Romans 8:26 - 30

Rom 8:26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning’s that cannot be expressed in words.

Have you ever had the Holy Spirit give words to you to improve your prayer? I have I am not the most prolific when it comes to praying. You kind of get a set of standard words that you pray. What you might not know is a special need that is in the room with you. The Holy Spirit may add a word or two that you didn’t expect. Wonderful feeling.

Rom 8:27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. Rom 8:28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.

When the Spirit enters your prayers you can be sure that you are speaking God’s will.

Rom 8:29 For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Rom 8:30 And having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory.

The statement that God knew his people in advance is misconstrued consistently. I am not  adequate in explaining so I will let the commentary do it for me.

Life Application New Testament Commentary: 8:29-30 Believers are those people whom God knew in advance. God’s foreknowledge refers to his intimate knowledge of us and our relationship with him based on his choosing us. God chose believers to reach a particular goal: to become like his Son. When all believers are conformed to Christ’s likeness, the resurrected Christ will be the firstborn of a new race of humans, who are purified from sin. Because we are God’s children, we are Christ’s brothers and sisters.

What does it mean to be chosen? What keeps foreknowledge and predestination from being determinism? How can belief in predestination avoid leading someone to despair over the futility of any human choice? God’s foreknowledge does not imply determinism—the idea that all our choices are predetermined. Since God is not limited by time as we are, he “sees” past, present, and future at the same time. Parents sometimes “know” how their children will behave before the fact. We don’t conclude from these parents’ foreknowledge that they made their children act that way. God’s foreknowledge, insofar as we can understand it, means that God knows who will accept the offer of salvation. The plan of predestination begins when we trust Christ and comes to its conclusion when we become fully like him. Receiving an airline ticket to Chicago means we have been predestined to arrive in Chicago.

To explain foreknowledge and predestination in any way that implies that every action and choice we make has been not only preknown, but even predetermined, seems to contradict those Scriptures that declare that our choices are real, that they matter, and that there are consequences to the choices we make. What is clear is that God’s purpose for human beings was not an afterthought; it was settled before the foundation of the world. Humankind is to serve and honor God. If we have trusted Christ as Savior, we can rejoice that God has always known us. His love is eternal. His wisdom and power are supreme. He will guide and protect us until we one day stand in his presence.

God’s plan for the salvation of those who believe in Christ has three steps: chosen, called, and glorified. When we are finally conformed to the image of Christ, we will share his glory.