The plain meaning of this context is God foreknew those who loved Him, and these He predestined to glory:
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Rom 8:28-30 NKJ)
Although some suppose foreknowing had nothing to do with predestination, elementary deduction shows that to be unsound. Simply reverse the process and its easily seen one flows from the other, in a chain:
Glorified those He also Justified
Justified those whom He called
Called those whom He predestined to be conformed
predestined those whom He foreknew
[foreknew those called according to His purpose
called according to His purpose those who love God
Therefore for those who love God, all things work together for their good.]
God is Omniscient, [SIZE=10pt]foreknowledge is a subcategory of Omniscience. This explains why Paul refers only to God's foreknowledge; Omniscience is implicit in Rom 8:28 and not pertinent to those called according to His purpose. [/SIZE]
The basic meaning of "foreknew" is precisely that, to "know before." As God's omniscience knows all things, foreknowing is a special knowing before everything else known. What is being "foreknown" is being given priority, prominence not shared with the rest of those God knows.An analogy: highlighting text----words highlighted are "known before" surrounding text.
[SIZE=10pt]It is written:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
(Eph 1:4-6 NKJ)[/SIZE]
As God is omniscient He knows all things, therefore it follows He knew Two Versions of everyone alive: Version #1 before the fall, and Version #2 after the fall.
[SIZE=10pt]Because scripture says this foreknowing happened before the foundation of the world, Version #1 is being foreknown, before anyone did good or bad.[/SIZE]
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. (Rom 4:4 NKJ)
Is Love a work? If love is not a work, then God is not indebted. For example, a stalker love you, but you are under no obligation to respond positively, or negatively. You can ignore if that is the good pleasure of your will.
So if God chose to foreknow (specially and uniquely know) those who loved Him, and elected them to be predestined according to His purpose---its still salvation by grace alone, according to the good pleasure of His will---and not according to anything in the chosen. God can have Mercy upon whom He will have Mercy:
[SIZE=14pt]15[/SIZE][SIZE=14pt] For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt] 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. (Rom 9:15-16 NKJ)[/SIZE]
The choice to show mercy upon whom He will, is entirely His. He is under no obligation to respond at all to those who love Him.
This solves a lot of problems with free will and Reprobation. It would mean God foreknew those whose free will would not be subverted if He predestined them unto salvation, but left the rest to make their choice after the Fall. In other words, God foreknew those who loved Him before the founding of the world, as they would have been before the fall; AND lest any of these be lost after the fall, He predestines them to salvation.
It follows God chose not to predestine those who could go either way, for that would have subverted their free will choice.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Rom 8:28-30 NKJ)
Although some suppose foreknowing had nothing to do with predestination, elementary deduction shows that to be unsound. Simply reverse the process and its easily seen one flows from the other, in a chain:
Glorified those He also Justified
Justified those whom He called
Called those whom He predestined to be conformed
predestined those whom He foreknew
[foreknew those called according to His purpose
called according to His purpose those who love God
Therefore for those who love God, all things work together for their good.]
God is Omniscient, [SIZE=10pt]foreknowledge is a subcategory of Omniscience. This explains why Paul refers only to God's foreknowledge; Omniscience is implicit in Rom 8:28 and not pertinent to those called according to His purpose. [/SIZE]
The basic meaning of "foreknew" is precisely that, to "know before." As God's omniscience knows all things, foreknowing is a special knowing before everything else known. What is being "foreknown" is being given priority, prominence not shared with the rest of those God knows.An analogy: highlighting text----words highlighted are "known before" surrounding text.
[SIZE=10pt]It is written:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
(Eph 1:4-6 NKJ)[/SIZE]
As God is omniscient He knows all things, therefore it follows He knew Two Versions of everyone alive: Version #1 before the fall, and Version #2 after the fall.
[SIZE=10pt]Because scripture says this foreknowing happened before the foundation of the world, Version #1 is being foreknown, before anyone did good or bad.[/SIZE]
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. (Rom 4:4 NKJ)
Is Love a work? If love is not a work, then God is not indebted. For example, a stalker love you, but you are under no obligation to respond positively, or negatively. You can ignore if that is the good pleasure of your will.
So if God chose to foreknow (specially and uniquely know) those who loved Him, and elected them to be predestined according to His purpose---its still salvation by grace alone, according to the good pleasure of His will---and not according to anything in the chosen. God can have Mercy upon whom He will have Mercy:
[SIZE=14pt]15[/SIZE][SIZE=14pt] For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14pt] 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. (Rom 9:15-16 NKJ)[/SIZE]
The choice to show mercy upon whom He will, is entirely His. He is under no obligation to respond at all to those who love Him.
This solves a lot of problems with free will and Reprobation. It would mean God foreknew those whose free will would not be subverted if He predestined them unto salvation, but left the rest to make their choice after the Fall. In other words, God foreknew those who loved Him before the founding of the world, as they would have been before the fall; AND lest any of these be lost after the fall, He predestines them to salvation.
It follows God chose not to predestine those who could go either way, for that would have subverted their free will choice.