“Christians Don’t Doubt What Happens Next”
“Christians Don’t Doubt What Happens Next” (Romans 8:28-30)
Series: What Makes Christians Different?”
by Pastor Nate Walther
Eleventh Sunday of Pentecost, 08/09/2026
Do you like puzzles? Some people do, some people don’t. What’s interesting is that whether you do or you don’t, it may be for the exact same reason: puzzles are hard to figure out. Some people like that, some people don’t.
This relates to the Biblical topic at the root of our discussion today. Predestination is a Bible teaching we were introduced to in our sermon text next week: that before time began, God chose people to be saved and go to heaven. And many people think of predestination as a puzzle because it is a difficult teaching with a number of pieces that seem hard to piece together. For example, some churches teach that only 144,000 are predestined to go to heaven because they take John’s vision in Revelation quite literally when he talks about 144,000 in heaven. But are you one of the few who can reach this lofty standard? There are well over double that amount of people in just the WELS alone, not to mention many other solid Christians! (Don’t worry about that one too much. We’ll see today in a clear section of God’s Word that this is about more than just meeting a quota, and God never meant Revelation to be interpreted so literalistically as a series of visions.) Perhaps in reaction to that, other churches teach that predestination is more “open”, that God simply chooses those whom he saw would have faith in the future. But why does the Bible so often make a big deal of what God chooses if it’s really just about what we choose? That doesn’t make sense. Perhaps that’s why still others say predestination is simply a matter of what God decides, it’s secret, and therefore it is a puzzle. But with so much at stake, how can you be sure it includes you? If you have committed a really bad sin, for example, is there any hope for you?
As we conclude our series today about WHAT MAKES CHRISTIANS DIFFERENT, God tells us something to address these concerns. CHRISTIANS DON’T DOUBT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. And if you appreciate a good puzzle, you’re going to love how these puzzle pieces come together. But even if you don’t, you’re going to appreciate how God has already put this puzzle together so that you & I don’t have to.
Our sermon text has so much we could talk about. It’s one of the most beloved sections of the Bible, and perhaps any number of these verses speak to you. But let me just focus on the first few verses. In verse 29, we’re told “those God foreknew, he also predestined…” However, for as much as a puzzle as we can make predestination to be, it’s clear whom God is talking about. The “those” mentioned in this verse? We were already introduced to them in verse 28, it’s “those who love (God), who have been called according to his purpose.” (In the language in which this was first written, the rules of grammar dictate that the people who love God in verse 28 are the same as those who are predestined in verse 29. In the original text there’s essentially an equal-sign there!) To put that in a tangible way, do you love the God who sent his Son Jesus for you? If so, you are one of the elect, you are chosen. If you think to yourself, “it can’t be that simple…” it is! That’s exactly how God talks about predestination here.
Now it’s true this is still a “puzzle”, because there are several other pieces that must fit. For example, in verse 29 we were also told “those God foreknew he also predestined.” That’s where some people get the idea that God knew in advance people would be worthy or come to faith, so he chose them. But that’s not how the first listener would have heard this. The word that’s used for “knowledge” here is not so much a word that denotes “head” knowledge but rather “heart” knowledge. i.e. This wasn’t just a matter of cold calculation of God’s part, this was God knowing us on a deeper, more meaningful level. This is God knowing who we would be—knowing your hopes & dreams, your faults and failures also—and even with those ‘pieces of the puzzle’, still he predestined us, he chose us long ago in the past.
Notice how that leads to subsequence ‘pieces of the puzzle’. Verse 30—now in the present as we think of it—the same “those he predestined, he also called.” God did that when he called us to faith by the Holy Spirit as he worked through the means of grace, the Gospel in Word & Sacrament! Then,the same “those he called, he also justified.” God did that when he took away our sins and declared us ‘not guilty of sin’ through the work of His Son Jesus! And finally, the same “those he justified, he also glorified.” The last of that sequence we may think exclusively in terms of the future, as the perfect glory awaits us with God in heaven. Certainly it is that, but it’s also something the Bible says we begin to experience already by faith.
