A Divine Ladder — Which End is Up?
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:29, 30).
Most students of the Bible concur that these verses show the steps a Christian must take to ascend from earth to heaven — a sort of divine ladder. But there is not a general agreement as to which end is up, whether the steps lead upward or are viewed from the end looking back on the journey. We might paraphrase the two thoughts concerning verse 30 in this manner:
(1) “Moreover whom [as many as] he did predestinate, them he also had previously called; and whom he called he had previously justified, and whom he justified he had previously glorified.”
(2) “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and them he called he then justified, and whom he justified, he then glorified.”
The position of this author is that of the first paraphrase. This is the same position suggested by Pastor Russell on page 182 of The New Creation, Studies in the Scriptures, Volume Six.
If the sense of the Greek is truly that of “as many as,” the matter is simple of interpretation since it is obvious that for each progressive step upward, there are those who drop out of the race and do not take the next step.
A Call to Discipleship
However the sense is somewhat ambiguous for readers who think in English. The verbs in this verse are in the Greek Aorist tense and the Indicative mood. One Greek grammar1 describes this tense this way. “The aorist tense is characterized by its emphasis on punctiliar action [Editor’s note: that is to say, action that takes place at a point in time, puncta, Latin]; that is, the concept of the verb is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. There is no direct or clear English equivalent for this tense, though it is generally rendered as a simple past tense in most translations.” This could yield support for the steps being viewed as ascending a ladder. Such activity meets the “punctiliar” action demanded by the Aorist. Acknowledging this challenge to our thinking, let us proceed to discuss the goal and the three outlined steps to attain it.
PREDESTINATION
Romans 8:29 uses two similar, yet distinct, terms to describe God’s dealings with the church class — foreknowledge and predestination. The relationship between these two terms might be well described by the modern illustration of an entrepreneur submitting a business plan to potential investors in order to obtain venture capital. In his plan he describes the various types of employees he needs to operate the company. He then proceeds to give a job description for each of the positions that will be required for the operation to succeed. The first of these steps, planning for the various positions, corresponds to the foreknowledge of our text; while the second, of outlining the job descriptions, matches the thought of predestination.
Both the foreknowledge and the predestination relate to the classes of people needed and not to the specific individuals who will eventually fill them. Thus predestination relates to the ultimate requirements of those whom God knows will be needed for his plan to achieve the greatest success. It is the objective of those who will be eventually put to his employ.
CALLED
The calling, in our modern illustration, corresponds to the businessman offering the job to the one who meets the pre-determined qualifications. No man can be employed who is not invited to accept a position in a firm. So, scripturally, we read in Hebrews 5:4, “And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.”
Using the illustration of the Tabernacle, this calling is identified with the consecration needed to proceed from the court into the holy compartment and proceed there with the priestly work.
JUSTIFIED
These, however, must be previously justified. The Apostle Paul speaks of two types of justification in Romans 4 and 5 — justification by faith and justification by blood. The first was the type of justification available in Old Testament times. For instance, Abraham was justified by his faith (Romans 4:1-3). It is this justification that enabled him to be called “the friend of God” (James 2:23). Similarly, the apostles were called “friends” even before the spirit descended on them at Pentecost (John 15:13-15).
However, when the Apostle mentions blood justification he precedes it with the phrase, “Much more then,” and goes on to say, “being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9). Similarly, in Romans 5:2, after describing how we are justified by faith, he says “By whom also by faith we have access into this grace wherein we stand.” The word “also” implies that our present standing is in addition to that obtained by the justification of faith.
Using the Tabernacle picture again, this is the condition that those in the court have obtained as a result of their faith in the ransom sacrifice of Jesus. It is to acknowledge this that baptismal candidates affirmatively answer the question, “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?”
GLORIFIED
The Greek word doxadzo [Strongs 1392], translated “glorified,” is used 123 times in the New Testament. The word is most frequently used of men glorifying or praising God. While it is used of the glorification of both Jesus and the church to their heavenly reward, it often refers to honors received here on earth. The word simply means to praise or honor. The following examples will suffice to show its usage of honors bestowed while on the earth.
“And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all” (Luke 4:15). “When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby” (John 11:4).
In light of this breadth of meaning, we suggest that the thought of the word in our text is the honor bestowed on one with whom God is dealing by bringing them in contact with his drawing influences. This concept is well phrased in the aforementioned quotation from The New Creation, page 182: “And these justified ones must previously, before their justification, have been honored [not “glorified” as in the common version] — honored by God in having sent to them a knowledge of himself and of his dear Son — the Way, the Truth and the Life. It is more of an honor than many have supposed, even to hear of the grace of God in the present time.” In the Tabernacle illustration, the steps of one approaching the gate of the court show this.
SUMMARY
In summary, there are two well-defined and organized opinions on this verse. We suggest that there is compelling logic to say that the step of the predestinated ones being called is the topmost one in the ladder of our theme verse.
— Carl Hagensick
(1) The Hebrew/Greek morphology tool in On-Line Bible.