What is the Good, God is Working in Romans 8:28?

 You don’t need to be around me long in any setting where a discussion of life and faith is present to know that I quote Romans 8:28 a lot. I don’t like to say I have one favorite scripture—the Bible is just too full of incredible passages to choose only one—but I do believe Romans 8:28 is a truth we must hold onto and turn to almost every day of our lives.

Suffering is a real fact of life. No one escapes life without seasons of trials and storms. Far too many Christians have yet to grasp the theological implications and aspects of suffering. To understand these truths, one must believe the biblical fact that God is sovereign. The Bible teaches repeatedly that everything in our lives—whether good or bad—is completely under the sovereign hand of Almighty God. As R.C. Sproul once said, "There is not one maverick molecule if God is sovereign." The Bible declares that God is sovereign. And that settles it.

Look at Romans 8:28:

"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."

We should never make Scripture say what it does not say. This verse does not promise that life will be easy or trouble-free. The Bible is clear on that. Jesus stated this truth in John 16:33, saying:

"In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

What a great verse and promise! But also within that promise is the assurance that we will experience tribulation. Romans 8:28 assures us that despite our sufferings—whatever they may be and for whatever reason they happen—God is working them for good.

But for what good? Most of us have been through things, or at least know people who have endured things, that seem to have no apparent good outcome. I could provide many examples, but I think we can all recall times when something happened, and we just couldn’t see its purpose or understand what good could come from it.

So, isolating Romans 8:28 from the rest of Scripture doesn’t give us the full picture. But I have good news—Paul answers that very question in the next verse. Unfortunately, many people spend so much time arguing over doctrine that they miss the answer, which is quite clear once you see it. And this answer explains suffering and why it even exists.

Take a look at Romans 8:29:

"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren."

If you missed it, let me highlight it for you:

"To become conformed to the image of His Son."

So why does God cause all things to work together for good?

So that we would "become conformed to the image of His Son."

God is using every event in your life to do the work of sanctification. He is not wasting anything. Romans 8:28 tells us that God causes all things to work for this purpose. Even our sins, the sins of others against us, and the most painful experiences in life—God is using them to shape us into the likeness of Christ.

Your cancer, your grief over the loss of a loved one, your job loss, and every other hardship you face—God is using all of it to conform you to the image of His Son.

Our sole purpose is to glorify God, and the best way to do that is to become more like Christ. The most powerful witness to the world is when they see Jesus in us.

Romans 8:28 is my go-to verse when life overwhelms me with sorrow and fear. But understanding that everything happening in and around me is being used by God to make me more like Jesus helps me endure each day. My faith grows because I know what God is doing, even if I don’t always like it.

My prayer for all of you reading this is that you will make this promise of God real in your life. Memorize Romans 8:28. Study it. Meditate on it. Share it with others. Believe this truth and rejoice in it. It is truly life-changing.

The Importance of God's Word

This is the verse my morning meditation was on.

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 

And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.

In its historical context, it is God speaking through Moses in respect to the king God will choose to rule over them. But certainly, we have a spiritual application that speaks to us today.

First, we would be much better off, if we elected men who put God’s Word up as the standard by which they would govern. Realistically though, this is not a Christian nation and that probably isn’t going to happen. Yet, when Christians vote, we must look to this principle when we elect leaders.

There is a second principle that is more personal for us. It is the principle of reading God’s word. Why do we need to read, study, and prioritize God’s word? Let Moses answer that.

“That [you] may learn to fear the LORD [your] God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that [your] heart may not be lifted up above [your] brothers, and that [you] may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that [your] may continue long in [your life], [you] and [your] children.”

God has given us the way to do life. We have a map. It is called the Bible. We cannot know God’s Will unless we listen to Him. And He speaks. He speaks through His Word. 

Colossians 3:16 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Why We Fear Death and How Not To

Death. The very word sounds scary. The topic of death for many, is a subject they prefer not to talk about. We even have a word that people use when they feel uncomfortable when someone gets a little too familiar with death in conversation. We say they are being morbid, and the implication of the adjective is that we don’t wish to hear such talk.