In conclusion, the so-called “predestination puzzle” we’re discussing today? It spans across time. Some pieces we see clearly now, some we don’t. But in the end every piece is connected to the next. If we’re confident in any one of these pieces, we can be confident in all of them. (Even such future-oriented glory is described with a past-tense verb!) And when we ask, “How can that be? How can we be so sure of it?” We’re simply told it’s because God pieces this all together, God controls every step—past, present, and future. And finally for us, that means if we see Jesus now, we no longer have to doubt what happens next… If we have heard that calling of the Gospel, if we have heard in that good news the truth that God has justified us in Jesus, if we love God for that, if we have that one piece… then God says it’s connected to all the other pieces, then we can say just as surely that God chose us for glory and we’re going to heaven. That’s not just my take on it as some pastor of some church with its own twist on this. That’s precisely how God talks about it here in his Word!
When you see how well this all fits together, it just illustrates the point. I mean, here God basically tells us, “your eternity and your salvation are secure in my hands.” That’s such a good thing! Yet how quickly do we take matters into our own hands and think, “Am I really chosen if I have committed certain sins? What must I do to be sure I will go to heaven?” As if we could ever do enough to supplement what God has perfectly decided in eternity, or what Christ has perfectly accomplished for us at the cross and empty tomb!… That attitude is sin. We take beautiful things God has given to us and we ruin them. Whether it’s something like good food or drink that we use to excess, or a meaningful friendship or relationship that we abuse, or we squander the good opportunities God provides to us through work or education – sin makes so many things in our lives less than they could be. But then comes salvation, then comes eternity, and God says, “No. I love you too much to allow you to make it something less… I do this. I choose this.” Predestination is the first piece of that puzzle. It’s just not a piece we need to worry about.
Which leads to the question, why even mention it at all if we aren’t responsible for this choice? To be fair, the teaching doesn’t come up all that often in the Bible. Furthermore, it’s interesting precisely where electiokn does come up. Take our sermon text as an example. The Apostle Paul is speaking to Christians in Rome know how they are saved, that much is clear from the rest of the book. They had that one critical piece of the puzzle. Yet they were still struggling. Their lives were hard and they lived in pain. They were being attacked by others for their faith, and they faced the temptation to fall from faith. And that’s precisely where Paul brings up predestination. It’s intended to be medicine for such an ailment.
Think of powerful medicine. If you use it as prescribed, it can be such a tremendous blessing to help ease a medical condition. But if you use it to treat something else, it will not help at all. In fact, it very likely may hurt you in the end, and at worst it could even kill you!… Similarly, predestination was never meant to treat the concern, “how can I be sure that I’m saved?” For that ailment, the Bible always points you to the cross. If you want to know whether you’ll be in heaven, look to Jesus’ work. Did he die for your sins? Do you believe in him? That’s the only answer you ever need… But what if you have another concern, “how can I be sure my faith is strong enough?” For that ailment (and really, only in that context) does the Bible ever brings up predestination. If you are worried you’ll be able to hang on until the end—when your life is falling apart; when that person you love has abandoned you or been taken away from you; when you’re diagnosed with cancer or living with chronic pain; when you’ve messed up and you don’t feel worthy of anything good let alone heaven; finally, when you think you might just give up on faith—look to God’s strength. He chose you. It’s why you believe right now, and it’s why you’ll be glorified as well. It didn’t happen because you were strong enough in your convictions. It happened because God was. Again, that’s predestination. It’s God’s way of saying, “Even if you’re not strong enough, I won’t let go of you.”
Dear friends in Christ, even if what you see now causes you to doubt, do not doubt what happens next. Just keep looking at Jesus. He’s the one thing you can always see, even in tough moments. After all, when we look at Jesus we’re also looking at a cross. Whenever we’re in pain, he always responds, “I know, I’ve been there too…” And that is finally coming from the same God who says in predestination, “Still, I chose you, and I won’t let go of you.” It’s one more thing that makes Christians different. It’s why, among all the other things we learn from God’s Word every week, our goal is still to see Jesus every week. Because if we have that piece of the puzzle, we have it all. Amen.
