On predestination - 1

One of the questions that has been stirring my soul of late is "What is predestination?" It seems a trick question, one of those questions theological philosophers think up to pass the time, engaged in heated debates solely for the purpose of being given the opportunity to speak last. But I am curious.

There are only four verses in scripture which use variations on the theme, paired off next to one another, and the context created therein do not clearly indicate the meaning of the word itself. They are:

Romans 8:29
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Romans 8:30
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Ephesians 1:5 of Ephesians 1:4-6
{4}For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love
{5}he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will
{6}to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Ephesians 1:11 of Ephesians 1:9-12
{9}And He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which hHe purposed in Christ,
{10}to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
{11}In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
{12}in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

So we can see from Romans that there is a relationship between being predestined and being conformed to the likeness of Jesus and between being predestined and called, justified, and glorified. Likewise, we see from Ephesians that God's choice in the predestined was motivated love, for the purpose of being adopted as His sons, and lastly that the choice of who is predestined was intentional.

Neither of which clarifies what it means to be predestined. In simple terms, we know that God chose those who are classified as predestined out of love, that those who are predestined were not arbitrarily chosen AND were chosen for a purpose - but we still don't know what it means to be predestined.

An interesting essay on a theoretical resolution may be found here

I get the impression that this is one of those topics that doesn't quite get resolved, simply because without the Holy Spirit to guide, we are left twisting in the wind, guided only by logic, which is a rare source of complete satisfaction.

I feel out of my depth. Thoughts?