HAVE YOU SEEN ROMANS 8:28-29?

 The problem with some is that when they look at Romans 8:28-29, they see something that's not there and consciously or unconsciously, they read that something into the text. Here's Romans 8:28-29: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren."

Upon reading the word, "called," we see that in this text, Paul does not inform the reader concerning how God calls them, also He doesn't say that God only called them. He explains how God calls by the the gospel in other texts: II Thessalonians 2:14; Galatians 1:6-7; Romans 1:15-16; 10:17. To say that this "call" is irresistible or that there are two types of calling is to see what's not there in the text. 

Who are the ones Paul is talking about: "those who love God"? What are they per-appointed to? "To be conformed to the image of Christ." To say that they were pre-appointed to salvation is to see something that's not in the text. The two, loving God and salvation are not the same. Those who respond positively to "the call" of the gospel are per-appointed "to be conformed to the image of Christ."

When will the ones who responded to the call be conformed to the image of Christ? Not in this life but when they are resurrected from the dead. Jesus is said to be the firstborn through His resurrection (vs. 30). The reader is in a resurrection context, an eternal security context. God's calling and pre-appointment all depend, according to vs. 28, on whether a man loves God, not on some decisions made in eternity past as to what few go to heaven and the majority of those who have ever lived go to hell, all decided before they were ever born, according to the philosophical system of Calvinism. To say that this text is saying that is to see what's not there

God's foreknowledge is not an act of God; God's foreknowledge is an attribute of God. One should also notice that regeneration is not in the list given in the verses.

Once a person responds positively to the gospel God pre-appoints him to be conformed to the image of Christ at the resurrection. as I John 3:2 promises, "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

RAHAB AND THE GOVENOR OF MINNESOTA

 It's been an on-gong discussion, all centered on the record of Joshua 2: "And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” ⁴ But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵ It came about when it was time to shut the gate at dark, that the men went out; I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” ⁶ But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them in the stalks of flax which she had laid in order on the roof.^"

^{She was a believer in Jericho, a Gentile, who protected the Jewish spies from being captured, tortured, and executed. The discussion focuses on the fact that she lied to save them and lying is a sin. There are those who would say, "It's always a sin to lie; she should have turned them over to the authorities and certain death. Not only that, but she disobeyed an order of the government and believers are supposed to submit to the government, aren't they? Yes, that's what Romans 13 says.} 

^{This position holds that when the Nazis came knocking on the door where Anne Frank and her relatives were hiding, the home owners should have turned that little girl and her family over to those monsters to do whatever their evil and perverted minds wanted because, to say, "No Jew is here," is lying. Lying is a sin.}

^{What about this scenario instigated by the man who wants to be the Vice President of the United States, Tim Walz? In March of 2020, Walz, the governor of Minnesota,} launched a tip line for Minnesotans to call to report their neighbors if they were breaking the government's COVID guidelines. "In October 2020, the tip line was used to alert authorities to a Lutheran church service that didn’t fit with the governor’s 'legal requirements.' This type of complaint was not uncommon."

If you were a Christian and a member of that church, would you have turned the church into the authorities for what it was planning. It was a government directive to do so.

Let's examine Rahab's lying through her teeth from the Scriptures, and when we do, we'll find some surprising facts. Lets start in Exodus 2:15-19: 

 "Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah; ¹⁶ and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live. ¹⁸ So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?” ¹⁹ The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”

This king is a precursor of Hitler in his order to these women to commit genocide! They lie. They disobey. And what was the result?

Exodus 1:20: "So God was good to the midwives."

David lies to a priest about why he and his men have come to the Tabernacle. They're hungry and on the run from Saul. The priest gives them the bread that the Law said was only for the priests and David  lives to fight another day.

Daniel's 3 companions refuse a government order to bow before the image, God blesses them. The same government orders Daniel and every one not to pray to god other than the king; Daniel does so openly in rebellion against the 30-day statute and survives the den of hungry lions by divine protection

Going against the principle of Romans 13, Peter and John who were ordered not to say, "Jesus" violated the edict. 

What's going on? Is this situational ethics? No. Because each truth holds as absolute in its own area. But when one truth overlaps into another such as, "Thou shalt not lie," collides with "Obey those who have the authority over you, the government, the believer makes the choice based on the question, which decision will cause the less harm? 

The less harm comes by lying to save human life whether it's the lives of the spies, the babies, or Anne Frank. The higher principle is, only God can take human life, not the king of Egypt or King Herod whose demand the Magi disobeyed and went home without reporting back to him as he had told them to do.