Children and Heirs

Romans 8:12–17

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.

“For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God; and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.”

Paul has just distinguished those who are in the flesh from those who are in the Spirit. His readers are not in the flesh but in the Spirit because the Spirit of God dwells in them, and that same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will eventually give life to their mortal bodies. Paul now draws out what that new condition means for the believer’s present life and relationship with God.

Those who possess the Spirit owe nothing to the flesh that belonged to the order of sin and death. Instead, by the Spirit they put to death the deeds of the body. The Spirit who gives life also identifies them as God’s children, replacing bondage and fear with adoption and the cry, “Abba! Father!”

That identity carries an inheritance. If believers are children of God, they are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Yet Paul does not separate sharing Christ’s inheritance from sharing the pattern of Christ’s life. The path toward glory includes suffering with him. The resurrection hope of verse 11 therefore expands into a larger promise: those led by the Spirit belong to the Father, share the inheritance of the Son, and will ultimately be glorified with him.

We Are Not Debtors to the Flesh

Romans 8:12–13

“So then” draws an ethical consequence from the reality Paul has just described. His readers are no longer “in the flesh” but “in the Spirit.” The Spirit of God dwells in them, and their future resurrection is secured by the presence of the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. Because their condition has changed, their obligation has changed with it.

“We are debtors,” Paul says, but “not to the flesh.” The flesh has no rightful claim upon those who belong to Christ. Throughout the preceding chapters, the order associated with the flesh has produced sin, captivity, condemnation, and death. Those who have been liberated from that order do not owe it continued allegiance.

Paul nevertheless speaks seriously about the consequence of living according to the flesh: “if you live after the flesh, you must die.” This warning belongs to the contrast already established in verses 5–8. The mind of the flesh is death because it is hostile toward God and does not submit to his law. Life according to the flesh therefore belongs to the order whose end has consistently been death throughout Romans.

The opposite is not self-generated moral improvement. Paul says, “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” The believer acts, but the believer acts “by the Spirit.” Paul does not replace dependence upon the flesh with dependence upon stronger human determination. The Spirit who liberates from the law of sin and death also empowers the putting to death of the deeds belonging to the old order.

This command also prevents Paul’s declaration that believers are “not in the flesh” from being misunderstood as though sin no longer requires active resistance. Their defining condition has changed, but the deeds associated with the mortal body must still be put to death. Liberation from sin’s dominion creates both the possibility and the obligation of refusing what once ruled.

Led by the Spirit of God

Romans 8:14

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.”

Paul now identifies those who live by the Spirit in relational terms: they are “children of God.”

Being led by the Spirit must be understood within the argument Paul is making. He has not been discussing private impressions, extraordinary guidance, or individualized messages concerning ordinary decisions. The immediate context concerns life according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh. Those led by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body and live within the new order God has established in Christ.

The Spirit’s leading therefore identifies the life of God’s children. It is the continuing work of the Spirit who has liberated them from the law of sin and death and now directs their lives away from the deeds of the flesh.

Paul’s wording joins identity and conduct without confusing them. He does not say that people earn the status of God’s children by accumulating sufficient acts of obedience. The Spirit already dwells in those who belong to Christ. Yet the presence of that Spirit is not morally inactive. Those who are children of God are led by the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of Adoption

Romans 8:15

“For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”

Paul contrasts what believers did not receive with what they did receive. They did not receive “the spirit of bondage again to fear.” Their relationship with God is not a return to the slavery from which the preceding chapters have described their liberation.

Instead, they received “the Spirit of adoption.” Adoption gives relational content to the change Paul has described throughout Romans 8. Those in Christ are not merely released prisoners whose condemnation has been removed and who are then sent away. God brings them into his household as his children.

The Spirit gives expression to that relationship in the cry, “Abba! Father!”

Jesus used the same address in Gethsemane:

Mark 14:36

“He said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.’”

Paul also uses the same language when describing adoption in Galatians:

Galatians 4:4–6

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children. And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’”

The cry therefore belongs to the relationship established through the Son and expressed through the Spirit. Those who once stood beneath sin, condemnation, and death now address God as Father.

Paul has moved from justification into the family relationship created by salvation without separating the two. The God who justifies the ungodly does not merely issue a favorable verdict. Those who are in Christ receive his Spirit and are received as his children.

The Spirit Testifies

Romans 8:16

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.”

The Spirit who produces the cry of adoption also testifies to the reality expressed by that cry: “we are children of God.”

Paul does not explain this testimony as an audible declaration or a special revelation granted only to unusually spiritual Christians. It belongs to the work of the Spirit he has been describing throughout the passage. The Spirit dwells in those who belong to Christ, leads them away from the flesh, enables them to put to death the deeds of the body, and produces the filial cry by which they address God as Father.

The assurance Paul describes is therefore inseparable from the presence and work of the Spirit. Christian confidence does not rest merely upon introspection, as though believers must search their own emotional condition until they discover sufficient certainty. Nor does Paul direct them toward an experience detached from Christ. The Spirit testifies with the believer’s spirit to the relationship God has established in Christ: they are children of God.

Romans 6 could describe believers as servants of God because the language of slavery made the transfer of allegiance clear. Romans 8 now adds another dimension to that relationship. The God whom they serve is also the Father who has adopted them, and children possess an inheritance.

Heirs of God

Romans 8:17

“and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.”

Paul moves directly from adoption to inheritance: “if children, then heirs.”

The inheritance belongs to the family relationship. Those whom God has adopted as his children are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” The believer’s future is therefore bound to the Son whose Spirit dwells within him.

Paul has already connected believers with Christ’s death and resurrection. In Romans 6, they died with Christ and will live with him. In Romans 8:11, the God who raised Jesus will give life to their mortal bodies. Now Paul describes the same union in terms of inheritance. Those joined to the Son share in the inheritance that belongs to their relationship with him.

Yet Paul immediately introduces suffering: “if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.”

Suffering is not presented as payment by which believers purchase their inheritance. The inheritance belongs to children. Paul instead describes the pattern of union with Christ. The Christ with whom believers will be glorified is the Christ who first suffered.

The sequence of suffering and glory will govern the next section of Romans 8. Paul will place “the sufferings of this present time” alongside “the glory which will be revealed toward us” and expand the horizon to include the groaning of creation itself. Here the pattern is stated in relation to Christ. Those who belong to him share the present suffering that precedes the promised glory.

This prevents adoption from being reduced to a promise of present ease. Being a child of God does not mean exemption from the suffering of the present age. The Spirit testifies that believers are children of God while they still inhabit mortal bodies and live within a creation awaiting redemption. Their suffering does not contradict their adoption. Paul places it within the path toward the glory promised to those who belong to Christ.

The Spirit’s work does more than distinguish believers from those who remain in the flesh. He brings them into the life of God’s family. Those who possess the Spirit are led by him, put to death the deeds of the body by his power, and address God not from the bondage of fear but through the relationship of adoption: “Abba! Father!”

That relationship changes both the believer’s present obligation and future expectation. The flesh is no longer a master to whom obedience is owed. Those who belong to God live according to the Spirit because the Spirit of their Father dwells within them. Their obedience does not create their adoption; it belongs to the life produced by the Spirit given to God’s children.

They are also heirs. Their future is joined to Christ because they have been joined to Christ himself. The path includes suffering with him, but suffering does not overturn the promise of adoption. It belongs to the present stage of a life whose destination is glory.

Those who suffer with Christ will also be glorified with him. The children of God are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.