Omniscience - Romans 8:29-39

As much comfort the statement “all things work together for good to them that love God,” this is more than just a soothing sentiment, it also teaches about God’s omniscience. This means that this statement confirms the fact that God knows everything that is, was, and ever will be. How? God controls all that happens to us, so he would have to know exactly what trials and treasures would help us grow instead of destroying us. Therefore, he must know the end from the beginning, or else our whole existence is just a catch all of cosmic events with no rhyme or reason.

Paul continues to emphasize the point that our lives are not happenstance when he points out that the plan of salvation was “predestinate.” Not only was the plan known beforehand, but those “whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” This is a discussion of “foreordination,” which the IM explains as, “foreordination does not guarantee that individuals will receive certain callings or responsibilities. Such opportunities come in this life as a result of the righteous exercise of agency, just as foreordination came as a result of righteousness in the premortal existence.”
My sons asked me the other day if I believed in “fate,” and it was an interesting concept because I absolutely believe that God has a plan for every one of us, but I also believe that he won’t force it on us. I told me son that yes I believe in a plan for each of us, but I don’t think that this plan is a guarantee, meaning we won’t be forced to participate in our plan if we choose not to. This, I feel, is contrary to Hollywood’s definition of “fate,” because usually someone meeting their “fate” or fulfilling their “destiny” means something like them not doing what they want to do but instead dying for some other cause, etc. Yes, there’s a plan, but there is agency in that plan as well.
Paul has discussed the struggle of the flesh against the spirit, and has taught that holding close to the Holy Ghost can help us make good choices. He says that our existence on this earth at this time and in these circumstances are not coincidental, and instead are part of God’s master plan for us. There has been a plan for our salvation from before world was created, and that Jesus had been chosen from the beginning to be our Savior. With all of this, Paul asks a very powerful question, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can prevail against us?”
The KJV says, “who can be against us?” but the JST says, “who can prevail against us?” I feel that the KJV implies that the goal is for no one to right against the Christian cause, but we already know that this is going to happen, viciously and frequently for the rest of time. And really, someone else’s hostility towards us is no fault of our own and doesn’t have anything to do with us really. But what really matters is, can they win? We know that there is going to be conflict and persecution throughout our lives for the cause of Christians, but it doesn’t matter because they cannot win against our God.
God gave his Son, Jesus Christ, so that we could not be overtaken and so that we can be saved. The IM comments, “Paul taught that the Atonement of Christ shows that ‘God (is) for us’ and is committed to us and our eternal well-being. Because God gave even His Only Begotten Son for us, we can be assured that God will continue to work for our salvation and prepare us to be heirs of all He wants to give us. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland similarly exhorted members of the Church: ‘considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now… Brothers and sisters, whatever your distress, please don’t give up.’”
I honestly hadn’t considered this perspective, because he’s right, the atonement was so awful and painful and all consuming that there’s no way that he’s going to throw away His investment in us because, what, he’s tired? That doesn’t even make sense. We make too many mistakes? He already knows and has paid for every mistake that we have ever and will ever make. There are no surprises for him in our conduct or attitudes. He’s already paid the price for all things, why would he throw away advocating for us? It doesn’t make any sense.
Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” He’s asking, “What would it take for Christ to give up on us?” He lists some of the possibilities, “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” None of those things can take God’s love away from us because these are all problems that come with mortal life and Christ has already overcome all of mortal life. It’s interesting too because why would God abandon us if we are being persecuted for His sake? Or if we are starving to death, why would he leave us? That doesn’t make any sense.
With all those things, not only does Christ not abandon us, “nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” We can not only endure all these trials, and we can not only conquer them, but we can be “more than conquerors,” which the IM comments, “the Greek phrase translated as ‘more than conquerors’ means ‘abundantly victorious’ and ‘winning an overwhelming victory.’ This term mirrors Paul’s ‘much more’ passages in Romans 5:9-20, which emphasize that the grace of God made available through the Atonement of Jesus Christ is more powerful than the effects of the fall.”
So not only will we be able to endure and overcome trials and hardships, but we will triumph over them so that the battle isn’t even close. Our victory will be so overwhelming that there won’t even be an instance of doubt. It won’t be a close battle where we will barely squeak out a win, but we will blow them out of the water.
Finally Paul concludes, “for I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, or principalities, not powers, not things present, not things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is absolutely nothing that can take God away from us, there is nothing that is more powerful than Him and no one who dictates terms to him. He is our Father, and he is everything to everyone everywhere. No king or spirit or sin or trauma or event that can take us away from Him. This is strengthening to all of us, especially those in Rome who are about to get fed into the meat grinder of Christian persecution in a few years.