Rom. 8:28 contains one of the most precious promises in all the
Bible: "And we know that to them that love God all things work
together for good, even to them that are called according to his
purpose."
An
accurate understanding and an unwavering faith in this verse can bring
peace and tranquility of soul to troubled hearts of the people to whom
the promise is made. It has given courage to the fainthearted, joy and
cheerfulness to the afflicted, hope and strength to the weary. It has
led many to press on "toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus.
The
terms, "all things", are used sometimes in the Bible in a limited or
relative sense. I Cor. 15:27, Paul explains that the terms may be
used in restricted sense: "But when he saith, All things are put in
subjection it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all things
unto him." Thus it is clear that the use of the words "all things" did
not mean everything in the universe, for the Father was not put in
subjection unto the Son.
Another
example of the limited use of the expression, "all things," appears in
Phil. 4:13. "I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me."
Things "in him" - in Christ - were the things he could do; that is, the
things the Lord authorized or wanted him to do.
The New
Testament also uses the words, "all things," in an unrestricted,
universal, all inclusive sense; as in He. 4:13. "But all things
are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do."
Nothing is hidden from the eyes of God. "God knoweth all things,"
(John 3:20) Here "all things" is used again in an unlimited sense.
God knows everything in the universe.
The "all
things" of Rom. 8:28 means everything; the terms are used here in
an unrestricted sense as shown by the context, as corroborated by many
other passages of scripture and as demonstrated in the lives of many who
love God and are called according to his purpose. Some claim that the
passage means only that God has made every provision for man's
redemption; but the verse cannot be so restricted.
God makes
some things work together for good even to the "unjust." He makes the
sunshine, the rain and the soil and many other things work together for
their good, as well as for the good of the "just." But he over-rules and
makes "all things" work together for the good of the obedient believer.
Joseph's
brothers committed a cruel crime against him and their father, when they
sold Joseph into Egypt, and deceived their father. Potiphar's wife
sinned against Joseph and against high heaven when she lied on him and
had him put in prison. But God over-ruled all these and dozens of other
things and made them work together for the good of his people and for
the accomplishment of his purpose. Joseph said unto his brethren, "And
as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to
bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Gen.
50:20.) Joseph did not understand that all his afflictions would
work together with other things for his good, but he learned later that
they did. (Gen. 50:20.)
The
context of Rom. 8:28 shows quite clearly that their afflictions
and even the sins of their persecutors will become contributing factors
to their good here and hereafter, just as all the bad things that had
happened unto Paul were made by the God of the universe to contribute to
the "progress of the gospel' (Phil. 1:12.)
In the
18th verse of Rom. 8, Paul begins a discussion of the "sufferings"
of the people of God, in which he states that "all things" work together
for their good; then states a conclusion in the form of two questions:
verse 31, "What shall we say to these things? If God is for us,
who is against us?" If we are on God's side, everything that occurs
while we are on his side, will work together for our good. A great many
people and things could successfully be against us, even though God is
for us, if he did not make "all things" work together for our good.
Even the
cruel and sinful deed of crucifying the Christ meant reconciliation and
forgiveness.
Count it
all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations (trials);
knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience. And let
patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire,
lacking nothing" (James 1:2-4.)
Poverty,
persecution, affliction and many other things that make us sad may
develop within us qualities of soul which make us more like Christ, more
useful in his service and better fit us for his eternal presence. When
this is done, our troubles and tribulations and sorrows have worked
together for our good. Anything that makes one a better and more useful
servant in the Master's vineyard is for good, and is worth everything it
costs, regardless of the price in money, toil, pain and sacrifice.
Several
years ago at the end of the third in a series of Sunday morning sermons
on this glorious promise of God in Rom. 8:28, a young lady about
twenty-two or twenty-three years old came forward during the invitation
song, confessed her faith in Christ and was baptized the same hour.
A few
days later she told me that none of her relatives had ever been a member
of the church before her. When I asked how she first came in contact
with the church, she related a story I shall never forget:
Her two
year old baby girl had died only two months before. She and her young
husband were heartbroken. They thought that they just knew that every
spark of hope and every vestige of joy and happiness had fled, never to
return. She looked about and saw other families of four or five
children, all a-love and happy, while the only one she ever had was
buried out of her sight forever. She felt that God had been unfair to
her in letting her little girl die. At night she could not sleep, and in
the day she could scarcely think of anything but her baby lying out
there in the cold, damp ground; but she finally came to a realization of
the fact that she could not go on that way and live; that she must do
something to get her mind off of her sorrow.
