The Exegesis of Romans 8:28

Among those that have made the study of scripture their life’s work and passion, there are many that consider Romans Chapter 8 to be the Crown Jewel of the Bible. This chapter of a doctrinally rich epistle is, even by the book of Romans standards, almost exorbitant in its expression of doctrinal truths. Furthermore, I would venture to say that if Romans 8 is the Crown Jewel of the Bible, then verse 28 is the flawless centerpiece of that jewel. This well known and oft quoted verse carries with it the rations of confidence and peace for the mature believer, that person that has advanced in his spiritual walk. It is worth taking note that whenever the Bible addresses spiritual maturity, it is always in conjunction with the believer’s relationship to the Word of God (1 Cor. 3:2; Hebrews 5:12, 13; 1 Pet. 2:2).

As often as this verse of scripture is quoted, it seems to be just as frequently misapplied and misunderstood. With that in mind, I decided to dust of an old exegesis done on Romans 8:28 several years back. I took the time to edit my notes so that it could be presented to you. For the sake of clarity, I would like to define the word “exegesis”. Exegesis is a word by word, verse by verse, grammatical, syntactical, etymological, and contextual analysis of scripture from the original languages of the Bible in order to extract principals and delineate doctrines. Because a lot can be lost between translations from one language to another, exegesis allows the believer to gain clarity as they delve into in-depth studies. Using ancient manuscripts of the Greek Text (the original language), we will conduct a basic exegesis of Romans 8:28 to gain an understanding of the power and force behind this popular verse of scripture.

                                                What does Romans 8:28 Address?

Based on the context of the verses surrounding verse 28, we can deduce that the theme of verse 28 is presenting the provisions for undeserved suffering of a believer. Verse 28 provides the believer with the confidence and peace of knowing that there is good coming out of his bad. In His own providential and almost always mysterious way, God orchestrates every event in the life of the believer, even suffering, temptation, and sin, to accomplish both temporal and eternal blessings. Verse 28 is not a promise that there will be no suffering or trials in the life of the believer, but that even the suffering will prove efficacious in the plan of God to bless that believer. In the larger range of the context of verses 18-39, and the more immediate context of verse 29-30, the sentence connotes that the suffering of this current age, especially the suffering of persecution in particular, cannot thwart God, who uses even the most difficult of circumstances to bring about his ultimate plan (Rom. 8:18).

                                                          Exegesis

Romans 8:28 Greek manuscript: οιδαμεν δε οτι τοις αγαπωσιν τον θεον παντα συνεργει [ο θεος] εις αγαθον τοις κατα προθεσιν κλητοις ουσιν

Because of the subject matter, the Greek particle (de) is more emphatic (not simply functioning in the conjunctive, but also drawing attention to this subsequent truth), functioning as the equivalent of an exclamation mark within the statement. As a transitional conjunction, (de) is often correctly translated “and” (cf. KJV), however, in context it proves to be a somewhat docile rendering in Romans 8:28. Context sets the mood and the mood aids in translation. The intensive use requires a more emphatic translation “in fact” which causes the reader to seize upon the concept of fortitude beginning at verse 20.

Next, comes the verb (oida) or (eido), translated “we know”; Strong’s Greek dictionary:

G1492

εἴδω

eidō

i'-do

A primary verb; used only in certain past tenses, the others being borrowed from the equivalent, G3700 and G3708; properly to see (literally or figuratively); by implication (in the perfect only) to know: - be aware, behold, X can (+ not tell), consider, (have) known (-ledge), look (on), perceive, see, be sure, tell, understand, wist, wot. Compare G3700.

The perfect present tense indicates a fact that has come to exist in the past and still exists as a present reality (by implication in the perfect tense only is rendered “to know”). In other words, Paul is speaking to those “that know”. He is not laying out a new doctrine here, but re-enforcing an existing one; one that the mature believer would already have knowledge of.  The verb is implicit.

“We know in fact…”

As we observe the Greek text, we immediately notice that the King James Version has displaced a phrase. “All things” does not come next in the original word order, but the present active participle of (agapao).   Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries:

 G25

ἀγαπάω

agapaō

ag-ap-ah'-o

Perhaps from ἄγαν agan (much; or compare [H5689]); to love (in a social or moral sense) : - (be-) love (-ed). Compare G5368. To love, to delight in, to esteem.