Yet, the world of entertainment is filled with the subject of death. Go to the library and look at the novels. The shelves are filled with books about murders and the mysteries that surround them. Our movies and TV shows are often centered on the deaths that occur in real life. We even have dinner shows called Murder Mystery Dinners, that allow us to participate in the old ‘who done it” theme.

But then again, we spend millions upon millions on medical treatments and research on how to defeat death. We clamor against cancer and other diseases, demanding our government spend more on this quest for immortality.

In truth, death is a huge part of our lives. We even have a saying about it. We like to say that there are only two sure things in life; taxes and death. But that’s a poor statement. You do not have to pay taxes. There are several ways around that. But there is no way around death. It will come. And no one has a clue when. It could occur at any minute to anyone of us. And that scares us.

Why are we afraid of death? For one thing, as I alluded to above, we simply don’t know when it will strike. But the other thing about death is that it brings an end, and that end brings something that we have never experienced personally. That makes the other side of death a place of the unknown. And the unknown is scary.

But Christians who have read their Bibles know what death brings. They know that, while it is the end of life as we know it on earth, it is not the end. The Bible is clear about death. It tells us that though it is an end, it is also a beginning. The Bible tells us that all of us are eternal beings. And it tells us that in death, eternity will bring judgment. And judgment is scary.

The world hates judgment. People say they want justice, but they only really want justice to be served on others, because justice demands judgment and judgment demands punishment. Punishment is scary.

This is why the world hates Christians.

The world hates Christians because the world knows we speak of the truth when we speak of judgment and that we tell them that without Christ as their Lord and Savior, their death will bring judgment. They are afraid of death, because they are afraid of judgment and deep down in the recesses of their hearts and minds, they know they are guilty. They hate it when we quote the Bible. They hate when we quote Romans 3:23 which tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They hate it when we quote 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that warns us about the consequences of sin with these words, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” They hate this verse because they know all of us are guilty of the sins it speaks of.

They hate it because this verse speaks to the result of those who die without Christ and who will face judgment on the basis of their own merits. This makes death very scary.

Therefore we must preach the entire Gospel, not just tell them that Jesus loves them. Death, without Jesus is scary and the world needs to know this. Without Christ we are slaves to fear and sin. But Christians have been set free from this fear of death. And it was the death of Christ by which we are set free.

Hebrews 2:14-15
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

Christians should not fear death. We have been freed from that fear because if our faith is in the work of Christ and not our own, we are free of the judgment that death will bring.

Romans 8:1-2
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Christians, we are free from the law of sin and death. We no longer should fear death.

The greatest witness to the lost and dying world is to show them this truth by how we live. We must live free of fear and free of the sin that causes us to be afraid.

Let us go forth in freedom.

Getting Over the Hump of Hump Day

Today is Wednesday, the day that those who go to work every Monday through Friday, call hump day. This is the day that when you get through, you know you are over the “hump’, your work week is halfway finished. Most people long for the weekend. They are like little worker ants, going back and forth to work, over and over until it becomes a monotonous life. The wisest man that ever lived understood the drudgery of this life. Solomon had this say in the Book of Ecclesiastes.

Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.  Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.  And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.  Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 2:17-20

For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?  For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity. - Ecclesiastes 2:22-23

Can you relate? I know there were many days I felt exactly this way during the forty-some years I was in the work force. It all seemed pointless. Truthfully, without the hope we have in Jesus for the eternity to come, it is pointless. If you don’t live with the view of eternal life, you will die one day and someone else will have all that you worked for.

Solomon has a suggestion for those whose life is void of God.

So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 8:15

And that is exactly what so many do. They whine, complain, and drag themselves through the week, living only to party. Some go home everyday and medicate themselves with drinks and drugs just to get through the day to day grind. The problem is this does not satisfy. Solomon knew this; he tested it out. No one partied like him. He had it all and in the end, he found it all to be a waste.

He came to this conclusion when the party ended.

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.  For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. - Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

It’s hump day. What will you do with the rest of your week? Your life?

