{"id":45327,"date":"2019-04-29T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/?p=45327"},"modified":"2023-01-24T07:23:53","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T15:23:53","slug":"the-meaning-of-romans-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/","title":{"rendered":"The Meaning of Romans 8:28"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Romans 8:28<\/a> is one of the best-known verses in Romans. And it is probably one of the best known verses in the whole Bible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is what it says: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For God works all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a good reason people like this verse! It\u2019s because we all suffer. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all experienced hardships, some of it almost unbearable. And those of us who believe in God want to know what God\u2019s relationship to that suffering is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where does suffering come from?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Did God cause our suffering? Does he sympathize with us in our suffering? Can he do anything about our suffering?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are human questions and questions that many, many people have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 8:28<\/a> does not tell us that God causes people to suffer, and it doesn\u2019t say that God consider suffering in and of itself to be good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it does say, however, is that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are who are called according to his purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 8 in context<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, it\u2019s actually really important to read around that verse. I would recommend anybody interested in the meaning of this verse to read all of Romans 8, beginning in verse one. This entire passage in Romans is really helpful for understanding what suffering is all about particularly as a Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn\u2019t solve the problem at a philosophical level, the problem of how God can be all powerful and all good and yet good people can suffer. How can that happen? It doesn\u2019t solve that problem for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it does describe how God is at work in a suffering world. We know he has identified with that world through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross\u2014suffered\u2014for our sins and participated with us in a suffering world. We know he\u2019s with us<\/em> in our suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 8 also reminds us that God is busy recreating this world and that those of us who are united with Christ by faith are being transformed, and the church is being transformed and is God\u2019s pilot unit for what the world should look like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s transforming the church, and eventually he\u2019ll transform this whole world to bring suffering and oppression to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s how God is working all things together for good, for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Frank Thielman is author of <\/em>Romans in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Zondervan Exegetical Commentary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This series covers books in the Old and New Testaments. Written by notable evangelical scholars, each volume treats the literary context and structure of the passage in the original Greek and Hebrew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wondering if this series is for you? Then read this article about the Gospel of John<\/a> and answer these seven questions<\/a> to find out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, head on over to our website to read the product description. Then, add it to your Olive Tree library!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
GET IT TODAY<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 8:28 is one of the best-known verses in Romans. And it is probably one of the best known verses in the whole Bible. Here is what it says: For God works all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose.\u201d There\u2019s a good reason people like<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":50082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5338],"tags":[6090],"class_list":{"0":"post-45327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-testament-articles","8":"tag-zondervan-exegetical-commentary-series"},"yoast_head":"\nThe Meaning of Romans 8:28 - Olive Tree Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is the meaning of Romans 8:28? Read this article written by Frank Thielma. He's the author of Romans in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Meaning of Romans 8:28\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Romans 8:28 is one of the best-known verses in Romans. And it is probably one of the best known verses in the whole Bible. Here is what it says: For God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Olive Tree Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OliveTreeBible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-29T14:00:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-24T15:23:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"515\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Olive Tree Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OliveTreeBible\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OliveTreeBible\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Olive Tree Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Olive Tree Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9\"},\"headline\":\"The Meaning of Romans 8:28\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-29T14:00:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-24T15:23:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":524,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Series\"],\"articleSection\":[\"New Testament\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Meaning of Romans 8:28 - Olive Tree Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-29T14:00:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-24T15:23:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9\"},\"description\":\"What is the meaning of Romans 8:28? Read this article written by Frank Thielma. He's the author of Romans in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/04\\\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":515,\"caption\":\"The Meaning Of Romans 8\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Meaning of Romans 8:28\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Olive Tree Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9\",\"name\":\"Olive Tree Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Olive Tree Staff\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.olivetree.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/olive-tree-staff\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Meaning of Romans 8:28 - Olive Tree Blog","description":"What is the meaning of Romans 8:28? Read this article written by Frank Thielma. He's the author of Romans in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Meaning of Romans 8:28","og_description":"Romans 8:28 is one of the best-known verses in Romans. And it is probably one of the best known verses in the whole Bible. Here is what it says: For God","og_url":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/","og_site_name":"Olive Tree Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OliveTreeBible\/","article_published_time":"2019-04-29T14:00:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-01-24T15:23:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1170,"height":515,"url":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Olive Tree Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@OliveTreeBible","twitter_site":"@OliveTreeBible","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Olive Tree Staff","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/"},"author":{"name":"Olive Tree Staff","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9"},"headline":"The Meaning of Romans 8:28","datePublished":"2019-04-29T14:00:26+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-24T15:23:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/"},"wordCount":524,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg","keywords":["Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Series"],"articleSection":["New Testament"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/","url":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/","name":"The Meaning of Romans 8:28 - Olive Tree Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-29T14:00:26+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-24T15:23:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9"},"description":"What is the meaning of Romans 8:28? Read this article written by Frank Thielma. He's the author of Romans in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg","width":1170,"height":515,"caption":"The Meaning Of Romans 8"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/the-meaning-of-romans-8\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Meaning of Romans 8:28"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/","name":"Olive Tree Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/351be84fe6adb14e452e170d896a5bf9","name":"Olive Tree Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Olive Tree Staff"},"url":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/author\/olive-tree-staff\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/TheMeaningOfRomans8-1-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45327"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52813,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45327\/revisions\/52813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}