The participle and its definite article are in the dative case. In certain inflected languages as Latin, Greek, and German, the dative case carries a distinctive function of indicating the indirect object of a verb or the object of certain prepositions. In this case, the dative indicates two things: First of all, the dative case points to whose interest are at stake. This is known as the dative of advantage. “All things working for good” is being performed for the benefit of the believer. Secondly, the definite article is used here as a demonstrative pronoun “to those”, calling special attention to the very ones to whom the advantage belongs (The mature believer). The ones that are occupied with Christ (based on genuine love “agapao” for God). It is important to understand that true love for God is not automatic. It would be arrogant to presume that you have without perseverance in and dedication to the Word of God and constant and consistent fellowship with Him that you have arrived. There is always room to grow in this spiritual journey. This scripture addresses the believer that loves (“agapao”) God. It was Christ that proclaimed that those that love him would keep his commandments. In other words, you can recognize the mature believer by his walk.

G3588

ὁ, ἡ, τό

ho  hē  to

ho, hay, to

The masculine, feminine (second) and neuter (third) forms, in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom): - the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.

Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries

G2316

θεός

theos

theh'-os

Of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with G3588) the supreme Divinity; figuratively amagistrate; by Hebraism very: - X exceeding, God, god [-ly, -ward].

Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries

The generic definite article (ho) with (Theos) translated “The God” gives emphasis to the unique existence of the true God of the universe and his divine attributes. This is an interpolation of the Doctrine of Divine Essence. This should precipitate and engender a sense of awe, respect and ultimately love for God.

“We know in fact that to those who love the God”

When the KJV is placed juxtaposed to the Greek, not only can we see that a phrase has been misplaced, but also the next two words have been inaccurately translated. To adequately apprehend this statement, one must first have at least a minimal perspicacity of the development of the canon (How the bible came to be). Since this is not a lesson on canonicity, I will be brief.

The Canon (in part)

At the time the Authorized King James Bible was completed in 1611 it had been well translated in respect to the manuscripts that were available and in comparison to other extant English versions. However, it was not very long before some definite problems were discovered in the text. Approximately fifteen years after the KJV was complete, Thomas Roe brought back from Turkey the Codex Alexandrus, which was a beautiful and more ancient manuscript (copy of the original).

Any textual critic will tell you that the older a manuscript the more accurate it will be. This is because as copies are made through the years there are unavoidable errors and variations, so then the older the manuscript the more accurate it is to the original. Since 1627 when Thomas Roe brought the Codex Alexandrus back to England, there have been over five thousand manuscripts of the Bible discovered (all of which being more ancient and accurate than the ones used to translate the KJV). Upon extensive examination and comparison of the new manuscripts, a greater number of errors and discrepancies were discovered in KJV. The Textus Receptus up to that point had been the standard, but its accuracy had now been challenged. When I say that there were discrepancies between the manuscripts (all five thousand discovered since 1627), there is actually less than one percent difference between the new manuscripts and the Textus Receptus. Considering the primitive means available for copying at the time, this is awesome. However, when dealing with the Word God, 1% of the entire canon is enough to distort prevalent doctrines.

The new manuscripts coupled with the ingenious work of brilliant philologist that were able clarify the grammar, syntax, and etymology of the Greek language brought more lucidity; allowing translators to better decipher the Greek manuscripts.

For instance etymology (the study of the historical development of a word) is extremely prevalent in rendering not only accurate translations, but just as importantly, a translation that renders the proper idea. Let’s take a look at an example, Matt. 6:6 “”Enter into thy closet”; which in 1611 made reference to a private room or bedroom. Today we take it to mean a clothes closet, in fact, there are many still praying in their clothes closet, but this is not what was meant. Another example would be 1 Corinthians 13:13; “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is charity”. Today charity is simply a reference to human benevolence; however, in 1611 it was the most powerful expression of love at that time. If you were to tell someone that you cherished them you were getting yourself in deep. On the other hand, if you were to say that you loved them, you were just trifling and unwilling to commit.

So as you can see, there will always be challenges to presenting the Word of God in clarity. We are only addressing the issues in English; just imagine the challenges of translating the canon into all of the multifarious languages in which it now exists.

Obviously there is quite a bit more to the development of the canon, but this will suffice in understanding the need for proper exegesis and correction to translations of scripture. With all of the resources available, one should never accept any translation without proper examination of its construction. Remember the accuracy and inerrancy of scripture is guaranteed in the original texts only and all translations must be subject to scrutiny to insure their integrity.

Resuming Exegesis….

No one can be expected to become an expert in Greek overnight (I’m not an expert, just relentless), and we know that the linguistics experts of 1611 did not have at their disposal all of the resources available now. With that being said: To totally apprehend the gravity of Romans 8:28, one must first understand a couple of things about Greek sentence structure.

