and we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). This Scripture is, without a doubt, one of the most quoted found in the entirety of the Word of God. It is an astounding Promise! There are, however, some conditions in this Promise, conditions which many Christians overlook. The Promise made here is not a blanket guarantee, as many think; but, if the conditions are met, then most definitely it is a guarantee. What are those conditions? First of all, to have all things working together for our good, we have to “love God.” As Believers, we might automatically think this is a simple requirement. But it’s not quite as simple as we would think. That is why Jesus, after His Resurrection and immediately before His Ascension, questioned Peter closely. The questions concerned Peter’s love for Christ (Jn. 21:15–17). It is very easy to loudly acclaim how much we love the Lord, but words oftentimes are hollow. To make a lengthy subject brief, if we really love the Lord as we say we do, we will place our Faith exclusively in Him and what He did for us at the Cross. In a greater manner than anything else, that will show our love and will open the door for the consecration we need to make. The second requirement is that we function in His Calling for our lives “according to His Purpose.” So many times, it is “our purpose” instead of “His Purpose”! Moreover, we cannot know that for which He truly has called us, or what His Purpose is for our lives, unless our Faith is properly anchored in the Cross. The reason? When our faith is anchored elsewhere, this means that we are functioning according to the flesh, which harks back to our own personal desires, and not at all what the Lord wants. In fact, faith anchored outside of the Cross can hardly achieve His Purpose at all. Accordingly, we have all kind of things, which are very obvious, not working for the good of Christians. To have our Faith properly placed doesn’t mean that Satan will cease his operation against us; however, it does mean that whatever he tries to do, the Lord will ultimately turn it to our good. We here have His Promise to that effect, and the Lord most definitely keeps His Promises, that is, if we meet His Conditions, which, in fact, can easily be met, if we get “self” out of the way. The Expositor’s Word For Every Day
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 16:11:31 +0000
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