Secure Hope in God’s Will & Work – Romans 8:26–30

PRAY

Our text for today is Rom 8:26-30, but let me back us up to review v. 18 and vv. 24-25 to give us a running start.

Romans 8:18 ESV

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:24–25 ESV

²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

[or as we said last week, this final phrase is literally “we eagerly wait for it with steadfast endurance”… or perseverance]

Romans 8:26–30 ESV

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

INTRO: In this context of reinforcing the true believer’s assurance of being united to Christ, Paul is strengthening us to…

Persevere with hope in the Spirit’s intercession & God’s eternal purpose.

Paul sets out in v. 26 with “Likewise” (in the same way). What is the connection to the previous section? As we steadfastly endure with confident hope in what we do not see, in the same way we have secure hope in God’s own working in ways we cannot see: in the Spirit’s intercession and in God accomplishing his good purpose in us from start to finish. So these are the two emphases in the passage:

Hope in the Spirit’s intercession according to God’s will.

Hope in the security of God’s eternal purpose to make you like Christ.

Let’s look closely at vv. 26&27 to see that we should…

Hope in the Spirit’s intercession according to God’s will.

Romans 8:26–27 ESV

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

In God’s grace the Spirit covers for our helplessness in not knowing what to pray for (particularly in our afflictions). The Spirit brings a prayer before God that perfectly aligns with God’s will for us. We learn here too that the Spirit’s prayers for us do not need to be spoken in words (bc he is one with the Father) and these prayers strike a note of sympathy in our suffering. First…

The Spirit helps us in our weakness

The Greek word for weakness can also mean sickness, but here has the broader meaning at its root, which is weakness, incapacity, inability, limitation. And what weakness in particular does Paul have in mind? Our weakness to know what to pray as we ought to pray—to know and desire the will of God in our suffering, and so to pray accordingly.

In our weakness and lack of knowledge, we might ask our parents to let us drop out of high school, because we don’t like it and don’t see the need. But by God’s grace the parents have a more mature and wise perspective, and can see the necessity and the good being accomplished by this education.

That is just a small sampling of our limitation to see and understand that God, in his perfect wisdom and plan, knows what is best for us to purify us, humble us, and strengthen us.

In order to help us in our weakness…

The Spirit intercedes on our behalf

Interceding means to make a personal plea to an authority on behalf of someone else. The Spirit evidently makes a wordless plea on our behalf for God in his grace to do better for us than what we know to ask for. And it is a prayer that God will always answer in the affirmative, to do that which is according to his will for our highest good. And we read here that… 

The Spirit does this with wordless groans.

Paul is not suggesting, I don’t think, that the Spirit intercedes through our groans. That’s not what he says when we translate this straightforwardly, and that doesn’t make sense with the point Paul is making. In our groans we are helplessly pleading, but in the Spirit’s wordless groans he makes intercession that perfectly accords with God’s good will for us.

And these are wordless groans because the Spirit doesn’t need words since the Spirit is one with the Father. The Father knows the mind of the Spirit… no words are needed. It is God who searches hearts; he sees right into our very souls and motives (taught repeatedly in Scripture). Under different circumstances this would doom us because of impure motives, but here God knows the mind of the Spirit whom he has given us and receives his wordless intercession that asks the Father to work what is in our eternal best interest.

Furthermore, it cannot be an accident that Paul uses the word “groans” again for his wordless intercession for us. We have heard already that creation groans, and we groan, awaiting glorification. I believe Paul is communicating God’s sympathy in our sufferings with this description of the Spirit’s intercession as groanings. - God does not orchestrate these things without sympathy to his creatures. God cares more than you or I can possibly care. Yet in his sincere sympathy, he is able to maintain the goal of the highest good.

Again let me use the parenting metaphor that Paul introduced in verses 14-17. A child in the hospital may plead for us to cease with poking needles and drawing blood, and our deepest sympathy goes out to this little one, especially our own dear child. But even in our sympathy we do not cease to do what is best for them. I mean, we should even think of any forms of discipline in the same way: with sympathy for the hurt, but willingly, for their good.

How much more does a Father of perfect goodness feel the greatest sympathy for us—even the personal experience of Christ’s suffering—yet pursuing it nonetheless for our good.

What a beautiful combination that we can rest in and trust the Father’s love for us: by the Spirit we know his care and sympathy, but by the Spirit’s wordless intercession we also know that God himself is ensuring in every way that he is accomplishing his highest good for us. 

Now, before we leave this section, we should say this. The Spirit’s intercession does not in any way imply that we should therefore not bother to pray. Rather, Paul clearly assumes that we are praying!

The Spirit’s intercession should cause us to pray all the more, “Not my will but yours be done.”

