Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 3 Study # 1
October 16, 2007
Lincolnton, N.C.
(351)
1769 Translation:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected
the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only
they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption,
to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not,
then do we with patience wait for
it.
1901 ASV Translation:
17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified with
him.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for
our adoption,
to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth?
25 But if we hope for that which we see not,
then do we with patience wait for it.
- I. The Rational "Jump".
- A. Paul declares that "if" we are "children", then we are also "heirs".
- B. This "jump" is simply an integral aspect of Paul's understanding of how God's way of doing things has "mirrors" in our culture. When a person is a "child" in our culture, that person is normally also an heir of the father.
- C. Obviously there are different "standards" of inheritance in different cultures, but Paul is declaring that, biblically, if a person is a child of God, he is also an heir.
- II. A Second Aspect.
- A. If all of the children of God are "heirs", and Jesus is also an "heir", then the children and Jesus must be "joint" heirs.
- B. But, there is a "condition" to being "joint" heirs with Christ: they who are so must have participated with Him in the "inheritance" requirement(s).
- 1. This "heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ" is both relative and qualified. All of the children of God will "inherit" a certain basic set of fundamental realities that constitutes the Kingdom of God and without which it cannot exist. But, every one of those basic elements is "eternal" (i.e., "open-ended"). Just as a person can have "money", but not have as much as or as little as someone else, so also can a child "inherit" from a father. Some heirs will have "the basics" with a significant degree of development and others will have "the basics" without much/any development.
- 2. According to the concept of "adoption" (8:15) as Paul explained it in Galatians 4, the "child" did not get "adopted" by the father until he had grown to a level of maturity that would allow the father to actually turn the administration of his possessions over to that child and have those possessions administered legitimately. Nothing is said about what happened if the child "never grew up". The assumption was that the child's training was effective and the child actually became a qualified "son" and was, then, "adopted". But, here in Romans 8, Paul does not accept the assumption. He says that we are "joint-heirs" if we suffer with Him. The "suffering" must be seen as an integral aspect of the child-training that moves the "child" from childishness to adulthood (1 Corinthians 13:11). But, given the propensity of men to refuse the training, in persistent rejection of the Love and Faith realities of relating to God, Paul does not "assume" that all of the children will also be equally "joint-heirs" with Christ. There seems to be a difference between being an "heir" and a "joint-heir with Christ". This works off of the difference that exists between the doctrines of "justification" and "sanctification". The former is a completely vicarious reality, rooted exclusively in the works of Christ. The latter is a cooperative reality, rooted in the believer's cooperation with the Spirit of Christ as He works in time to correct the flaws in the believer's Love/Faith situation.
- 2. The "inheritance requirements" exist in the context of Truth's "Love" and "Faith" foundations, and no one can "fudge" those requirements. They are inalterable and cannot be set aside. Even God "cannot" (does not) violate these twin realities. No one enters His Kingdom without having become a participant in His "Love" and no one enters His Kingdom who disbelieves His "Truth". It is an eternal and immutable fact of "relationship" that where there is no unity in Love and Faith, there is no relationship.