But we *do* know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to purpose.
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The Setting of the Verse
After unfolding the deep workings of the Spirit within the believer, Paul widens his view to declare that the same God who indwells us is also sovereign over every outward circumstance. Romans 8:28 is the believer's pillow in a groaning creation — not a promise that all things are good, but that all things work together for good to a defined company.
God Is For Us in All Things
The verse follows the Spirit's intercession in our weakness and turns our gaze outward. Hamilton Smith draws the contrast carefully: God is not only in us by His Spirit, He is also for us in everything taking place around us.
Hamilton SmithThe Apostle has shown how blessedly the Holy Spirit works in us by the new life in Christ, and the indwelling Holy Spirit, producing spiritual experiences. Now we learn that not only is God the Holy Spirit in us, but that God is for us in "all things" that are taking place around us. In regard to all the circumstances of life, the trials, the sorrows, the conflicts and the difficulties, we may not know how to pray as we ought; but this we do know, "That all things work together for good to them that love God". We may not always see how this loss, or that trial, is working for our good, but faith knows that good will be the result in time and eternity... "The sorrow may not be remedied, but the sorrow is blessed".
"Working Together" — The Weaver's Design
Paul does not say each thing taken alone is good; he says they work together. One writer pictures it as a loom, where threads of every color are pulled into one design by the hand of the weaver.
J T Mawson"Working together," it is a wonderful thought. Here are a thousand threads, but see, they are working together into a beautiful fabric. How is that accomplished? Every thread is part of the designer's scheme, every thread is controlled by the weaver and they work together to one end. So everything, all things, have their part in God's bright design for them that love Him. Here we rest in our present trials and though we groan we do not grumble, nay, "we glory in tribulation"...
The same writer adds that once this is grasped, every fresh circumstance is welcomed: "then would we greet every new circumstance as a friend, and wait keenly interested to discover how God in His minute and personal care for us will turn it to our good" (J T Mawson).
"To Them That Love God" — The Christian's Normal Character
The verse describes the believer not by failure but by the affection that the divine call has produced in him. The reason this love exists at all is because God called us first.
MagazinesThe Christian is viewed normally as a lover of God, and this because of the divine call; and the God who has called us watches over all the varied circumstances and conditions of life through which His people pass, making all to work together for their blessing, bringing prosperity to the soul, and carrying on His good work within us in view of the day of Jesus Christ.
"Called According to His Purpose" — The Anchor of It All
Why can we be sure all things will end in good? Because the same God who arranges the circumstances has a fixed purpose for those He has called. Hamilton Smith puts the assurance in the simplest terms:
Hamilton SmithTo assure our hearts that all is working for good, we are reminded that we are "the called" of God; and, if called, God has a purpose for us. God saves us because we need saving; God calls us because He wants us. All God's ways with us in the present have in view the fulfilment of His purpose for us in the future.
That purpose is then unfolded in the verses that follow: foreknown, predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, called, justified, glorified — "the end and aim of it is the glory of the SON, that he may be 'the firstborn among many brethren'" (Magazines).
Even in the Last Days of Life
Darby, writing in old age and weakness, lived in the verse rather than only explaining it:
J. N. DarbyMan's ways cross and traverse each other, but He goes on in the secret of His own love always straightforward and makes everything work together for good to them that love Him.
Summary
- God for us. Beyond the Spirit in us, Romans 8:28 declares God for us in every outward circumstance.
- Together, not alone. Single events may be painful; it is the combination of them, woven by the divine Designer, that produces good.
- Faith, not sight. We may not see now how a loss is for our gain — "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter."
- Lovers of God. The promise belongs to a defined company — those whom the divine call has made into lovers of God.
- His purpose secures it. Because we are "the called according to His purpose," every present dealing aims at our future conformity to the image of His Son.