In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the concept of God's will and purpose in the lives of believers. He emphasizes how God combines terms to emphasize His will, using the example of being chosen in Christ and predestined. The preacher also discusses the idea of being conformed to the image of God's Son and the different interpretations of this passage. He concludes by highlighting the importance of understanding the logical relationship between election and predestination in God's saving plan.

O most high and holy and ever-blessed of all, as we come together to study thy word. Well, I tell you, we'll cover the material. Well, now, we've come to this passage, fully as time elected us, or so, or him. And then you have to remember, through Jesus Christ, through Jesus Christ, the reaper of his will, according to him, which he purposed in him unto an economy. In him, in whom also we have been made heirs, having been predestinated according to him, who is working for the end, that we should be up to the praise of his people, who put our hope in Christ, in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of Christ, in whom also, having received with the spirit of the Holy Spirit, who is the earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption and the praise of his glory. Now, in dealing with this, now, there are two things about. First, the denotation. We are not to say, is the blessing, is simply the blessing to be enjoyed in heaven. That is not the portion of inheavenness. There are two considerations to establish the denotation here. First, Paul is speaking on behalf of believers, and he is thinking of blessings in possession. And the heiress participant, you know, gaze at us, the heiress participant, who has a black thesis, he proceeds to specify some of the blessings comprehended in all spiritual blessings. Complete specification or catalog, but he gives us outstanding examples. Adoption, verse 5, redemption, the forgiveness of trespasses, verse 6, the making known to us, the mist of his will, verse 9, our being made heirs, verse 11, the seal of the Holy Spirit as the earnest of our inheritance, verse 13, the seal of the Spirit, means the seal which is the Spirit. Now I think that should be clear. For all spiritual blessing that stands to Christ is not restricting. Now that I am in the case bestowed is according to election in Christ. So election chosen in Him, election in Christ provides the pattern in terms of which all spiritual blessing is bestowed. This pattern is eternal, pre-temporal, is eternal, pre-temporal, because it was election before the foundation of the world. And then second, it is causally prior, it is logically prior. To the bestowment of all blessings. Pattern, you see, is always logically prior. Realization, the pattern in accordance with which something is done, inference is that election in Christ is logically prior to every spiritual blessing enjoyed by believers. It's logically prior to all spiritual blessings. Now that is truly very significant with respect to the physical question. The relation of election to salvation. Any spiritual blessing cannot condition election in terms of which or in correspondence of all spiritual blessings. Now second, the difference of opinion. What precisely is the relation between verses four and five? It reduces itself chosen in Christ and in love having predestination. Chosen in Christ and in love having predestination. Chosen in Romans 8-29 that when Paul speaks, he is thinking logically in the saving counsel of God and predestination so that there is what you would call a sequence of logical relationship intimated in these two verses. I think that these two clauses, these two verses and that verse five recalls and that Paul is in two consecutive verses because you do not have elections but elections to holiness and blamelessness and election is not viewed in abstraction from the end contemplated in the election. Even as he chose us in him from the foundation of the world that we should be holy at the end that we should be holy and without blame for reasonable interpretations. These two verses are because he proceeds in love having predestinated unto us clearly states clearly states the end in predestination the saving verse contemplates the end contemplated in election you have the expression in love in love and that in love must be parallel to chose us in Christ. Well, that was the main emphasis. Now with reference three things to be noted three things to be noted election is unto chosen so holiness flows and election flows the processes say that men are elected because they are foreseen to be holy because God foresees that they will be holy. Holiness was contemplated in election not the conditioning cause and this holiness of which he speaks in verse four this holiness must comprise the spiritual blessing in which he speaks in the preceding verse and of which he gives us examples in the verses before must comprise that spiritual blessing in this spirit love seconds predestination according to verse springs from the love of God namely the force of in love having predestinated us so love is the source the edge and the cause predestination of God already you see we have an index to what is the conditioning element predestination of the conditioning factor and of course the love of God already you see we have an index to what is the conditioning element predestination of the conditioning factor we have an index to what is the conditioning factor in predestination we have pointed out we may properly call emotion in the heart of God as he contemplates mankind from eternity now thirdly be determined to hear the verses 5 and be and behold having predestinated in love having predestinated according to the good pleasure of his word according to the good pleasure it is to be noted how it would have been sufficient for him to say not to enter with but cut a utopian two terms in combination construction one with the other in order to emphasize the will of God and the following now we turn to verse and here we have the same type of continuous instruction amplified still further there she loves in whom also we have been given an inheritance we have been made heirs and now having been predestinated having been predestinated according to the purpose of him who is working all things according to the counsel of his will and now you see the three terms prophesies purpose prophecies and then cut a table to them as out of now you see it would have been sufficient according to the analogy of Paul's teaching elsewhere to have said simply according according to purpose cut a table and so you have in Romans 8.28 called according to purpose it would have been sufficient to have said to have said cut a table in order to his counsel following will of God and it would have whacked the plain import of this emphasis to say that predestination is conditioned or determined by God's foresight of autonomous sovereign decision on the part of man I say it would have whacked that repeated emphasis to say that it is conditioned or determined by God's foresight of autonomous decision on the part of man for even in that event it would be the will of man that would be the conditioning factor that would run counter to every index in this verse the good to the sovereign good pleasure of God every pointer to the sovereign good pleasure of God consequently here I think something of which the whole issue is stated that which is the conditioning factor in predestination is God's sovereign good pleasure and interfere with that in any degree would whack the plain import of all those emphases now third is in Christ and I'm told of course to be very specific in verse four and uh it's pervaded by that formula and in verse six is in Christ is a God a man and in Christ then in verse seven it is in him we have the redemption and oh echo in whom we have the redemption the forgiveness of the trespasses and home in verse ten it is in Christ that all things are summed up and told Christ told there and told then in verse eleven it is in Christ and all kind and clear told thing in verse thirteen it is in Christ believers were sealed with the Holy Spirit now think of these that these all refer to blessed believers here and now in every instance it is and Christ told and told now we ask when did that relationship begin well it was in full it holds us in so here again we have another consideration grace is never part from Christ never part and when that was that relationship constituted well think of that relationship when Christ always reached again the inevitable conclusion that it is the union with Christ constituted in election the union with Christ constituted in election comes to expression in actual experience the relation of blessing is stopped and other indexes to apply the order to the union what is now the total influence of a relationship in election to of salvation current lines of argument in this verse Christ is so definitely consistent with elections but through grace of God in his eternal soul now we'll go to another passage and this is Romans 8 29 particularly Romans 8 29 28 and Romans 8 quite clear Romans 8 to unfold the elements in the purpose speaks in verse 28 called according to purpose and then he explicates in verse 29 what that purpose is so verse 29 because whom he foreknew foreknew remember this area whom he did foreknow here is that whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate again of course he did predestinate for so mortals predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son to the end that he might be the first God to be conformed now few passages have provoked more difference of opinion and the first question and that is literally to know beforehand to know beforehand it could refer to his eternal prevision foreseeing all that would come that is the meaning deluded but all is possible that even in this very brief clause Hockey Hoos Agnew there is already differentiation all is possible for Paul is dealing with he is dealing with perceptions who are differentiation the human race is limited to a certain class of a certain group within the human race since God foreknows everything there must be in this clause some presupposed limiting concept that this simply means prevision most whom he foresees has believed they have to suppose they are whom he foresaw as his own whom he foresaw as his own