8-Day Commentary Challenge - Romans 8Sample

   

THE INDWELLING SPIRIT AND AUTHENTIC HOPE IN SUFFERING, 8:17–27

As children of God we are “co-heirs” of God. In fact, the only way we get in on the future inheritance is as “co-heirs with Christ” (v. 17). Christ’s inheritance is fabulous: “appointed heir of all things” (Heb. 1:2). Before Paul goes on to speak further of this future glory, which is like an inheritance that we receive solely because of our relationship to someone else, he first mentions a condition for sharing Christ’s glory: “if indeed we share in his sufferings” (v. 17). Here we discover a further implication of our union with Christ (6:8). As Christ suffered before He entered glory (Heb. 2:9–10; 1 Pet. 1:11), so those who are identified with Him also suffer before they enter the future glory. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Yet this is a suffering “with Him.” Christ is so united to His body, the church, that when the members suffer for the gospel and for righteousness’ sake, He as the Head also suffers (Acts 9:4; Phil. 1:29; Col. 1:24; 1 Peter 4:13). Why the suffering of the members of Christ’s body must continue, Paul does not reveal (nor does any biblical writer). There is a mystery connected with suffering that God has not been pleased to explain to His creatures in the present. It is sufficient for faith to trust implicitly in the faithfulness of God Himself who will ultimately reveal that suffering was in some manner indispensable to the full manifestation of His glory.

In the meantime, Paul shows that there are good reasons for abiding faithful to God even in sufferings and persecutions (vv. 18–30). Each reason is related to a special ministry of the Holy Spirit. First, the Spirit helps by creating a consciousness by His presence of the reality of the greatness of the future glory (vv. 18–25). Second, the Spirit definitely helps us to overcome our natural weaknesses (vv. 26–27). Third is the assurance that all things are working together for our good in the eternal purpose of God (vv. 28–30). Note the poetic quality displayed in this passage, particularly verses 19–22.

The Hope of Glory, 8:18–25

First, in verses 18–25 Paul looks for encouragement to the Christian hope of the greatness of the future glory: “Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (v. 18). Just as real to us as our sufferings are now is the certainty of our sharing the future glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:16–18). To what does the “glory” that lies in the future refer? First, it involves the release from decay and death of all of the children of God. Second, there follows the release of the whole creation from the captivity of corruption, sin, and death (Rom. 8:19, 21, 23). This freeing from decay not only affects our individual bodies (v. 23), but extends cosmically to the whole created order: “the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay” (v. 21). Paul brings in the creation to show how great the effect will be of the future revealing of the children of God. So great is this glory that the whole creation is anxiously longing on tiptoe, eagerly awaiting the revelation in resurrection bodies of the children of God (vv. 19, 23). Why is creation so expectant? Because nature has been so subjected by God Himself to futility that it too might share the same hope of release from decay that will one day come to God’s children (vv. 20–21). The hope of man does not lie in cryonics (freezing the dead) but in resurrection.

Paul speaks of the present creation as (1) subject to frustration, (2) not of its own choice, and (3) subjected in hope. “Frustration” (Gk. mataiotēti) means “to no purpose” or “against the norm, unexpected.” It may be Paul’s commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:2, “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!,’ says the Teacher. ‘. . . Everything is meaningless.’” From one point of view nature seems to be imbued with the seeds of futility, decay, and death (“bondage to decay,” v. 21). Creation does not now fulfill its intended goal, which was to be our wonderful habitat. The forces of nature seem from time to time to work against themselves and us, and they do not achieve their intended ends. When drought, floods, hurricanes, or disease destroy vegetation and life, then beauty fades, vitality decays, and joy turns to weeping. This frustration produces what might be called a symphony of nature played in a minor key but with the expectation of a glorious finale. God has Himself subjected the created universe to a form of captivity resulting in this seeming lack of purpose in order to create “hope” in the glorious future release of creation along with the children of God (vv. 20–21).

