Foreknowledge Wrongs No One

…me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). Yet in this matter one would not miss what is fitting if one said that some have been called according to purpose, both the purpose of the one who called them and their own. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed,” and so on (Romans 8:29). Many, he says, are called according to purpose, but not all are chosen (Matthew 22:14); only those have been honored who were also foreknown as those who would be conformed to the image of his Son.

What the image of his Son should be understood to be, the blessed Paul himself will make clear again, saying, “For just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the heavenly one” (1 Corinthians 15:49). For those who have paid no heed to fleshly desires are the ones who have imitated the image of Christ, that is, the way of life and conduct that is in holiness. For just as we say that the image of the man of dust, that is, of Adam, is the life lived in disobedience and sins, so too the image of the heavenly one, that is, of Christ, is holiness, justification and obedience. All, then, who were foreknown as those who would, in their own times, be conformed to the life of Christ and be its imitators, so far as human nature allows, these have also been called. “And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

It is not at all unlikely that some, carried away by ignorance, should make this matter a ready pretext for unbelief and say, “If those whom he foreknew according to purpose and predestined are the ones who have been called, it has nothing to do with us who have not yet believed; for we have not been called, nor have we been predestined.” To them we will say that the one who gave the wedding feast for his son sent his servants to gather those who had been called, but they would not come (Matthew 22:2–3). After them, those who were called according to their own purpose came in, and so the wedding hall was filled with guests (Matthew 22:10). So nothing is seen standing in the way of those who are willing to come. Foreknowledge does no wrong to anyone at all, nor does it give anyone an advantage. Otherwise, let them teach us whether those who in their disobedience outraged the God who called them were not foreknown as well. More than that, some were called and rushed into the wedding, yet they did not become chosen, nor were they justified or glorified. For what reason? Because they were not wearing a garment fit for the wedding (Matthew 22:11–12).

Besides, we shall find our Lord Jesus Christ himself saying openly, “Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). See, he was already calling all people to himself, and no one would be without a share in the grace of being called; for in saying “all” he sends no one away at all. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own Son” (Romans 8:31–32). For those who have chosen to do good, all things work together, since God shields them. For he who did not spare the one who is his Son by nature, so that he might save those in danger and…