Romans 8:28

“28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

2. An attention-getter.

30 November 2021/in Articles

“The phrase ‘abominable snowman’ dates back to 1921, translated into English from the Tibetan term metoh-kangmi by a journalist named Henry Newman.

Newman was stationed as a reporter for The Times newspaper in Darjeeling, India, where he had the opportunity to interview members of an expedition to Mount Everest, led by explorer C. K. Howard-Bury.

Whilst on the mountain, the expedition team had apparently spotted enormous humanlike footprints in the snow.

The local Sherpa guides recognized these as belonging to a legendary creature they called the ‘wild man of the snows’.

However, Newman mistook the word metoh, meaning ‘wild’ for a similar word metch meaning ‘dirty’ or ‘dishevelled’, and in his report, single-handedly turned the ‘wild-man’ into a snowman in real need of a bath!

The legend of the ‘abominable’ (as Newman named it) snowman became hugely popular, launching an obsession with the creature (also known as the Yeti) that continues on to this day.

1. Introduction (e.g. “How does the Bible describe God?”)

We live in a world of misinterpretation.

And technology has not made it any better, in fact, I would say it has made it worse.

Illustration: For instance, have you ever sent or received a text message that was misinterpreted?

Misinterpretations are not a new phenomenon.

As the “abomnible snowman” will attest!

1. Attention-Getter Thoughts

It doesn’t take much for people to misinterpret something and consequently bring a rumor to life.

The Bible is possibly the most misquoted and misinterpreted text in history- even among us who claim to hold the same faith!

For instance, here are a few common misquotes or just non-existent ones:

“God helps those who help themselves.”

“Money is the root of all evil.”

“God moves in mysterious ways.”

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”

NONE of these are verses appear in the Bible.

The closest one ought to be amended as “The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.”

Although these have are definitely popular misinterpretations, I think one of the most mis-referenced verse I hear comes from Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 NIV84

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

This short verse often becomes even shorter as people compress it into, “well, everything happens for a reason.”

Theologically, it is not wrong to ascribe purposeful direction by God but we ought to think deeply about what Paul was communicating when God inspired him to pen Romans 8:28.

What are the “all things God works for the good”?

Does this include sinfulness & evil- Does God inspire sinfulness and evil to accomplish “good”?

Is this promise given to all humanity?

Should non-believers expect God to work for their good?

What are the “purposes” of God?

3. Point 1 “all things God works for the good”

1. What are “all things” Paul is referencing?

There is debate regarding what the Greek word “panta” [all things] is referencing.

Does “all things” include even sinful acts of non-believers?

Does this include the sinful acts of believers?

Does “all things” simply refer to adversities?

Some scholars reject the limitation of just adversities.

Commentator Haldane states:

“If all things work together for good, there is nothing within the compass of being that is not, in one way or other, advantageous to the children of God. All the attributes of God, all the offices of Christ, all the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, are combined for their good. The creation of the world, the fall and the redemption of man, all the dispensations of Providence, whether prosperous or adverse, all occurrences and events—all things, whatsoever they be—work for their good.…”

Commentator Godet explains:

“The term panta, all things, includes all that comes on us, especially everything painful in consequence of the miseries of the present time and of the sins of our neighbors. But it would be wrong to embrace under it what we may do ourselves in opposition to God’s will, since that would contradict the idea: Them that love God”

Earlier in the chapter, Paul is

2. Use an illustration to further clarify it.

3. Provide an application-—“Here’s how this idea relates to our lives.”

4. Point 2 “of those who love him”

1. God’s promise with a qualifier- who does Jesus say “loves” him?

2. Illustration

3. Application

5. Point 3 “who have been called according to His purpose”

1. To what “purpose” have we been called? What is our purpose as followers of Christ?

“Romans 8:4

Romans 8:4 (NIV84)

And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:12

Romans 8:12 NIV84

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.

2. Illustration

3. Application

6. Point 4 (e.g. “God is concerned with the condition of our hearts.”)

1. Explanation

2. Illustration

3. Application

7. Conclusion

1. Summarize what you’ve taught.

2. Present a call to action—what should your congregation do, now that they’ve learned these truths from God’s Word?

“

This great text has some built-in qualifications, and we need to begin with them. I call them “boundaries.”

