8:28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.

Baghdad, July 30^th 1919.

Dear Walter,

I’ve got some very sad news to tell you, last night when down at the river bathing poor old Eric was drowned.  You must forgive me for putting it so blunt, but I feel too full up with it to say much about it.  We were bathing as usual and poor old Eric went down.  We dived with ropes round us and swam about for half an hour but nothing was seen of him.  He was evidently caught in a swift current and carried away.  It was all over so quickly that it is hard to realise it.  They say everything works together for good but I’m blessed if I can see it.  You know my saying, don’t you?  “What is to be will be”.  We’ve got one consolation, Walter, and that is, he is gone to a happier world than this.  I don’t think there was a better living man to be found anywhere and he was liked and respected by everyone.  Please forgive this short letter.  I hope they will find the body and bury him with military honours.

Remembrance to all,

I remain,

Your Old Pal, Sid.

Eric Gaze had been waiting for the call to come home, following the end of WWI hostilities.  His body was never found.  His young widow was left to bring up three small daughters on her own.  Her Christian faith, severely shaken as it must have been, grew deeper and richer over the years.  She taught her daughters to put their hope in Christ, and they in turn passed it on to the next generation.  Including me.  Eric Gaze, you see, was my grandfather.

I will not say a word against the thoughts expressed, in that tragic moment, by Eric’s comrade Sid.  But they do prompt reflection on that half-remembered quotation from Romans 8:28 – ‘They say everything works together for good.’

Are we to understand this text as teaching a vague, impersonal sort of optimism – ‘Everything will turn out alright in the end’?

Or is there more to it than that?

Let’s take a closer look.

Firstly, there is a textual question.

According to some manuscripts, the text reads: ‘all things work together for good’ (NET, AV, NRSV, NIV margin)?

This sounds rather impersonal.  But even if this is the correct reading, it should not lead us to a naively optimistic view of life, for

‘it is the sovereign guidance of God that is presumed as the undergirding and directing force behind all the events of life.’ (Moo)

In other words, we can understand a divine passive behind the text.

The alternative reading is, ‘God works all things together for good for those who love God.’  So NIV, NJB, REB.

This makes explicit what is implicit in the first reading: it is not ‘things’ that work together for good, but ‘God’ who does so.

The Lectionary Commentary:

‘In [either] case, the point is that suffering, never mind happier circumstances, not only cannot thwart but actually is co-opted to further the purpose manifest in God’s calling people to be his own.’

Secondly, what are the ‘all things’ is Paul referring to?

Wright points out the Paul is not introducing a completely new thought.  ‘All things’ refer (especially) to ‘the sufferings of the present time’, v18, and to ‘the adversities of the cross’ (Calvin).  Moreover, as Cranfield remarks, ‘synergein‘ does not only mean ‘to work together with’, but also conveys the idea of ‘assisting’.  So, in Cranfield’s words:

‘Even those [events or experiences] which seem most adverse and hurtful, such as persecution or death itself, are profitable to those who truly love God.’

‘All things’ include, but are not be limited to, our present sufferings.

Hodge:

‘All things, as is usually the case with such general expressions, is to be limited to the things spoken of in the context, i.e., the sufferings of the present time. See 1 Cor. 2:15, where the spiritual man is said to understand “all things;” Col. 1:20, where Christ is said to reconcile “all things unto God;” and Eph. 1:10, with many other similar passages. Of course it is not intended that other events, besides afflictions, do not work together for the good of Christians, but merely that the apostle is here speaking of the sufferings of believers’

Bill Mounce explains:

‘If your problem with this verse is due to the interpretation that says everything that happens is good in and of itself, then please understand this cannot be what Paul means. It is God who works in the midst of all situations to accomplish good. Our sovereign God has determined that he will allow his children to only be in those situations in which he is able to work for their good.’

According to John Piper (Look at the Book Labs):

1. All things—positive or negative, painful or pleasurable—are by his design, and sustained by him, and for his glory. (Romans 11:36)
2. God will work all things according to the counsel of his will, and his will is for our good. (Ephesians 1:11–12, cf. Romans 8:28)
3. Everything we need in this life will be ours, including painful things that are necessary to bring us to glory. (Romans 8:31–34)
4. Even death is yours. Death itself will serve our ultimate, lasting death. (1 Corinthians 3:21–23)
5. All our sufferings will serve our future glory. (Romans 8:18–22)
6. All of our groaning will work together for our good (Romans 8:23–25). At least one way this happens is that suffering produces hope (Romans 5:3–5).

Hendriksen:

‘Not only prosperity is included but so also is adversity; not only joy and happiness but also suffering and sadness (Rom. 8:18, 35–37). Evil designs are by God overruled for good (Gen. 50:20; Neh. 4:15). Not only what the saints themselves experience is included but also whatever lies outside the sphere of their personal experience. Specifically, the following entities are among those that are divinely ordered and directed so that they work together for good to those who love God: the good angels (Heb. 1:14) and Satan together with his hosts (Rom. 16:20; Eph. 6:10–16); the nations of the world and their rulers (Ps. 2:2–9; 48:4–8; 149:9; Acts 9:15); rain and thunder (1 Sam. 12:18–20); streams, mountains, and clouds (Ps. 46:4; 72:3; Matt. 24:30; Rev. 1:7); and even the stars in their courses (Judg. 5:20).’

Thirdly, what is meant by ‘good’ in this context?

It must, of course, be defined in God’s terms, not our own.  The text does not say that ‘all things are good’.  But things that are ‘bad’ in themselves become ‘good’ in the wise and loving providence of God.  This truth is supremely taught by the cross, which from the human point of view was the ultimate evil, but from the divine point of view the ultimate good (Acts 4:27f).

In context, ‘good’ means to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, to know, praise and serve him as our brother, and finally to be glorified.

The process of becoming conformed to Christ’s image is a process of training in righteousness.  Bad (as well as good) things happen to believers as well as to believers.  But, in the case of the former, those bad things have a correcting, purifying, disciplining effect.

Moo comments:

‘The idea that this verse promises the believer material wealth or physical well-being, for instance, betrays a typically Western perversion of “good” in an exclusively material interpretation. God may well use trials in these areas to produce what he considers a much higher “good”: a stronger faith, a more certain hope (cf. Rom 5:3f). But the promise to us is that there is nothing in this world that is not intended by God to assist us on our earthly pilgrimage and to bring us safely and certainly to the glorious destination of that pilgrimage.’

Mounce:

‘Perhaps the main question of the verse is the definition of “good,” and the following two verses give Paul’s definition of good. This is the problem of breaking up a single Greek sentence into multiple English sentences; we lose the contextual clues of the larger context. Vv 29–30 define “good” as God working in all situations, for his children, for good, because his sovereign control moves inextricably from his foreknowledge of us to our glorification.” Before time he knew us and pre-determined the benefits we would receive as his children, the greatest being that we would be conformed to the image of his Son. This is Paul’s definition of “good.”’

Christlikeness is of the essence:

‘If becoming like Christ is the “good” God is working for, then pain and suffering will almost certainly come our way. And through that pain and suffering, God will work in his sovereign way to mould us into the shape of Jesus.’

(The Guiding God, Briefing 69)

Chris Green insists that Paul’s message here isn’t that, though bad things are happening right know, good times are just around the corner:

‘What is ‘the good’?   It isn’t health, or long life, or comfort, or prosperity – It’s conformity to Christ. And we know, because Paul says it here, that that conformity only happens after our resurrection: Christ is the firstborn (his resurrection status) of many – we go through the same journey as him, with him, and in him, to end up in the same place, like him.’