Commentaries:
If God predestines someone to be conformed to the image of His Son, has God ever failed at anything? Never! Philippians 1:6 says that God is able to finish what He starts. We may stumble, but nevertheless, God desires to save us. He wants us to be in His Kingdom, and He has arranged for us to be resurrected at the seventh trumpet, at the return of Jesus Christ. He is preparing us to be conformed in the image of His Son so that we can rule under and with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God. Do we have that hope? Does it stir us that God has not failed at anything yet and that He desires us to be conformed to the image of His Son?
This will not be easy because to do this He may have to give us some terribly great pain. A great deal depends on whether or not we submit to Him—whether we submit willingly or whether we fight Him all along the way.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Don't Be a Prudent Agnostic
The purpose for our admittance into God's presence is that "we be conformed to the image of His Son." When first justified by Christ's blood and admitted into God's presence, we stand before Him, but we are not yet in His Son's image. At this point, the work has only begun; Christ's righteousness is only legally imputed to us. That righteousness is indeed real, but it is not yet inscribed or engraved into our character to become part of our very being. We stand free, clear, and accepted, but we do not have the same nature, mind, or character as the Son.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Eight): Conclusion (Part One)
Christ was born first, and He will be followed by many others, who will be His brothers. If we to be conformed to His image, how can we be anything except what Jesus Christ is—especially when we consider the New Testament emphasis for us to change to be as He is! Does Paul not say that we are to grow to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13)? This more than implies a period of spiritual growth or maturity.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 1)
Think of this in terms of humanity. My wife is from a family into which nine children were born. One died in infancy; eight brothers and sisters grew to adulthood. The firstborn was a son, eight others were born after him. Were those born after the firstborn intrinsically any different from the firstborn? They were all humans, just as the firstborn was!
Transfer this analogy into the spiritual realm, into the Family of which we are already considered to be a part. We are God's children (Romans 8:14; I John 3:1). Our inheritance is to enter that Family by being born again (John 3:3). Jesus Christ is the Firstborn, and He is God (John 1:1; 20:28). We are to be conformed to His image. When we are born into the God Family, will we be any less than He is? No, we are going to be God. We have come later, but we will be just like the Firstborn.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 13)
Paul actually left one step out here; he could have added sanctified. Sanctification is the period between justification and glorification during which we become holy, when the growth takes place.
Everything in regard to this issue exposes a process. We are to consider ourselves pilgrims heading toward the Kingdom of God, gradually being transformed into the image of God along the way. The qualities of character, whether human or godly, are not produced instantaneously but through the everyday gathering of information, weighing it, making the necessary choices, setting our wills, and watching to see the results.
Even as Israel had to walk out of Egypt and across the wilderness to the Promised Land—or there never would have been a change in their situation—so must we live this process to grow to become like God and be in His Kingdom. The laws of God are written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10; Jeremiah 31:33) by life's experiences while we have a relationship with God. Like everything else in life, it is a process that has a beginning and end.
Like every educational system, it moves from simple to complex. It moves from that which is clearly stated in the letter of the law to what is less apparent and depends upon a background of instruction, experience, and results. It depends on faith in and love for God and love for man that have grown in a person to aid him in properly understanding, applying, and practicing the spirit of the law.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 19)
No one has been glorified yet but Jesus Christ. God is so confident that He can finish what He has started that He states the promise as though it is already completed.
Verse 29 says, "For whom He foreknew." "Foreknew" applies to that period before His calling of us. Before He caused us to turn to Him, before He actually extended the invitation, He knew us. He was watching over our lives. Who knows how many times He intervened to alter the course of our lives in order to bring something critical about, whether it was our education or saving us from injury or death or disease? Who knows how He may have intervened because He "foreknew" us?
My study Bible comments about the word "foreknew":
This is not simple prescience or advanced knowledge. This knowledge should also not be understood in the sense of being acquainted with, but in the sense of bringing into a special relationship with, as Adam knew Eve his wife.
In other words, foreknew does not merely mean "to be acquainted with" or "to have advanced knowledge" of us. When God foreknew us, He was so close to us that He was sticking right by our side. He had clear insight and attended closely to what was happening in our lives.
God said to Israel, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2) Jesus said, "I know My sheep" (John 10:27). In Matthew 7:23, He said to another group of people, "I never knew you."
Foreknowledge is God's determination to bring certain ones into a special relationship with Himself. Since it is foreknowledge, He determined to bring us to glory long before He called us, long before He caused us to turn to Him. He has been personally involved with us. We were not just personally selected, but also personally sought out. Why? We could say "for glory," that is, to be admitted into His Kingdom. This is certainly true, but it was also so that, first, He could have a relationship with us, that we would seek Him.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part 7)
Here is God's purpose plainly stated. Those He calls are to be conformed to the image of His Son, clearly tied to the theme of creation where God says in Genesis 1:26, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." We have a small part in this greatest of God's creative works. We must yield to that purpose. We must surrender to it and allow its power to carry us along to perfection. But it requires faith, conviction of its rightness, and devotion to its requirements. This creative process requires sacrificing our former lives with their sinful desires in submission to the details of God's purpose for us. This is our small part in this vast operation ongoing already for about 6,000 years.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part One): Introduction
With such positive statements about our salvation, why should we be hopeless and fearfully doubt that God will supply all our needs? Does He ever fail to succeed in whatever He undertakes? These verses flatly and dogmatically state that, if we want to cooperate in faith to bring God's purpose for us to its intended conclusion, we must, I repeat, must, believe that His watchfulness over us involves every circumstance of our lives.