In a standard Greek sentence there is a subject, a verb, and an object. The subject produces the action of the verb and the object receives the action. Knowing which one is which is paramount in gaining proper understanding of scripture. Both, the subject and object are nouns; in these nouns the Greek reveals its versatility in comparison to its English counterpart. An English noun can only appear in one of two forms: singular or plural, but a Greek noun can take on a plethora of forms based on its multitudinous suffixes. A Greek noun can along with showing singularity of plurality, also reveal a number of things including the distinctive role it plays in a sentence.

The subject can be easily identified, being in the nominative case; the object being in the accusative case. It makes no difference where these words appear in the sentence, we can always identify the role a noun plays by its case (subject: nominative case; object: accusative case). We will soon find out that there are still challenges.

With our new grammatical rule in hand, we look back at the statement “all things work together”. These four English words represent only two Greek words (panta, sunergei). Panta is the plural form of the adjective (pas), which means “all”. In this instance, the adjective is used as a noun and because it is in the neuter gender, it is correctly translated “all things”. What role does all things play in this sentence? Is it the subject of the object? Based on what we just learned about Greek grammar, we apply our rule: Check the case. Unfortunately, in this instance, Panta proves to be a little tricky because it is the nominative neuter plural of (pas), which would designate it as the subject; however, it is also the accusative neuter of (pas). The rule does not help us in this instance. We must dig further. In this instance the verb comes to our aid. “Sunergai” is a form of (sunergeo):

 G4903

συνεργέω

sunergeō

soon-erg-eh'-o

From G4904; to be a fellow worker, that is, co-operate: - help (work) with, work (-er) together.

Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries

In the anatomization of “sunergei” we can list an immensity of information: The tense: present, The voice: active. The mood: indicative, The person: third, The number: singular. As we analyze this information we strike something solid enough to aid in solving the query as to whether “all things’ is the subject or the object. A basic rule in Greek, or English for that matter, says that the number of the subject must agree with the number of the verb. A singular verb must have a singular subject and a plural verb must have a plural subject. So what is the number of sunergei? It is plural. A singular verb never takes a plural noun. That would be like saying, “They has money,” or “Young children is smart.” For some reason, despite their expertise, the linguistic experts of 1611 did just that. To construct a sentence in this manner would be poor English; it would be horrific Greek. Basically, they said, “all things works together for good’.

So, “all things can only be the object of “works together”. In essence “all things” are not working for the good, but are being worked for the good. It is imperative to understand the distinction. It is important to understand how all that you will endure and experience will ultimately come to good. In proper understanding of this passage we are introduced to the source of our confidence and peace.

Just when we think that we have the phrase figured out we notice we have only a verb and an object, but we need a subject to complete the statement. There are only two words, panta sunergei. “All things” are being worked together for good; but by whom? There can be no action without someone or something to produce the action. At first glance, we have a grammatical conundrum; fortunately, Greek is a more expressive language than English. Greek verbs have built in subjects. Where English grammar requires a separate subject, the Greek allows the omission of the subject, understanding from the suffix of the verb who was producing the action. The suffix (ei) directs us to the subject we are seeking. We have already identified this suffix as the third person singular, so in other words the subject can be either: he, she, or it. The immediate text reveals to us which one:

    “…to those who love the God, (he, she, or it) works all things together….”

In this statement, the antecedent is a masculine noun, so the correct translation is “He works all things together for good. Actually, some of the more ancient manuscripts actually insert “ho Theos” (the God) to indicate in the nominative singular that God is the subject.  

To this point we know that to those who love God “ho Theos”, He (God) works “all things” (Good or bad) toward the good. With or without the direct reference to God, the Greek syntax is distinctively lucid in revealing the subject.

We can see that this is not a blanket statement as it is often used, but distinguishes with the dative of advantage for whom God works all things for the good: “To those who love the God.” The Greek word used for love here (agapao) is neither transient nor capricious and is indicative of the mature believer. “Agapao” is not expressive of love that is emotionally founded or subjectively affixed. “Agapao” is a love that is unconditional in its existence. Why the mature only? God’s uncompromising justice can only execute what His unswerving righteousness demands. What God’s righteousness approves God’s justice blesses; what God’s righteousness condemns God’s justice curses. God cannot work all for the good for those that are not operating within his will.

