Predestined to Glory: Why Predestination Must Be Understood Before Election

Predestined to Glory: Why Predestination Must Be Understood Before Election

Few subjects in Christianity have generated more disagreement than election and predestination. Unfortunately, the two words are often joined together so quickly that we begin discussing who God elected before we have stopped to ask a much more basic question:

What does Scripture actually say God predestined?

That question matters enormously.

If we begin with the assumption that predestination means God predetermined which particular individuals would believe in Christ, then election will naturally be interpreted through that assumption. Election becomes God’s selection of certain individuals to receive faith and salvation, while everyone else is passed over.

But what if that is not where Paul begins?

What if Paul’s emphasis in predestination is not primarily upon who will believe, but upon what God has predetermined will happen to those who are in Christ?

That changes the discussion considerably.

And I believe this is exactly where Romans 8 takes us.

Predestination Has a Destination

The word predestination can sound mysterious, but the basic idea is not difficult. The Greek verb proorizō (προορίζω) means to determine, appoint, or mark out beforehand.

But simply knowing the definition does not answer the most important question.

What has been determined beforehand?

Fortunately, in Romans 8 Paul does not leave us guessing.

“For those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).

Notice what follows the word predestined.

“to be conformed to the image of His Son.”

Paul gives predestination an expressed destination.

Whatever else we eventually conclude about election, foreknowledge, calling, or the identity of those described in this passage, we should not overlook what Paul actually tells us has been predestined.

There is a predetermined destination for God’s people:

Conformity to the Son.

What Does Conformity to the Son Mean?

The Greek word translated “conformed” in Romans 8:29 is symmorphos (σύμμορφος). It speaks of sharing or corresponding in form.

This becomes especially significant when we compare Romans with Philippians.

Paul writes:

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body” (Philippians 3:20–21).

Paul uses closely related language here. Our bodies will be conformed to Christ’s glorious body.

Romans 8 says:

Predestined → conformed to the image of His Son.

Philippians 3 says:

Our lowly bodies → conformed to His glorious body.

This is not merely moral improvement.

It reaches all the way to resurrection and glorification.

Romans 8 Has Already Been Talking About Glorification

Romans 8:29 should not be isolated from the verses immediately surrounding it.

Earlier Paul writes:

“And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17).

The subject of glory is already present.

Paul continues:

“I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

Again, the destination is glory.

Then Paul connects this future hope with the resurrection of our bodies:

“We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23).

Now the pieces begin fitting together.

Children → Heirs → Glorified with Christ → Redemption of our bodies → Conformed to the image of the Son.

Then, immediately after saying we are predestined to conformity to Christ, Paul completes the sequence:

“And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

Paul’s argument ends exactly where the preceding context has been taking us:

Glorification.

Predestination Is Directed Toward Glorification

This is why I believe we misunderstand predestination when we make it primarily about God deciding who will be allowed or enabled to believe.

Paul explicitly identifies the predetermined destination as conformity to Christ, and the sequence reaches its climax in glorification.

Therefore, when I say that predestination is the glorification of the saints, I do not mean that the two English words are interchangeable definitions.

I mean that glorification is the destination God has predetermined for His people.

Predestination describes God’s determination beforehand.

Glorification describes the destination He has determined.

Or stated more simply:

Predestination tells us that the destination was determined beforehand.

Glorification tells us what that destination is.

The Firstborn Among Many Brothers

There is another phrase in Romans 8:29 that should not be overlooked:

“so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).

Why does Paul mention Christ as the firstborn in a passage about predestination?

Because the destination concerns a family being made like the Son.

Christ is not merely the One through whom salvation becomes possible. He is also the pattern toward which God’s saving work is moving.

The resurrected and glorified Son stands as the firstborn, and God’s children are destined to be conformed to Him.

This fits perfectly with Paul’s teaching elsewhere:

“And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly Man” (1 Corinthians 15:49).

