AND WE KNOW: Oidamen (1PRAI) de: (Ro 8:35-39; 5:3,4; Ge 50:20; Dt 8:2,3,16; Ps 46:1,2; Jer 24:5-7; Zech 13:9; 2 Co 4:15-17; 5:1; Phil 1:19-23; 2 Th 1:5-7; Heb 12:6-12; Js 1:3,4; 1 Pe 1:7,8; Rev 3:19)

Denny introduces this last section of Romans 8 noting that this is Paul's

Conclusion of the argument: the Apostle glories in the assurance of God's eternal and unchangeable love in Jesus Christ.

We have been dealing in the first part of the chapter with the human will and its consent to walk by the Spirit. Beginning in Verse 28 to the end of this chapter it will be God from now on!

Robert Haldane writes that...

Nothing is more necessary for Christians than to be well persuaded of the happiness and privileges of their condition, that they may be able to serve God with cheerfulness and freedom of spirit, and to pass through the troubles and difficulties of the world. Here, then, is further consolation: Christians are often in sorrows, sufferings, and trials. This is not in itself joyous, but grievous; but in another point of view it is a matter of joy. Though afflictions in themselves are evil, yet in their effects as overruled and directed by God, they are useful. Yea, all things, of every kind, that happen to the Christian, are overruled by God for his good! (Haldane, R. An Exposition on the Epistle to the Roman. Ages Classic Commentaries)

Vine introduces this section with the following comment...

Having shown that suffering is not incompatible with a life of hope, the apostle now extends this to make clear that suffering is part of the working out of God’s all-wise purposes for us, and that neither affliction nor anything else can prevent this or thwart God’s ultimate designs for us. Here, too, he confirms the doctrine of the justification of the believer and establishes that of his eternal security. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

Calvin comments on this verse noting that...

Though the elect and the reprobate are indiscriminately exposed to similar evils, there is yet a great, difference; for God trains up the faithful by afflictions, and thereby promotes their salvation.

Raymond Ortlund writes that...

The hand of God is at the helm. He’s steering us through the storms of life toward home, toward a safe haven. And He takes care to order all the events of our lives right now to speed us on our way there. This is what we call Providence-- God’s overruling hand at work everywhere in a fallen world. The Providence of God is clearly taught from one end of the Bible to the other. And our confidence in the Providence of God is a faith so bold, so demanding, so unapologetic, that we cannot believe it without being transformed. Either all things work together for our good, or nothing makes sense. So let’s be bold about it. Let’s either be transformed Christians or bitter skeptics, because we cannot just sort of believe Romans 8:28. We either believe it or we doubt it. There is no middle ground. (Romans 8:28)

Ray Pritchard makes an interesting observation and then draws a pithy conclusion...

Let me read the first phrase in three different versions:

KJV: "All things work together for good to them that love God."
NASB: "God causes all things to work together for good."
NIV: "In all things God works for the good of those who love him."

Did you catch the difference there? In the King James version God is way down at the end of the phrase. In the other two versions, God is at the beginning. It is partly a question of text and partly a question of grammar. There is nothing wrong with the traditional versions, but the modern translations bring out a proper emphasis.

Let me put it this way: We will never properly understand this verse as long as we put God at the end and not at the beginning. But some people look at life that way. They believe that life is like a roll of the dice—sometimes it's seven-come-eleven and sometimes it's snake eyes. And they believe that after a tragedy God shows up to make everything come out right. But that's not the biblical view at all.

In reality, God is there at the beginning and He is there at the end and He is at every point in between. (Romans 8:28) (Bolding added)

Romans 8:28 is the NT equivalent of Joseph's great affirmation of God's sovereignty, (see RBC booklet How Much Does God Control?) His overruling providence and His everlasting, immutable faithfulness, when he declared to his brothers (who had attempted to kill him)...

