Divine Foreknowledge and Irresistible Grace: A Look at Romans 8:29,30

"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 among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." -Romans 8:29,30

This verse is often used by those who subscribe to Arminianism (or just generally reject the doctrine of predestination, or what Calvinists refer to as "Unconditional Election") as an argument that ultimately, whether an individual comes to Christ or not rests solely on that individual, acting freely and without compulsion.  Their reasoning goes that when the text says that those God "foreknew" he predestined, what is meant is that God saw ahead of time which individuals would, entirely of their own will, choose to accept Him, and those individuals God then "predestined" to be made like His Son.  Human choice comes first, and then God sets the stage.

The problem, and it is a significant one, is that this does not fit the flow of thought in this verse at all.  Had Paul left this passage in that spot, foreknowledge then predestination, there would be ground for this argument.  But He goes on and builds from that same starting point, and as he extends his reasoning it ought to become clear to us that Paul is not referring to foreknowledge in this light at all.  I must admit, however, that I myself never considered this point until it was shown to me by John Piper.  Consider the flow of the verse:

Those He foreknew He predestined, those He predestined He called, those He called He justified, those He justified He glorified.

Each point leads directly into the next.  It's on the second point, where Paul states that those whom God predestined He called, that Arminianism’s position breaks down.  Arminianism argues that the call of God is that the Gospel is preached to all without prejudice, and then it lies in the heart of the individual how to respond to it.  The Calvinist agrees with this position, but insists that this "general" call will always be rejected, and thereby lead to the condemnation of the hearers, unless God directly intervenes in the lives of some to cause them to positively respond to it.  This is the Calvinist doctrine of "Irresistible Grace": the call of God is always rejected by sinful man unless God first changes the heart...and once the heart has been changed, redemption has already taken place.  For this reason Calvinists insist upon what we might call the "effective” call of God.  This is not just a general presentation of the Gospel, or a general tug on the heart of men and women, but it is God effectively, irresistibly calling His own (the predestined) to faith in Christ.

As a Calvinist, the above progression makes sense.  Those God predestined He calls, and those He calls He also justifies; in other words, their sins are wiped clean and they are declared guiltless before God on account of the atoning sacrifice of His Son.

According to Paul's line of thought, the call follows after predestination and leads directly to justification.  Those who are predestined are then called, and those who are called are then justified.  This creates a significant difficulty for Arminianism, but for the Calvinist, there is no issue.  It is because you were predestined that God, at some point in your life, intervenes and calls to you with an irresistible call to grace.  On the other hand, the Arminianist can argue that this is just a simple timeline...naturally the call follows predestination, but it's not a particular, irresistible call, it is the same call the rest of the world receives, the same general pronouncement of the Gospel message.  Fair enough, until you reach the next point: "those whom he called he also justified".  Clearly, the whole world, which receives the same general Gospel message, is not justified.  Paul does not say that SOME who are called are justified, but links the call directly to justification.  You are predestined, therefore called, therefore justified.  Driving the point even further home, Paul continues that those who God justified "he also glorified", i.e., they are with God forever in eternity.

The problem that Arminianism has at this point cannot be understated.  If the call here is the same general call, then all those called should be justified, and all of those justified are glorified.  If this is so, then Paul is proclaiming Universalism.  But unless you want to take that third road, we are left with few options.  Those called ARE justified, and those justified ARE glorified.  It's ironic, but this whole passage, which Arminianism has long used as an argument against Calvinism, is instead Calvinism in a nutshell, providing the process of salvation, even a nod to eternal security, in simple fashion.

So what of the beginning of the passage, where Paul speaks of God's foreknowledge?  Foreknowledge has never been an argument against predestination, indeed, predestination depends on God's foreknowledge.  The fact is, God has been aware of the plan of salvation from the beginning of creation, when He foreshadowed Christ in Genesis 3:15, telling Satan that the woman would bear offspring and that "he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel".  He was aware of each of us as individuals, having purposefully pieced us together, as evidenced when God told the prophet Jeremiah "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5).  Jesus Himself, confronted with the unbelief of the Pharisees said, in John 10:26-28, "you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand."  He did not say they did not believe because they were stubborn, but because they were not His sheep.  Those who are God's sheep hear his voice and respond.  God knows those who are His, knew them before they were born, purposefully created them, and predestined their salvation through Jesus' sacrifice.

To the Arminianists out there, I urge you to come up with another argument.  To the Calvinists out there, I urge you to start using this verse to explain your position.  Finally, to the Universalists out there, I urge you to keep studying the rest of scripture as a whole, which indeed I urge us all to do regardless of our present theological leaning.