1. Romans 8:30 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

How does predestination, calling, justification, and glorification relate to each another?

Romans 8:30 (ESV)

30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

There would be no calling unless a pathway to justification had been opened for sinners through the death of God’s Son. This justification accompanies the calling for all whom God chooses to receive and embrace in the gospel. Behind that election, justification, and calling lies the deep love of the Father for the Son. He desires for all his glorified children to place Christ at the centre of their lives. By means of this chain of redemption rooted in God’s sovereign will, believers are protected by the safety net of the Spirit, who prays for and works their glorification.

In Romans 8:30 Paul therefore writes concerning our future glory in the same vein that he does concerning our calling and justification. When we are protected by the Spirit’s safety net, we are certain of your inheritance as God’s children, and we may now already consider ourselves in possession of that eternal glory for which we long. This is the certainty connected to the reality of our purpose, predestination, justification, and calling.1