Monday Recap: Predestined… to What?

Hey Vineyard Fam!

I forgot to mention something in Sunday’s message that is worth circling back to.
There is a long-standing conversation in Christianity around predestination and free will, with two major schools of thought often represented by:

Calvinism: Emphasizes God’s sovereignty in salvation and teaches that God elects, or chooses, those who will be saved.

Arminianism: Emphasizes human free will and teaches that God genuinely offers salvation, while people can choose to receive or reject His grace.

Vineyard has often been comfortable living in a bit of a “both/and” tension with things like this.

We believe God is sovereign and actively moving in ways that sometimes seem unavoidable. At the same time, Scripture clearly shows people making genuine choices, even choices contrary to what God desires, and God does not always intervene in ways we can see.

I bring this up because of something we read in Romans 8 on Sunday that I forgot to address.

The New Living Translation does not use the word predestined in quite the same way, so it may not have jumped out at you.

Romans 8:29-30 in the NASB says:

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

Sometimes we read Scripture through the lens of what we already expect to find.

A strong Calvinist reading may point to this passage and say, “See? God predestines people.”

And yes, the passage absolutely says God predestines. But predestines them to what?

Look closely:

"...He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son..."

Paul’s emphasis here is not simply, “God predestined certain people to go to heaven.”

The way I personally read this passage in its surrounding context is this:
Those whom God foreknew, those who are in Christ, have a destination already determined for them. They are going to become like Jesus.

That fits the larger movement of Romans 8. Paul is talking about life in the Spirit, suffering, perseverance, hope, and God working in His people until they increasingly reflect the image of Christ. So yes. If you are in Christ, you are absolutely predestined.

Predestined to become more like Jesus.

And that is very good news.

-Pastor Brian