Outline

«　WEEK 4　DAY 2　»

　　Rom. 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

　　16-17 The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, heirs also; on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other, joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified with Him.

　　The New Testament speaks of the believers as children of God, sons of God, and heirs of God. Being children of God is our initial, or primary, relationship with God. We may be children without the growth of a son, or we may be sons without the qualification of an heir. Therefore, we need to grow in order to become sons of God. Then we need further growth, growth to maturity, in order to be heirs of God. As heirs, we shall inherit the divine inheritance. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 1081)

　　[In Romans 8:14-17] three significant terms are used—children, sons, and heirs…The life of God works in three stages to make us sons of God. The life of God regenerates us in our spirit, transforms us in our soul, and transfigures our body. Hence, we have regeneration, transformation, and transfiguration. These together give us full sonship. As the result of these three steps, the sons are fully matured.

　　In this portion of Romans we are told that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God (v. 16). Verse 16 does not say “sons” or “heirs,” for in the first stage of sonship, we are simply little children who have been regenerated by the life of God. After this we will grow. Then verse 14 says that “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”…When we are capable of being led by the Spirit, it means that we have attained a certain growth in life. We have grown from children into sons who are able to take the leading of the Spirit. This means that we are in the second stage, the stage of transformation. Ultimately, we will become heirs…Therefore, in this portion of Romans we have children by regeneration, sons by transformation, and heirs by transfiguration, or glorification. We were born the children of God, we are growing up as the sons of God, and we are waiting for the time when we will be fully matured and legally declared to be the rightful heirs of God… The transfiguration of our body will qualify us to be the heirs of the divine inheritance. This transfiguration will be accomplished by glorification.

　　As a result of these three stages, we will obtain full sonship. These three stages [of sonship] correspond to the three stages of God’s salvation: the first stage, justification, produces children; the second stage, sanctification, enables the children to grow into sons; and the third stage, glorification, results in the transfiguration of the body so that we may become the legal heirs of the divine inheritance.

　　The condition for being heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ is that “we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified with Him” (v. 17)… Remember that suffering is the incarnation of grace…If we suffer with Him, we will be glorified with Him…The more suffering we pass through, the more our glory will be intensified, for suffering increases the intensity of our glory…In 1 Corinthians 15:41 Paul says that “star differs from star in glory,” indicating that some stars shine more brightly than others. We all will shine, and we all will be glorified, but the intensity of our glory will depend on the amount of suffering we are willing to take. It is certain that the apostle Paul in that day will shine more brightly than all of us…We will all be glorified, but the intensity of our glory will differ according to our suffering. Therefore, Paul says in Romans 8:18, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed upon us.” The present suffering means nothing compared with the coming glory. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 226-228, 219-220)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Romans, msg. 19