Divinely Ordained
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NASB
Causes – Oswald Chambers wrote, “The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance.”[1] The implications are astounding. First, does he mean that the circumstances in the lives of non-believers (those who are not saints) are subject to chance? Does God allow randomness to reign in pagans but not in followers? If we truly believe that God is the ultimate author of all life, then doesn’t it follow that His grace and goodness also fall on the outsiders, whether they recognize it or not? What does “the rain falls on the just and the unjust” mean if chance only applies to pagans?
Secondly, do we really believe that all of the circumstances of our lives (as believers) are ordained by God? Translators have altered the text just enough to suggest this predetermine point of view. The actual Greek text reads, “And we know that to those who love God all things work together for good.” The idea that God causes this isn’t in the text. It might be implied but the implication is an inference, not a citation. In other words, Paul’s statement can be seen as a theological reflection on life’s journey, not an ontological condition of life’s journey.
It might be comforting to think that God engineers all our circumstances. Then we could hold Him accountable for the twists and turns, the good and the evil. And if we resisted the blame-game, we could at least (perhaps) find some comfort by telling ourselves that all those terrible things that happen somehow have a divine purpose. You know, the usual “God’s ways are not our ways” sort of comfort. But neither of these alternatives really satisfies. It’s morally repugnant to hold God accountable for human evil. It is equally discomforting to think that God conceals His purposes from us when we most need to understand. The problem with all of this predestination type thinking is the mistaken view of God’s relationship to the world. When we embrace the transcendent, all-knowing, all-powerful idea of God, we are pushed toward a fixed reality, known by God in advance, but inescapably determinate for men. God knows. We don’t. But since He knows, everything is arranged by Him before it becomes our reality, and therefore, “the circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained.” We just live out our part in the play already written by the author.
But if God is also a player on the stage, an actor in the drama of human history, then things change. And they change precisely because things change. History isn’t written in advance. It ebbs and flows according to our choices, and the circumstances of our lives aren’t ordained but, rather, understood as working for some “good” simply because God’s purpose will ultimately prevail. In the meanwhile, it depends. Paul only suggests that we look at life through the apocalyptic filter of the end, and when we do, things are moving in God’s direction—somehow. It’s a matter of perspective, not predestination.
Topical Index: causes, good, work together, ordained, predestined, Chambers, Romans 8:28
[1] Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, November 7th.
Indeed, it is a matter of perspective… a perspective of understanding reality as it actually is, not predestination. Moreover, that understanding is, “no one is good except God alone,” and, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”