"And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. (Ge 50:20)

When fear and worry test your faith
And anxious thoughts assail,
Remember God is in control
And He will never fail. —Sper

We know (1492) (oída = perfect tense of obsolete eído) (Uses in Romans) refers to knowledge which comes from one’s state of being, intuitive knowledge. Oida means absolute, positive knowledge which one has beyond a doubt. It refers to that which is the common knowledge of the Christian, a settled intuitive knowledge which the Holy Spirit makes real. God Himself has placed the knowledge of this verse in our hearts. Notice that although all believers know the following truth intuitively, they may not always fully understand and sense it experientially.

Denny writes that the verb we know..

in a sense is one ground more for believing in the glorious future: God is ever with us, and will not abandon us at last.

The words we know are used about thirty times as the expression of the common knowledge of the saints of God as such, in the Epistles (in Romans, five times) and always indicate always Christian knowledge.

We know Romans 8:28-30 is true because we know God and He has said it. His word is trustworthy and that guarantees His promise. Indeed, His character rests upon it. We know because we know Him. We know not by looking at the events of our life but by knowing our God. We know not by studying the pattern of the cloth, but by knowing the "Designer" of the fabric. We know it not by listening to the notes of the symphony, but by knowing the "Composer" of the music. There are so many things we don't know. We don't know why babies die or why cars wreck or why planes crash or why families break up or why good people get sick and suddenly die. But this we know—God is at work and He has not forgotten us. Hallelujah!

And so we can declare like Paul...

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (see note Romans 8:18)

God is able to even make the sufferings work together for our good and glory! (Why Would A Good God Allow Suffering?)

Robert Haldane comments on "we know" writing that...

This does not mean that believers know it merely in a speculative manner, but that it is a knowledge which enters into their heart and affections, producing in them confidence in its truth. It is a knowledge of faith which implies certainty and self application, by which the believer not only knows but applies the promises of God, and is able to say, This promise is mine, it belongs to me. For otherwise, what advantage would there be in a general knowledge of this fact? where would be its consolation, and where its practical use? “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” (Psalms 25:14 - See Spurgeon's note on Psalm 25:13)  (Haldane, R. An Exposition on the Epistle to the Roman. Ages Classic Commentaries)

Newell comments that...

Lodge members, having been “initiated,” go about as those that “know.” The Christian is traveling to glory along with a blessed company that can say “We know,” in an infinitely higher and surer sense. And here, what a knowledge! (Romans 8) (Bolding added)

Charles Spurgeon used to say,

“I do not need anyone to tell me how honey tastes; I know.”

Dr. Torrey always said that Romans 8:28 is a "soft pillow for a tired heart". Or as someone else has said "God's good promises put a rainbow of hope in every cloud and a "pillow of grace" in every bed of affliction!"

Though I do not know the reason,
I can trust, and so am blest;
God is love, and God is faithful,
So in perfect peace I rest. —Anon.

The comforting truth of Romans 8:28 is based especially on God's sovereignty. If all things work together for good (all events, all circumstances, all trials, all happenings, etc.), then it follows that God must be over all things and must control all things. This is not fearful fatalism and determinism. This is the wonderful fact that an all-wise, all-loving, just God is in complete control of all things!

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From a devotional in Our Daily Bread we read...

When quoting Romans 8:28, we often begin with the words, "All things work together for good." But the verse really begins like this:

"We know that all things work together for good to those who love God."

Our knowing comes by faith. By faith we are confident that God will never disappoint us.

I read a story about a shipwreck. When the sole survivor reached a small, uninhabited island, he prayed for God to rescue him, but help didn't come. Eventually he built a hut out of driftwood for protection from the elements. One day he returned from scavenging for food and found his hut in flames, the smoke rising into the sky. Angrily he cried,

"God, how could You do this to me?"

The next morning he was awakened by rescuers.

"How did you know I was here?" he asked.

"We saw your smoke signal," they replied.

Pastor Lud Golz wrote,

"Sometimes God's love almost seems like hatred because of the difficulties He allows to come our way. The final result, however, always confirms its true nature."

