His Excellency,
The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., STD
Bishop Emeritus
Diocese of Belleville
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 26 , 2026, 11:00 AM Mass
Ss. Peter and Paul Parish
“Saint Paul on Predestination*:
God Foreknew, God Predestined, God Called, God Justified, God will Glorify” (Romans c 8:v 28-30)
(This is the text as originally written. During the actual delivery, some passages were omitted and other comments were added spontaneously. Nota bene: This text has not been thoroughly proofread. Therefore, there may be errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.)
*(Saint Paul’s complex biblical understanding of divine predestination for salvation must not be confused with the later philosophical and scientific theory of Determinism. Determinism is the theory that all events, including human actions and choices, are completely caused by prior events and natural laws. This means everything happens the only way it can possibly happen. Determinism argues that human beings have no free will. The subjective experiences of freedom of choice to do good or bad is a complete illusion. Human beings cannot act in any way different from the way they actually act. Saint Paul’s idea of predestination does not reject the concept of free will which is essential for Christian moral decisions and the human acceptance or rejection of the gifts of Divine Love.)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
Do you believe in predestination? Do you, your relatives and friends believe that God has predestined who will experience eternal life in Heaven and who will not? Do you think the Catholic Church teaches predestination? Is this a part of your Catholic faith that you never think about?
The brilliant and profound thinker, St. Paul of Tarsus ponders these questions in the three verses you just heard from his letter to the followers of Jesus Christ living in Rome (c 8:v 28-30). Paul believes firmly in the controversial idea of predestination and his thoughts about predestination are some of the most profound, most difficult, and most thought-provoking passages in the New Testament that have influenced Christianity for over two thousand years. These dense sentences seek to assure Christians that God works all things together for our good. Paul lays out in clear unbroken steps the way in which God’s loving grace can lead to our final destination of joy, happiness, and glory in Christ. Theologians later called these steps “the golden chain of salvation”.
In Verse 28 Paul begins with the promise of God’s goodness. He writes “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Paul then tells us the scope of God’s promise which encompasses “all things,” which includes the good things as well as the bad things that happen in our lives. Surprisingly, Paul is quick to tells us that God’s promise is NOT for everyone. It is only for those who love God and the good is determined by God's purpose, not by our personal wishes. Paul is not writing about the blessings that God gives to all people. Paul believes that all things are working together for the good of a specific people: Christians “who love God, and who are called according to God’s purpose.” Paul is NOT writing about those who are not Christians or those who do not believe in God.
In Verse 29 Paul makes clear what the “Good” is that God promises, “For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that they might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” The “good” is not primarily the comfortable, safe, and happy life we might desire. The good Paul is writing about is the spiritual journey of our individual lives, a process by which God shapes us into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Paul is convinced that God, in some way, uses all of the circumstances of our lives to help us become like Christ.
Finally, in Verse 30, Paul presents what commentators call “the Golden Chain of Salvation”. He writes, “And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” You might be surprised to know that entire books have been written seeking to explain and understand what Paul means by these five verbs (God foreknew, God predestined, God called, God justified, and God glorified). They represent St. Paul’s “unbreakable chain of redemption”. St. Paul is telling us that the journey of our relationship with God is not the result of our human effort. It is the work of God’s grace. Paul wanted to assure the Christians in Rome that they do not save themselves. It is God who gives believers the blessed assurance of eternal life. The verse is not about us. It’s about what God does for us. The good that God is working in our lives is not to make us healthy, rich, or successful but to make us more like Jesus Christ. So, God foreknew us, He predestined us, He called us, He justified us, and He will glorify us. What begins with God’s love and grace will end in our glorification in Christ. For St. Paul, God has predestined all of this. As he writes in Romans 9:16, “Therefore, (salvation) does not depend on human desire or human effort, but on the merciful God”. This verse emphasizes that salvation and God's grace are completely dependent on God’s compassion and not the good things we do or our efforts to earn God’s favor. Good works cannot establish our relationship with God. But, if we have a relationship with God, we will certainly do good works!
Saint Paul’s belief in predestination is made clear by his specific use of the words foreknew, predestined, and chose. It is not completely clear if he means God has chosen specific people for salvation beforehand, as Romans c 8:v 29-30 implies, or if he means God's overall plan for the saving work of the Church has been predetermined.
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Paul strives to balances predestination and free will by viewing them as working together through God's ultimate knowledge and our personal moral responsibility and freedom. He teaches that God plans and chooses people ahead of time (Romans c 8:v 29) knowing they will answer His call, while still holding individuals fully accountable for freely choosing or rejecting the gift of faith (Romans c 10:v 9–13). Rather than trying to resolve the tension between predestination and free will, Paul presents both as dimensions of divine providence. On the one hand Paul writes in Ephesians c 1:v 4 that God “chose us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world”. On the other hand, he teaches that each of us must say “yes” or “no” to God's call in our hearts.
Unlike some Protestant traditions, Catholics do not believe Justification is a once and for all event. It is a lifelong journey. It is the soul-changing process by which a sinner is made righteous by God’s grace. It is the renewal of the whole person that removes sin, imparts divine grace, and makes a person an adopted child of God. As we grow in grace and sanctification, our righteousness increases. But unlike the Calvinists, the Church believes Justification can be lost through mortal sin, but it can be restored through repentance for sin and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Paul says that God predestines those he foreknew “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” This does not refer to final salvation on the last day. For Catholics predestination is not a predestination to final salvation or to eternal punishment. It is a predestination to becoming children of God. The Catholic Church does not teach that people are predestined for Hell. Instead, She teaches that God predestines people only for Heaven. The Church rejects John Calvin’s view that God predestines some people for eternal damnation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1037) teaches clearly that God does not predestine anyone to eternal punishment. Explicitly affirming free will, the Church teaches that damnation only happens when a person freely turns away from God and remains in the state of grave sin until they die. The Church believes God calls all people to salvation, and His eternal foreknowledge anticipates each person’s free choice to accept or reject His grace.
The Catechism teaches that it is possible to willfully turn away from God, though the Church does not teach that any particular person is in Hell (not even Judas or Adolph Hitler). We cannot know what God’s mercy can accomplish in the life of a sinful person. God offers sufficient grace to all people for them to turn toward God and away from sin. God offers the possibility of salvation to everyone!
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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Predestination, free will, and God’s provident love for all people are among the deepest mysteries of the Christian faith. What Paul is saying in Romans c 8:v 28-30 cannot be fully explained even in a long sermon! When you get home, why don’t you turn your New Testament to Romans (c 8-9) and read all about it, think about it, talk about it, and most of all pray about it!
Praised be Jesus Christ. Both now and forever! AMEN!