1. For Christians only. The first boundary is defined by a question: To whom does this promise apply? Obviously it does not apply to everyone, for Paul’s statement says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” That verse is talking about Christians. So, to read on to the closely linked verses that follow, it is saying that everything works for the good of those whom God has predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, those he predestined and called and justified and glorified. This is not a promise that all things work together for the good of all people.

Do you remember Robert Browning’s well-known couplet: “God’s in his heaven—/All’s right with the world”? The lines are a small capsule of nineteenth-century Victorian thinking, when the world was more or less at peace, and progress in all areas of human life and endeavor seemed unlimited and inevitable. Nobody thinks that way today, and rightly so. It is because all is not right with the world, and anybody who thinks so is either out of his or her mind or is just not seeing things clearly.

Several centuries before Browning, the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz developed a line of thought known popularly as “the best of all possible worlds” philosophy. But this, too, was an illusion and still is. For most people this is not the best of all possible worlds at all. In fact, for many millions of people this world and the things they endure in it are terrible.

According to our text, it is only of Christians, not of all people, that these comforting words can be said.

2. To be like Jesus Christ. The second boundary to our text comes from another question: What is meant by “good”? That is an important question to ask, because if “good” means “rich,” as some would like it to mean, the text is not true, since most Christians have not been given a great supply of this world’s goods. The same thing is true if “good” means “healthy.” Not all believers have good health. Similarly, “good” cannot mean “successful” or “admired” or even “happy” in the world’s sense, since God asks many Christians to endure failure or scorn or very distressing personal experiences or severe disappointments.

What does “good” mean, then, if it does not mean rich or healthy or successful or admired or happy? The answer is in the next verse: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.”

That is what the “good” is: “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son,” in other words, to be made like Jesus Christ. That is an obvious good. It is impossible to think of a higher good for human beings, to be like one’s Maker. Pastor Ray Stedman rightly calls this “what life is all about.” But at the same time, seeing this allows us to see other not so obviously good things within the greater purpose. We can see how sickness, suffering, persecution, grief, or other ills can be used by God for this good end.

3. A good use of bad things. That leads to a third boundary for this text, and it comes from a third question: Are the things used in our lives by God for this good end necessarily good in themselves or only in their effect? The answer is the latter. In other words, this text does not teach that sickness, suffering, persecution, grief, or any other such thing is itself good. On the contrary, these things are evils. Hatred is not love. Death is not life. Grief is not joy. The world is filled with evil. But what the text teaches—and this is important—is that God uses these things (and others) to effect his own good ends for his people. God brings good out of the evil, and the good, as we saw, is our conformity to the character of Jesus Christ.

4. Knowing rather than feeling. The fourth and final boundary for the meaning of this text comes in answer to still another question: What is our relationship to what God is doing in these circumstances? The answer Paul gives is that “we know.” He does not say that we “feel” all things to be good. Often we do not feel that God is doing good at all. We feel exactly the opposite. We feel that we are being ground down or destroyed. And it is not even that we “see” the good. Most of the time we do not perceive the good things God is doing or how he might be bringing good out of the evil. The text simply says, “we know” it.

Paul was no sentimentalist. He had been persecuted, beaten, stoned, and shipwrecked. He had been attacked and consistently slandered by the Gentiles as well as by his own countrymen. Paul did not go around saying how wonderful the world was or how pleasant his missionary endeavors had been. On the contrary, he reported that he had been “hard pressed on every side … perplexed … [and] struck down” (2 Cor. 4:8–9). But Paul came through the things that pressed down and perplexed him precisely because he knew that God was working out his own greater and good purposes through these events.

How did Paul know it? He knew it because God had told him this was what he was doing. And now Paul is telling us. He is saying that we, too, can know it and be comforted in the knowledge that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”

Boice, James Montgomery. 1991–. Romans: The Reign of Grace. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

“ Even sins of believers work for their good, not from the nature of sin, but by the goodness and power of Him who brings light out of darkness (392, 393).

