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Let’s
state the obvious; Rom 8:28 has providence all over it! It is the Creator God
who determines and defines what is good, not us who have been compromised by
sin (cf. Judges 21:25; Prov 14:12). It is definitely not what the world would
call good, but they never agree with God anyway.
We
think we know what is good for us, but we don’t! Who is going to say, “I think
I will get involved in a crisis to make me a better person?” We attempt to shun
the undesirables and what is perceived as negatives, desiring to be surrounded only
by the positive and pleasant things. The fires from difficulties have a way of
purifying us that pleasant things could never accomplish, but being touched by
fire can be painful though spiritually beneficial. Here’s the thing; being
Christlike is no cakewalk.
Only
God can make all things work together for good, the ultimate good. The verb work is in the present
active indicative; this expression literally means that under God's providential care and orchestration, all (including all the positives and all the negatives) will continue to work in a cooperative manner with one another for the good. God, not us, is
making this happen!
This is a wonderful verse in the dark times of evil and
suffering, but it still remains a challenging concept when it hits home personally, and
the wrestling with the why begins for so many. My sister-in-law just took her medical condition in
stride, knowing that God was calling the shots! I never heard the why word uttered from
her lips. She is happy to be alive.
We
know the highest good is Christ. This good Paul is referring to in v28 is defined in v29,
to be conformed to the image
of His Son.
Disappointed that it didn’t say rich and famous? Those that add those elements
as proof of their conformity to Christ is the prosperity gospel hoax, keeping
up with the Joneses rather than Jesus. Whether fame or riches is evil is
predicated on how it impacts our obedience to His will for our life. Biblical
conformity involves those two present active participles listed in v28, to those who love God and to those who are the
called.
So,
whatever situation enters our life, being a slave to fear is not to be a part
of our outlook on life, regardless of what crosses our path; fear of the unknown and known has been replaced by trust in Abba (Papa), Father (Rom 8:15; cf. Prov 3:5-6; Isa 26:3). We have this confidence that whatever enters our
life that God is aware of it and in control. There is no need to
succumb to fear because God is on it before it ever makes its entrance! This
conformance is always in accordance with His will (cf. Rom 8:27).
Now,
this only happens to those who love God, to those who are the called (cf. Jn 6:37,
44). Only the called have
been given the ability to love (agape) God (cf. Rom 5:5) or obey His
commandments (Jn 14:15; 15:5). Notice the past tense of these verbs in Rom 8:30,
Moreover
whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these
He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Some
get tripped up over predestined and head south theologically, but look at the tense of the last
verb; it is absolutely astonishing, glorified! We are predestined, called, justified, but the
Holy Spirit uses Paul under inspiration, to include glorified in the past
tense as well!
Look
in the mirror; uh, we still have the sinful nature! This adversarial nature within
us is only removed via RIP or rapture, but if you are reading this, you still
have that ugly old, sinful nature. So why was this future, ultimate, and elevating verb
mentioned in the past tense as if it had already occurred like the other three
for those who had been spiritually regenerated?
It emphasizes the certainty of glorification of all believers
(cf. Rom 8:18, 21; 2 Tim 2:10); it’s a sure thing. Rom 8:30 is considered to be
one of the strongest verses in the NT on the eternal security of the believer.
From God the Father’s point of view, the Holy Spirit is letting us know via the
Apostle Paul that ultimate sanctification is as good as done though it is yet
future.
Let’s
not forget that Paul opened up Rom 8:28 with, And we know (Gk., oida, fullness
of knowledge [Vine]). It appears four times in Romans 8. Have we forgotten that
God causes all things to work together for good for the purpose of being like
His Son? Or are we so hyper-focused on the negative – “Why God have you allowed
this? I thought you loved me?” Oida settles the matter of a right
understanding of God’s sovereignty interacting in every experience of a believer that
it is not without purpose. He didn’t qualify the event, “Only when things do
not go like you want can you legitimately cop an attitude with Me.”
When
Mrs. Job finally succumbed to the pressure of the Jobs’ dire situation, and it
was; she went beyond the why and pleaded with Mr. Job to let go of his integrity and curse God and die (Job
2:9). Satan was confident that he could get Mr. Job to curse God (cf. Job 2:5). This was a very
subtle and snaky thing by Satan to use Job’s wife to get her husband to curse
God. Mr. Job rebuked her for speaking as a foolish woman. Then through his pain
and suffering, he spoke out of love to her something she desperately needed to
hear and put immediately into practice,
Shall we
indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? (Job 2:10a).
Rom 15:4 would indicate that this is what we need to do as well. Whenever
we give up on God, we are in deep trouble and vulnerable to attack as was his wife. Thankfully,
God does not give up on us in our stupid. Are you getting any of this? We are to accept adversity from God as we accept good! We make it an issue on shaky grounds. We are never ever in a position to
take on the Almighty and demand anything from Him! The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of wisdom, right? We cannot bully the Omnipotent, and neither can we make Him feel
guilty for He is holy. Who do you think is promoting us to challenge the love of God during adversity? It isn't coming from Yahweh!
“What
good comes from all of this?” Have you ever asked that question? Did God ever
promise us a primrose path or something to the contrary like taking up our
cross and following Him? Have we forgotten we are slap-dab in the middle of a
great spiritual war that has been raging since the Garden? Are we so naïve to
think there would not be any pushback from the forces of darkness, the world system, or the flesh (the monster that lives inside of us all) as a child
of the light?
Why
do all things work together for good? Because God is in control from start to
finish for us to reach His objective through various situations. He promised us
with the most emphatic verse found in the NT that He would never leave us nor
forsake us (Heb 13:5). You and I may lose sight of His purpose in our conflicts
and sufferings, unable to see the forest for the trees, but it is there,
nonetheless – Christlikeness, not fame or fortune.
We
are not to be fashioned after this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind (cf. 2 Tim 3:16-17), that we may prove what is
that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom
12:2), which is, conformity to Christ. This will never materialize on this side of
eternity without total commitment and devotion to Yahweh (Rom 12:1) which is
linked to the first and second commands (Mk 12:30-31).
What
is good in v28?
Christlikeness, seen of God, seen of men; it is not up to a personal
interpretation of its meaning but based upon the absolute objective truth of God’s Word. The
merits of Christianity are based upon the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Moving away from the Word is tantamount to moving
away from Christlikeness; that, my friend, is the bad. Good for nothing or good
for something is a choice that has major consequences. Burdens result from the
former (disobedience), and blessings are sourced in the latter (obedience).
What
parent wants their child to turn out good for nothing? The world has no
capability to take good to a higher standard than Yahweh. Why would the world do
that anyway? The world hates Christ! And if it hates Jesus, it hates you and me
because Jesus lives within us. It is not rocket science. God’s will for every
believer is this, “I want for you to be conformed to the image of My Son.” He has the power and wisdom to make that happen; it will happen.
No
one claimed that it would be easy, but we have an Enabler to make being like
Christ a reality in our lives through faith and obedience, and it will be eternally
rewarding. Good for something is to be like Christ in everything: in our
thoughts, words, and deeds. That means a lifestyle of Christlikeness for life. We got a lot of
work to do, don’t we?
On
that day when we are all in glory, all things will indeed be very, very good
because glorification has kicked into gear, meaning we have lost our sinful nature forever,
and we will forever be with Him and like Him –
but
we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see
Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as
He is pure (1 Jn 3:2c-3,
emphasis mine).
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 (Rom 8:28).
Comfort one another with these words. <><
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| End of Series |