Therefore, one Sunday morning she dressed in her best clothes and went
out for a walk in the hope that something she might see would help her
to think about something other than her dead baby. By mere chance she
came by our meeting house, and without any previous thought or intention
whatever, she turned into the building as the crowd was gathering, and
sat down on the back seat.
On that
Sunday the series of sermons on Rom. 8: 28 began. When she heard
me say that the "all things" in the passage meant everything, she said
to herself that not even God almighty could ever over-rule the death of
her baby to the good of anybody. But she wanted to hear more on the
subject, and came back the next Sunday, and the next. On this third
Sunday of her coming, she was baptized. She was convinced that even the
death of her child had already contributed to her good. She concluded
that if her baby had not died, and if she had not been in such deep
sorrow, she would not have been out walking that Sunday morning and may
never have come in contact with the church of the Lord. She knew too, if
her child had lived to womanhood, there was the possibility of her being
lost. But since she had died in infancy before she ever knew sin of any
kind, her little daughter was eternally safe.
She did
not think that the Lord had killed her baby to make the mother a
Christian: she knew better than that. But having suffered the loss of
her child, she now believed that the omnipotent and merciful Father
could and did over-rule her loss to her good.
God moves
in mysterious ways
His
wonders to perform;
He plants
his footsteps in the sea,
And rides
upon the storm.
Ye
fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The
clouds ye so much dread
Are big
with mercy, and shall break
In
blessings on your head.
His
purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding
every hour;
The bud
may have a bitter taste,
But sweet
will be the flower.
-William
Cowper
To whom
is this precious and exceedingly great promise made? For whom do all
things work together for good? These questions are answered and the
people described in the same verse - Rom. 8:28. The promise is
made to them "that love God" - "to them that are called according to his
purpose."
Our love
for God is connected inseparably with obedience. "For this is the love
of God, that we keep his commandments, (I John 5:3.) "He that
hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me"
(John 14:21.) A part of God's eternal purpose in calling us is that
we may be "conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom. 8:29.)
Therefore, it necessarily follows that when we sin we are lacking in our
love for God, and are not living according to the purpose for which he
called us. The Lord does not promise to make "all things" work together
for our good, while in that condition, because in that state we are not
the kind of character to whom the promise is made. The Lord is not for
us in our sinning, and many things can be "against us." (Rom. 8:31.)
This
should prevent anyone from saying, "If all things work together for our
good, then our own sins must do it." No, "our own sins" keep us from
being the recipients of this great promise. He promises to over-rule the
sins of the disobedient for the good of those who do love him and live
according to his purpose, but does not promise to make anything work for
the spiritual good of the disobedient.
In Paul's
discussion of the abundance of God's grace, he said, "But where sin
abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly" (Rom. 5:20.) This
and other things that he said about the grace, goodness and love of God
might cause some to jump to the erroneous conclusion that their own sins
would enlarge the grace of God, and therefore, good would come of their
evil. Paul anticipated such false reasoning, and dealt it a death blow
in advance. He said, "What shall we say then? shall we continue in sin,
that grace may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any
longer live therein?" (Rom. 6:1,2.) He proceeded to tell them
they had been baptized to live a new life, and that sin should live no
longer therein. He put this emphatic question to them: "Know ye not,
that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his
servant ye are whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience
unto righteousness? (Rom. 6:16) Can one yield himself as a
servant of unrighteousness and still be the kind of person to whom all
things work together for good? "For the wages of sin is death" to those
who commit it. (Rom. 6:23.)
If you
think you know of some things that do not work together for the good of
the beneficiaries of this wonderful promise, a prayerful study of the
following passages will help you to understand.
1.
Grievous chastening. Heb. 12:7-11.
2. Grief
in manifold trials. I Pet. 1:6,7.
3. Bonds
and prison. Phil. 1:12-14.
4. Trials
that test and develop noble qualities of soul. James 1:2-4.
5.
Reproach and persecution. Matt. 5:11,12.
6. Fiery
trials and suffering. I Pet. 4:12-16.
God
sometimes uses extreme opposites "His wonders to perform." Light and
darkness work together to produce the most beautiful color in the
flower. The extreme cold of the winter and the heat of the summer make
the giant oak. It takes the snow and cold rain of the winter and the
warm sunshine of spring and summer to make an abundant wheat harvest.
These things work "together," not separately. A little baking soda, or
plain flour, or table salt, is not very palatable when taken alone. But
a good cook can take all these and a few other ingredients and make them
all work together, and a most delicious cake is the result.
If we
love God and live according to his purpose, both the bitter and the
sweet of our lives will be woven by the hand of God into "beautiful
robes of white."
Gospel Guardian – August 31, 1967
