Romans The Decipleship Textbook
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
8:28 is one of the most abused, and misunderstood verses in the New Testament.
To me this verse tells me that if I got the divine call, love God with all my heart, mind and strength Luke 10:27, and understand this call is for His purpose then and only then will all things come together in a good way. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 22:14 .
You know, I would like to have had the opportunity to ask Paul what he means when saying “all things work together?” What things precisely? What are these things? Does Paul perhaps mean everything known and unknown work together for the good? It’s challenging to consider what Paul is trying to say here about “all things.” So, I am going to consider that Paul means all things visible and invisible (1 Timothy 4:8), and that God cares for us so much that He causes everything to work together for GOOD for us who LOVE Him and who are CALLED according to His PURPOSE (2 Timothy 1:9). And what does FOR GOOD mean? Does that imply that everything works together for eternity, or just during our time of service?
I would warn anyone who takes this verse and morphs it into their own purposes that all things will not work together for good. One of the deciding statements Paul uses here is “THE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE.” The CALLED ONES are those who have received the divine call to be Jesus Christ’s and the qualifier Paul employs is “WHO LOVES GOD.” This love is not a brotherly or family type of love, this is a love where sacrifice and obedience equates to God’s elective purpose for all eternity.
Furthering this discussion of all things, called ones, and loving God reading on to verse 29 is now essential.
Romans 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
The words in verse 29 can be rather distracting if taken at face value. In verse 29 words here refer to the conformity of the children of God “to the image of His Son,”of their physical conformity to His body of glory (Philippians 3:21).
Bottom line is if you have received the DIVINE CALL, LOVE GOD, ALL THINGS WILL WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD. This divine call is predestined, selected, and desired by God for all to accept the call. Of course, Not everyone will accept the call, many will just go to church once or twice a week and feel they are being obedient to the call, or get involved in busy work around the church and the community thinking that everything will work out.
Paul is encouraging believers that there is a far greater reward beyond the troubles they go through if they trust in the Lord, and if they are willingly being like Jesus no matter the personal cost. If you desire for all things to work together for good, you must count the cost and begin being conformed to the image of God’s Son.
Here is a short outline of Romans chapter 8:
- Verses 1-11 Free From Indwelling Sin
- Verses 12-17 Sonship Through The Spirit
- Verses 18-30 From Suffering To Glory
- Verses 31-39 God’s Everlasting Love
Mike Kovach
5 November 2021
The Christian Underground Journal
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