The Secure Life of the Redeemed (Romans 8:28-39)

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 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. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:28-30, ESV).

God’s Providence

Sandwiched between talk of the Spirit’s intercession (vv. 26-27) and of Christ’s intercession (v. 34) is a glimpse of the providential working of the One “who searches hearts” (v. 27a). Among the many things “we know” (cf. v. 22; 2:2; 3:19; 6:6, 9; 7:14)—if not the specifics of how, what, and when, at least the reality thereof—is the divine promise “for those who love God,” a phrase placed at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis. The present tense “loving” [ἀγαπῶσιν] is a current and persistent reality. 

While Paul speaks of the love God (5:5, 8; 8:39), the love of Christ (8:35-37), the love of the Spirit (15:30), and our love for one another (12:9; 13:8-10; 14:15), this is the only time in Romans he explicitly references our love for God. Considering all that has been said leading up to this text about God’s love, not to mention what follows, J. A. Beet reminds us, “I ought to have loved God always. It is of His mere mercy that I love Him now” (Romans 237). Since genuine love is demonstrated by observable action (5:8; 12:9-11),¹ our love for God is shown through the devoted and faithful submission of our fallible will to his holy will (1:5; 2:6-13; 6:16-17; 16:19).

The accompanying description refers to those “being” [οὖσιν] (present tense: the ongoing initiative of God) “called” [κλητοῖς] (cf. v. 30).² The “according to his purpose” phrase (cf. 9:11) is essentially the same as the aforementioned “according to [the will of] God” in regard to “the saints” (v. 27), recalling the letter’s address to “you who are called [κλητοί] of Jesus Christ, to all the ones in Rome loved [ἀγαπητοῖς] of God called [κλητοῖς] saints [ἁγίοις]” (1:6-7). Paul employs expressions from the καλέω (“call”) word group particularly for those who, pursuing God’s purpose, respond in obedient faith to the gospel call.³

But we must not suppose that they who obey the Gospel have received a call not given to those who reject it…. the difference of the results arises, not from special inward influences brought to bear on some men and not on others, but from the faith or unbelief of those who hear…. believers are described as ‘called ones’ because in them, and in them only, the call has been effectual.⁴

The assurance given is that “all things” [πάντα], including the bad things (vv. 18, 35-36), “work together” [συνεργεῖ] for “good” [ἀγαθόν]. Assuming “God” (vv. 27a, 29-33) is the One working behind the scenes,⁵ Paul takes for granted that his readers already “know” [οἶδα] these things “because they have come to know God in Christ and experienced the fullness of his grace in their lives…. it is the sovereign guidance of God that is presumed as the undergirding and directing force behind all the events of life.”⁶ The apostle goes on to speak more directly, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v. 37). What happens in a Christian’s life is not always enjoyable or pleasant, but God providentially ensures that it is in fact “good” in the sense of advantageous (cf. 5:3-5; 13:4; 15:2).⁷

God’s Family

“For” [ὅτι], substantiating and elaborating on what God has done “according to his purpose” for those being called (divine initiative) and loving him (human response), two aorist tense verbs speak of the ones “he foreknew” [προέγνω] (cf. 11:2)⁸ and “predestined” [προώρισεν] (cf. v. 30).⁹ This predetermination of God’s plan, according to his perfect will and eternal foreknowledge, concerns everyone responding in obedient faith to his universal gospel call, demonstrating love for him, and consequently “conformed to the image of his Son,” both in holiness (now) and in glory (not yet). This relates specifically to all who are “in Christ Jesus” (vv. 1-2). The biblical doctrine of predestination does not pertain to anyone outside of Christ. It rather applies to “those who love God” in choosing to respond to the gospel in “obedience of faith” (1:5; 16:26).¹⁰

As we are “conformed to the image of his Son,” having been adopted into God’s family as “sons” and “fellow heirs with Christ” (vv. 14-19), Jesus gathers around himself a family of the redeemed. He is thus “firstborn” [πρωτότοκος] among many “brothers” in regard to both his brotherhood with humanity¹¹ and his preeminence. The term “firstborn” here obviously does not refer literally to the first one to have been born. The Greek πρωτότοκος instead signifies priority or superiority.¹² The future tense of Psalm 89:27 (LXX), applied to David as the youngest son of Jesse, shows that “firstborn” is a title of preeminence rather than a statement of origin. Ephraim is also designated “firstborn” (Jer. 31:9), even though he was the youngest brother (Gen. 48:14). In Col. 1:15-18 Christ is called “firstborn” because he is superior to all created things, since “by him all things were created,” and “the firstborn from the dead,” not the first to have been raised but “that in all things he may have the preeminence.”

All the redeemed in Christ are counted among those whom God “predestined” (in Christ), “called” (by the gospel), “justified” (through obedient faith), and “glorified” (future hope), categorically affirming this as God’s work. Each verb is in the aorist tense, summarizing in linear fashion the divine purpose traced by Paul from the beginning of the letter. Even the last verb in the list, “he glorified” [ἐδόξασεν], is spoken of in the aorist tense, not that it is limited to the past or completed but these divine activities altogether are spoken of as a collective whole, from beginning to end. On both sides of eternity and all in between, God’s love for his chosen ones never ceases. To humankind is “addressed the call to leave their worldly lives and devote themselves to His service. And when they obeyed that call He treated them as righteous men, with their past no longer reckoned against them. And so accounted righteous He let them participate (partially now as they will do more completely hereafter) in His Divine perfection.”¹³

Christ’s Intercession

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Rom. 8:31-34). 

Seven rhetorical questions in rapid succession emanate from the apostle’s passionate heart, serving as further inspired commentary on v. 28. Reference to “these things” surely includes our suffering with Christ in this present age, along with the above-mentioned reminder concerning those “predestined … called … justified … glorified.” The statement “If God is for us …” does not imply uncertainty or doubt. The conjunction “if” [εἰ] introduces a conclusion that is absolutely certain, rhetorically equivalent to “since” (cf. 6:5; 11:6). The apodosis, then, is a resolute assertion that, with God on our side, no one “can be against us.” The proof is the sacrificial gift of “his own Son” (cf. v. 3; also 5:1-11), convincingly attesting that most assuredly he will “with him graciously give us all things” (cf. v. 17) in the benificial sense of v. 28. “The Christian’s faith in providence is an inference from redemption.”¹⁴

The “elect” ones [ἐκλεκτοί]¹⁵ are those “in Christ” (v. 1; cf. vv. 28-30). Allusion to accusatory charges to condemn is reminiscent of 2:1-3 and lays the groundwork for 14:1–15:7. Reassurance is given that it is “God who justifies” (1:16-17; 2:13–5:18) through Christ’s death (3:25; 5:6-10; 6:3-10; 14:9a, 15), especially his resurrection (1:4; 4:24-25; 6:4-5, 9; 7:4; 8:11; 14:9b; 10:9), and his exaltation “at the right hand of God.”¹⁶ As the Holy Spirit intercedes in prayer from within the hearts of the justified (vv. 26-27), in heaven Christ Jesus “is interceding for us” in the mediatorial role of Advocate and supreme High Priest.¹⁷

God’s Victorious Love in Christ

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35-39).

Continuing the thought of the previous verse, Paul speaks of “the love of Christ,” even though the focus so far has been on the love “of God” (vv. 28, 31; cf. 5:5, 8). And yet any attempt at strict partitioning misses the point of perfect unity and what is almost certainly an intentional merging of “the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Absolutely nothing outside ourselves can “separate us from” such an unyielding bond of love!

Having mentioned in passing “the sufferings of this present time” (v. 18), Paul now lists multiple hardships about which he can speak from personal experience.¹⁸ Quoting Psalm 44:22 (LXX), a text relating to the afflictions of God’s people, the apostle confirms that the trials we face are utilized by God, according to his purpose, in our being “conformed to the image of his Son” (vv. 28-29). As we endure sufferings for his sake, “we suffer with him” (v. 17), “and that is the very situation in which the love of Christ is most real, near, and sure to the soul.”¹⁹ Further, we “rejoice in our sufferings” (5:4) knowing that “all things work together for good.”

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ See also John 3:16; 14:15; 1 Cor. 13:4-7; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 4:1-3; 1 John 3:16-18.

