Romans 8:32

Download PDF File

What an amazing promise is ours from this chapter of Scripture!  If God was willing to give us His own Son, how can we think He would withhold anything good from us?

Synergy

A little more from Romans 8:28…

The words work together mean to “work together, help in work, be partner in labour. To put forth power together with and thereby to assist.”

Some other instances of this Greek word in the NT:

• Mark 16:20 – they went forth preaching everywhere as the Lord was working with them.
• 1Cor.16:16 – Submit yourselves and to everyone that helps with us.
• 2Cor.6:1 – we are workers together with Christ.
• James 2:22 – faith works with works and works makes faith perfect.

The root of this Greek word is transliterated into English as synergy, meaning “a companion in work, a fellow worker.”  The definition of synergy is “the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.”

Therefore we could read this verse, “All things synergize for good.” Everything works together in cooperation with God’s wondrous plan in order to produce a combined effect greater than their separate effects. He is able to bring all of these separate circumstances, events, people, life changes, etc. together to work something far greater than any one of the things alone could work. Only God can do that.

I don’t always see the “synergy” of God’s hand at work in my life right at this moment.  I feel the effects of the current goings-on and get discouraged. But God knows how that is going to work with the past and with what is right around the corner. He brings it all into cooperation as only He can, and just as in creation, the outcome is “good.” In Genesis 1 God saw all that He had made and it was very good. In the same way He is creating circumstances and things in my life to bring about the same wondrous result – good – in my life.

The author of the Bible Study I am working through is Pam Forster.  She summed up the “synergy” of God’s plan in these words:

We may not be able to see good in a particular trial. By itself, there may not be anything we would call good in it, and if it continued indefinitely, with no other demonstrations of God’s grace to temper it, it might be our ruin. But, mixed with all that we experience, all that God allows into our lives, all the different trials and blessings and people — all of these work together to “have a greater total effect than the sum of their individual effects”.

Often times we can look back and with 20/20 hindsight see how God put everything together to produce that total effect of good.  

Help Me

I was struggling through a difficult day yesterday and my husband gave me the words of Psalm 143 to chew on.  They didn’t impact me as much yesterday as they did when I just reread them this morning. 

[A Psalm of David.]] Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. 2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. 3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. 4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.  5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.  6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.  7 Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.  8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.  9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me.  10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.  11 Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.  12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.

So many times my spirit feels overwhelmed and the enemy beats me down with doubts and fears and guilt.  He reminds me of my insufficiencies and shortcomings,  and makes me feel worthless.  When I come to the Lord, I don’t want someone else pointing the finger at me and bringing judgment (v.2), because I already feel the weight of my sin and guilt.  I come to the Lord for help, knowing that He has already promised to forgive those shortcomings (1 John 1:9). 

Verses 3-4 give such an accurate description of how I felt yesterday.  Defeated.  Beaten into the ground.  Persecuted.  Alone in darkness, with no way out.  Desolate.

But what is the solution?  Verses 5 – remembering everything God has done in the past.  Meditating on His works.  Recalling the works of His hands.  What has God done that would encourage me in times like this?

• He created me.  He knows me intimately and He knows my weaknesses
• He died, for me.  He sent His beloved Son Jesus to take my place, even though the sin was my fault, and my choice.  Even though it was sin that brought me to such a low-point in my life.  Repeated sin.  Something I struggle with often.  But He forgives it – over and over again.
• He has worked in my life in specific ways to bring me to the point where I am today.  I am the wife of a man called to be a pastor.  I am part of a missionary team preparing to plant a church in New York City.  I am on deputation.  I have five small children.  I am a homeschooling mom.  There were parts of each of those life callings yesterday that were combining to make me feel out of place, crazy, and defeated.  But each of those roles that I have are the works of God.  Each one was by His design.  So He knows that the combination may sometimes be hard (and even crazy), but He is there.
• He has provided for me in specific ways, repeatedly.  I was able to graduate from five years of college debt free.  He has provided for us on an ongoing basis to enable us to live in New York City.  He has met every single need, and more, as we have traveled around the country living out of our van on deputation.  Just last week He provided for our brakes to get fixed, without a hiccup or hang-up of any kind.  The works of God’s hands are marvelous.
• He allowed me to grow up in a Christian home.  He gave me a husband and godly in-laws.  He has drawn our oldest daughter to salvation.
• I have been privileged to sit under the teaching and preaching of some of the most amazing servants of the Lord at Ambassador Baptist College.
• I grew up in a wonderful church that emphasized to me the necessity of giving my life to serve God however He would have it.  I was blessed to have many missionaries stay in my home and influence me as a teenager.  I have been able to spend the last five years marinating in the teaching of my pastor in Brooklyn.
• He has gifted me with friends who regularly encourage me in my walk with God, raising my children for the Lord, and my life on deputation and in ministry.

