but from before those believers are conformed to the image of his Son. 
Although the verbs “foreknew” and “predestined” are translated as a past tense in English, implying time past, yet the greek verbs have the aorist tense, which does not imply time. Thus, the time of “foreknew” must be limited to that of the context in verse 28, which remains in the present time. The verb “might be” is in the Greek present tense, which is also taken to be in present time, extending into future time.
Thus, we may legitimately translate verse 29 to say, “For those whom he foreknows he is also predestining to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might remain the firstborn within a large family.”
30 Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
English translations of verse 30 employ pasts tenses: predestined, called, justified and glorified. English readers, however, wonder how glorified can have a past tense, since believers alive today have not yet been glorified.
Well, all the verbs in verse 30 have the Greek aorist tense, which has no time of its own, but draws its time from surrounding verses. Here the aorist serves to state a general truth about God leading believers to glory, without reference to eternity past. 
Thus, we may legitimately translate verse 30 to say, “Those whom he predestines he also calls, and those whom he calls he also justifies, and those whom he justifies he will also glorify.”
CONCLUSION
Since the purpose of the passage is to teach that “we are more than victorious through him who loved us” (v.37), it says nothing for or against the possibility of an individual believer to apostatize, to leave the faith, and so be lost.
Therefore, if we stay faithful to Jesus, then God will bring us through to glory, when Jesus returns to earth raising us from death to life, to enjoy him forever.