Romans 8:14-17

In the course of our study of Romans, we have used two words to describe the change that God makes to the believers, two ways in which the righteousness of God is imparted through faith. 

The first is justification, which is the theme of first four chapters of Romans. Justification has to do with our standing before God. Because of sin, we had been declared unrighteous and the wrath of God was revealed from heaven against us. But we can find justification, a change in status and standing before God, through faith.

The second term is regeneration, which is a salvation of our nature; it is change of our nature, or perhaps more technically a redemption or restoration of our nature. Sin had corrupted our nature away from what God intended it to be, so that it became inclined to sin. 

(Regeneration is the beginning of a process of transformation which also includes entire sanctification but which also includes the whole of God's work in the life of a believer. In Romans 5-8, Paul mostly looks at the general fact of transformation and not at the actual details of the process.)

But while Paul has been talking about salvation from the perspective of legality or morality or nature, there is more to salvation than that. On its own, all of that might seem a little cold and barren. So that is why Paul adds something else about salvation; in this passage, we have a third term for salvation, adoption--a change of relation. This is a point that Paul briefly touched on back in chapter 5, but there he only spoke of having peace with God and access to God's presence. Here he carries the idea further, speaking of the Christian as a member of God's family, as one who has been adopted.

In verse 14, we have the fact of Adoption. Paul states that those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God. These two things go together—a life of obedience to the spirit and the state of a son of God. Only one who has been adopted into God's family can follow the Spirit and only one who follows the Spirit can be a child of God. Paul has spent some time talking about the change in nature and lifestyle which comes through the Spirit, but here he reminds us that this isn't some abstract matter of ethics and morality. It is part of a new relationship. We live for God because we are part of God's family. God is not merely the law-giver or even the enabler, but a Father.

We also have the witness of Adoption. According to William Barclay, in Roman law, when a child was adopted into a new family, there had to be several witnesses to the transaction. That was so if later there was any doubt about the rights and position of the adopted child, these witnesses could be called forward to attest to the fact that he had, in fact, been adopted. 

And in this adoption, the witness is God's spirit. God's spirit is the active agent in adoption just as He is in regeneration. He is contrasted with the spirit of bondage and fear. That could be speaking of the sinner who lives in bondage to sin; but I think the contrast here is to the spirit of the law since for the last several chapters, Paul has been contrasting what the law could do and what the Spirit could do. Merely trying to obey the law may give you a better life on a human level, but it is a life of fear and bondage.

A just and fair-minded master might give his slave reasonable commands; he might allow him to rest and not overwork him. The actual day-to-day experience of a slave to such a master might not be that much worse than that of a freeman. He might experientially not be that much worse off than the master's own children. But obviously, there is a very large difference. The relationship of slavery is formed solely on force, fear, and duty. The relationship of the family—though it does involve authority—is a relationship of affection and personal connection.

An enlightened, conscientious sinner recognizes the authority of the law every bit as much as a Christian. But the sinner recognizes it merely as an authority. The Christian recognizes it as the voice of His Father.

But the point here is that the Spirit brings a witness. Verse 16 says that He bears witness with our spirit. That can be translated that He bears witness to our Spirit. In other words, God speaks to the ear of the heart or understanding and not the physical ear. But if we take it as the KJV translates it, the idea it that we have two, collaborating witnesses—a direct witness from God that matches our own personal experience.

And with this comes the privilege of adoption. Being adopted, being a member of God's family comes with certain privileges. One is the privilege of freedom, which I already briefly mentioned. We have a spirit of freedom, not a spirit of bondage or fear. We still have duties and responsibilities, but they are the duties of a free citizen, not those of a slave. They are born from love and not from fear.

We have the privilege of access. This entire section of Romans began with Paul's assertion that we have peace with God and access to His grace. Here he takes that idea even further, saying that we cry “Abba, Father.” There are many theories about why the Bible frequently uses this formula, the most common theory being that Abba represents a personal and affectionate term; it is the way a young child would address their own father.

The implication is that we have the privilege of coming into God's presence, not merely as chosen citizens coming into the presence of their king, but as children into the presence of their father. H. G. Wells wrote a story in which a man is invited to seek a relationship with God. And the man responds in surprise: “What! to think of that, up there, having fellowship with me! I would as soon think of cooling my throat with the milky way or shaking hands with the stars!” Certainly, it is shocking to think of man having any sort of fellowship or connection with the God who made all things and by whom all this consist, the immortal, invisible, all-wise self-existent one. But Paul's contention goes further—that we can come into His presence with the confidence of a beloved child coming into the presence of his father.

For man to claim such a privilege on his own would be presumption. We can only do it because of the Spirit whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

And finally, we have the privilege of sharing. This is verse 17. According to Barclay, under Roman law, an adopted child had exactly the same rights regarding inheritance as a natural-born child. If a man had two sons, one adopted and one biological, his estate would be divided evenly between them. And as God's children, even by adoption, we are His heirs and join-heirs with Christ. We have a share, a stake, a claim on all that God is doing.

Being a family member means sharing in the things of the family. And that does mean the bad as well as the good. That is why the Marriage Vow, which is the foundation of the family, is for better or for worse. Being part of a family means that if there is a certain stigma or unpopularity which attaches to the family, then it attaches to us. It means that if the family has enemies, then we have enemies. If the family is in trouble, then we are in trouble.

That is why Paul says that "we suffer with him." When Christ was on this earth, He experienced suffering and opposition and persecution. If we are part of His family, if we are His joint-heirs, then it is probable that we will also experience suffering and opposition and persecution. That is part of being in a family, and it was a reality that Paul and probably his readers knew very well.

But if we are willing to share in the troubles and disgrace of the family, we also share in the triumph and the glories of the family. If we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified with Him. Philippians 2 is a famous passage that paints the humility of Christ, of how He was willing to sacrifice and give of Himself in coming to earth and going to death. But what was the upshot of the whole matter? “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.” (Philippians 2:9) Jesus gave of Himself, humbled Himself, and in the end, He was exalted. And the whole passage begins with the exhortation that we, as Christians, should live as Christ lived, with the implication that if we are willing to enter into His humility and sacrifice, we will also enter into His glory. 

This is the privilege and promise we have, but it is a promise only to those who are sons, those who are part of the family. We must be loyal and remain in the family if we want to share in the triumph of the family. “It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.” (2 Timothy 2:11-12)

Leading up to this passage, Paul has been speaking of the change that God has made and is making in the life of the Christian; the deliverance from the power of the flesh, the introduction of a new kind of life, and the duty which comes from that. In the verses that follow directly after this section, Paul looks forward to what God is going to do for us in the future, to the glory and hope we have. This section is the lynchpin, the rivet which holds those two ideas together. We are adopted and made a part of the family and therefore we must live like a member of the family; we must be good representatives of the family. But also because we are members of the family we have a hope for the future, a hope in sharing in the triumph of the family.

And ultimately these are two sides of the same thing. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2) We are now the sons of God, and there is some future glory waiting for us, something we cannot yet see. But we know that when Christ returns, we shall be like Him and be able to see Him as He is. The inheritance of God is not something that could theoretically be given to anybody. It can only be given to a son of God because the inheritance is to be a son (or daughter) of God. Only one who can stand in God's presence will receive this treasure because the greatest treasure is to stand in God's presence. 

This is the promise and privilege we have as those who have been adopted into God's family, those who have been transformed. We have talked throughout Romans of the righteousness which comes by faith, but here we have to remember that this righteousness is not merely a legal abstraction or a way of life or even a change of nature—it is a new relationship, a new family. When once the wrath of God was revealed from Heaven against our ungodliness and unrighteousness, now we come into God's presence and cry: 'Abba, Father.'