Now that we have a lucid translation up to this point, let us reach for a more detailed interpretation of “panta sunergei” (all things). Here “all things” includes more than the blessings associated with underserved suffering in the context of Rom. 8:17-39. “All things” emphasizes and includes every factor and facet in God’s predetermined plan for man. “To those” emphasizes those who have executed positive volition toward the plan of God, the gospel and all subsequent doctrines.

“Sunergei”, in the present active indicative, is a compound verb composed of the preposition (sun) “with”,” together with”, and the verb (ergazomai) “to work”. The customary present tense indicates what habitually occurs or what may be reasonably expected to occur. This is the source of the mature believer’s confidence and subsequent peace of mind. A mature believer understands that undeserved suffering does not come to cause misery or detract from blessings, but to add to the blessing and growth of that believer.

The pivotal key to Romans 8:28 is the prepositional phrase “for the good”. The preposition (eis) is often used with the accusative case to express purpose; therefore, the phrase is correctly translated “for the purpose of good.” There is no definite article; in this way Greek and English are diametrically opposite. In the English a definite article is added for emphasis –“the good”—the Greek drops the definite article to achieve the same effect. In the Greek the present article with (agathos) “good” would point to a specific good; however, the anarthrous construction which is in view here gives the emphasis to the quality of the good. The Greek “agathos” literally means “good of intrinsic value”.

There is another identifying phrase that caps the verse as well as opens the door to another doctrine; “election”. The Greek noun (kletos), translated “called” is a technical term that signifies the Holy Spirits role in common and efficacious grace. The doctrine of election has been one of the most intensely debated doctrines for centuries. It is not my objective to settle the argument, but to introduce the basic principles of the doctrine so that a greater light can be shed upon the scriptural passage we are studying today.

Theologians have pondered the meaning of Romans 8:29, “For whom he foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” What was meant when Paul wrote that God foreknew certain people? How are we to understand the notion that God predestined certain people to be saved? For the most part, the discussion on the issue of election have settled in two camps: Arminians, those that embrace the teachings of 17 century Dutch pastor Jacobus Arminius, understand foreknowledge to mean God’s advance  knowledge of those that would repent of  their sin and believe the gospel message. In other words, in eternity past, God looked through the corridors of time and saw every person that would believe in and receive Christ. In turn, He designed a plan to allow the believer to live out his salvation in productivity and prosperity. (Side note: Whether Old or New Testament, the answer to salvation has always been the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament He was seen in types and shadows that pointed toward the cross. In the New Testament He existed in Hypostatic Union as the incarnate Messiah, The God Man! The believers in the Old Testament looked toward the Cross and the post crucifixion believers look back at the cross.)

According the Arminian view, those who accept the gift of salvation are the elect (see Eph. 1:3). To re-enforce their position the Arminians point to verses of scripture that clearly state that God desires all men to be save (see 1 Tim. 2:3, 4; 2 Pet. 3:9)

Calvinism is the second dominant viewpoint. Calvinist named for the French Reformer John Calvin, understand foreknowledge to be a relational term. In other words, foreknowledge refers to God’s intimate knowledge of and love for His elect before they came into existence. The Calvinist perspective is that it is God’s sovereign decision, and not a person’s exercised faith, that determines who the elect are. Simply put, the Calvinists believe that it is God’s unconditional choice as to who would be the called. The Calvinist re-enforce their position by using verses that point to God’s sovereign will being imposed upon man forcing him to move against His will, verse “such as Romans 9:6-24

I challenge you to examine this doctrine own your own. I can personally attest that in light of scripture you will be challenged to give both views serious attention.

“To those who are the called ones” is in the Dative of Advantage and we know from our earlier example that this means it describes to whose interest God is working things for the good.

Dr. Rick Wallace

The Greek noun (prosthesis) “predetermined plan”, which encompasses all phases & aspects of God’s plan for the believer, reveals the eternal existence of individual purpose.

The exegesis of Romans 8:28:

“We know in fact that to those [mature believers] who love the God. He works all things [good or bad] together [synergistically] for the purpose of good [to fulfill the ultimate purpose of blessing the mature believer] to those who are the called ones [through common and efficacious grace] according the predetermined plan.”

Therefore, we see that Romans 8:28 is the spiritual ration for the mature believer, the one who loves God. It provides the confidence and fortitude for the believer to press on through suffering and trails. It is not a verse that anyone wearing the name of Christian can arbitrarily toss over his problems. We also know now that all things do not work themselves out for good, but it is God himself that is working all things in the life of the mature believer for good. It is important to keep in mind spiritual maturity is not measured in time, but progress. “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18 NASB).