All things work for good?
Romans 8:28-39

Intro.:
V.28 has been called a favorite of many Christians. It has been called a "soft pillow for a tired heart." There are many who used the verse to indicate how God turns circumstances around and brings good out of evil. Some examples will show this:

(1) John Foxe, author of the Book of Martyrs, was escaping from England by ship when a storm arose and the vessel was forced back to the British coast. Because he had not waited until the next boat, h e escaped being executed; because he had to return to England , he had time to complete arrangements for his safety on
the continent.

(2) The poet Cowper, who was subject to fits of great depression, one day ordered a cab and commanded the driver to go to the London bridge. A dense fog settled down on the city, and the driver was unable to take him to his destination. The man returned Cowper to his home, and was surprised when the poet handed him twice the usual fare, explaining, "Never mind the change, you saved my life. I was on the way to throw myself off London Bridge." He went into his house, and wrote the hymn which includes the lines, "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonder to perform.”

(3) An eminent French engineer was detained in the Mediterranean by a tedious quarantine. It was hard for one of his active temperament to endure such confinement; but as he waited on the deck of the vessel he read, and the book, to which he gave his extra attention, prompted him to the conception of the Suez Canal, the execution of which has made him so famous and has been of such great service to the world."(Thomasp.228)

2. Comment on translation. Before proceeding, we must comment on the translations. The KJV is misleading. "All things work together" is the subject. Better is the RSV which makes God the subject. Better yet is "We know also that those who love God, those who have been called in terms of his purpose, have His aid and interest in everything." The point is this: we do not live in a world in which all things work for good." There is much evil and this evil and sin grinds man into the dust and destroys him. Any war will prove this. War is a terrible hell and regardless of the technological advances that may be made either in machinery, medicine, etc., there is no possible way that a rational being can say that war is good in itself.

3. Confusion of events and reactions to events. About 15 years yars ago, my nephew was killed in a train-car crash. Before that time, his parents didn't attend church except at Christmas and Ester. After his death, they came to rededicate themselves to Christ and became active in church. If "All things work together" be used, then his death was a good thing, which I cannot believe. The reaction of rededication on the parent's part was good, but the death itself was not. But our verse does not say this, we have only used a poor reading and concluded falsely about God's activity.

4. What does our verse say? God works in behalf of those who are called according to his purpose. This last phrase is the important one. The phrase "those who love him" is not left without the qualifying phrase because if it were based on love only, then one might conclude that God owed the loving man everything. But
this is not the case. God works in our lives according to his purpose. This is seen in three different ways:

I In Presestination, etc. 29.

1. Don't throw up your hands at predestination. Different types of predestination have been held by various theologians and I shall not get into it deeply. Some comments need to be made about predestination.

(1) Paul thought of predestination in social rather than personal terms. We think of predestination as a doctrine saying that certain specific individuals are chosen, and the rest rejected. Yet for Paul predestination was a general term: Jacob have I chosen, Esau have I rejected, or the Israelites are chosen as a messianic people, and the sons of Esau were not chosen as a messianic people. Esau's salvation is not involved in the question any more than the salvation of the non-semites is involved in that question.

(2) Predestination in Paul's day did not reject a free will. Later predestination got to be a logical doctrine. If you are predestined to salvation, you can't do anything about it one way or the other. If you are rejected, you can't do anything one way or the other.

(3) Predestination is in contrast to the problems of legalism. If you had to work for your salvation you would never know when you had succeeded. Predestination stresses the fact that God began to work in you and shall continue to work in you to fulfill what he has begun. It is bound to come to pass. See this in the phrase, "whom he has glorified." Why didn't Paul say, "you shall be glorified? He didn't because, from the standpoint of God it has already been done, and the actual achievement of it is guaranteed. God is able to fulfill what he purposes.

If you have read a little in theology, know that John Calvin was the person known famous for his predestination. His famous work was the Institutes, an exposition of the Christian faith. Predestination was only a small part in his early edition. It came under attack and Calvin defended it and enlarged, and expounded it further.

The point of predestination Calvin was the same as for Paul in another setting. Calvin was fighting a Catholic theology that stressed the importance of human works and not faith as commitment. For Calvin predestination shows that God's promise and power are the key issues in salvation, not human merit or performance.

(4) Predestination is difficult on an individual level, but it relates to human experience. Why did you become a Christian? I think I have to give the credit to God. Were it not for him, I would not have.

(5) Predestination is related to the image of Christ. We are destined to become like him. Whatever images one musters to think of life after death, they must be subjected to the fact that we shall share the likeness of His Son.