Humanity presently bears the mortal condition associated with Adam.

Those who belong to Christ will ultimately bear the likeness of Christ.

That is the predetermined destination.

Ephesians Says Something Remarkably Similar

This same pattern appears in Ephesians.

Paul writes:

“He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:5).

Again, predestination has an expressed destination:

“for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ.”

This becomes especially significant when compared with Romans 8.

Romans tells us that believers have already received the Spirit of adoption:

“You received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15).

Yet the same chapter says we are still waiting for adoption:

“We wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23).

Adoption therefore has both a present reality and a future completion.

And what is that future completion?

The redemption of our bodies.

Once again, predestination reaches forward toward the completed salvation and glorification of God’s children.

This Is Why Election Must Be Considered After Predestination

This has major implications for the doctrine of election.

We often begin with the question:

Which individuals did God choose to save?

But that may be starting the discussion too late—and with too much already assumed.

Before asking whom God elected, we should first determine what God elected them for and what He predestined concerning them.

Ephesians gives us an important clue:

“For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence” (Ephesians 1:4).

Notice again that Paul’s statement contains a purpose:

“to be holy and blameless.”

Then comes:

predestined for adoption through Jesus Christ.

Paul’s attention is repeatedly directed toward what God has determined for His people in Christ.

Election and Predestination Are Related, but They Are Not Identical

Election and predestination certainly belong together, but we should not treat them as though they were simply two words describing exactly the same act.

Election concerns God’s choosing.

Predestination concerns the destiny He determined beforehand.

The crucial question then becomes:

What did God choose?

Did God primarily choose which individuals would be caused to believe?

Or did God choose in Christ a people whom He determined beforehand would become holy, adopted, Christlike, resurrected, and glorified?

That question cannot simply be answered by inserting a theological definition of election into the word predestination.

It must be answered from the passages themselves.

The Order Matters

This is why I believe the order in which we study these doctrines matters.

If we begin with a predetermined doctrine of election and then use that doctrine to define predestination, Romans 8:29 can easily become:

God predestined certain individuals to believe.

But those are not the words Paul wrote.

Paul wrote:

“predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.”

That distinction should be allowed to stand before we build a theological system upon the passage.

We should therefore begin where Paul begins.

First determine the destination.

Then ask who is being described.

Then ask how someone comes to belong to that people.

Only then are we in a position to evaluate competing interpretations of election.

Predestination Provides Security Because the Destination Is Settled

Seen this way, predestination becomes extraordinarily encouraging.

Paul is speaking to Christians who suffer.

Their bodies remain subject to weakness and death. Creation itself groans. Believers groan. They wait for the redemption of their bodies.

And into that suffering Paul announces that God has already determined where His saving work is going.

Those who belong to Christ will not remain as they are.

They will be conformed to the Son.

They will be glorified with Christ.

That destination is not an accident of history.

It is God’s predetermined purpose.

From Election to Glory

The relationship between election, predestination, and glorification can therefore be stated simply.

Election identifies God’s chosen people and purpose in Christ.

Predestination establishes beforehand what will become of those people.

Glorification is the ultimate realization of that predetermined destiny.

This is why we cannot properly discuss election while treating glorification as an unrelated doctrine that comes much later in systematic theology.

Glorification belongs at the center of the predestination discussion because glorification is where Paul’s predestination argument is going.

God has determined beforehand that His children will be conformed to the image of His Son.

Their mortal bodies will be redeemed.

They will bear the image of the heavenly Man.

Their lowly bodies will be conformed to Christ’s glorious body.

Christ will be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom God has justified will ultimately be glorified.

So before we ask:

“Who are the elect?”

we should first understand:

“What have they been predestined for?”

Paul’s answer is not hidden.

They have been predestined to conformity to Christ—to adoption completed, resurrection realized, and ultimately to glorification.

Once we understand that, we are finally in a much better position to ask what Scripture means by election.