I am going to suggest an approach altogether different from the ones quoted above. There is one thing about which there is almost unanimous agreement on in commentaries. That is, that Paul is saying that all bad things (some interpreters except the person’s sins) work for the believer’s good. Another way to say it is that all of the difficulties of life are an advantage for the believer.

Even if the above observations are true in life’s experiences, I am going to suggest that Paul is not saying this in the verse before us. It seems to me that there has been a woeful lack on the part of commentators to develop the thought in the context. Up to this point in chapter 8 Paul has not been talking about suffering being good for us.

The first occurrence of the word “suffer,” as it relates to believers, is in v. 17. The next is in v. 18. The word “groan” occurs in v. 23. In v. 26 we find the word “infirmities” (or weakness).

In v. 17 nothing was said about suffering being good for us. The point of the verse is that in order to be glorified together with Christ in the next life, we must be identified with Christ in this life. This identification with Christ in this life will involve suffering with Him.

Verse 18 does not say that suffering is good for us. What it says is that in comparison “with the glory which shall be revealed in us” the sufferings of the present are reduced to insignificance. In this case it is our confidence that we will have a glorious future that helps us bear the suffering of this life.

In this life we groan as we wait for the resurrection (v. 23). In vv. 24, 25 Paul points out that since we do have the hope of the resurrection of the body, we are able to have patient endurance as we wait. The hope of the resurrection helps us, in this life, as we cope with the groaning of v. 23. He does not say that groaning is good for us or helps us.

In v. 26 Paul does not say that our infirmities are for our advantage. Rather, he says that the Holy Spirit helps us cope with our inadequacies.

Consider also what he says about animate and inanimate creation. In v. 20 he speaks of creation as being “subject to vanity.” In v. 21 he speaks of creation as being in “the bondage of corruption.” Another way he describes it is to say that “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain until now.”

Paul did not say that these experiences were good for creation. The reason these groanings could be called travailing as in childbirth and thus denote an expectancy for deliverance, is not because of the nature of suffering. It is because God “hath subjected the same in hope” (v. 20).

The meaning of what Paul has been saying in vv. 17–27 in regard to suffering is: Yes, we do live in a world of harsh reality. There is suffering on every hand. However, we know that for the believer this will one day come to an end. He will experience the full redemption of his body. He will be glorified together with Christ. Not only will he experience full redemption in the totality of his being; the very creation that surrounds him will also experience full redemption. By anticipating this glorious future the believer will be able to develop patient endurance as he waits for that time to come.

In living in this world of harsh reality, things can be so complicated that we may be totally inadequate to know what our real need is or what it will take to meet that need. We need not be destroyed by our inadequacy. The Holy Spirit comes to our aid and helps us. This He does by making intercession for us in groanings that supercede the adequacy of human language for expression. Far from creating a problem (in that it cannot be expressed in human language), this actually proves to be to our advantage. This is true because it is the perfection of this intercession which lifts it above human language. While it would be beyond our comprehension, it is not beyond the comprehension of the Father. It is perfectly understood because it is done in the language of Deity.

The question now is: How does v. 28 fit in this view of the context? Our first concern is with how the verse is translated. Cranfield gives a rather elaborate discussion on the possible ways to translate the first part of the verse (425–428).

Part of the problem of translating the verse is that some Greek manuscripts have a longer reading, adding “God” (Greek ho theos) as the subject of the verb “works together”. (Neither the Textus Receptus, the Majority Text nor the United Bible Society Text includes this (ho theos). For a discussion of this problem see Earle 161–163, who shows some inclination toward accepting this longer reading.) The commonly accepted reading is referred to as the “shorter reading.”

There are basically two ways of translating the longer reading: (1) “God causes all things to work together.” (2) “God works in all things.” (Actually, such renderings are not dependent on the manuscripts that have the extra “God.” By supplying the word “God” in the translation, either of the translations given above for the longer reading is also possible with the shorter reading. The addition of “God” is possible if the context should support it.)

We could, of course, stick with the more common translation, “All things work together.”

Cranfield, for example, is more inclined toward the shorter reading, and toward the translation, “All things work together.” His second choice would be, “God works in all things” (425).