I would argue that our inability but the Spirit’s intercession should cause us to pray more, knowing what is true in v. 27. Why do we need the Spirit’s intercession and benefit from it? Because in prayer my heart is never completely pure nor completely clear about God’s will and how he plans to accomplish it. But the Spirit prays for us in purity, according to God’s good purpose to conform us to the image of His Son, our Lord Jesus.

So although we do not know the precise details of what we ought to pray, we do know that we should trustingly and dependently pray, “Not my will but yours be done.” And again, the purpose of all of this from Paul is to give you confirming hope.

Hope in the Spirit’s intercession according to God’s will.

Not only is there a continuing emphasis on hope in vv. 28ff, but Paul also tells us exactly what God’s will is for us for which the Spirit prays: God’s highest God for us is that we should be conformed to the image of his son (vv. 28-29). So even as we turn to face the next point, know that this is what God “hears” when he “listens” to the mind of the Spirit. The mindset of the Spirit is always “according to God” (v. 27), which is one and the same as God working out his good purpose (v. 28)… to conform us to the image of his Son (v. 29).

Your secure hope is that even in your afflictions, when you are helpless to know what to pray, the Spirit is interceding for God to work all things for your true good, which is to make you like Christ.

Romans 8:28–29 ESV

²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

So we’ve seen that this portion of the text is still connected to the emphasis of our hope in the Spirit’s intercession, but it also brings forward another important emphasis: The security we have in God’s will and work to accomplish his eternal purpose.

Hope in the security of God’s eternal purpose to make you like Christ.

Now of course God has other eternal purposes, especially accomplishing that which brings him the highest glory. But in that broader context of God doing that which accomplishes greatest glory, Paul here comforts us that it is therefore God’s eternal purpose to conform his people to the image of his Son.

Let’s begin unpacking this at the beginning of v. 28, where Paul says, “And we know.” Before we get to what we know in the sentence Paul first gives us why we know. “And we know that for those who love God…”

We can know this with certainty because we love God.

Now how do we know that we love God? The whole context of this chapter up to this point has thoroughly been about assurance because of the confirming work of the Spirit. Recall especially the recent emphasis in vv. 15&16 about assurance of adoption as sons, and the Spirit testifying within us to that fact. Our grateful response of love and dependence is to cry to him, “Abba, Father.”

What I’m trying to point out in Rom 8:28 is that we can be certain of the truth that follows because we do have confirming evidence by the Spirit that we have come to love God, which plays itself out in grateful obedience to his loving Fatherly authority over us.

If we are seeing evidence by the Spirit that we love God, then what do we know?

We know that God is orchestrating all things for the good of those who are called according to his purpose.

The passive voice of all things working together means that God is the actor. In fact, some manuscripts have it that way, which probably arose from an added inscription to explain that it is God who works together all things. As God providentially orchestrates all things, those who are called according to his purpose can be sure that in everything we face, God is working for good.

Now what this good is, and what the purpose is of his calling, is not amorphous. It is not a nebulous idea with no shape, as though this good is vague and this purpose is undefined. The good purpose of God for you, even and especially in your suffering, is in v. 29.

God’s good aim in foreknowing and predestining us is to conform us to the image of his Son.

God’s clear purpose for you is to make you like Jesus, in order that Christ might be the firstborn among many brothers. Be comforted in hope that your suffering, your afflictions, your labor pains, are not in vain. God is working in them for your good, to make you like Jesus, which is a sanctifying process that will ultimately end in total glorification at the resurrection. (We saw this in v. 23 and see it again in v. 30.)

As we’ve said a number of times now in this section, does it matter for your steadfast endurance that you know the goal? Absolutely. If your goal is to be more physically and mentally healthy, for more energy and effectiveness, then you have good reason to continue to eat healthy foods, exercise hard, and be more particular about getting sleep.

So does it matter that you know the goal of becoming like Christ is truly good, as God defines good? Yes! God is working in you through this perseverance in hardship to purify you and shape you with new qualities. He is making you like Christ. You have the best reason then to fully and trustingly submit yourself to God’s work in you, even and especially through afflictions.

God is eager and willing to fill his family with holy children, alongside his true Son, Jesus Christ. The Son is of course firstborn not only in being first to be glorified from his earthly form, but he is also firstborn in status. None of us will ever be totally like Jesus in the sense of his unique divine status. We’re not becoming gods. But we are, by God’s will and work, being perfected in purity and in his excellent qualities, in every way that created beings can be. So Jesus will always have a preeminent place in glory; we will worship him forever. But we are being made like him so that we can bewith him forever, enjoying our Triune God in the fullness of his presence and glory.

So again, what Paul is saying overall is that we can…

Hope in the security of God’s eternal purpose to make you like Christ.

Let’s focus now on God’s eternal purpose and work as Paul describes them from v. 28 on to v. 30.

