This verse is a widely perverted verse.
I’ve heard all manner of false teachings on this verse, but let’s hear what the Word of God, King James ONLY, has to say.

When you pervert this passage of Scripture then it becomes frightening, but when you have RIGHTLY DIVIDED the Word of truth, it’s one of the most comforting passages of Scripture.

Some errantly teach that men are chosen to salvation. A whole book could be written on the falsehood the calvinist standpoint. May I say unto you that NO ONE is chosen for salvation.
Who says so? The Word of God says so.

Now, Rev 22:17 CLEARLY refutes this heresy. Rev 22:17 teaches that “WHOSOEVER WILL” may come.
Rom 10:13 refutes this heresy.
Tit 2:11 refutes this heresy.

Now, every honest Bible student knows, that the best way to interpret the Bible, is…not to interpret it at all. In other words, let the Bible interpret itself, when you diligently cross reference Scripture, all dealing with the same area of interest, and they all compliment one another, then you have the correct interpretation, if not the interpretation is false.
How do I know that no one is chosen for salvation?

Follow closely, if men were chosen for salvation, that clearly means that some were chosen to be saved, and others were chosen to be lost.
This foolish, false teaching is known as “double predestination”.
If men are chosen to be saved, then there is automatically an intent of not choosing some to be saved, thus predestinating some to perdition and destruction.

Thank God, that His precious Word does not teach any such nonsense.
Still follow closely here, if God then chose men to be saved and ignored others, then that means that it is the will of God for some men to be lost, if He chose them to be.
Is it the will of God for some men to be lost?
What saith the Scripture,
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, NOT WILLING that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance.” (2 Pet 3:9)

We clearly see that it is NOT the will of God that any should perish, thus rendering the doctrine of “predestination to salvation” false.

Now, let’s see what Paul was saying.

“For whom He did foreknow,…” what does the term foreknowledge mean?
The Greek word for “foreknow” is “proginosko”, and this means “to know before-hand”, or “to have a knowledge of things which are to be”.

“Foreknowledge” is an ATTRIBUTE of God, but “election” and “predestination” are ACTS of God.
God has full and perfect knowledge of the things to come, including, who shall be saved and who shall not, but the fact that He knows who is going to be saved, and who isn’t going to be saved, does NOT determine who is going to be saved and who is going to be lost.
Foreknowledge in Scripture, never determines what is to be, foreknowledge is only the knowledge of things to be beforehand.

Now we have, “He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son,…”.
Now, predestination, no where in Scripture applies to the lost, but rather, predestination is for the saved man.

As stated before, Predestination is for the saved man.
God knows who is going to be saved, and thus He has predestinated certain blessings for those who are going to be saved by FAITH ALONE of course.

Predestination here, means that God has chosen us (i.e., Christians) “to be conformed into Jesus’ likeness.”
This is one of the blessings God has predestinated for the believer, that the believer is going to be fashioned, transformed, and transfigured into the likeness of the image of Jesus Christ and at the rapture, whether we are dead or alive at His coming, we are all going to be changed and be wholly like unto Christ. We shall receive our glorified bodies and be delivered from the presence of sin forever.

Now we have, “that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
“Firstborn” here is somewhat similar to its application in Col 1:15, and obviouisly it DOESN’t mean that Christ was a created being, as Jehovah Witnesses would have you believe, but rather in this context, it refers to Christ’s relation the the resurrection which inaugurated His
entrance into the glorified state that occured after the resurrection which we will share with Him eventually.

Commentary by Darien
Posted on: 12/25/2009 16:53 pm