Romans 8:12-25 (NRSV)
12 So then, brothers
and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13
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. 14 For
all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you
did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have
received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is
that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if,
in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present
time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the
children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not
of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that
the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain
the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the
whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23 and
not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the
Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our
bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not
hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we
do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Paul focuses upon the Spirit making
people children of God. Paul makes clear that salvation in Christ means undoing
the work of Adam, restoring humanity to the purpose of God. What God has in
view, beginning with the call of Abraham, is the reversal of the fall of Adam
and of its consequences. The analysis of the human condition as in Adam that
began in 1:18 has its culmination in the restoration of humanity as children of
God. Redemption is the completion of creation, and humanity is part of that
creation. The debt we owe is not to the
old pattern of humanity in Adam, but to the new pattern we find in Christ and
in the power of the Spirit. Putting to death the deeds of the body will lead to
life, while not doing so will lead to death.
When the Spirit of God leads you, you are a child of God. Such a
leading is not a blind force of nature. Such leading is personal. The Spirit is
a personal reality and therefore does not extinguish the individuality and
uniqueness of the person. Rather, personal life finds fulfillment through
willing dedication. Such persons are on the highway of a life of freedom,
faith, and love. Obedience is not the alien obedience of the slave. Such
obedience is an expression of free agreement with the Father. [1] The spirit you have is not one of slavery
that will lead you back to fear. Rather, you have received a spirit of adoption.
You can come to God with “Abba, Father,” for the Spirit of God bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God. He writes of the authentic freedom
we find in the Spirit. We have this freedom because we are no longer fixated on
the ego. The Spirit lifts us above our finitude. The attitude of slavery is
behind the Christians. Christians have won out over the anxiety of death the
fear of slavery. Adoption is the special status of the Christian before God. [2] If you are child of God, then you are an
heir of God and joint hears with Christ, if you suffer with him so that God may
also glorify you with him.
Paul has a similar thought in I Corinthians
3:16-17, where he reminds them that they are the temple of God and that the
Spirit of God dwells in them. In Galatians 2:15-21, Paul stresses that he died
to the law so that he might live to God. God has crucified him with Christ, so
that he no longer he lives, but Christ lives in him. The life he now lives is
by faith in the Son of God, who loved him and gave himself for him. In
Philippians 2:5, Paul urges the readers to have the same mind among them that
Christ had, going on to point to the servant aspect of Christ and his
obedience. Colossians 3:5 urges the readers to put to death the earthly in them.
I Thessalonians 5:23 is a benediction, praying that the God of peace sanctify
them thoroughly.
In Romans 8:18-30, Paul continues his consideration of this new
humanity as he focuses on the suffering of the present and its connection to
the future glory. The focus here is verses 18-25. He begins by saying that he
does not consider present suffering worthy of comparison with the glory that
God will soon reveal. Paul lived with the expectation that Christ would return
in glory within his lifetime. This reminds him that creation itself waits with
longing for the revelation of the children of God. Creation experiences bondage
and decay, and it longs for freedom from that, which it will have with the
revelation of the children of God. Creation longs for that moment as a woman in
the pangs of labor with child. As part of creation, we as children of God,
possessing the first fruit of the Spirit, groan inwardly for adoption and the
redemption of our bodies. Paul challenges his readers to expand their
conceptual horizons and place chronological time and personal experience within
the context of eternity. Paul invites his readers to catch a glimpse of the
"big picture." God, through the Spirit of Jesus Christ, has freed
humanity. God, through the Spirit of Jesus Christ, is also effecting the
liberation and redemption of the entire created order. Not only are persons
enslaved, but the whole creation. Paul suggests that the creation must wait for
the redemption of the children of God before God fully and completely redeems
it. Hence, the time now is one of waiting patiently, but not passively. We
learn that the goal of all creation is to share in the life of God. Why else
should it sigh under the burden of corruptibility? We may view this sighing as
an expression of the presence of the life-giving Sprit of God in creatures. The
creative divine Spirit is vitally at work throughout creation, but also suffers
with his creatures because of their corruptibility prior to taking creative
shape in humanity, in one man. Only in this way can the rest of creation
participate in the liberty of the children of God, in the eschatological future
of the children of God, which has already come in the resurrection of Jesus.
The destiny of creation is to be in fellowship with God, in the sense of
sharing in the fellowship of the Son with the Father and through the Spirit. It
has not yet found direct fulfillment in the existence of each individual
creature. In hope, God will save us. We
can see here that creation and eschatology belong together because in this way
we can see the destiny of the creature will come to fulfillment. The experience
of the creature the origin and the consummation do not coincide. They form a
unity only from the standpoint of the divine act of creation. Yes, human beings
are to have dominion, but acceptance of our own finitude must also mean giving
to all other creatures the respect that is their due within the limits of their
finitude.[3]
If we see that for which we hope, we would no longer hope. If we hope,
due to the promise of God in Jesus Christ, we wait with patience. Hope
refreshes faith when it might be fatigued, extends its view to the final goal,
so as not to allow it give up in the middle of the course, or at the very
outset. [4] We are filled with a sense of dissatisfaction
with all that we now are and have, at least in the sense of realizing that all
things earthly are frail and perishable. We are on the way to a future
fulfillment that transcends all that now is. Hence, we are always filled with
new hopes, or rather, we vacillate between hope and despair. [5]
In I Corinthians 15:42-50, Paul writes of the
contrast between the physical and spiritual body, which is also a contrast
between the first Adam and the last Adam. We bear the image of the man of dust,
but we are also to bear the image of the man of heaven. Dust and the perishable
will not inherit the kingdom of God. In II Corinthians 4:16-5:5, the outer
nature is wasting away, while God keeps renewing the inner nature. The slight
momentary affliction prepares us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparison. The earthly tent is dying, but we have a building from God. Here we
groan and long for the heavenly dwelling. We sigh with anxiety in this tent.
Yet, God has prepared us for this by giving as the Spirit as a guarantee.
Galatians 4:5-7 refers to receiving the adoption as children of God. As
children, God has sent the Spirit of Christ into our hearts, crying, “Abba!
Father!” they are no longer slaves, but children and heirs of the blessings of
God.
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