God’s Purpose, Love and Our Security
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:28-39
Having described the chief privileges of justified believers – peace with God (5:1-11), union with Christ (5:12 – 6:23), freedom from the law (7:1-25) and life in the Spirit (8:1-27) – Paul now sweeps over the whole purpose and plan of God from a past eternity to an eternity yet to come. At present we experience suffering and groanings but we are sustained in the midst of them by the hope of the glory of God. It is only ‘hope’ because it is still future, unseen and unrealised but this doesn’t make it uncertain. Our Christian hope is firmly grounded on the unwavering love of God. The burden of Paul’s climax is the security of God’s people based on the unchangeability of God’s purpose which is itself due to the steadfastness of God’s love.
Paul declares these truths three times, each from a different perspective. He begins with five unshakable convictions (8:28) about God working all things for the good of His people. He continues with five affirmations (8:29,30) regarding the successive stages of God’s saving purposes from eternity to eternity. And he concludes with five unanswerable questions (8:31-39) in which he challenges his readers.
‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’ (8:28). There are many things that as Christians we won’t know in this life, but here Paul lists five things we do know.
(1) we know God ‘works’ in our lives. He is constantly, powerfully and purposefully at work in the lives of those who love Him
(2) God is at work ‘for the good’ of His people, both because He is a good God who only does good and because everything He does is for His peoples’ good (our final salvation)
(3) God works for our good ‘in all things’. In context this includes the sufferings of 8:17 and the groanings of 8:23. Even what we see as the negatives of this life have a positive purpose in God’s ultimate plan
(4) God works in all things for the good ‘of those who love him.’ Paul isn’t saying that everything in everyone’s life works out for their good. The ‘good’ is our ultimate salvation so this limits the beneficiaries of this ‘good’ to Christians
(5) those who love God are also those ‘who have been called according to his purpose.’ We love Him who first loved us (1 John 4:9) and His prior love for us is seen in His sovereign call to us to salvation in Christ. God has a saving purpose and is working in accordance with it.