As we move about in the Christian Arenas of today, we hear so many leaders and those who have been taught by them quote this single scripture verse from Romans 8.
Rom 8:28 we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Do all things work together for our good? A "one verse doctrine" has been developed from this verse by its being lifted out of its context! This "one verse doctrine" violates the number one rule and the number six rule of extracting counsel from the Word of God; #1. No verse out of context. #6. Use logical thinking when we read.
Rules for extracting proper counsel from the Word of God.
1. No verse out of context.
2. Interpret scripture with scripture.
3. Proper use of conjunctions in scripture.
4. Who is being spoken to?
5. Who is doing the speaking?
6. Use logical thinking when we read.
7. We must be willing to lay down traditions and doctrines of men.
8. God speaks totally different to His enemies than He speaks to His family!
We have become so conditioned by hearing our beloved Elders and favorite Ministers quote this verse to the point that we have just come to believe that all things are somehow working toward the total good within the plans of God for our life.
We have become so conditioned by hearing that "one verse doctrine" that even another doctrine has developed on its heels. How many times have we heard believers quote, “Well, what the Devil meant for bad, God meant for good”! Even though we hear that verse quoted by many believers, we will not find that verse to be contained in the scriptures.
If we apply just a bit of common logic to our meditation, we should come to the conclusion that all things do not work together for our good! Consider this fact. Jesus said that the Devil only comes into our life for three things. To steal, to kill, and to destroy!
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
If we use the blanket statement “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” then we come to accept that every thing that the Devil is doing in our life is, just somehow, working together for our good. Dear children, the plans, which the Devil has for our life, are not working together for our good!
Although usually left off when quoted, Romans 8:28 begins with “And”. Not only does this "one verse doctrine" violate logical thinking, but it also violates the English language at the earliest levels. How many of us have ever been corrected by our grade school teachers for beginning a sentence with “And” either written or spoken? Remember the big red circle with minus ten written next to it? Yeah!
If we remember from grade school, “And” is a continuative conjunction. The Dictionary gives this definition to the word “conjunction”.
(AHD) con·junc·tion n. 1.a. The act of joining. b. The state of being joined. 2. A joint or simultaneous occurrence; concurrence. 3. One resulting from or embodying a union; a combination. 4. Abbr. conj. Grammar. A part of speech such as and, but, as, and because that serves to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Romans 8:28 begins with "and"! This should cause our intellect to judge the fact that the phrase “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God” is in conjunction with that which has been written before the conjunction “and”. Hopefully we are interested enough to back up just a little bit and take a look.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 And he that searches the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 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.
In the English language it would be totally legal for clarity to write out the subject matter of the teaching into this sentence and then it would be much more difficult for us to accept this wrong teaching any longer and retain it in our understanding. Notice the clarity when we write the subject matter into the sentence.
28 And we know that all things (which the Spirit Himself intercedes for us) work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Is that simple or what?
Lifting a verse out of context and just adding whatever anybody wants to inject into the mix has done great damage to the faith of the body of Christ, which is the church. Sometimes, we actually end up thinking that, which the Devil sends to us, to steal from us, to kill us, or to destroy us, is somehow a part of the overall plan of God and that all those things are "just somehow" working together for our good. That line of thinking will lead us into accepting the plan of the Devil for our life instead of using our authority to war against the plan of the Devil and destroying the plan of the Devil for our life.
Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power (should be authority) to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
The book of Romans is a master thesis written by Paul. The whole book should be meditated upon as a whole. If we will take a day and read the book of Romans at least ten times back to back, our spiritual understanding will love us for doing that!
Grace and Peace multiplied in the name of Jesus.
Compiled by Jerry Thomas 10/15/18.
All scripture references are (KJV) unless otherwise denoted.
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