And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28)We know it. Collectively. We know that God causes this effect. It is not mere coincidence or happenstance. We know that the effect that God causes here is to work all things together for good. Now, sometimes I like to stop there. And when I do, it is almost without exception that someone will pipe up with something like, "Wait a minute! It is qualified with 'to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.' You can't just say He works all things together for good!" And I would disagree.
Consider. First, we know that God is Sovereign. He does whatever He pleases (Psa 115:3; Psa 135:6). "No one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?'" (Dan 4:35). He works all things after the counsel of His will (Eph 2:11). These (and others) are all without exception. Second, we know that God is good. James said, "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow" (James 1:17). Jesus said, "No one is good except God alone" (Luke 18:19). David urged us to "taste and see that the LORD is good" (Psa 34:8). God defines good and is always and only good.
Given those two facts, we can only come to one conclusion. God causes all things to work together for good ... period. Always. Without exception. Of course, to those who are hostile to God (Rom 8:7), it won't appear good. That's why Paul added that it is good "to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." It's not that what God does is conditionally good. It's that only those who love Him and belong to Him will perceive it as good. But, rest assured, God is always and only good. And to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose, that's really good news.
2 comments:
I don't disagree, I've always thought that limiting God's goodness to only the elect was antibiblical. However, in the Greek, is the "to" there meaning "in the view of" or "for"? Are you taking liberties with the English language?
As it turns out, the Greek doesn't exist. The word is the one translated "those" and assumes a "to" or a "for." Various translations choose various options, split about 50-50 as far as I can tell. Now, if it is "for those who love God ..." then the assumption would be that God causes all things to work together for that particular group, but not for any other. Which do you think it is?
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