For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. And whom He predestined, He also called; and whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified (Romans 8:29-30).

God has not ordained us to wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

But we must always thank God for you, beloved brethren of the Lord, that God from the beginning, through the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth, has chosen you unto salvation, to which He also called you by our gospel, to attain to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 2:13-14).

(labor by the power of God) who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages (2 Tim. 1:9).

Thus, believers are predestined by God to salvation; The apostles want us to know this. Can a particular believer be sure that he is predestinated? As far as I can tell, it's hard to evade such confidence.

The Apostles address their epistles to those who are "called by foreknowledge" (1 Pet. 1:2), "chosen and predestinated" (Eph. 1:4-5), "ordained to be heirs" (Eph. 1:11), "ordained unto salvation" (1 Thess. 5:9), "from the beginning chosen unto salvation" (2 Thess. 2:13). If I am not chosen and predestined, then the Apostles did not write to me, and I simply should not read letters addressed to others. If, however, I accept the Apostolic Epistles as the word of God, addressed also to me personally, a word which I am also personally obliged to believe and obey, then I must also accept that predestination applies not only to other people, but also to myself personally.

The Apostles call us to be comforted by this in trials (Rom. 8:28-30), to bless God for it (Eph. 1:4-5), to rely on it in our Christian life (1 Thess. 5:9), to thank God for it (2 Thess. 2:13-14), as Blessed Augustine does:

Before I was born, Thou didst precede me, preparing for me the way by which I should walk and enter into the glory of Thy house. Before my formation in my mother's womb, Thou didst know me, and before my departure from the womb, Thou didst predestest all that was pleasing to Thee for me (Flowers of Grace-filled Life, p. 130).

What does God's predestination mean in general? The Scripture itself will best answer this question: With an oath saith the Lord of hosts: As I have thought, so shall it be; as I have ordained, so shall it come to pass (Isaiah 14:24).

I declare from the beginning what will happen in the end, and from ancient times what has not yet come to pass, I say: My counsel will come to pass, and whatever pleases Me I will do. I have called an eagle from the east, from a far country, the fulfiller of my decree. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have ordained, and I will do it" (Isaiah 46:10-11).

No one can frustrate God's plan: "I know that Thou canst do all things, and that Thy purpose cannot be stopped" (Job 42:2), For the Lord of hosts has determined, and who can undo it? (Isaiah 14:27). This plan exists in relation to each individual believer: "My bones were not hidden from Thee, when I was created in secret, I was formed in the depths of the womb. Thy eyes have seen my embryo; in Thy book are written all the days appointed for me, when none of them were yet (Psalm 138:15-16).

In His omniscience, God cannot be wrong. All whom He has predestined to salvation will surely be saved: for whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom He predestined, He called, and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified (Romans 8:29-30).

The day of judgment – when every person will receive eternal damnation or eternal glory – is also already recorded in the book of God. As I prayed this morning, I was turning to God, who already knows my eternal destiny quite definitely. God foresaw my life from beginning to end and had already decided what to do with me. The doctrine of predestination can cause deep confusion; fallen man treats God with deep distrust and suspicion, and he is not at all pleased with the thought that he will in no way escape the fate prepared for him; but for one who trusts in God, predestination is a source of the greatest comfort, because God has not ordained us to wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:9).

Very interesting in this respect is the passage already quoted above in 2 Thess. 2:13-14. There are three successive stages here: (a) God has chosen you from the beginning unto salvation, (b) To which He has called you by our gospel, (c) To attain to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. That believers have been called through the preaching of the gospel is a manifestation of the fact that they were "chosen from the beginning." We did not choose the Lord, but He chose us (John 15:16). Our turning to God is not a matter of our uncertain and restless will, but a question of His eternal and immutable decision to save us, in order to attain not our glory, but the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.