Archives: Pastors' Corner

The next paragraph of Romans 8 contains a series of questions that we can ponder.  Let’s look at the first question in verse 31:  “What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?”  I believe that the “these things” phrase refers to the previous section of Romans 8. Paul has reminded us that God will restore glory to His creation.  God has given us the Spirit of God who helps us in prayer.  God has given us a promise that all things work together for good for those who love God and […]

After Romans 8:28 we read the following verses:  “29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” The word “for” at the beginning ties these verses to the previous one.  God will work all things together for good because He is sovereign.  He has all of this figured out.  He has His activity performed in your life today as much as He does 20 years from now…or 20,000 years from […]

Last day for Romans 8:28.  Here it is:  “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  The last phrase is the focus today, “to those who are the called according to His purpose”.  There are many things I could say about this phrase but what I want you to see is that it modifies the phrase “those who love God”.  The “those” in “those who are called according to His purpose” are the same “those” in “those who love God”.  It is assumed that […]

Still another day on Romans 8:28.   Tomorrow will be the last day but today we will focus on the phrase, “to those who love God”.  Here is the entire verse:  “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” The amazing promise of Romans 8:28 is not a promise for all people.  The promise that all things will work together for good are for those who love God.  This is a promise for those who belong to His family.  In His grace God may choose […]

Today is day four of our detailed look at Romans 8:28, one of the most well known verses in the New Testament.  Here it is:  “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  Today we focus on the two words, “for good”.  All things work together for good.  “Good” means to be desired or approved of.  All things work together for good.  It doesn’t mean that all things are good.  It means that all things, even the difficult and tragic things, work together […]

Today is day three of our detailed look at one of the most well known verses in the Bible, Romans 8:28.  Here is it:  ““And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  The first two days we talked about the truth of “knowing” and “all things”.  This is a promise from God that we can take to the bank.  We can know that all things work together for good…But here comes the part where God steps into this in a major way.  Today’s […]

Yesterday we began a detailed look at key words and phrases in one of the most quoted verses of the Bible, Romans 8:28. Here it is: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Yesterday we focused on the word “know”. Today, I’d like to look at “all things”. We are told by Paul that all things work together for good to those who love God… Do you believe that? Earlier Paul wrote that we can “know” this to be true. Do you […]

One of the most quoted verses from the New Testament is contained in chapter 8 of Romans.  It is verse 28:  “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” This verse is followed by an expression of God’s sovereignty which we will examine later.  There are some amazing words in this verse that I’d like to look at one day at a time.  We will spend a few days just on this verse because I believe that if you really understand and believe the […]

I like prayer lists.  I think they can be very useful.  However, prayer can be very limited if we only stick to a list. How effective are our prayers if we are only talking to God about what is on our list, what we want to talk about or ask God to do?  I think that what Paul has to say about prayer here in Romans 8 takes prayer to a different and much more meaningful area.  Here is what Paul writes in verses 26-27:  “26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray […]

A while ago I noticed an ad campaign for a hospital that was advertising knee and hip replacements, perhaps other joint replacements as well. Their tag line was “Hit the Refresh Button”. The idea is that when you have a knee replaced, it takes you back to your youth…hitting the refresh button…giving you a new start. Now I know that some of you have had these types of surgeries and you know that they are not quite that effective. Hitting the refresh button on your knee doesn’t take you back to your knee of age 25. However, we understand the […]