I wonder if the Lord will ever let me know how many times during my life I have quoted this verse of scripture. Has it been a thousand times? Ten thousand times? I know that I have preached from the context of Romans 8:28 several times. And what a wonderful context it is. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
Despite preaching from these paragraphs, I have no record of ever stopping and camping on this one verse. But as a stand alone sentence it is as powerful and heart-warming as any we find in the Word of God. Permit me to correct my neglect this evening, praying it will be the blessing to each of us that it ought to be. “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Paul begins his thought by saying, “We know…”
Of course, he was writing to a group of Christians who, at the time, were living in Rome. They were people much like us, saved out of heathenism and idolatry. He addressed his letter: “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints…” And later he made sure that he included himself among them, saying, “WE know these certain facts…”
There are several words in the Greek New Testament which speak about “knowledge” and “knowing” things. The most common – or at least the best known – is “ginosko,” but this is ”oida.” There is a difference between these two kinds of knowledge. To quote W.E. Vine from his “Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words,”“Ginosko… suggests inception or progress in knowledge, while oida suggests fulness of knowledge.” Sometimes both those words are found in the same scripture, and in them we can see the distinction. For example in John 8:55 Jesus said to the Jews, “You have not ginosko (the Father); but I oida him, and if I should say, I oida him not, I shall be a liar like you; but I oida him…” Those Jews should have successfully learned about God, but they hadn’t. On the other hand, the Son knows the Father with absolute, intimate accuracy – without learning about Him
And that is the word Paul uses here: “We absolutely recognize and realize that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” We don’t have to wonder if all things work together for our good; we know for certain that they do. We don’t have to worry about the ultimate outcome of our lives, because “he who foreknew us from eternity past did also predestinate us to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
The question becomes – HOW did we come to know this truth? How did WE come to know it? I ask, because the reality is that many Christians, if not most of them, do not live in this knowledge. How is it that we know it? Ultimately the answer lies in the grace of God. But more practically, we know this truth because God has revealed it to us through His Word. Why can’t people – why can’t Christian people simply believe what God has chosen to reveal? Truly, “the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked,” rebelling even against some of God’s greatest blessings We know all things work together for our good, because the sovereign God controls every detail of all things. But unfortunately, even a lot Christians aren’t pleased with the idea of God’s sovereign control.
That brings us to Paul’s second word: “All things.”
I say “word,” because in the original language “all things” is only one word. And again, it is a particular word, but a very common and easily understood word. It is translated “all,” “all things,” “every” “whosoever” and several other all-inclusive terms, like these. “We know that ALL things work together for good to them that love God…” Not some things but all things.
But here is something important to understand. Paul is saying that all things, as a huge group, work together for good. We may find – we will find – that thousands of items and events will not always come across as good. We may suffer a serious leg injury which takes us to the ER. This could be very bad. But there the doctors find that we have something far more serious than compartmental syndrom – something like leukemia. Serious leg injuries are no fun, but if they keep us from an early death, they become a good thing. Or a terrible car accident may take away some physical ability, which forces us down another road, but that eventually proves to be infinitely better for us, than what we had originally planned for ourselves. We tend to curse the bad things, but don’t do that, because “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Some day the Lord may reveal to us that the thousand bad things we have suffered were all a part of God’s plan for us.
And, all those things – both positive and negative – “work together” for good.
Whereas many of the words in this verse are exceedingly common, this word is not. “Work together” is used by the Holy Spirit in only five verses. In Mark 16:20, the disciples, “went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.” In I Corinthians 16:16 Paul encouraged the believers to “submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth.” In II Corinthians Paul says that he was working with the Lord. And James, in talking about Abraham’s faith, says, “Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?”
“Working together” involves teamwork. In the case of this verse we aren’t talking about our cooperation with the Lord. This is about “things.” This is like incorporating warp and the woof into the tapestry which is your life. The million blessings of God, often so small that we don’t recognize them, are intersected with the hundreds of negative things, which most of us recognize immediately. All those things – all those kind and helpful people, along with all those who have hurt us… All those events, all those injuries, all that love, and all those gifts we have been given… …”work together for good.”
