King James Version

Romans 8:28

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Read Romans 8 in context →

Passage study

What kind of good is in view while suffering remains?

Original notes prepared with AI assistance · 2026-10-10 · Owner approved for publication

Begin with Romans 8:18–30. The notes below distinguish observations in the passage from comparisons to test.

In the text, the promise in verse 28 comes after creation’s groaning, believers’ waiting for the redemption of the body, and the Spirit’s help in weakness. The sentence names those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Verse 29 then speaks of being conformed to the image of his Son. Read that continuation before deciding what the word good must mean in this paragraph.

A reading to test is that God’s purpose, rather than an immediate comfortable outcome, frames the promise. The paragraph still describes waiting and weakness; it does not call every painful event itself good or explain why a particular event happened. The relation between purpose and conformity to the Son is visible in the next sentence, but these short notes do not settle the chapter’s wider questions about foreknowledge or predestination.

Why compare these passages?

These two selections have an explained purpose. The imported links that follow have their own source ordering.

Genesis 50:15–21
Joseph distinguishes the evil his brothers intended from the good God meant, and names the preservation of many lives. The distinction helps a reader separate the moral character of an action from an account of good coming through it. Verse 21 also shows Joseph responding by comforting and providing for his brothers’ families.
Keep the settings distinct: Joseph speaks about a particular history with a stated outcome; Romans gives assurance to those called according to God’s purpose. Joseph’s ability to name the outcome does not mean a reader can identify the reason or result of every present hardship.
1 Peter 5:6–11
First Peter holds suffering together with God’s call to eternal glory and his strengthening care. The paragraph also calls for humility, watchfulness, and resistance in faith. Compare the place of suffering within hope rather than reducing either passage to a promise that trouble disappears.
Keep the settings distinct: First Peter includes instructions about vigilance and an adversary; Romans 8:18–30 discusses groaning, intercession, and God’s purpose. Their encouragement can be compared without replacing the distinct instructions or argument in either passage.

A reading to avoid

Do not tell a sufferer that an evil action was therefore good, or supply a confident reason for their loss that these passages do not give. Genesis 50 still calls the brothers’ intention evil, and Romans still names groaning and weakness.

Try the reading yourself

What does verse 29 add to your first understanding of good in verse 28?

Read Romans 8:18–30 and list the present difficulties, the help given, and the future hope. Put verse 28 beside verse 29 and write an observation about their wording. Then compare Joseph’s named outcome in Genesis 50:20 with what remains unspecified in Romans. Finish with a carefully qualified interpretation that does not erase suffering or invent an explanation for someone’s hardship.

Source: the linked KJV passages. These notes offer a reading, not a ruling on doctrine. How the notes are prepared · Suggest a correction

Study guide
How to Study Romans 8 Without Pulling It Apart
A worked reading of the chapter that surrounds this assurance.
Saying check
Everything happens for a reason
Romans 8:28 is often connected to this sentence, but the sentence itself is absent from the site's KJV index.

Linked passages (10 shown)

Up to ten source links are retained per verse. Their order follows source votes, not a judgment about meaning. How the links were collected

1 Peter 5:10
"But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."
Read in chapter →
James 1:12
"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."
Read in chapter →
Genesis 50:20
"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."
Read in chapter →
Romans 5:3
"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;"
Read in chapter →
1 Corinthians 2:9
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
Read in chapter →
Romans 8:35
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"
Read in chapter →
James 1:3
"Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."
Read in chapter →
Romans 8:30
"Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
Read in chapter →
2 Timothy 1:9
"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"
Read in chapter →
1 Peter 1:7
"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"
Read in chapter →

Keep your study moving

What would you like to do next?

Read the chapter, compare a link, and keep a short note about what you observe. Your saved and recent passages stay only in this browser.

1. Read in context →Open the full chapter 2. Compare passages →Use the Parallel Engine 3. Return to your list →Saved and recent passages 4. Open the study guide →Check a linked verse in context

Follow the 15-minute study path with Romans 8:28 →Add to trail →