Verses 31 and 32 put a cap on this issue: "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"
In verse 30, note that the term "sanctified" is missing from the list of the general stages of God's purpose. Sanctification is the only part of the salvation process in which our cooperation plays a major, consistent, and daily role. Why does Paul exclude it? This was not an oversight; he deliberately leaves "sanctified" out because he wants, for the remainder of this section of this epistle, to focus entirely on the absolute certainty of God's providence, not on any works we may perform in cooperation with Him during the sanctification process.
Paul is not saying that God will always do what we might want Him to do; he is reminding us that He will always do what is right according to His purpose. God has the necessary powers to do as He sees fit for His purpose and us. He is watching, which is even more reason for us to draw on that power.
Nobody can successfully stand in the way of His completing that purpose in each of us, but based on our knowledge of those powers, are we willing to accept His providence? Do we accept what He provides in any given circumstance, even though what He provides might not be what we would like to have?
All of the things Paul writes here are wonderful, but the key to this particular subject is the answer to the question he asks in verse 30: "If God be for us who can be against us?" God has the power and the will, and He does not make mistakes or empty promises. Paul then lists what God has already done for all concerned. Our responsibility is to choose to put these facts to work in our specific circumstances.
The handwriting on the wall for us is this: Terribly difficult times are coming, and they will affect all of us to varying degrees. The only successful way to complete our minute part in God's purpose is to choose to draw on His power. We must begin at once to cultivate the habit of cooperating by faith, accepting whatever He chooses to provide in our circumstances. If this habit is in place through long practice, we will be ready when the pressure really mounts.
Because He is the Source of our deliverance in every circumstance, it is crucial for us to know God as well as we can. Our relationship with Him through Jesus Christ is the key that gives us access to the deliverance He provides. He has the power, and it is His will to meet our every need. It is incumbent upon us, therefore, to use our time now to build on our present relationship with Him, making it stronger and more intimate.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Power Belongs to God (Part Two)
Other commentary entries containing this verse:
Exodus 13:14-15
Ecclesiastes 3:6
Matthew 13:24-30
Matthew 13:37-40
Matthew 13:44
Luke 10:30-31
Luke 23:42-43
Acts 13:48
Romans 1:1-4
Romans 8:29
Romans 8:29
Ephesians 1:5
2 Thessalonians 2:13
Titus 1:15-16
Hebrews 2:10
Hebrews 12:14
1 John 5:19-20
Revelation 3:10
Revelation 21:7
Library resources that contain this verse:
Articles |  |
A Time to Throw Away |
Damnable Heresies |
God Our Provider |
Is the Christian Required To Do Works? (Part Six) |
Living Stones in God's House |
Peer-Pressure: A Challenge for All |
Power Belongs to God (Part One) |
Power Belongs to God (Part One) |
Power Belongs to God (Part Two) |
Sex, Sin and Marriage |
Taking Care With the Tares |
The Fruit of the Spirit: Peace |
The Law of the Firstborn |
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Eight): Conclusion (Part One) |
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Nine): Conclusion (Part Two) |
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part One): Introduction |
The Promise in the Fifth Commandment (Part One) |
The Sixth Commandment (Part 2): War! (1997) |
The Sovereignty of God: Part Seven |
The Sovereignty of God: Part Six |
The Ultimate Father's Day (2) |
The Wavesheaf Offering |
Who Will Be Kept from the Hour of Trial? |
Bible Studies | |
Biblical Symbolism: Symbols of the Church |
God's Master Plan |
Holy Days: God's Plan in the Holy Days |
Holy Days: Trumpets |
Parable of the Good Samaritan |
The Parables of Matthew 13 (Part Six): The Parable of the Hidden Treasure |
Booklets | |
Preparing the Bride (2) |
Preparing the Bride |
Sermon Transcripts | |
Born Again (Part 2) (2) |
Church History (Part 5) AD 1934 - Present (2) |
Defining Logos (Part Two) |
Does Doctrine Really Matter? (Part 12) |
Don't Be a Prudent Agnostic |
Don't Be a Prudent Agnostic |
Elements of Motivation (Part 5) |
Firstborn and Redemption (Part 2) |
God the Father (Part 3) |
God the Father (Part 3) |
God the Father (Part 3) |
He Who Overcomes |
Image and Likeness of God (Part 1) (2) |
Image and Likeness of God (Part 2) (2) |
Intimacy with Christ (Part 4) (2) |
Knowing God: Formality and Customs (Part 7) |
Magic Doesn't Work (Part 2) |
Members of the Same Family |
Our Affinity to Christ (2) |
Our Awesome Destiny |
Our Awesome Destiny |
Overcoming Discouragement and Depression |
Power Belongs to God (Part 2) |
Power Belongs to God (Part 2) |
Re-education (Part 2) |
Remember the Christians (2) |
Sovereignty and 'Once Saved Always Saved' |
Sovereignty, Election, and Grace (Part 4) |
Sovereignty, Election, and Grace (Part 6) |
Sovereignty, Election, and Grace (Part 6) |
The Belly of the Great Fish |
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 1) (2) |
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 13) |
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 19) |
The Covenants, Grace and Law (Part 9) |
The Father-Son Relationship (Part 1) |
The Handwriting Is on the Wall (1996) |
The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part 7) |
The Promises of God |
The Providence of God (Part 2) |
The Providence of God (Part 2) |
The Sacrifices of Leviticus (Part 2) |
The Sacrifices of Leviticus (Part 5) |
The Sovereignty of God (Part 7) (2) |
The Sovereignty of God (Part 8) |
The Two Baggies |
Trial by Fire (2) |
Trial by Fire |
Trumpets Is a Day of Hope |
Whatever We Ask |
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