Of course the omniscient God always sees the completed tapestry even as each stitch is put into place. But you and I can’t see it until the entire unit is completed. Nevertheless, by faith and by revelation “we KNOW that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
I said that we know these things by faith and by revelation – the Bible tells us. In my preparation, I jotted down the words of one commentator who said we also know this by experience. I learned years ago, not to believe everything the noted Bible commentators tell us. In this case our experiences will not necessarily provide any assurance all things work together for good. Again, it is by faith and what the scriptures tell us that we know these things.
But it is not just that God SEES that all things work together for our good – He ORDAINS that good.
Do you remember our recent message on the goodness of God? God is good. And remember that because God is good, everything He does is good. Just as God is holy, and therefore He never can do anything that is not holy God is good, and therefore He can do nothing that is not good. And He has His hand controlling everything in this verse and its context. “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
And what is a good definition of “good?” How about “beneficial.” “We know that all things work together for the BENEFIT of them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” During those days when David was running from cave to cave in his flight from the wrath of King Saul, he prayed in Psalm 57 – “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul trusteth in thee; yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be over past. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.” David essentially pre-said what Paul tells us in Romans 8:28. And we also see in David that all things DID work together for him.
But it needs to be recognized that this promise belongs ONLY to a SPECIAL COMPANY of people.
“We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” These special people are described from two perspectives: They are people called of God and they are people who love that God.
Let’s consider the second first – those who are the called according to God’s eternal purpose. I quoted, from chapter one, Paul’s use of that word. This letter was directed to “all that be in Rome, beloved of God, CALLED to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Actually that quote is the third time Paul used that word in Romans. In the first verse he said, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, CALLED to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.” And then five verses later he said, referring to other believers, “Among whom are ye also the CALLED of Jesus Christ…” This word is used to speak about the invitation of God – the invitation of the sovereign God. This word speaks about an invitation which cannot be refused. It is irresistible in the sense that God so changes our hearts that we can’t resist turning to the Lord. When Paul was called to be an apostle, he was not in a position to turn down God’s offer. And those saints in Rome (chapter 1, verse 7) found that God had given them new hearts – hearts of love. It is those people, and people just like them, who know that all things work together for good.
But there is one particular difference between God’s calling and the people who are called in our verse. That difference slightly separates this from the earlier verses. It is just a tiny little definite article. “We know that all things work together for good, to them that love God to them who are THE called according to his purpose.” It is as though Paul wanted to make sure there were no mistakes about the identity of these blessed people. They are not just among the invited; they are more specifically THE called. They are not just people who were smart enough to return the RSVP and to come to the Lord’s party. They are a particular group – the called – the elect – those chosen from before the foundation of the world.
But let’s not forget the other very important characteristic of these blessed people. “We know that all things work together for good to them that LOVE God…” How can someone know if they are among the called of God? Do their veins flow in royal purple, because the blood of Christ fills their veins? No. Do they already have one foot in heaven? They do not. Is there a deed of trust for a heavenly mansion in their safe or in the top drawer of their file cabinet? No. How can someone know if they are among the called of God? They love God; they love their Saviour; they love the Holy Spirit who gave them regenerated hearts. Whereas they hated God for years or even decades, now they love Him. They love everything about the Lord; they love His Word, including His laws. They love the people of God, longing to spend time with them in fellowship around the Saviour. They love His open hand filled with blessing after blessing, but they also love His loving backhand.
How can you know for sure that you are a child of God and that all things work together for your good? Ask yourself: “Do I love God?” The question could be, but perhaps it should not be: “Do I love the Lord as well as I should?” I doubt that any of us, as long as we live in this corrupt flesh, will love as well as we should. But is there any love for God there in your heart? We should all grieve that we don’t know and love Him as we should. We should make at a matter of prayer. We need to learn – I need to learn – to express my love for the Lord more often than I do.
Remember, ONLY those who love the Lord can claim the great promise of this verse: “We know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”