All things work together for the bad
By Elizabeth Prata
My Sunday School is working through Romans. We are just finishing Romans 8. One of our teachers in the class has a deep connection with Romans 8:28, which says,
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
At age 17 his neck was broken in a high school football game, and he became a quadriplegic. He teaches High School Bible now in a Christian School and one of his courses is Romans. Between his deep personal connection with Romans 8:28 and his professional association with teaching it, you can imagine that we spent a good deal of time in Sunday School Class, discussing how and why all things work together for the good of those who love Him.
I was driving along this week and Adrian Rogers came on the radio with a sermon about Romans 8:28. Oh boy! I love Adrian Rogers. I love Romans 8:28. This will be good, I thought.
And it was. Because he came at it from the opposite point. Rogers said in part of his sermon, that if all things work together for the GOOD of those who love Him, then all things work together for the BAD for those who hate Him.
Wut?
Yes. For people who hate God, things work out to the bad for them. Now to be clear, God is not the author of sin and He doesn’t tempt people to sin. He is perfectly holy. But what people forget is the duality of the proposition. God is holy, sin is not. He is light, all else is dark. He can be found on the narrow way, others are on the broad way. Either a person is in the faith or not. There is heaven and there is hell. People are either good (based on Christ’s imputed righteousness) or they are bad (because, sin nature).
Haters of God cannot claim this promise. You can put Romans 8:28 in reverse. If all things work together for the good of those that love God, if a person does not love God, all things work together for the bad. A person might say ‘Well, I’m living high, wide, and handsome right now’. “But friends”, Rogers said, “it’s not working together for the good but for evil for those who don’t love God.” Even a good thing like preaching to those who who do not love God and reject the Gospel, Jesus said to go your way and shake the dust off your feet. That very dust will be used as a testimony against them at the day of Judgment. (Luke 9:5). So even a good thing like preaching will be used against them that die in their hatred of God.
“Good” preaching, even a “good” life will tend to make a person harden their conscience, become too self-suffucient, stiffen necks, and turn hearts to stone.
The wicked pluck death from the tree of life. ~Adrian Rogers
Cling to the promise of God that you, dear believer whom Jesus saved on no merit or activity of your own, that all things (in heaven) are working for your good, no matter the circumstances (on earth). But if a person hates God, then all things work to the bad. Does that make you want to share the GOOD NEWS with someone today that hates God? I hope so.