The next time it seems as if your last hope has gone up in smoke, remember what "we know" to be true (Romans 8:28). When God says that all things work together for good to those who love Him, He means all things! —J E Yoder (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

The trials we are going through
Can be misunderstood
Unless we realize that God
Works all things for our good. —Sper

God may test our faith
so we may trust His faithfulness.

THAT GOD CAUSES ALL THINGS TO WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THOSE WHO LOVE GOD: hoti tois agaposin (PAPMPD) ton theon panta sunergei (3SPAI) eis agathon: (5:5; Ex 20:6; Dt 6:5; Neh 1:5; Ps 69:36; Mk 12:30; 1 Co 2:9; Js 1:12; Js 2:5; 1Jn 4:10,19; 5:2,3)

All (3956) (pas) means all with no exceptions - not just some things but all things!

Spurgeon comments that all things...

is a very comprehensive expression, is it not? It includes your present trouble, your aching head, your heavy heart: “all things.” “All things work.” There is nothing idle in God’s domain. “All things work together.” There is no discord in the providence of God. The strangest ingredients go to make up the one matchless medicine for all our maladies. “All things work together for good” — for lasting and eternal good, — “to them that love God,” that is their outward character

McGee comments that all things include

All things”—good and bad; bright and dark; sweet and bitter; easy and hard; happy and sad; prosperity and poverty; health and sickness; calm and storm; comfort and suffering; life and death.(McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary:  Thomas Nelson or Logos)

MacDonald comments in regard to "all things...for good"...

It may not always seem so! Sometimes when we are suffering heartbreak, tragedy, disappointment, frustration, and bereavement, we wonder what good can come out of it. But the following verse gives the answer: whatever God permits to come into our lives is designed to conform us to the image of His Son. When we see this, it takes the question mark out of our prayers. Our lives are not controlled by impersonal forces such as chance, luck, or fate, but by our wonderful, personal Lord, who is “too loving to be unkind and too wise to err.” (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

John MacArthur writes that...

All things is utterly comprehensive, having no qualifications or limits. Neither this verse nor its context allows for restrictions or conditions. All things is inclusive in the fullest possible sense. Nothing existing or occurring in heaven or on earth “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus” (8:39). Paul is not saying that God prevents His children from experiencing things that can harm them. He is rather attesting that the Lord takes all that He allows to happen to His beloved children, even the worst things, and turns those things ultimately into blessings... No matter what our situation, our suffering, our persecution, our sinful failure, our pain, our lack of faith-in those things, as well as in all other things, our heavenly Father will work to produce our ultimate victory and blessing. The corollary of that truth is that nothing can ultimately work against us. (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press or Logos)

Constable reminds us that...

This verse does not say that God causes all things, period. Nowhere in Scripture do we read that God causes sin or evil. He permits these things, but that is much different from initiating them. Therefore when tragedy touches a believer we should not conclude that this is one of the “all things” that God causes. Rather this verse says that God brings good out of all things, even tragedies, for the Christian. The causes of tragedy are Satan, the sinful choices of people, and the consequences of living in a sinful world (cf. James 1:13-14). (Tom Constable's Expository Notes on the Bible) (Bolding added)

Vine comments that...

The “all things,” while applying to circumstances in general, has special reference to those of adversity, as indicated in the context. All things, however contrary to us, are under His control. The statement carries the suggestion that God works all things, for those who love Him, with designs for their good. Troubles, therefore, do not hinder Christian progress, they serve but to further the designs of God’s grace. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

Douglas Moo comments that Romans 8:28...

promises that nothing will touch our lives that is not under the control and direction of our loving heavenly Father. Everything we do and say, everything people do to us or say about us, every experience we will ever have — all are sovereignly used by God for our good. We will not always understand how the things we experience work to good, and we certainly will not always enjoy them. But we do know that nothing comes into our lives that God does not allow and use for his own beneficent purposes. Paul’s overarching purpose in Romans 5-8 is to give us assurance for the life to come. But verses like 8:28 show that he also wants to give us assurance for the present life as well. God has ordained not only the ends but the means. (Barton, B, et al: The NIV Life Application Commentary Series: Tyndale or Logos)

Kent Hughes cautions us to remember that...

