Romans 8:28 is a well-known, often-quoted, hard-to-believe verse.
That God uses the beneficent acts of our lives for our good is comprehensible. We do not struggle to understand how God is working good in our lives when we are recipients or instigators of gracious words and activities.
But when the worst things in life invade our circumstances — how is that for our good? How is a child’s death or cancer or lost jobs or unreconciled relationships or sin against us and even our very own sin accomplishing good in us? This is not only beyond our understanding, but this question has precipitated many walking away from God and eventually even hating Him.
Thomas Watson offers a compelling answer to how God uses the worst of all the worst things for our good — sin. [Aside: This was the first Puritan work I remember reading, and has been one I have returned to often; it is an outstanding treatment of Romans 8:28.]
Sin in its own nature is damnable, but God in His infinite wisdom overrules it, and causes good to arise from that which seems most to oppose it. Indeed, it is a matter of wonder that any honey should come out of this lion. We may understand it in a double sense.
(1) The sins of others are overruled for good to the godly. It is no small trouble to a gracious heart to live among the wicked.…Yet even this the Lord turns to good,…
(2) The sense of their own sinfullness will be overruled for the good of the godly. Thus our own sins shall work for good. This must be understood warily, when I say the sins of the godly work for good — not that there is the least good in sin. Sin is like poison, which corrupts the blood, infects the heart, and, without a sovereign antidote, brings death. Such is the venomous nature of sin, it is deadly and damning. Sin is worse than hell, but yet God, by His mighty over ruling power, makes sin in the issue turn to the good of His people. Hence that golden saying of Augustine, “God would never permit evil, if He could not bring good out of evil.” The feeling of sinfullness in the saints works for good several ways.
(a) Sin makes them weary of this life.…
(b) This in-being of corruption makes the saints prize Christ more. He that feels his sin, as a sick man feels his sickness, how welcome Christ the physician is to him!…
(c) This sense of sin works for good, as it is an occasion of putting the soul upon six especial duties:
(i) It puts the soul upon self-searching.…
(ii) The inherency of sin puts a child of God upon self-abasing. Sin is left in a godly man, as a cancer in the breast, or a hunch upon the back, to keep him from being proud.…
(iii) Sin puts a child of God on self-judging; he passes a sentence upon himself.
(iv) Sin puts a child of God upon self-conflicting. Spiritual self conflicts with carnal-self.…
(v) Sin puts a child of God upon self-observing. He knows sin is a bosom-traitor, therefore he carefully observes himself.…
(vi) Sin puts the soul upon self-reforming. A child of God not only finds out sin, but drives out sin.…
But let none abuse this doctrine. I do not say that sin works for good to an impenitent person. No, it works for his damnation, but it works for good to them that love God; and for you that are godly, I know you will not draw a wrong conclusion from this, either to make light of sin, or to make bold with sin. If you should do so, God wilt make it cost you dear.…
And thus have I shown, that both the best things and the worst things, by the overruling hand of the great God, do work together for the good of the saints.
Words of Grace 