Conformed
Romans 8:29-30 “For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.
Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.”
The foreknowledge of God has to do with people….It is God’s foreknowledge of us…
…who we were, who we are, and who He will make us…under His molding.
Predestination has to do with our purpose as His children….and our purpose is to be conformed to Christ. He has predestinated us to be conformed to the Image of His Son.
For it is only as we are thus conformed to HIs character, and disposition that we fulfill our purpose, as His….no matter our calling or work. (Whether large or small, or in front of people or as a prayer warrior….our purpose is to manifest Christ…His character…by being conformed to Him.)
Our obedience is a necessary component to this….for to be conformed to Christ, we must love Him and HIs Will, as He loved His Father, and did all HIs Will. (only rebels refuse obedience to their Lord)
John 14:21 “He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
He did foreknow…..He did predestinate….both of these are with His power and grace….
….that the family of God, with all the features and characteristics of our elder Brother, Jesus Christ….might be seen.
Those He did predestinate….He called.
Our calling…is to follow Christ….whether we are to be “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:18-22)…or mend the church….or whatever….it is for His determination or pleasure. (Revelation 4:11).
And those He called He justified…or to render innocent, or righteous.
We are justified by Christ when we are born again. And we are made just, or righteous in our life by sanctification of the Spirit.
And those He justified, them He also glorifies….or honors here by the constant peace and joy of the Holy Spirit…..and in heaven, forever to be with Him…what glory that will be!
Paul begins this eighth chapter with the cry of praise for Christ’s abundant life for us:
Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”.
Here is where the Spirit comes into prominence in Romans….it is Christ’s victory, and the giving of the Holy Spirit to us….that gives us victory in our everyday lives.
Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by HIs Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
Romans 8:15 “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”
On those high and glorious notes….Paul shows that through Christ’s victory and the with the Holy Spirit, we were called to a purpose….
….the purpose being….”to be conformed to the image of His Son”.
The Name: His Son is used, because Paul is stressing His holy life here in this world of sin,… and His fulfilling the Will of the Father…..all of which we are to be conformed to.
And here and now, is where we are conformed to Christ.
the substitution taught in the New Testament is two-fold,….
….”He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21)….
“That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
“Be made”….we are made the righteousness of God by being born again….for then a new nature….Christ’s nature is imputed to us.
But the “making” does not stop there….for we are conformed to His character and disposition….by HIs life being imparted to us…by the Holy Spirit’s working….
…and so little by little, we are made the righteousness of God in Him.
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God;
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Paul is not telling the Ephesians how to be born again….they were.
He is telling them how they were born again….and for what purpose.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works….
The Lord does all things well….and He is at work within us causing us to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Is He working His will in you? Are we walking in His good works for us?
He has ordained….
….. (Ordained: by virtue of His authority, He has made full provision for us for these good works)
He has ordained that if you are saved…..you are predestinated to be conformed to His Son….
…are we yielding to the Holy Spirit….and being so conformed in character and disposition?
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 