This is one of the favorite promises of all Bible-loving Christians. It has been a comfort to thousands in time of perplexity and test, when everything seemed to be going wrong. Most mature believers could recount numerous instances when this promise has proved to be true.
Probably every reader can quote the first half of the verse from memory: ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.' But the RSV reads: ‘We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him.' Why the difference?
The answer is that in some ancient manuscripts ‘God' appears twice in this verse--not only as the object of ‘love' but also as the subject of ‘works.'
Is this the correct Greek text? No one can give a dogmatic answer to that question. But the validity of this added reading has been given further support by recent discovery.
When the KJV was made in 1611, only about a half dozen Greek manuscripts formed the basis of the text to be translated, as against some 5,000 available today. In 1628, too late to be used by the King James translators, the great Alexandrian manuscript (from the fifth century) was brought to England. About 100 years ago, the Vatican manuscript (fourth century) was made available to scholars. Both of these have the added reading, ho theos. So does the Sahidic (Egyptian). Origen (third century), the greatest Bible scholar of the Early Church, quoted the verse this way [‘We know that in everything God works for good with those who love Him'].
Because of these facts, Westcott and Hort placed the added ho theos in their text, but in brackets. This famous Greek text was published in 1881, the same year as the ERV. Though the revision committee had the use of prepublication copies of this new text, the added reading was not adopted. Nor did it appear in the ASV (1901). The RSV (1946) has it.
"Meanwhile some private modern-speech translations had adopted it. Moffatt (1922) has: ‘We know also that those who love God, those who have been called in terms of His purpose, have His aid and interest in everything." Goodspeed (1923) makes it still more explicit: ‘We know that in everything God works with those who love Him, whom He has called in accordance with His purpose, to bring about what is good.'
Scholars today have stronger support for adopting this reading than did the two just cited. For in the 1930's the so-called Chester Beatty Papyri were discovered and edited. The most significant find was almost an entire papyrus manuscript of Paul's Epistles from the third century--100 years older than Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, hitherto our oldest Greek manuscripts. And this, called Papyrus 46, has the added ho theos.
It is not surprising, then, to find this reading in some recent translations. The Berkeley Version (NT, 1945) has: ‘But we know that for those who love God, for those called in agreement with His purpose, He cooperates in all things for what is good.' The ANT (1958) reads: ‘We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor], all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.' The reason the additional reading is in brackets is that this new version is based on the Westcott and Hort Greek text, as clearly stated in the Preface.
What should be our position? In 1914 (before the discovery of Papyrus 46) A. T. Robertson said the reading was ‘more than doubtful' (Rob. Gram., p. 477). But in 1931, he commented about ho theos as the subject of synergei: ‘That is the idea anyhow. It is God Who makes "all things work together" in our lives "for good"' (WP, 4:377). That is certainly what the passage teaches. Whether or not the original Greek text specifically stated it, we know that God is the acting Subject Who controls all things for our good.
Psalm 108:13: "With God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies."
Isaiah 8:10: "Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us."
Isaiah 41:10: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:13: "For I am the Lord, your God, Who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."
Micah 6:8: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Zephaniah 3:17: "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
Matthew 19:26: "Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"
Romans 8:17: "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory."
1 Corinthians 1:8-9: "He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, Who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."
1 Corinthians 3:5-9: "What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, Who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building."
2 Corinthians 6:1: "As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain."
Ephesians 2:1-10: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, Who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Ephesians 2:19-22: "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit."
Ephesians 3:12: "In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence."
Ephesians 4:30: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."
Colossians 3:1-4: "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."
1 Thessalonians 3:2: "We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the Gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith..."
2 Timothy 2:3-4: "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer."
1 Peter 4:19: "So then, those who suffer according to God's Will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good."