11. In God's giving us all things v.32.

1. God's giving of all things is in relation to his Son. Nothing has been spared to bring about our redemption. There is perhaps some reference to the story of Abraham giving up Isaac. Abraham gave his dearest possession in ition in faith; now God gives his highest for us. When you have given the best, what else is there to give. The other seems incidental. When we buy an expensive watch, the .jeweler thinks nothing of "throwing"in a handsome presentation case without charge. When God gives us salvation, anything else we may ask of Him is as nothing compared to what he Has already given, and done for us.

2. Wade Smith tells how in his youth he visited an uncle and aunt in the country. The uncle was a stern, elderly man, and Wade was a bit afraid of him, although he had never been unkind. The boy had noticed an old pocket knife lying on the mantle in the living room. Its handle was worn and it had lain there for months, bu t he wanted it bad1y. He would stand in the room for moments at a time and gaze at it, longing to possess it, but he d id not have the courage to ask his uncle for it. One day when he was standing looking at the object of his affection, a hand was gently laid on his shoulder. He jumped. His uncle had noiselessly entered the room. The old man said, "Son, do you want that?" He picked up the knife and handed it to the boy, '''Why didn't you ask me for it? he said, "I'm have been glad to give it to you. "

3. When it comes to God's salvation and our relation to him,God works in everything for our good according to his purpose.We must always stay by the intent of the Scri pture God gives us all things for our good, not all things are for our good.

III. In God's unquenchable love for us in Christ. 39

1. God's working in our behalf is not a promise that we shall not have trial, problems, persecutions, and death. The storm of sin yet blows. We stand to be victims of its blowing. The difference is that neither its blowing or attendant problems shall be able to separate us from Christ's love. (35) He does not forsake in trials. It is a mistake to think that Christians will be free of troubles. We are all subject to disease, death, and devastation of all kinds. But none of these separates us from the companionship of Christ. Indeed, we are conqueror thru these problems.

Look at the dimensions of God's love:

(1) death nor life. Neither of these two climatic events can overthrow the good that God designs for us. There is nothing in this life or in the life to come that has any power to defeat us or take Christ's love away. Even the mystery and fatality of death have been destroyed.

(2) There are no created beings Who can intervene to separate us from the love of God. Angels, principalities, powers are supernatural creatures, elements in that hierarchy of spirits as
Paul understands them, and none of these could separate us from Christ's love. The important thing about these creatures is that our essential well-being and the courses of our lives would be at the mercy of forces external to ourselves. This is a belief that still exists in another dimension, namely, astrology. Whatever one may think of astrology, it has its hold on people's beliefs. It is a form of idolatry because one commits your life to a power that is not God. Christ's love and power delivers from any power or creature external to oneself.

(3) things present or to come •••There is no dimension of space or time that can hold any real terror for the Christian.

(4) height nor depth are astrological terms meaning the highest position a given star attains and depths the abyss below the horizon out of which the stars arise ...Paul must not be regarded as having believed this, but his affirmation is that regardless of what the stars do, they cannot do this--separate us from God's love.

(5) nor anything else. It might seem that Paul had taken care of everything, of any order of being, here or elsewhere, now or hereafter, that might intervene to shut us off from God's love. But to silence any lurking apprehensions, he adds one final word--nor anything else in creation. If God is supreme, and if his creation is responsive to his will, nothing he has made can obstruct his merciful purpose. Our final security cannot be shaken.

Concl :
1. A word of caution about passing judgements on other people's or your own life. We must not say that God did a certain thing to a person to make him repent. We don't have a clear word about God's personal activities right now. We must not also make direct judgements about the past for our selves without qualifying our statements, like , it may be that God is saying...

Let me use a case in point, the calling of Knooce as pastor. We have tried twice to have him come. Both times there appeared to be problems. I t might be easy to conclude that God is try in to tell us something, But it may be that he is not. God may have been trying to say something to him rather than to us. God never promised the pulpit committee that finding a man would be easy or without problems. Nor has God promised you as a church that it would be easy. It could very well be that God wants Knooce in Oklahome City until after the month of January.

The point is: making Judgements about God's activity apart from the Scripture is difficult to say the least, and dangerous at the most. What we can say is: God is at work for our good, and his love will continue in our regard. The same is true for Knooce. At best, all I feel confident in saying at thismoment, I don't know. I would rather say, "Lord, I commit thisto your working, and I pray that I might not make a mistake.Deliver me from error. Beyond this, I dare not go.

I knew a man one time who used predestination as a reason for divorcing his wife.  What a terrible thing to do.

2. We tend to say God did this, and God did th. We must be caution. We don't want to attribute to God hat which is not His. But we must abide in the promise, God works in behalf of those wrho are called according to his purpose.