ROMANS 8:28-30 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
THEME OF THE DAY: YES, ALL THINGS MEANS ALL THINGS. Today’s scripture is one of those “go to” passages we run to in difficult times and offer as encouragement to others going through difficult times. To tell ourselves “all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose”, does strengthen our hearts when life takes a painful turn. What sensitive Christian has not run to this truth in times of sorrow, loss, and challenge?
But think on this for a moment . . . does all things working for good really mean all things? I had a professor once say, “All means all and that is all that all means.” Simple? Yes. True? Absolutely. The point my teacher was making is we don’t need to be advanced Greek scholars to understand what God is saying to us – “All things mean all things to include your difficulties in life, your circumstances in life, and yes, even your sinning in life.” Now we might want to pause. Perhaps we might be thinking, “No, not my sins. They are not good. That cannot be included.” Before we go there, read the verse again. It does not read, “All good things work together for good to those who love God.” It reads “All things work together for good to those who love God” and that must include our sins. So, with that established, consider with me two things from our sinning that God may do good in our lives.
First, God may work our sinning for good by showing us how patient, kind, loving, merciful, and ready to forgive He is when we come back to Him in confession and repentance. Our sinning may actually lead to sinning less as a result of greater awareness of God’s goodness toward us in our sinning.
A second good God may work because of our sin is showing us the foolish futility of attempting to find contentment and satisfaction outside of the Lord. What I am referring to here is really the application of Ecclesiastes. The chief lesson in that wisdom book is, “Don’t try to find contentment and satisfaction in this life for such pursuits are full of vanity and emptiness.” God may let us go down a fool’s path to awaken us to the fact we are on a fool’s path. In that case, He would use our sin for good.
“All means all and that is all that all means.” Don’t overthink this or worse, misapply it. When God says, “All things work together for good for those who love Him” that includes our sins and failings. Such truth should increase our adoration of such a good and a decreasing of our sinning and failing.
PRAYER: “Father, thank You that all things, yes, all things, even my sins, work together for good.”
QUOTE: “God is good and wise that He is able to use all things that appear bad for ultimate good.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim