Romans 8:16,17 - We are God's children

8:16

Now see two things here. The Spirit tells us the truth. He tells us that we have been forgiven, that we have been adopted into God’s family, that we can call God Father. Paul is also telling us that we need to live by the Spirit not the flesh. So we have a choice, we have a responsibility. We need to choose to listen to the Spirit, to listen to what He says. And the Spirit testifies with our spirit, He speaks to our inmost being. In 1 John 4 we get one of the key hallmarks of the Spirit and that is that He testifies to who Jesus is. Here we get another, He testifies to who we are in Christ. So how can we tell if a voice is the voice of God or not, if it is the Holy Spirit or not? There are two key tests. He will bring glory to the Name of Jesus Christ, and He will testify that we are God’s children.

8:17

Now why does Paul suddenly introduce the concept of being heirs? In the Old Testament inheritance meant sanctioned and settled possession, and was used largely in the context of possessing the Promised Land.  We are heirs of God, of a heavenly kingdom. And we are co-heirs with Christ. The Jews focus on possession of the Holy Land, we are focused on a heavenly kingdom (see Heb 11:13-16 and Phil 3:20). This has some interesting implications for how we view Israel. I firmly believe that Israel still has a key role in God’s plans and that there will be a large turning to Christ in Israel, and woe betide any nation that mistreats Israel. However, this verse and the other two referenced would possibly imply that some Christian supporters of Israel place far too much emphasis on the land of Israel. Now I guess I am bound to have offended someone here, but just think about it in the light of God’s word.

We are co-heirs with Christ. Jesus came as a man because He represented all that we should have been. So we share in His resurrection and we will share in His inheritance. Then comes the rub, “if indeed we share in His sufferings”. We are called to suffer with Christ, but we do not do so simply for the sake of it, we do so to share in His glory. The Roman church has suffered some persecution, and worse was to come in the not too distant future. Sharing in Christ’s sufferings is part of the package of the gospel.