Romans 8:28 does not mean, as is commonly thought, that “everything will turn out okay in this life.” It means, rather, that everything will work out for our ultimate good. These words have our eternal rather than our temporal good in mind. Bishop Anders Nygren writes:

Just as the present aeon is to be followed by eternity, it has already been preceded by an eternity. Only when we see our present existence set in God’s activity, which goes from eternity to eternity, do we get it in right perspective. Then man comes to see that everything that comes to the Christian in this life—and consequently the sufferings of the present too—must work together for good to him. (Hughes, R. K. Romans: Righteousness from heaven. Preaching the Word. Crossway Books or Logos)

Work together (4903) (sunergeo from sun = with, speaks of intimacy + érgon = work > English word "synergy" = the potential ability of individual organizations or groups to be more successful or productive as a result of a merger) means to be a fellow-worker, and so to co-operate. God is our "Fellow Worker" Who is Himself the One working in our behalf and causing all things to work together for good. The present tense and active voice indicates our Father is continually working all things together for our good!

MacArthur adds that...

sunergeo (is the Greek word) from which is derived the English term synergism, the working together of various elements to produce an effect greater than, and often completely different from, the sum of each element acting separately... Contrary to what the King James rendering seems to suggest, it is not that things in themselves work together to produce good. As Paul has made clear earlier in the verse, it is God’s providential power and will, not a natural synergism of circumstances and events in our lives, that causes them to work together for good... No matter what happens in our lives as His children, the providence of God uses it for our temporal as well as our eternal benefit, sometimes by saving us from tragedies and sometimes by sending us through them in order to draw us closer to Him...  God often delays the temporal as well as the ultimate good that He promises... Even when our outward circumstances are dire-perhaps especially when they are dire and seemingly hopeless from our perspective-God is purifying and renewing our redeemed inner beings in preparation for glorification, the ultimate good... God uses the evil of sin as a means of bringing good to His children. That would have to be true if Paul’s statement about “all things” is taken at face value. Even more than suffering and temptation, sin is not good in itself, because it is the antithesis of good. Yet, in God’s infinite wisdom and power, it is most remarkable of all that He turns sin to our good. It is of great importance, of course, to recognize that God does not use sin for good in the sense of its being an instrument of His righteousness. That would be the most obvious of self-contradictions. The Lord uses sin to bring good to His children by overruling it, canceling its normal evil consequences and miraculously substituting His benefits...  the sinning believer is not spared God’s chastisement but is assured of it as a remedial tool for producing holiness (see note Hebrews 12:10). That is the supreme good for which God causes our sin to work. (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press or Logos) (Bolding added)

Albert Barnes comments on "work together for good" writing that these things

They shall co-operate; they shall mutually contribute to our good. They take off our affections from this world; they teach us the truth about our frail, transitory, and dying condition; they lead us to look to God for support, and to heaven for a final home; and they produce a subdued spirit, a humble temper, a patient, tender, and kind disposition. This has been the experience of all saints; and at the end of life they have been able to say it was good for them to be afflicted, Psalms 119:67 [Spurgeon's note], Psalm 119:71 [Spurgeon's note]; Jeremiah 31:18,19;  Hebrews 12:1[note])

Good (18) (agathos) (Click word study of agathos) means beneficial, profitable or useful. In other words, God will cause everything in our lives to become beneficial, spiritually profitable, useful and good, even in a fallen world filled with sin and corruption. Think of ordinary table salt. It is composed of two chemicals, sodium and chlorine, which by themselves can be toxic and yet when properly combined they produce a beneficial substance. Remember also that the good is what is good from God’s perspective.

Note that Paul does not say that "all things are good" but "all things work together for good." Someone has illustrated this by picturing a cake. The raw ingredients that are used to make the cake hardly taste "good" but when they are mixed together and baked the result is "good" (usually)! In a like manner, God takes those things that leave a "bad taste in our mouth" so to speak and mixes them together in a way that results in "good".

J Vernon McGee adds that...