There is a better way. Begin to live for Jesus. Do all things as if it was Him you are doing it for. Go to work and do it to His glory. Spend your time off enjoying life and giving glory to God by finding joy in the hope that this life is merely the path to eternity, where those who know Christ, will live in eternal bliss, unlike anything we can presently know. Listen to the words of Jesus as found in John 10:7-10 , "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  "All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

There’s a better way. There’s a better life. There’s an abundant life in Jesus.

Today is hump day. But it can be more, so much more.

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. - 2 Corinthians 6:1-2

Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 139

Psalm 139 is one of the most beautifully written works of literature in all the world. It doesn’t need explanation, for it is a clear exposition of who God is. I should leave it alone and just encourage each of you to simply read it. I will simply call attention to some of the great truths of theology it contains.

Psalm 139:1-6

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.  Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.  You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we are going to say, before we even say it.

Psalm 139:7-12
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

We might think we are running from God and we might think we can hide, but He knows all and He sees all. He is in every place we might flee.

Psalm 139:13-16
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

When you child asks the question, “Mommy, where do babies come from?”, We ought to read them this verse. Life comes from God. Period. That we legalize abortion is the most blatant form of mankind attempting to be our own god that can be imagined. Our days are already written in His book. Christians read this and they still won’t take hold of the truth of the complete sovereignty of God. This truth is the foundation for a faith that comforts.

Psalm 139:17-18
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!  If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

Our finite minds are incapable of understanding the widths and the heights of God’s majesty and glory.

Psalm 139:19-22
Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me!  They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain.  Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?  I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies.

God’s wrath is a holy wrath and our hearts should be broken over the world’s total disregard for His law. But we must trust in God’s timing. The return of Christ is imminent and when He comes, this prayer will be answered.

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Let us search our own hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to be our helper in our own sanctification as we await His return.

Take time today and read Psalm 139 through and through. Then meditate on its great truths, on its theology. Pray through it. Make it real in your heart. Then offer God the worship He so deserves.

Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 104

I am personally convinced that one of the problems with people today is that they spend far too much time indoors. The various forms of entertainment, such as television and video games, combined with the ability to live in ideal climate controlled homes, keep people inside. As one who struggles with depression, I find being outside, where I can see, feel, and touch the natural world that God has created, always lifts my spirits. Psalm 104 is a wonderful view of God as reflected in the creation. It is a psalm of creation that follows along with Genesis in its truth.

First, a picture of God.

Psalm 104:1-2
Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.

As a Christian, we should seek to know God. Not just know of Him, but actually learn as much about Him as our human mind can grasp. This is theology and Christians must all be theologians. Creation is a wonderful place to study Him, for in the creation we learn who He is and then as we read His Word, we see how it all fits.

Psalm 104:5
He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.

Think about this. The earth stays in place with no physical attachment to it. Try that at home. The laws of gravity are God’s laws. All the laws of physics are from God. What a powerful God we serve.

Psalm 104:6-9
You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.  At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.  The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.  You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.

God controls the waters. He flooded the earth back in the day of Noah and He still controls the waters today.

Psalm 104:10-13
You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills;  they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.  Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they sing among the branches.  From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

Everything in creation is fed and taken care of by God. It is the fruit of His work.

Psalm 104:14-15
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth  and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

Again, we see it; God makes the springs gush forth and He causes the grass to grow. God is sovereign over all creation.

Psalm 104:19-23
He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.  You make darkness, and it is night, when all the beasts of the forest creep about.  The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.  When the sun rises, they steal away and lie down in their dens.  Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.

The entire world is dependent on Him. Both man and beast.

Psalm 104:24
O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:27-30
These all look to you, to give them their food in due season.  When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.  When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.  When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

Man can deny God’s existence all he wants. It does not change the facts. Our lives are in His hands. He gives us our breath and He takes it away. Life and death are His to control.

Psalm 104:31-35
May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works,  who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke!  I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.  May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.  Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more! Bless the LORD, O my soul! Praise the LORD!

Take time this morning to read through Psalm 104. Then find some time to get out and observe the creation. Then fall to your knees in worship and praise as you the Glory of God. Sing praise to Him. Our lives are in His hands and His hands are powerful hands.

Praise God.