All Things Work Together for Good

“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” (Romans 8:28).

This verse is popular among religious people. It is often used to refer to a wide range things – finding a spouse, obtaining a job, recovering from an illness, receiving some unexpected financial benefit, etc. Are all of these types of things under consideration in this verse or was Paul discussing something specific?

What This Verse Does Not Say

In trying to determine how to interpret this verse, it is important that we remember the rule that Jesus gave: “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). This means that Scripture will harmonize with Scripture because truth does not contradict itself. Therefore, we cannot interpret one passage in such a way that we put it in conflict with another passage.

This verse does not guarantee material prosperity as a reward for faithfulness – Paul, the inspired apostle that wrote this verse, said elsewhere: “I know how to get along with humble means, and I know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need” (Philippians 4:12). If we find ourselves in poverty, it is not because God failed to cause “all things to work together for good” for us.

This verse does not guarantee good health for the faithful – When Paul wrote to Timothy, he mentioned one of his traveling companions – Trophimus (cf. Acts 20:4; 21:29). This man was “left sick at Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20). Why did Paul not heal him? Why did the Lord allow him to be sick so as to prevent him from traveling with Paul to help him in his work? Heaven is described as a place where “there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain” (Revelation 21:4). This description was revealed to encourage Christians to continue to press on toward the goal of heaven. Why would this be appealing? Even Christians suffer sickness and death. These are not taken away until we reach heaven.

This verse does not teach that God will give us everything we ask of Him in prayer – Remember the words of John: “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him” (1 John 5:14-15). John did not say that God will answer all of our prayers according to our desires. Rather, the prayers that God hears are those which are prayed “according to His will.” This is actually a blessing as God’s will is far greater and better than our own (Isaiah 55:8-9).

This verse does not teach that every coincidence that we deem to be good is the result of God’s direct working – We ought to be wary of attributing outcomes and circumstances in our lives to the direct working of God. Though the prophet Amos, God told the people, “Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). People often believe that God caused something to come about in their lives without any divine revelation to confirm that He did. We know God “is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20), but that does not mean that we are at liberty to attribute every favorable coincidence in our lives to His direct working.

This verse does not teach that if our physical circumstances are bad that they will eventually improve – The Lord warned the church at Smyrna, “Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days.” Did He then promise that He would cause conditions in this life to improve for them? No; instead He told them, “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). Sometimes when we suffer, our circumstances in this life will eventually improve. However, sometimes they will not.

Remember the Context

If the above points are not taught by this verse (and they cannot be without contradicting other verses), what is the meaning of the passage? Let us remember the context. In this chapter, Paul was discussing spiritual matters and encouraging Christians to look past the physical things of life and focus on spiritual things. Notice a few of the verses:

“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).

“And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (Romans 8:23-25).

“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; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).

Notice what these verses teach. We are not to set our minds on the flesh, but instead we are to look forward to our final redemption and salvation. The hope that we have is unseen, which means it does not pertain to this life. The ultimate goal of God’s plan is our justification and glorification with Him.

In this verse, Paul was talking about our spiritual good. “God causes all things to work together for good” in making salvation possible, having put in place a plan from the beginning and executing it through Christ (Genesis 3:15; Acts 2:23; Hebrews 10:5-10). This salvation is for “those who love God” – demonstrated by their keeping His commandments (1 John 5:3) – and “those who are called according to His purpose” – this call being made through the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:14). The benefits of God’s goodness – manifested not in the form of temporal blessings but an eternal inheritance in heaven (1 Peter 1:4) – are extended to those who follow His will.

God has done His part to make salvation possible. Now we must do our part. Jesus is “to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:9). We must believe in Jesus as the Son of God (John 8:24), confess that faith (Romans 10:9-10), repent of our sins (Luke 13:3, 5), and be baptized into Christ (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38). After obeying the gospel, we must continue to faithfully serve the Lord as long as we live (Revelation 2:10). If we want to take advantage of the good that God has done for us, we must demonstrate our love through our obedience to Him (John 14:15; 1 John 5:3), fulfilling our divinely-given purpose to “fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13; cf. Acts 10:34-35).