     ² See also Rom. 1:6, 7; 9:11, 24-26; 11:29. 

     ³ Cf., e.g., 1 Cor. 1:2, 9, 24, 26; 7:15-24; Eph. 1:18; 4:1, 4; Phil. 3:14; 2 Thess. 2:14.

     ⁴ J. A. Beet, Romans 254-55.

     ⁵ At least three early MSS, including the two oldest (P⁴⁶ B), have the nominative ὁ θεὸς (“God”) as the subject; cf. NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT.  “It is God who turns everything to good; it is not just that everything works out for the good” (P. W. Comfort, Commentary on the Text and Manuscripts of the NT 306). It is reasonable to conclude that this reading “came into being at an early date to clarify the meaning by tracing this activity definitely to God. Otherwise it is hard to explain how ‘God’ could have dropped out of the majority of witnesses to the text” (E. F. Harrison, “Romans” 100). See also B. M. Metzger, Textual Commentary (2nd ed.) 458.

      ⁶ D. J. Moo, Romans 527-28. “The lovers of the Lord are indeed unable to explain, to themselves or others, how this occurrence of ‘all things’ works out its infallible issues in them. And the observer from outside cannot understand their certainty that it is so. But the fact is there, given and assured, not by speculation upon events, but by personal knowledge of an Eternal Person’ (H. C. G. Moule, Romans 235).

      ⁷ Cf. 2 Cor. 12:10; Phil. 1:12; Heb. 12:11; Jas. 1:2-4.

      ⁸ See also 1 Pet. 1:20, along with the cognate noun πρόγνωσις (“foreknowledge) in Acts 2:23; 1 Pet. 1:2. “In the everlasting past we stood before the mind of God” (J. A. Beet, Romans 255).

      ⁹ Elsewhere in the NT, Acts 4:28; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:5, 11. 

      ¹⁰ See esp. Eph. 1:1-14, noting the key phrase “in Christ” and comparable expressions in vv. 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15, 20. See also Mark 16:15-16; Gal. 3:22-28; 1 Thess. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2. On the Calvinistic doctrine of unconditional election, see K. L. Moore, “Unconditional Election,” Moore Perspective (8 July 2015), <Link>.

      ¹¹ See esp. Heb. 2:9-18; cf. K. L. Moore, “Jesus Christ: the Son of Man,” Moore Perspective (25 Jan. 2017), <Link>. 

     ¹² Cf. LXX Gen. 48:17-20; Ex. 4:22; Deut. 21:15-17.

     ¹³ W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 215.

     ¹⁴ J. Denney, “Romans” 652.

     ¹⁵ Cf. Col. 3:12; 2 Tim. 2:10; Tit. 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1; 2:9; Rev. 17:14; cf. also the verbal ἐκλέγω in 1 Cor. 1:27-28; Eph. 1:4.

     ¹⁶ In fulfillment of Psa. 110:1; cf. Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33; 5:31; Phil. 2:9; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Pet. 3:22.

     ¹⁷ Matt. 28:18-20; 1 Tim. 2:3-6; Heb. 2:17-18; 3:1-6; 4:14-15; 5:5-10; 6:17-20; 7:25-26; 8:1-2; 9:11-12; 10:19-25; 1 John 2:1-6.

     ¹⁸ Acts 9:23–28:31; 1 Cor. 4:9-13; 2 Cor. 6:4-10; 7:5; 11:23-33; 1 Thess. 2:2. 

     ¹⁹ J. Denney, “Romans” 654.

Related Posts: We Rejoice in Our Sufferings, Creation Waits & Groans with Us (Rom 8:19-25)

Related articles: Paul Merideth, It's Tough to Obey

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The Spirit Helps in Our Weakness (Romans 8:26-27)

“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. 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” (Rom. 8:26-27, ESV). 

Divine-Human Collaboration

“Likewise” or “in the same manner”—pertaining to “what we do not see” and our “hope” that sustains us with patient endurance in cooperation with God (vv. 24-25)—“the Spirit” (as per vv. 9a, 11, 14, 16) “helps with”¹ “our weakness.” This is yet another divine-human cooperative effort (cf. v. 16),² wherein the Spirit is not doing the praying for us, nor are we praying without the Spirit’s intercession.³

Intercession in Prayer

In contrast to what “we know” (vv. 22, 28), when “we do not know what to pray for as we ought,” whether struggling to identify our deepest needs or to find the right words to express them, or to apprehend the will of God in particular areas of our lives and the lives of others, divine help is available. While we may preface our feeble requests with the qualifier, “your will be done” (cf. 1:10; 15:32),⁴ double-intercession is at work as the Spirit intercedes from within praying hearts and as Christ intercedes at the heavenly throne (v. 34).⁵ This occurs in conjunction with God’s providential care (v. 28). 

The “groanings too deep for words” are different from the “groanings” of creation and of God’s suffering children (vv. 22-23).⁶ The adj. ἀλάλητος, “unexpressed, wordless” (BAGD 34), does not convey the sense of “unintelligible” as much as “unspoken.” “While far from being devoid of content, meaning, and intent, they nevertheless transcend articulated formulation.”⁷ Assurance, then, is given “which the unready of speech may well lay to heart, that all prayer need not be formulated but that the most inarticulate desires (springing from a right motive) may have a shape and a value given to them beyond anything that is present and definable to the consciousness.”⁸

The Divine Will

God “searches hearts”⁹ and “knows what is the mind [φρόνημα] of the Spirit [πνεῦμα],” or perhaps “the mind of the [human] spirit,” synonymous with the human “heart” [καρδία] (cf. vv. 5-8).¹⁰ If “the Spirit” is intended, we are reminded of the perfect unity within the Godhead, inclusive of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (cf. vv. 8-10, 14-17, 32-34; also 1 Cor. 2:10-11, 16). Rather than an explanatory “because,” the conjunction ὅτι here seems more descriptive, “that” the Spirit “intercedes for the saints according to [the will of] God” in that the Spirit’s intercession is in fact God’s will (v. 26), and God always answers prayers in accordance with what he wills (v. 28), and he wills to hear and answer the prayers of those sanctified (1:7; 15:30-32), and the intercession of the Spirit is for those who live and pray in accordance with God’s revealed will (1:10; 12:2). Precision of meaning is not necessary here when all of the above are biblically affirmed.¹¹ 

The “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…. our failure to understand God’s purposes and plans, to see ‘the beginning from the end,’ does not mean that effective, powerful prayer for our specific needs is absent.”¹² See 1:10; 10:1; 12:12; 15:30; Eph. 3:20; Phil. 4:6-7; Jas. 4:13-18; and compare Psa. 88:1-2, 13.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ The compound συναντιλαμβάνομαι (also occurring in Luke 10:40) is comprised of two prepositions, σύν ("together with") + ἀντί ("over against" or "corresponding to") and the verbal λαμβάνω ("take hold of").

     ² Note also “with” Christ (vv. 17, 32), and the providential working of God (v. 28).

     ³ Paul uses two different words that essentially convey the same meaning: ὑπερεντυγχάνω, to “plead” or “intercede” (v. 26), and ἐντυγχάνω, to “appeal,” “entreat,” “petition” (vv. 27, 34; 11:2). See BAGD 270, 840. 

     ⁴ Cf. Matt. 6:10; 26:39, 42; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; John 12:27; Acts 18:21; 21:14; 1 Cor. 4:19; 16:7; Heb. 6:3; Jas. 4:15; 1 John 5:14.  

     ⁵ See also Heb. 4:14-16; 7:24; 9:24; 1 John 2:1.

     ⁶ Against the popular glossolalia interpretation, see D. J. Moo, Romans 524-25; E. F. Harrison, “Romans” 96. Whatever biblical tongue-speaking entails, it was not intended for every Christian (1 Cor. 12:7-11, 28-30), whereas the Spirit’s intercession in prayer is. 

     ⁷ J. Murray, Romans 1:312. “Even though we’re unable to verbalize our deepest desires, God knows them …” (R. Mohrlang, Romans 139). 

     ⁸ W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 213-14.

     ⁹ 1 Sam. 16:7; 1 Kings 8:39; 1 Chron. 28:9; Psa. 7:9; 17:3; 139:1, 23; Jer. 11:20; 17:10; Acts 1:24; 15:8; 1 Cor. 4:5; Rev. 2:23.

     ¹⁰ The term “heart” [καρδία] represents a person’s physical, mental, and spiritual core, involving the cognitive (10:6, 8-10), emotional (9:2), and impetus of action (6:17). 

     ¹¹ Matt. 6:9-10; 7:20-21; 12:50; Eph. 3:20; 5:10, 17; 6:6; 1 Thess. 4:3; Heb. 6:3; 10:7, 9, 36; Jas. 4:15; 1 Pet. 1:12; 3:17; 1 John 2:17; 5:11-15.

     ¹² D. J. Moo, Romans 526. 

Related Posts: Rom 8:28-39

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The Creation Waits and Groans With Us (Romans 8:19-25)

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8:19-23, ESV). 

Human language has its limitations, especially when attempting to describe divine activities and extraordinary end-time events. Even though the working of God is real, it “cannot be described literally since the direct activity of God cannot be fully comprehended in human language. The biblical writers have therefore to resort to analogy and metaphor, the language of symbol, in order to convey their message.”¹ Similar to apocalyptic language employed in the Thessalonian letters, here Paul shifts into personification along the lines of Hebrew poetry (cf. Psa. 89:11-12; 96:11-12; 98:7-8; 114:3-8; Isa. 35:1-2; 55:12-13). 

Anticipating the Future

The “revealing of the sons of God” is “an eschatological revelation” (cf. 2:5; 16:25),² involving “the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (cf. v. 18; 2:7, 10; 5:2). “Scripture does not tell us much of what that glory will be, but it assures us that it will be.”³ In the meantime, the human experience in a fallen world includes “the sufferings of this present time” (vv. 17-18; cf. 5:3) to which God’s people are not immune. The scientific mind of the literalist, no doubt perplexed by the language used here, sees the degenerating world and woeful plight of mankind as a natural state of affairs. But the spiritual mind (vv. 5-6), with poetic personification, envisions “the creation” empathizing with the Lord’s suffering people. It “waits,” a verb describing an intense yearning for Christ’s return,⁴ with “eager longing.” 

Unidentified and presumably already understood, “the [one] having subjected” or “him who subjected” evidently is God.⁵ The physical habitat he originally designed for an unflawed humanity could no longer be perfect when his human creation was corrupted by sin. It was therefore “subjected to futility … bondage to corruption … pains of childbirth” in the form of death, decay, hardship, and danger,⁶ though “not willingly.” Seeing that the material cosmos is not volitive, this is a subtle reminder of the widespread and devastating consequences of man’s willful choices that brought sin and death into the world (cf. 5:12-19). But God has worked through this lamentable situation “in hope,” with a personified creation joining God’s children in “groaning,” with eager anticipation of a future liberation from pain and suffering. When Christ returns, the volatility, turmoil, and decline of the physical world ends (2 Pet. 3:10-14), and “the sufferings of this present time” are exchanged for the incomparable “glory that is to be revealed to us.”⁷

God’s children are set apart from the rest of creation with “the firstfruits of the Spirit” or “spirit” (cf. 11:16; 16:5). The imagery is drawn from “the first portion of the harvest, regarded both as a first instalment and as a pledge of the final delivery of the whole. The Holy Spirit is thus regarded as an anticipation of final salvation, and a pledge that we who have the Spirit shall in the end be saved.”⁸ Cf. 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14.

Having already “received the spirit of adoption as sons” (v. 15), and having been justified through the redemption in Christ (3:24), we still look forward to the ultimate “adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” A close parallel to this passage, without the poetic language, is Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”⁹ Other helpful commentaries are 1 Cor. 15:36-54 and 2 Cor. 4:14–5:5. Accordingly, this section of Romans appears to be an expansion of what Paul had already communicated to the Corinth church.

Saved in Hope

“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Rom. 8:24-25).

“For” continues and expounds upon the fact that in this fallen world, “as we wait eagerly” for our glorious future, there is a connection between suffering and “hope” (cf. 5:2-5), namely “this hope” in which “we were saved” (in the past). Although in Romans Paul mostly speaks of salvation in terms of the future (5:9-10; 9:27; 10:9, 13; 11:14, 26), here we see that from the moment of our conversion “hope” carries us onward, all the way through to the end. By its very definition the object of hope has yet to be realized, so “we wait,” lit. “we hope” (presently and continuously) for it with “patience” or “perseverance” (NASB, NKJV) or “endurance” (NAB, NET) (cf. 2:7; 5:3-4; 15:4-5). If the focus is on God’s promise, we wait patiently; if on current sufferings, we hope with perseverance, although contextually both are applicable in the sense of patient endurance.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ I. H. Marshall, Thessalonians 128.

     ² C. K. Barrett, Romans 165. Cf. also 1 Cor. 1:7; 1 Thess. 1:10; 2 Thess. 1:7.

     ³ E. F. Harrison, “Romans” 94, emphasis in the text. 

     ⁴ H. A. A. Kennedy, Expositor’s Greek Testament 3:463. See Rom. 8:19, 23, 25; 1 Cor. 1:7; Gal. 5:5; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 3:20.

     ⁵ Cf. HCSB, LSV, NASB, NET, NLT, NKJV, YLT. 

     ⁶ Cf. Gen. 3:16-19; 5:29; Eccl. 2:22-23.

     ⁷ Instead of a renovated physical earth, which will have served its purpose at the end of time, the eternal home of God’s children is heavenly: Matt. 5:12, 16, 34; 6:19-21; Phil. 3:20; Col. 1:5; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:16-17; Heb. 6:18-19; 10:19-20, 34; 12:23; 1 Pet. 1:3-4; cf. also 1 Cor. 15:23-24, 35-54; 2 Cor. 4:14; 5:1-2.

     ⁸ C. K. Barrett, Romans 167. See also C. E. B. Cranfield, Shorter Romans 199; J. D. G. Dunn, Romans 1:473-74; Theology of Paul the Apostle 329 n.68, 469.

     ⁹ See also 1 Cor. 16:22b; 1 Thess. 5:6. “The more Christians are caught up in enjoying the good things of this life, and the more they neglect genuine Christian fellowship and their personal relationship with Christ, the less they will long for his return …. To some extent, then, the degree to which we actually long for Christ’s return is a measure of the spiritual condition of our own lives at the moment” (W. A. Grudem, Systematic Theology 1092-93).

Related Posts: Preterism (Part 4), Adopted into God's Family (Rom 8:12-18), The Spirit Helps in Our Weaknesses (Rom 8:26-27)

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Adopted into God’s Family (Romans 8:12-18)

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:12-18, ESV).

Led by the Spirit

As Paul is a “debtor” or “under obligation” to preach the gospel (1:14-15), “we are debtors,” in view of all the Lord has done, to live a certain way, not “according to the flesh” that produces death but “in spirit” [πνεύματι] that procures life (cf. 5:15–8:13). The latter involves persistently (present tense) being “led” [ἄγονται] “by the Spirit of God” [πνεύματι θεοῦ]. Gal. 5:16-18 is a close parallel, where the question is whether the “Spirit” is doing the leading or the “spirit” is being led. Here, however, is the more explicit reference to “the Spirit of God.” Considering the internal battle described in chap. 7, the appetites of the flesh do not miraculously disappear, and being “led by the Spirit of God” is not a mere passive experience but requires actively walking according to the S/spirit [πνεῦμα] with intentionality and resolve (vv. 4-10; cf. 2:6-13; 6:4-22; 7:6, 25; 13:13). We are therefore led by the Spirit of God as we are willfully compliant and faithfully following the Spirit-inspired teachings of God (1:16-17; 6:16-18).

Sons of God

All this is necessary to be considered “sons of God” (cf. v. 19). Even though Paul was fully capable of speaking generically with reference to “children [τέκνα] of God” (vv. 16, 17, 21; 9:8), or even more specifically “sons and daughters” (2 Cor. 6:18), his employment of the masculine “sons” [υἱοί] must be deliberate, relevant to the inheritance metaphor (vv. 15-17).¹ In the patriarchal Mediterranean world of antiquity, daughters were generally regarded as inferior to sons and denied basic rights and privileges, particularly the family inheritance. Only a son could be heir.² Yet this firmly entrenched societal norm is challenged in Christ. With gender differences and gender roles understood, both males and females can now be “sons of God,” not in a biological-gender sense but in attaining equal access to divine privileges and the promised inheritance. All who might be marginalized or repressed by the world’s standards are welcomed into God’s family where no one is considered inferior to anyone else (cf. 12:4-5).³ 

