Predestination

Reconciling Romans with Open Theism

The verses Romans 8:28-30—which detail God's foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification—are a cornerstone for understanding God's salvific plan. Under the established Open Theism framework, these terms describe God's unwavering purpose and relational commitment to a defined group, rather than a fixed, predetermined script that eliminates genuine human freedom. This perspective challenges the determinism inherent in Meticulous Providence.

I. The Problem with Meticulous Providence

Meticulous Providence interprets Romans 8:28-30 as a closed chain of causation, where every step is an irresistible decree ensuring a fixed outcome before time began. In this view, God's foreknowledge is causative, meaning God knows the choice because He decreed it, rendering human free will an illusion. This deterministic reading stands in direct conflict with the concept of a Dynamic God who calls for genuine, active covenant fidelity and whose warnings and promises in Revelation are genuinely contingent upon human response.

II. Open Theism: Dynamic Purpose and Plural Foreknowledge

Open Theism interprets this passage as a description of God's unwavering, eternal purpose for a specific group: those who fulfill the condition of loving God (Romans 8:28). The focus shifts from guaranteeing the individual to guaranteeing the process for those who freely choose to enter a covenant relationship with Him.

A. Foreknowledge and the Plural Article 

The presence of the plural definite article (tois, "to those") in Romans 8:28, which precedes and identifies the group referred to by "foreknow", factually restricts the scope of God's prior knowledge. God's foreknowledge is directed toward a specific, identifiable plurality of people: those who are the "called" and "love God."

Based on the Open Theism tenet that God does not know future free choices with exhaustive certainty, "foreknow" must refer to:

• Relational Initiation: God's decision to commit to a type of people—the class of individual who will freely choose to love Him—rather than possessing meticulous foreknowledge of the individual names.

• Knowledge of the Class: God commits the entire process of salvation to this foreknown class. The plural article (them - KJV) supports the idea that God knows the group He will redeem, without relying on the Meticulous Providence claim that He dictated the specific membership roster.

B. Predestination 

Following foreknowledge, predestination is interpreted as God's eternal purpose for the foreknown group. God eternally set the goal—conforming them to the image of His Son. This is a fixed destination and character transformation guaranteed for all who enter the covenant, but the individual's entry and ongoing perseverance are genuinely open choices.

C. The Chain of Purpose (Calling, Justification, Glorification)

The subsequent chain of calling, justification, and glorification describes God's fixed process for this group. The call is God's universal, dynamic invitation, which must be freely accepted. Justification is God's response to that acceptance. Glorification is the assured destination and final character transformation for all who persevere. This framework acknowledges the authenticity of human free will and the conditional nature of perseverance, creating a coherent theological narrative that respects both divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

III. Congruence with Revelation's Conditional Warnings

The Open Theism reading of Romans 8:28-30 maintains full congruence with Revelation's conditional warnings (e.g., Revelation 3:5, threatening to blot out names from the Book of Life; Revelation 2:5, threatening to remove the lampstand). If God's plan were an irresistible, unconditional guarantee as in Meticulous Providence, these warnings would be meaningless. Open Theism preserves the integrity of both passages by affirming God's unwavering purpose for the covenantal group while maintaining that individual participation in that purpose is genuinely contingent upon their free choice and active perseverance.

Conclusion

Romans 8:28-30, when read through the lens of Open Theism, reveals a Dynamic God whose purpose for salvation is fixed and glorious. His foreknowledge is a relational identification of a specific class of people—those who love Him—and His predestination sets the ultimate character transformation for them. This framework acknowledges the authenticity of human free will and the conditional nature of perseverance, creating a coherent theological narrative that aligns perfectly with the contingent calls to endurance found in the Book of Revelation.