God's Triumphant Decree

At the heart of Paul's teaching concerning the doctrine of assurance of salvation is the series of five divine actions that some have labeled five links in the chain of grace. In this text, the inspired Apostle expounded the truths of God's decree in its eternal aspect. He made the point that God's foreknowledge is linked to God's predestination and that the people affected by those actions are the same people found at the end of verse 28. They are those who are the called according to God's purpose. An honest approach to this text, so often controverted, requires that we submit to the truth that God's predestination is real and that it is always expressed in relation to His Son. To make that predestination dependent on any human activity is to destroy the foundational premise of this chapter and to undermine the whole doctrine of assurance.