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“All Things Working Together for Good”
Categories: M. W. Bassford, Meditations
Even in the often-difficult epistle to the Romans, Romans 8:28 stands out as a difficult passage to understand. It appears to assert a Panglossian worldview—everything is working out for good!—even though we live in a world in which many things appear not to be good. TV preachers seize on this text to promise future prosperity to the folks who send them money, skeptics mock (as Voltaire did), and many Christians are confused by the disconnect between what the passage appears to say and their own lived experience.
As is often the case in Romans, the best way to resolve this textual difficulty is to ignore the verse numbers and read the text in context. When Paul says “all things”, he doesn’t mean literally everything that happens. Instead, he refers to the previous 10 verses, in which he explains how three different things are working together for good.
The first of these things is the physical creation, which he discusses in Romans 8:18-22. Paul is quite clear that the current state of the creation is not good. It is futile, enslaved, and corrupt, and it groans with the pangs of childbirth. Paul was no Pollyanna. He knew, probably better than we do, that this is a fallen world.
However, he also points out that the state of creation is not hopeless but hopeful. It groans because it anticipates the revelation of the sons of God. Additionally, in that day, creation itself will be released from corrupt slavery to glorious freedom, as per the promise of the new heavens and new earth in 2 Peter 3:13.
Second, Paul acknowledges in Romans 8:23-25 that we ourselves groan. We experience the first fruits of the Spirit now, but we anticipate the redemption of our body. Because of our hope, we persevere through suffering.
Finally, Paul explores the groaning of the Holy Spirit in Romans 8:26-27. Once again, we see a problem with fallenness and failure. We don’t know how to pray as we should. However, the Spirit intercedes for us so that the prayers we cannot express are presented before the throne of God anyway.
Thus, Romans 8:18-27 presents us with three groaners: the creation, we ourselves, and the Spirit. However, Paul wants us to understand that these groans are hopeful. Why? Because God is working in all of these things for good. The creation will reveal the sons of God and be freed. Our bodies will be redeemed. The Spirit will render our prayers intelligible.
Does that mean that everything in our lives is going to go the way we want it? Of course not! However, the things that matter are in place, and through them, God will accomplish our salvation.
