Romans 8:28

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.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
know	εἴδω eídō	G1492	used only in certain past tenses
that	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
things	πάντα panta	G3956	all · adjective — accusative plural neuter
together	συνεργεῖ sunergei	G4903	to be a fellow-worker · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
for	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
good	ἀγαθόν, agathon	G18	"good" (in any sense · adjective — accusative singular neuter
love	ἀγαπῶσιν agapōsin	G25	to love (in a social or moral sense) · verb — present active participle, dative plural masculine
God	θεὸν theon	G2316	figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title
are	ὤν ṓn	G5607	being
called	κλητοῖς klētois	G2822	invited · adjective — dative plural masculine
to	κατὰ kata	G2596	(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
purpose	πρόθεσιν prothesin	G4286	a setting forth · noun — accusative singular feminine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,…
James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them…
Genesis 50:20 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.
Romans 5:3-5 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for t…
Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
James 1:3-4 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glor…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 8:26-28

The apostle here suggests two privileges more to which true Christians are entitled: - I. The help of the Spirit in prayer. While we are in this world, hoping and waiting for what we see not, we must be praying. Hope supposes desire, and that desire offered up to God is prayer; we groan. Now observe, 1. Our weakness in prayer: We know not what we should pray for as we ought. (1.) As to the matter of our requests, we know not what to ask. We are not competent judges of our own condition. Who knows what is good for a man in this life? Ecc 6:12. We are short-sighted, and very much biassed in favour of the flesh, and apt to separate the end from the way. You know not what you ask, Mat 20:22. We…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 8:28

And--or, "Moreover," or "Now"; noting a transition to a new particular. we know, &c.--The order in the original is more striking: "We know that to them that love God" (compare Co1 2:9; Eph 6:24; Jam 1:12; Jam 2:5) "all things work together for good [even] to them who are the called (rather, 'who are called') according to His (eternal) purpose." Glorious assurance! And this, it seems, was a "household word," a "known" thing, among believers. This working of all things for good is done quite naturally to "them that love God," because such souls, persuaded that He who gave His own Son for them cannot but mean them well in all His procedure, learn thus to take in good part whatever He sends th…

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Adam Clarke on Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God - To understand this verse aright, let us observe: 1. That the persons in whose behalf all things work for good are they who love God, and, consequently, who live in the spirit of obedience. 2. It is not said that all things shall work for good, but that συνεργει, they work now in the behalf of him who loveth now, αγαπωσι; for both verbs are in the present tense. All these things work together; while they are working, God's providence is working, his Spirit is working, and they are working Together with him. And whatever troubles, or afflictions, or persecutions may arise, God presses them into their service; and they m…

The Church Fathers

Whatever we do or suffer out of love for God will grow into a reward for us.
— Pelagius, PELAGIUS'S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.12;

Even opposition and disappointment are turned into good, which is exactly what happened with this remarkable man, the apostle Paul.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 67.19

There is, in the foreknowledge of God, a predetermined limit and number of saints who love God as he has given them to do through the Holy Spirit poured forth in their hearts, and for them everything works together for good.
— Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 186

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Fellowship — (1.) With God, consisting in the knowledge of his will (Job 22:21; John 17:3); agreement with his designs (Amos 3:2); mutual affection (Rom. 8: 38, 39); enjoyment of his presence (Ps. 4:6);…
Call Of God, The · To man is: According to the purpose of God — To man is: According to the purpose of God
Counsels And Purposes Of God, The · Saints called and save according to — Saints called and save according to
Election · Ensures to saints: Working of all things for good — Ensures to saints: Working of all things for good
Love · 22:37,38; — 22:37,38;
Love To God · They who have: Have all things working for their good — They who have: Have all things working for their good
Predestination · 19:25; — 19:25;
Privileges Of Saints · All things working together for their good — All things working together for their good
Providence Of God, The · All things are ordered by: For good to saints — All things are ordered by: For good to saints

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Romans 8:28

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 8:26-28

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 8:28

Adam Clarke on Romans 8:28

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Romans 8:28

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 8:26-28

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 8:28

Adam Clarke on Romans 8:28

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Romans 8:28

John Calvin on Romans 8:28-30

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Romans 8:26