The next step is to thirst after the Lord.  Yesterday, when I felt my life was falling apart around me (just a feeling, but a strong one at the time!), I really just wanted to spend time with the Lord.  I wanted Him to lift me up.  I realized that I begun my day without Him, and thus immediately jumped on the roller coaster ride that dumped me where it did.  I stretched out my hands to the Lord, and I said, “Help!”  My soul was thirsting for the Lord to do something amazing in me that I knew I could not do. 

I didn’t have the patience for my children.

I didn’t know what to do for homeschooling

I didn’t have enough arms to meet everyone’s needs.

But God did.

The rest of this chapter is just like balm on my raw soul.  Today my future looks brighter.  Yesterday I saw only darkness and despair.  This morning His Word is soothing my soul and giving me hope, just as verse 8 says.  “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.”  Things always look better in the morning, but better doesn’t describe it when we have the Lord.  His lovingkindnesses reach down and give me just the Scriptures I need.  He takes the broken pieces of my soul that I stretch out to Him and He mends it.  He directs my steps.  He clears my eyes, and He reveals His tender love.  That’s an amazing God!

In troubling times, we can flee to the Lord (v.9)

He teaches us what His will is for our lives.  If I am doing His will, then I don’t need to feel the weight, pressure, and guilt of all that I am not doing.  These are the things which the enemy constantly brings to my mind and piles on my shoulders.  But the Lord gives strength for me to do His will.  Then, when it is done, I can say with Him in John 17:4, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”

The Lord quickens us, and brings us out of trouble (v.11)

He will eventually cut off the enemy and destroy the one who afflicts my soul (v.12).

I am the servant of the Lord.  Sometimes I forget this truth.  I try to be the master in my life.  But I am just a servant.  He is in control.  He is behind all the circumstances, weaving a beautiful story and picture so that all around me can see His power and gory.  Even if the only ones around me are my family members, He reveals His power.  They need to see it too.  My kids need to see God at work in Mommy’s life. 

I sat down this morning and prepared to do the next lesson in my Bible study in Romans 8.  But as I opened my Bible app, I noticed it was still on Psalm 143, and so I reread it.  When I turned to the lesson for today, I found that the title was “All Things” and I would be digging into Romans 8:28.  How appropriate that the Lord would teach me about “all things” following a day when I felt “all things” against me for evil.

“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

I Reckon

I have been studying through Romans 8 with the Doorposts blog “Busy Mamas Bible Study.”  This chapter is so rich that we can barely scratch the surface in a 30-day study.  I am currently digging into verse 18:

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.

As part of the lesson, we read Matthew Henry’s commentary on Romans 8:17-25.  (I find it on the Blue Letter Bible app, or BlueLetterBible.com for free).  I love his description of “I reckon.”

“I reckon, as an arithmetician that is balancing an account.  He first sums up what is disbursed for Christ in the sufferings of this present time, and finds they come to very little; he then sums up what is secured to us by Christ in the glory that shall be revealed, and this he finds to be an infinite sum, transcending all conception, the disbursement abundantly made up and the losses infinitely countervailed.  And who would be afraid then to suffer for Christ, who as he is before-hand with us in suffering, so he will not be behind-hand with us in recompense?”

A couple of other thoughts on this verse:

1. The word for "suffering" is translated as "affections" in Gal.5:24 - crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts. I was digging into the relationship between suffering and "affliction" and trying to understand why it was translated that way. I think the base word is really a strong feeling.

Think of the strong feeling - the aversion, the weight, the "suffering" - that we feel when we are going through a trial or difficult circumstances. Its a strong feeling. A passion. Christ's suffering on Calvary is sometimes referred to as passion week or the Passion of Christ.

But our affections for the world, which we are to "crucify" in Gal.5:24 are also strong feelings - strong attachments to the world. And if we keep those fleshly affections, they ultimately bring suffering because of the consequences of sin.

2. As I was meditating on glory I was struck with the fact that the Hebrew (OT) word for glory is kavod or "weight." To ascribe glory to something was to give it due importance because it was weighty.  It also has a reference to the fact that in that day, payment was made in gold (so a heavy amount of gold was something of great value).