Spirit of Adoption

Having been set free from our former master of sin (5:17–8:2), the “spirit [πνεῦμα] of slavery,” characterized by “fear,” has been replaced by the “spirit” [πνεῦμα] “of adoption as sons.” The imagery of “adoption” is used in the NT only by the apostle Paul.⁴ The literal practice of adoption was fairly common throughout the Greco-Roman world, though not among the Jews, involving “the common ancient practice of important patrons adopting people – even adult colleagues – and giving them full inheritance …”⁵ This is especially relevant to our relationship with God’s Son (vv. 3-4), enabling us to transition from lowly “slaves” to “sons” and “fellow heirs with” him (cf. Gal. 4:1-7).

The “spirit of adoption as sons” is the impetus from which “we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Comparable to “the spirit of Christ” and “Christ in you” (vv. 9-10), in Gal. 4:6 we read of “the spirit of [God’s] Son” within “our hearts” from which the prayerful cry emanates. While the “cry” [κράζω] might be understood in the sense of a “scream” or “shriek,” and elsewhere in the NT it signifies a loud or earnest cry (9:27; cf. Matt. 9:27; Acts 14:14), it is commonly employed in the LXX of prayer addressed to God, and when used in this sense, it is “a cry of some intensity” and “rather fervent than loud.”⁶ The spirit of sonship is not merely an occasion of surging emotions, or charismatic empowering, or inspired utterance, or ecstatic experience, but is patterned on Christ and conforms to his sonship.⁷

This is not “the passionate, violent operation of the Spirit”⁸ or some other independent force that calls out to God on our behalf. If the “spirit of slavery” is “such a spirit as is possessed by a slave, not by the son of the house” (BAGD 833), it follows that the “spirit of adoption as sons” is such a spirit as is possessed by the son of the house. Making an address to “Abba! Father!” is the prayer language of God’s Son (Mark 14:36), unique to Jesus in all extant Jewish literature. He regularly referred to God as “my Father,”⁹ and he taught his disciples to address God as “Father” (Matt. 6:9; Luke 11:2). 

The term “Abba” is a Greek transliteration of the Aramaic word for “Father,” which is also the meaning of the Greek πατήρ. It was used in Aramaic-speaking homes, both by younger and older children, as an affectionate address.¹⁰ However, it “was not a childish expression comparable with ‘Daddy’: it was more a solemn, responsible, adult address to a Father.”¹¹ An intimate relationship with the heavenly Father is implied by “the meaning of the term and the fact that such a cry comes from the heart ... Here is the ultimate evidence that we are God’s children, in that we address God with the same term of intimate relationship that Jesus himself used. We are not slaves, but children.”¹²

The Spirit’s Testimony

“The Spirit” [τὸ πνεῦμα] “himself” [αὐτό - emphatic!]¹³ “bears witness with” [συνμαρτυρεῖ] “our spirit” [πνεύματι ἡμῶν] “that we are children of God.” Here a clear distinction is made between “our spirit” and “the Spirit” [of God] dwelling within us (cf. vv. 9a, 11),¹⁴ albeit not disconnected from the “spirit of Christ” (vv. 9b-10a). God’s indwelling Spirit does not bear witness to our spirit but “with” [συν-], in the compound verb meaning “to testify or bear witness together with another, add testimony.”¹⁵ In addition to our own spirit, which confirms whether or not we are living in accordance with the Lord’s revealed will, the Holy Spirit “himself” searches our hearts and bears testimony to God. We might deceive ourselves but not him. 

