In the foregoing verses Paul spoke of God's plan for creation and the believer. In these verses he showed how central a place His children occupy in the plan He is bringing to completion in history.
8:26 Hope helps us in our sufferings (vv. 24-25) and so does the Holy Spirit. The context suggests that our "weakness"probably refers to all our limitations as creatures (cf. v. 23; 2 Cor. 12:9-10).
The NASB translators understood Paul to be saying, "We do not know how to pray as we should,"which implies ignorance concerning the proper method and procedure in prayer. The NIV translators thought he meant, "We do not know what we ought to pray for,"implying ignorance regarding the content and subjects of our praying. The Greek text permits either interpretation, though it favors the former interpretation. Jesus gave instruction to His disciples about both content and method (Matt. 6:9-15; Luke 11:2-4).
Perhaps what Paul meant was this. We know how to approach God in prayer and the general subjects that we should pray about. Still we struggle with exactly how to pray most effectively and with exactly what to pray. The basic principle of effective praying is that it must be in harmony with the will of God to be effective (1 John 5:14-15; John 14:13; 15:16; 16:23-24).267However what the will of God is is often hard for us to ascertain. The Holy Spirit comes to our aid by interceding for us (cf. Luke 10:40).268"Intercede"means to pray for someone else. "Groanings"or "groans"expresses feelings of compassion for our weak condition. The Holy Spirit requests the Father's help for us with deep compassion (cf. Eph. 6:18).
We should not confuse these "groanings"with praying in tongues. This passage promises all Christians God's help, not just those who had the gift of tongues. Furthermore the Scriptures never connect the gift of tongues with intercessory prayer. This verse seems to be saying that the Holy Spirit prays forus, not that He prays throughus to the Father.
"I take it that Paul is saying, then, that our failure to know God's will and consequent inability to petition God specifically and assuredly is met by God's Spirit, who himself expresses to God those intercessory petitions that perfectly match the will of God. When we do not know what to pray for--yes, even when we pray for things that are not best for us--we need not despair, for we can depend on the Spirit's ministry of perfect intercession on our behalf.'"269
8:27 The Father understands the Spirit's intercession for the saints even though we do not hear it. We can know that His intercession is effective in securing God's help for us because the Spirit prays in harmony with God's will.
Thus God Himself by the Spirit comes to our aid whenever we need help. He also assures us in His Word that we will get assistance from the Father. The consequence of this promise should be that when we feel frustrated about our inability to pray about a particular need we can relax. We can have confidence that our compassionate God understands just how we feel and what we want, and He will respond according to His will.270
8:28 "We have been dealing in the first part of the chapter with the human will and its consent to walk by the Spirit. Not so from the 28th verse to the chapter's end. It will be all Godfrom now on!"271
Different translators have interpreted this verse in different ways too. Some saw "God"as the subject and have translated it "God causes . . ."(NASB). Others believed that "all things"is the subject and rendered it "all things God works . . ."(NIV). However the differences are not significant. The whole chapter, even all of Scripture, presents God as sovereign over all the affairs of life. Consequently we know what Paul meant. God orders all the events of life, not just the intercession of the indwelling Spirit, so they culminate in the blessing of His children (cf. vv. 26-27).
"All things"means just that, all things. In the context these things include the adversities the believer experiences. The "good"is what is good from God's perspective, and in view of verses 18-27, conformity to the Son of God is particularly prominent (v. 29). Those who love God could be a group of believers who love God more than others. However since Paul described them from the divine side as the elect of God, those who love God must refer to all Christians (cf. 1 John 4:19). This is the only place in Romans where Paul wrote of the believer's love for God; everywhere else he referred to God's love for the believer.
This verse does not say that God causes all things, period. Nowhere in Scripture do we read that God causes sin or evil. He permits these things, but that is much different from initiating them. Therefore when tragedy touches a believer we should not conclude that this is one of the "all things"that God causes. Rather this verse says that God brings good out of all things, even tragedies, for the Christian. The causes of tragedy are Satan, the sinful choices of people, and the consequences of living in a sinful world (cf. James 1:13-14).
8:29 Paul next explained God's calling in terms of His foreknowledge and predestination. It is a mistake to conclude that God knew beforehand who would believe on His Son and then predestined those individuals for salvation. Foreknowledge is a term that specifically describes God's decision to elect (cf. ch. 9; 1 Pet. 1:20). Notice that it is only those whom He foreknows that He predestines, not everyone. This indicates a "limited"foreknowledge, not just general knowledge of everyone and everything. Foreknowledge does not mean simply knowledge that precedes an event.272The reason for that choice was not human merit (Eph. 1:4) or even the faith of the elect but God's love and purpose (v. 28; cf. Deut. 7:6-8).
"Theologians rightly point out that prior to knowledge must be the divine decree. Unless God determines in some sense that something will happen, he cannot know' that it will. For God to foreknow requires an earlier decree."273
Predestined means that God determined the destiny of the elect before Creation (Eph. 1:3-4). That destiny is specifically conformity to Jesus Christ's image, much more than just deliverance from sin and death. God accomplished this goal partially through believers' justification. He is presently accomplishing it partially through our progressive sanctification, and He will accomplish it completely through our glorification.
"This blessed hope--that believers will be conformed to the image of His own Son--explains God's dealings with them as His chosen sons in this present age. He is ever at work to reproduce the moral image of Christ in them. All that now comes into their lives He uses for their good to further that glorious goal. His aim for them now is not to make them happy, materially prosperous, or famous, but to make them Christlike. He now uses all things,' the sad as well as the glad, the painful as well as the pleasant, the things that perplex and disappoint as well as the things they eagerly strive and pray for, to further His eternal purpose for them. In His infinite wisdom He knows what is needed to bring about that transformation. For some of His own He may need to use hotter fire and strike with harder blows than in His dealings with others to effect the formation of Christ's image in them. This may be because some believers may be more resistant to His moulding activities or are more prone to insist on their own efforts."274
The Son became as we are (v. 3) so that we could become as He is. In this respect we are brothers of Jesus Christ. "First-born"refers to Jesus Christ's relation to resurrection (cf. Col. 1:15), the event that inaugurated His entrance into the glorified state that we will share with Him eventually.
"This distinctive designation of Jesus Christ expresses His position of priority to and preeminence over all the other members of the family."275
8:30 Paul summarized the steps involved in our realization of God's purpose: calling, justification, and glorification. Though glorification is yet future the apostle spoke of it here as past. He could do so not because it has already happened but because it is so certain to take place that it is as good as having happened already (cf. Isa. 53). Probably Paul left sanctification out of this list because it is the one stage of our salvation in which human cooperation is essential. Paul listed only those things that God does by Himself to stress His sovereign working to bring the believer to His goal.
"The argument, when condensed, comes to this: that the very ones He foreknew, these, without the loss of one, He glorified."276
"Bridging the gap between predestination and justification by faith, God's effectual call brings the elect to salvation. This effectual call consists of a divine summons to salvation along with illumination, through which the elect rightly perceive the gospel and inevitably trust in Jesus Christ."277
"God's intention, Paul emphasizes, is to bring to glory every person who has been justified by faith in Jesus Christ. Our assurance of ultimate victory rests on this promise of God to us."278
