All Things For Good
The Nature of the Promise
In a Brief Survey
of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans
Based on sermons
preached in PCC Worship Services, July 2003 to Sep 2005
Part 40a of 83
“And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Over the last three tranches of studies on
this chapter, we have been considering one groan after another.
We saw how creation groans to be freed from the bondage of
corruption and vanity; how the children of God groan in hope of the
manifestation of their adoption; and how the Comforter groans with the children
of God by making sympathetic intercession for them.
Why do we groan? Why do Creation and the Holy Spirit groan in
sympathy with us? Is it not because our present life is one of imperfection,
suffering and sin?
Because of all the imperfections, we struggle
with our Christian life, and we groan in our prayers. So often we do not know
what to pray because we do not know what is best for us. And so often we grieve
because of the circumstances around us.
So we often get discouraged. As the children
of God we need not be discouraged, but we often are. The apostle Paul is not
unaware of our discouragements. This whole chapter is written under inspiration
of the Spirit to encourage us!
This whole chapter is comforting. But if I am
to select one verse that I can unequivocally affirm to be the most comforting,
I would choose none other than verse 28—
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love
God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
If you have not memorise any verse to comfort
yourself in tribulation, you must memorise this verse. This verse is, as Martin
Lloyld-Jones puts it, “is one of the most remarkable statements that even the apostle Paul has made.”
Someone has likened the whole Scripture to be
a feast for the soul. If so, the book of Romans must be one of the most
delicious and nutritious dish. And Romans 8:28, is surely the most exquisitely
delectable topping on this dish.
It is a verse that is very well-known to most
of us, and I dare say has been a comfort to every true believer down the ages.
This verse, of course, does not stand in
isolation.[i] It will
be an instructive exercise to work out its connection with its preceding and
succeeding verses. But Romans 8:28 is so rich in itself that it behoves us spend some time to study it by itself.
This verse contains a glorious promise. Let’s
study it under four heads.
·
First, we must consider what the nature of the promise is.
·
Secondly, we must consider who the beneficiaries of the promise are.
·
Thirdly, we must consider the basis for this promise.
·
Fourthly, we must consider something of how this promise works in real
life.
1. The Nature of
the Promise
Notice first of all that Paul says “all
things.” “All things work together for good,” not “some things work together for good.”
What is this “all things”? “All things” is “everything,” not “some things.” The
great commentator Calvin quite surprisingly suggests that Paul is not referring
to all things, but only to trials and tribulation that will befall us. But Paul
does not seem to give any limitation.
He speaks of all things. The blessings that
you have received; your job, your recent promotion, your good health, your
wealth, your friends, the conversation you had with someone, your relationship
with the church, the time of prayer you had this morning, etc.
But not only these; for he is also speaking
about the discouragements that you are facing, your disappointments, the
disheartening event that happened in your life; the quarrel that tore your heart
last night, the accidents, the failures, the illnesses, even your fall into
temptation!
All things must include even the sin of man.
Now, of course, these things are not good in themselves. We must
not pretend that they are good. Yes, Paul teaches us to give thanks in
everything (1 Th 5:18). But that does not mean that we should thank God when we
fall into sin; nor does it necessarily mean that we should immediately thank
God when we meet with an accident.
No, no; we must not make the mistake of thinking
that every thing is good in itself. Arsenic and Mercury may be useful
ingredients in some medicine. But by themselves they are poisonous.
Likewise we must never call evil good. We
must never think that even bad things are good in themselves. That is the
philosophy of pantheism. But sadly, there are also those who profess to be
Christian, but have made this mistake. So they become stoics or worst they
torture themselves by whipping themselves or by giving up all their possessions
so that they live a life of suffering. This is very wrong. It is a perverted
notion very unlike what Paul is teaching here or anywhere else in the
Scripture.
Similarly, there are those who try to mollify
their conscience by saying that their sins are not so bad because all things
work together for good for them! Well, this is sophistry at its worst.
No, no; what Paul is teaching us is that every thing and every event in our live is cooperating together like a
massive orchestra to do good to us. So at any moment in our life—whether we are
facing disappointments or hardship, we can cling on to the assurance that all
things are working together for our
good.
Indeed, note that Paul does not say “all things will
work together for good,” but rather “all
things work together for good.” The word “work” is in the Greek present
tense, which is equivalent to our present continuous tense. So Paul is saying:
“all things are working together for good.”
We do not have to wait for a future day for
this promise to be fulfilled. It is being fulfilled even now. Paul is not
saying: Today many things are working evil in us, but one day everything will
turn out well. He is not saying, our journey has many ups and downs, but
ultimately we will reach the top. No, no; he is saying: we are always going up.
Even when it appears that we are going downhill, we are really going uphill, all things considered.
But does this promise apply to everyone? Let’s
take a closer look at who are…
…to be
Continued Next Issue
—JJ Lim
[i] Paul has just spoken about how we often do not
know what is good for us when we pray. He encourages us by telling us that the
Holy Spirit is making intercession for us with groanings that cannot be
uttered. And He assures us that God will hear the intercession of the Spirit.
Now, he is seeking to give us a further assurance of God’s concern and love for
us. He would assure us that God would not allow anything that is ultimately bad
to happen to his saints.
This is how Romans 8:28 is connected to the previous
verse. But Romans 8:28 is also connected to the subsequent verses. For in the
subsequent verses, Paul would go into detail to buttress the doctrine that all
things will work together for good to those who are called according to God’s
purpose.