Suffering with Christ

We are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (cf. 4:9-16),¹⁶ conditioned upon whether “Christ is in you” and “provided we suffer with him …” Paul earlier portrayed our union with Christ as having been “united with him in a death like his …. our old self was crucified with him …. Now if we have died with Christ …” (6:5-8). As penitent believers we have symbolically reenacted his death, burial, and resurrection in baptism (6:3-4). However, this is just the beginning of a lifelong and difficult journey with him, as we “put to death the deeds of the body,” which is challenging enough, but also “we suffer with” him (present active indicative), currently and continually (cf. 5:3; 8:35; 12:12). The Christian life has never been promised as an easy life.¹⁷

Glorified with Christ

Despite the fact that as sinners we fall short of God’s “glory” [δόξα] (3:23), we look beyond “the sufferings of this present time” as we anticipate the incomparable “glory” in being “glorified with him” (cf. v. 30; 2:7, 10; 5:2).¹⁸ This continues the thought of v. 11 concerning our future resurrection life and reaffirms the assurance already given: “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (5:1); “we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his …. we believe that we will also live with him” (6:5-6). To be continued …

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Also Gal. 3:26; 4:6. See K. L. Moore, “How are all Christians ‘Sons’ of God?” Moore Perspective (6 April 2020), <Link>.

     ² Matt. 21:38; Mark 12:7; Luke 20:14; Gal. 4:1-2.

     ³ Cf. 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Gal. 3:26-29; Col. 3:9-11.

     ⁴ Rom. 8:15, 23; 9:4; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5.

     ⁵ G. L. Borchert Galatians 303.

     ⁶ R. N. Longenecker, Galatians 174; J. D. G. Dunn, Theology of Galatians 61 n.52; BAGD 448.  

     ⁷ J. D. G. Dunn, Theology of Galatians 62; cf. Gal. 4:6-7, 19. Particularly on the misguided inference of ecstatic utterance, see G. D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence 409-10.

     ⁸ This is the description of H. N. Ridderbos, Epistle to Galatia 157.

     ⁹ 17 times in Matthew, 4 times in Luke, and 34 times in John.

     ¹⁰ See J. Jeremias, Prayers of Jesus 11-65. Paul’s use of this Aramaic expression in a letter to Greek-speaking churches “is a powerful testimony that the idea of God’s fatherhood goes back to Jesus’ teachings, since Jesus spoke Aramaic” (G. L. Borchert, Galatians 304).

     ¹¹ J. Barr, “Abba Isn’t Daddy,” JTS 39.1 (April 1988): 46; see also C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans 1:399-402; J. D. G. Dunn, “Prayer” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels 618-19; G. D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence 410-12. 

     ¹² G. D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence 412.

     ¹³ The pronoun αὐτό is neuter rather than masculine because it modifies the neuter noun πνεῦμα, which contextually is distinct from “our spirit” [πνεύματι ἡμῶν] and thus an apparent allusion to “the Spirit of God” (v. 9).

     ¹⁴ After we have heard and believed the word of truth and have entered Christ, we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:13-14). We can only be “in” Christ if we have been baptized “into” him (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 2:27), and then we are said to be “sealed” with the Spirit, who is our “guarantee” or “pledge.” A “seal” signifies proof or authenticity of ownership (Rom. 4:11; 5:5; cf. 1 Kings 21:8; Esth. 8:8). Because we have this seal, the Lord “knows those who are his,” with the accompanying expectation of spiritual purity (2 Tim. 2:19). We are to glorify God in our bodies because we now belong to him and have his Spirit abiding in us (1 Cor. 6:18-20). To live in sin is to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).

     ¹⁵ H. K. Moulton, The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised 382.

     ¹⁶ Cf. also Gal. 3:5–4:7; Tit. 3:7; Heb. 1:2; 6:13-20; Jas. 2:5.

     ¹⁷ Matt. 5:10-12; John 15:19; 16:33; Acts 14:22; Col. 1:24; 1 Thess. 2:14-15; 3:4; 2 Tim. 3:12; Heb. 10:32-36; 1 Pet. 4:13; Rev. 1:9; 2:10, 13; et al.

     ¹⁸ 1 Cor. 2:7; 15:43; 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:17; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:27; 3:4; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 2:14; 2 Tim. 2:10; Heb. 2:10; 1 Pet. 1:7; 5:1, 4, 10; cf. John 17:22.

Related Posts: Baptism: Death, Burial, Resurrection (Rom 6:1-4), Deliverance from Sin & Death (Rom 8:1-11), Creation Waits & Groans with Us (Rom 8:19-25)

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