Paul uses the term “called” in v. 28, that we are those called by God to this purpose, that he should conform us to Christ. (So we already begin to see that this is not a general call but an effectual call.) Then Paul uses the verbs foreknow and predestine to also describe God’s activity beforehand in his plan to conform us to his Son, that Christ might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Pay attention to that last phrase as you wrestle with what God’s foreknowing means. Foreknowledge does mean knowing something beforehand, but in the OT it is predominantly used to refer to God knowing the people of his covenant love in advance, in a sense that is tied to him setting his covenant love on them, his choosing to covenant them to himself. And the Bible is very clear that this is not because of anything in them, but because of his own mercy. (Deut 7:6-8) I believe Paul is saying that God foreknew us in covenantal love, to conform us to Christ and make us one of his brothers and sisters.

So also God foreknowing shouldn’t be untethered from predestining. We in v. 30 that what begins in foreknowledge continues in a golden chain of God’s purpose and activity that cannot be broken. Paul seems to be showing us, comforting us, assuring us, that what is a sequence in our experience is for God a single, unified will and work. More on that in v. 30.

To predestine means exactly what it sounds like in our good English translation of the Gk word. It means to predetermine, to decide and decree beforehand, to fore-ordain. God decreed beforehand that he would make us like Christ. That is such good news and astounding reassurance of our secure hope because God is abundantly able to accomplish what he determines, what he decrees.

As a frail and finite human, I can say what I want to do, even what I am most firmly resolved to do. But I cannot be certain at all that I can carry it out. Just consider the resolutions we make at the beginning of a new year. How many of those have even survived until mid-February?

God however, is perfectly capable to carry out his will from start to finish. That’s the comfort and security—the hope—of v. 30.

Romans 8:30 ESV

³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Once again, notice the secure and unbreakable chain of God’s eternal purpose and activity to accomplish the whole of our salvation! So here we also learn that this explicit purpose of conforming us to Christ is, for Paul, inextricably tied to God’s comprehensive work of salvation.

Those whom God decreed would be like Christ in his family, he has called. And this call must not be a general call but an effectual call. God, through Scripture and Christ Jesus, does make a general call, a universal offer or invitation, that whoever will come to him he will save. But many do not respond to that call. So then if these who are called are justified and glorified, then there is a call from God that is effectual. We respond to and obey this call, leading to justification in Christ.

Again this justification is not apart from faith but through our faith in Jesus, which is our response to this call. God does not remove our choice, but rather he graciously works to draw us so that we respond appropriately. John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” So those whom God has called he also has justified (declared right by the righteousness of Christ, not their own merit—which has been a paradigm-shifting emphasis for Paul in Romans).

And those whom God justified he also glorified. When it comes to this final aspect of the whole, the past verb tenses finally strike us. Because the verbs are aorist tense and indicative mood, we translate them all in past tense. So why does Paul speak of this final step as if it has already occurred? Every time that I am aware of, Paul speaks of this glorification of believers in reference to their glorification at the final resurrection. Therefore, what Paul is deliberately doing is speaking of this final aspect in our experience of conformity to Christ with reference to God’s perspective of assured completion. Paul says to the brothers in Philippi…

Philippians 1:6 ESV

⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

With such assurance, believers, we…

Hope in the security of God’s eternal purpose to make you like Christ.

In Rom 8:30, Paul seems to be showing us, comforting us, assuring us, that what is a sequence in our experience is for God a single, unified will and work. From God’s perspective, the final step in your ongoing experience of becoming like Christ—glorification—is a good as done in the will and work of God.

Brothers and sisters, if we should believe or say that these things are not hard for us to understand, as we are but frail creatures, we are being arrogant and foolish. God’s ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts higher than our thoughts. But Paul’s effort to give you God’s perspective on your sanctification and glorification is intended to encourage you to…

Persevere with hope in the Spirit’s intercession & God’s eternal purpose.

If you would know this kind of hope and security, God invites you to put your faith in Jesus as the Lord who atoned for your sin on the cross and rose again to be King forever. You will not find this hope and security without submitting to God in repentance and faith. But if you do, you will know this security forever.

Fellow members of God’s household, in this present fallen world full of our sin and the sins of others, there are seasons where we suffer greatly, beyond what we understand and beyond what we think we can bear. But if we are in Christ Jesus, we have the secure hope of the Spirit groaning for us according to God’s eternal purpose, to make us like Christ and bring us home.

When you are not suffering, you should know that there are believers around you who are suffering deeply. Make an effort to be attentive to them and to pray for them.

Also, use this truth to prepare yourself for suffering. How will you prepare?

What should we do with such assured hope in God? 

-praise him, glorify him, exalt him, lift him high - respond to God’s goodness by lifting your countenance towards him, and by verbal expression of your gratitude and praise… So also tell of his excellence, recount his goodness to others

-pray according to his promise, and everywhere that you do not know God’s will pray for wisdom and also for your trust in him, and pray for his strengthening of your spirit in the storm

-wait upon the Lord, or take the next step forward in faith

PRAY

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