When I skimmed through the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge verses for "glory" (in the NT) I came away with the constant comparison that our suffering here is light and our glory (weight) in heaven will be "heavy" - great, important. Maybe it's insignificant, but I never thought of the "heaviness" of the glory compared to the lightness of the suffering. 

This falls right in with the meaning of “reckon” also.  As an accounting term, it was to weigh things in the balance.  As Matthew Henry described, when we weigh the minute suffering here on earth with our heavenly inheritance, the latter far outweighs (or counter-balances) the light suffering.

The Armour of Light

“The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”
Romans 13:12

It truly is a spiritual warfare we are living in.  If we are not actively fighting, then  we are passively giving the enemy the victory.  We cannot (and should not!) be neutral.  “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57).  He has already provided the victory and won the battle – we must just claim it!

2 Corinthians 10:3-5  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:  4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

He has also given us the spiritual armour (the armour of light) to fight the enemy.  It is found in Ephesians 6.

Ephesians 6:11-17   Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;  15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Today I want to cast of the dark works of my old man, and I want to walk in the light of fellowship with Christ.  “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”( 1 John 1:7).  I want to put on the armour of light and win the victory!

To Be Spiritually Minded

Romans 8:5-7: “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

How do we become spiritually minded?  At salvation, I was made one with Christ – joined with Him in union like a husband and wife.  Since I am one with Him, I now have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

But I must access this mind of Christ by walking in the Spirit.  I do not naturally think with my Christ-mind, for my flesh-mind (my old man and sin nature) are still present and at work in me.  I have to access the mind of Christ by faith.

• The mind of Christ thinks on pure and lovely thoughts:

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

• The mind of Christ esteems other as better than myself:

Philippians 2:4-8  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.  5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

• The meditations of the mind of Christ are acceptable to God:

Psalm 1:2  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Psalm 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

• The thoughts of the mind of Christ are in captivity to obey Christ:

2 Corinthians 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

• The mind of Christ is stayed upon Jehovah, in perfect peace:

Isaiah 26:3-4  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.  4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

I want to be spiritually minded, not carnally minded!

Grace

I grew up hearing this acrostic for grace:

G od’s
R iches
A t
C hrist’s
E xpense

One of my college professors, Pastor Frank Camp, had a different acrostic.  I like this one much better – I think it captures more of the full picture of what grace offers:

G od’s
R ighteous
A ssitance {which}
C hrist
E xtends

Though it is something I have known for a while, I am learning it anew in my daily walk.  Grace is not just for salvation.  Grace is for daily living.  Grace is Christ helping me to walk in the Spirit, to live a Spirit-filled life, to exchange my life {flesh and it’s unprofitable works} for His abundant life.  Grace is indeed that assistance which Christ extends to me to help me live righteously in the practical, day-to-day and moment-to-moment circumstances of my life.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;  4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:  5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” Romans 5:1-5

Did you catch the picture of grace in the first two verses?  Grace is accessed by faith.  {This fits right in with Ephesians 2:8-9 – we are saved by grace through faith.}  Faith is what brings salvation to our hearts – we ask for God’s saving grace and He freely gives it without partiality.  But now that we are saved, we access His grace for daily living in exactly the same way – by faith. 

We already stand in grace.  Once we are saved, no one and no thing on earth can move us from that spot.  We are positionally saved and standing in grace.  But now we need grace to help us live the Christian life.  We have to take of the grace wherein we stand, so that practically we are saved on a moment by moment basis.

“For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)” Romans 5:17  

“Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” Romans 5:20

Grace is sprinkled throughout Romans 5.  These two verses stood out to me.  We can have abundant righteous life if we receive the abundance of grace for daily living.  And those areas which we constant battle grounds and areas of loss to the enemy can be reclaimed – through grace.  Where sin abounded in my life, I can access grace (which abounds even more) by faith and take back the stronghold.

My pastor here in Brooklyn has yet another definition for grace.  It is not an acrostic, but just as descriptive.  Grace is all of Christ's sufficiencies for all of my insufficiencies.  The more I try to do it on my own, the more I realize how insufficient I am.  But I can have Christ – who is “all in all” be sufficient for me.

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him…” {Colossians 2:6}

How did we receive Christ?  By grace, through faith.  Today, walk in Him in the same manner. 
Walk in grace accessed by faith.