Romans 8:28
Romans 8:28 says, "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Paul is not saying every event is good, but that God works all things together for the good of those who love him.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 · KJV
Romans 8:28 in context
25But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
26Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:25-31, King James Version. Read the whole chapter →
What Romans 8:28 means
The verse has a subject and a limit. The subject is all things, including the sufferings Paul has just been describing. The limit is them that love God, the called according to his purpose. Paul says these things work together, which means they are being woven into a single result, not that each one is good on its own.
The good in view is spelled out in the next verse: to be conformed to the image of his Son. In Paul's argument, God's purpose runs all the way from his foreknowledge to the final glory of his people (Romans 8:29-30). Romans 8:28 is the confidence that nothing along the way falls outside that purpose.
Paul wrote this right after talking about groaning. The whole creation groans, believers groan as they wait for the redemption of their body, and the Spirit himself makes intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:28 is spoken into that pain, not around it.
Verses 29-30 use the words foreknow and predestinate, and Christian traditions have long understood those words in different ways. Whatever view a reader holds, the plain comfort of verse 28 is shared across them: for those who love God, suffering is not wasted.
Background and context
Before: Romans 8:18-27. Paul says the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come. Creation groans and waits to be set free from the bondage of corruption. Believers groan too, and are saved by hope. When we do not know what to pray for, the Spirit makes intercession for us according to the will of God.
After: Romans 8:29-39. Paul traces God's purpose: those he foreknew he predestinated, called, justified, and glorified. Then come his questions: if God be for us, who can be against us, and who shall separate us from the love of Christ? He ends that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor things present or to come, nor any other creature can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The letter is addressed to all in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. Paul wrote it before he had visited the church there.
Key verses
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18 · KJV
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:31 · KJV
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39 · KJV
Cross references
- Genesis 50:20 Joseph tells his brothers that they meant evil, but God meant it unto good.But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
- 2 Corinthians 4:17 Paul calls affliction light and brief compared with an eternal weight of glory.For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
- James 1:2-4 The trying of faith works patience.My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
- Romans 8:26-27 The Spirit's intercession that leads straight into verse 28.Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
- Romans 8:35-39 Nothing can separate us from the love of God.Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Jeremiah 29:11 An Old Testament promise of God's thoughts of peace in a long trial.For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
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Common questions
What does Romans 8:28 mean?
It means that for those who love God, he works every circumstance, even painful ones, together toward their good. The next verse defines that good as being conformed to the image of his Son.
Does Romans 8:28 mean everything that happens is good?
No. Paul does not call suffering good; he has just described creation and believers groaning. He says all things work together for good, which is a claim about what God does with events, not about the events themselves.
Who wrote Romans 8:28?
The apostle Paul, who names himself in Romans 1:1. A man named Tertius wrote the letter down, as he says in Romans 16:22.
Who was Romans written to?
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: the believers in Rome. Paul had not yet visited them when he wrote.
What is the verse after Romans 8:28?
Romans 8:29, which says that those God foreknew he also predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son.
100 Roots in Scripture
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100 Roots in Scripture explains the Greek and Hebrew words behind famous verses, which helps with phrases like work together and called in Romans 8:28.
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