If the context is to be understood as I have outlined it above, the translation which best suits this context is, “God works in all things.” (As just indicated, this is possible with either the longer or the shorter reading.)

If we take the meaning to be “God works in all things,” we could stick with the absolute interpretation of “all things” as including both the bad and the good. This would mean that God will be with us in all circumstances of life. He will be with us and sustain us in spite of the circumstances.

This would be in keeping with what has already been seen in the context. Paul has been talking about the help that God gives us in times of adversity. Paul would be saying, “We can be sure that at all times and in all difficulties, God will be on our side. His sustaining grace will give us strength for the hard times that come our way.”

I am strongly of the opinion that the context supports my view. I am also of the opinion it will fit Scripture and the facts of life better than the view which teaches that “all of the adversities of life are for our good.”

Before I show why I think my view fits Scripture and the facts of life better than the other view, let me make one point clear. I am very much aware that God uses adversity to work positive benefits in the life of the saint. My own experience bears testimony of that. The problem arises when we try to make it an absolute to fit every negative experience. The quotations given above show that some of the commentators were struggling with this idea by saying that the “all things” did not include the believer’s sins.

Most Christians have two contradictory opinions about negative experiences. When Rom. 8:28 is not on their mind, they speak about the tragedies which have come to people. When looking at Rom. 8:28, it sounds as if God has especially designed these experiences for their good, that tragedies do not exist. When talking about Rom. 8:28, even Arminians sound like five-point Calvinists.

Are we going to tell a woman who has been raped that it was for her good? Such an observation will not be very comforting. In fact, it will create more problems than it will solve. I think she would feel like saying that she would not want any more good if it had to come that way.

I am aware that in the case of a particular woman, she may, as a result of her experience, develop a ministry to women who have been raped. Another woman, as a result of her experience, may become active in rape prevention. However, the number of such cases would be few.

Anyone who has ever counseled the victims of rape and sex abuse knows that such cases are extremely devastating on the personality of the victims. Some with proper help may be able to cope with the problems brought on by this experience. Most will probably suffer from the devastation of this experience for the rest of their lives.

Or consider the problem of divorce. Apart from the question of whether divorce is right or wrong, it is an extremely devastating experience for both the wife and the husband as well as the children of that marriage. In the cases where the victims of divorce are Christians, are we going to say that it was good for them that the divorce occurred? If anyone does not know that divorce is very devastating on those who are its victims, it is because he has not been able to read that which is written in big letters in every segment of our society.

Here again, some may develop a ministry out of that experience. However, most will not. The children of that divorce, if they do not receive help, will run a higher risk of divorce on the whole than the children of marriages that stay together.

How comforting will it be to the mother of a two-year old who dashes out into the front of an automobile and is killed instantly to say, “Remember Romans 8:28. God meant this to be for your good”?

I am not denying that God uses tragic events to further His purposes. I am saying that when we try to make that fit every experience in the absolute sense, it is hard to defend.

Nor am I suggesting that God’s purposes are ever thwarted. But God has chosen to work in a context where He does not forbid the possibility of events that are harmful to believers. Even God cannot allow sin to be at work and at the same time make our experience on earth like Heaven. There is something better ahead of us.

What we can be assured of is that God will work for our good “in all things.” This does not mean that every event as such was for our good. In fact some of our experiences are not for our good. (We certainly tell our children that some things are not for their good.) What the Christian can be assured of is that even though we may suffer harm, God will work on our behalf to help us through these difficulties.

To them who are the called according to his purpose. The promise of this verse is to those who love God and are called according to God’s purpose or plan. Some take this to be a promise to a special group of Christians rather than all believers. I am in agreement with Picirilli when he says: “You must realize that this phrase is meant to include all believers. There is no such thing as a Christian who does not love God. This verse does not mean to limit the truths expressed here to some select group of Christians, special servants of God” (164).

We could also add that there is no such thing as a Christian who is not “called according to God’s purpose”.

Forlines, F. Leroy. 1987. Romans. Edited by Robert E. Picirilli. First Edition. The Randall House Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Randall House Publications.