Romans - Part 4: SPIRITSample

God Knows Us

Something I struggle with daily and had to learn throughout my Christian walk is that God knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. As our creator, He knows each decision we will make in life before we even make it. He set a path for our lives before we entered our mother's womb. God knew who would trust in Him. He chose to bestow His grace upon all those who believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus.

In Romans 8:30, Paul gives a complete explanation of the process of salvation for humanity. Paul explains that God has called upon, justified, and glorified those He has predestined, to use them for His divine purpose. God has a plan, and while we might not always understand what He’s doing, we are called to trust in the process. The process of sanctification can be painful at times, but this is part of the refinement. We are being shaped and molded into the image of His perfect Son. The gospels tell us in Matt. 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42, and John 6:38, that even Jesus, while praying in the garden of Gethsemane, struggled with being used for God’s glory.

Paul writes Romans 8:30 in the past tense because, in God's eyes, our glorification is already complete, and we must trust in His process to be justified through our faith in Jesus Christ.

-Tim Zentner