However, the simplest and most straightforward interpretation would take “frustration” here (“futility”) in its most basic sense as denoting the ineffectiveness of that which does not attain its goal. Paul’s meaning then would be something like this: Creation was brought into being in order to glorify the Creator, God. But creation cannot reach its intended purpose without our willing participation, whereby creation is intelligently brought through our worship as an offering to the Creator. 

Paul does not say why God so subjected the universe; it may be tied up with human sin and the “curse” upon the ground (Gen. 3:17; 5:29). He who originally put the creation under our dominion has now put the creation under bondage to the effects of our sin and will make it a partaker of our blessing in the future (Matt. 19:28; Acts 3:21, “renewal of all things”).

It is important in our day to note how Paul connects us with nature. The fate of nature is bound up with our fate. We cannot solve our ecological problems without at the same time attending to our own problem. Note carefully that we can only find a partial remedy to the problems of ecology (creation) until the ultimate problem of human existence in sinful flesh is remedied by the personal return of Jesus Christ and the creation of new bodies and a new environment (Rev. 20:6; 21:1–2). Hence freedom is the significant mark of glorification for both creation and the human body.

But the present experience is no mere bumpy hayride. “The whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth” (Rom. 8:22), and we also “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for. . . the redemption of our bodies” (v. 23). Creation can do nothing but wait, groan (moan), and hope. Christians also do not escape this frustration in their spiritual conflicts. Life (out of death) and pain are the twin realities of authentic Christian existence. We too then must wait, groan, and hope, but Christians have something the creation lacks, namely, “the firstfruits of the Spirit.” Firstfruits are the pledge or first installment of the whole harvest, which is to come (Lev. 23:10; Rom. 11:16). The Spirit’s present work in us is the pledge of all that God has promised to do in the future for us. The precise meaning of our present trials and apparently meaningless suffering is not clear, but because of the Spirit’s encouragement we can wait to see the glorious outcome. Think of a caterpillar slowly advancing over the weaves of a tapestry. It can see only occasional changes in the color and sizes of the threads, but they would have no apparent meaning even if the caterpillar could understand. Yet when the caterpillar emerges from its chrysalis as a butterfly that can fly above the tapestry and see the beautiful design of the whole, the unexplainable pieces it has seen as it walked over the weavings will be instantly transformed.

Christians are not yet fully redeemed, even though they are fully accepted by God. They possess now a body destined for death (7:24; 8:10), but they also have received the indwelling Spirit who provides both enabling power to rise above the sinful Adamic natural life and a guarantee that our bodies will one day be freed through resurrection from death and decay (8:11; 2 Cor. 5:4). We are real children of God now and adopted (8:15), but we are not fully the children of God (“adoption,” v. 23) until our physical bodies also have been released (“redeemed”) from death and decay (including sickness) in the resurrection. The Spirit’s presence and ministries in us are our encouraging guarantee or foretaste of the greater things to come (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Gen. 24:53)!

In verses 24–25 Paul again poses a paradox. We were truly saved in the past moment when by faith Christ became our righteousness, but we were not fully saved because we were saved “in hope” of the future complete restoration. Our present salvation includes the hope of the future resurrection of our bodies (Phil. 3:21), but inasmuch as it is not yet realized (“seen”) we must “wait for it patiently” (v. 25; 5:3–5). Faith is the means whereby we are given a salvation that includes hope. Therefore, faith and hope, though distinguishable, are inseparable in Christian experience. “Hope nourishes and sustains faith,” remarked Calvin. Power for living in the present sufferings with Christ lies in the direction of this hope in our future glorification with Christ. Truly the God of the future is greater than the God of the past (from our perspective). This future hope ought to affect our imaginations in the manner in which we confront the pain and darkness of the present. Focusing on the reality of God’s future transforms the evaluation of our present experiences and decisions. Therefore, growth in hope is the key to growth in the love of God and in the love of others (Rom. 15:13).