8:12 Because of what God has done for us (vv. 1-11), believers have an obligation to respond appropriately. However we can only do so with the Spirit's help. Paul stated only the negative side of our responsibility here. He could have gone on to say ". . . but to God, to live according to the Spirit."He planned to stress that in the verses that follow.
This verse teaches clearly that the believer still has a sinful human nature within him even though he has died with Christ. God does not eradicate the believer's flesh at conversion. Therefore we must not "live[walk] according to"it. Progressive sanctification is not something the Christian may take or leave. God commanded us to pursue it (cf. 2 Pet. 1:3-11).
8:13 Christians who consistently follow the dictates of the flesh can look forward to death. This cannot be eternal death, separation from God forever, in view of specific promises to the contrary (e.g., vv. 1, 31-39). Therefore it must mean temporal death. Sin produces death in many forms, for example, separation of the body from the soul (physical death that may be premature for those who follow the flesh; cf. 1 Cor. 11:30; 1 John 5:16). It may be separation of the person from others (death in social relationships) or separation of the person from himself (psychological alienation and disorders).
Conversely believers who follow God's will with the enablement of the Holy Spirit and put the deeds of the body (i.e., the flesh; cf. 6:6) to death will experience abundant life. It is possible to possess eternal life and yet not experience it fully (John 10:10). Only Christians who follow God faithfully will experience their eternal life to its fullest potential. This fullness of life involves psychological and social wholeness and well as physical longevity under normal circumstances.
The present tense of the verbs is significant. This tense stresses the necessity of continually putting to death the deeds of the flesh. Paul viewed the presentation of ourselves to God as an initial act of commitment (6:13; 12:1), but He wrote that we must daily and hourly choose to mortify our flesh (cf. 13:14).
"Here is a terrible warning: . . . It is one of the great red lights by which God keeps His elect out of fatal paths. . . .
"For we must note most carefully that a holy life is to be lived by us. It is not that we have any power,--we have none. But God's Spirit dwells in us for the express object of being called upon by us to put to death the doings of the body.' Self-control is one of that sweet cluster called the fruit of the Spirit,' in Galatians 5:22."254
Verses 14-17 explain the Spirit's ministry of confirming the reality of the believer's position as a son of God to him or her. Paul believed that the believer who is aware of his or her secure position will be more effective in mortifying his or her flesh.
8:14 Paul wrote to the Galatians that the law leads people to Christ (Gal. 3:24). The Holy Spirit does this too (John 16:8-11). Having come to Christ the Holy Spirit continues to lead us in the moral will of God. The Holy Spirit leads every true child of God (Gal. 5:18). He goes before us and expects us to follow Him as a shepherd does his sheep. However we can choose to follow or not to follow Him, to walk according to the Spirit or to walk according to the flesh (v. 13). The Spirit leads us objectively through the Scriptures and subjectively by His internal promptings (John 20:31; 1 John 3:24; 5:13; Rom 8:16; Gal. 4:6).255
"There is deep mystery, no doubt, in the great double fact of [sic] God is working in us to will, and on the other hand, of our choosing His will, moment by moment. We can only affirm that both are taught in Scripture . . ."256
8:15 Unlike sin the Spirit does not enslave us. He does not compel or force us to do God's will as slaves of God. Rather He appeals to us to do so as sons of God. The "spirit"in view is probably the Holy Spirit who has made us God's sons by regeneration and adoption.
"Abba"and "Father"are equivalent terms the first being a transliteration of the Aramaic word and the second a translation of the Greek pater(cf. Gal. 4:6). Probably Paul used the Aramaic as well as the Greek term to highlight the intimate relationship the Christian disciple enjoys with God. The Lord Jesus revealed this intimate relationship during His training of the Twelve (Mark 14:36).257In their translations J. B. Phillips paraphrased "Abba! Father!"as "Father, my Father,"and Arthur S. Way rendered it, "My Father, my own dear Father."
Adoption is another legal term (cf. justification). It indicates the legal bestowal of a legal standing. Both adoption and justification result in a permanent condition, and both rest on the love and grace of God.258
"Paul could hardly have chosen a better term than adoption' to characterize this peace and security. The word denoted the Greek, and particularly Roman, legal institution whereby one can adopt' a child and confer on that child all the legal rights and privileges that would ordinarily accrue to a natural child. However, while the institution is a Greco-Roman one, the underlying concept is rooted in the OT and Judaism [i.e., God's adoption of Israel]."259
8:16 God has provided the believer with two witnesses to his or her salvation, the Holy Spirit and our human spirit (cf. Deut. 17:6; Matt. 18:16). The former witness is objective in Scripture and subjective (cf. v. 14) while the latter is only subjective.260
The term "children"identifies our family relationship based on regeneration whereas "sons"stresses our legal standing based on adoption.
8:17 Being a child of God makes us His heirs (cf. 1 Pet. 1:3-4). We inherit with Jesus Christ our brother (v. 29). We inherit both sufferings, as His disciples now, and glory, most of which lies in the future (cf. 1 Pet. 4:13). The phrase "if indeed"seeks to render the first class condition in the Greek that in this case we could translate "since."Just as surely as we share His sufferings (Gr. sumpaschomen, any sufferings, not just those connected with our bearing witness for Christ) now we will share His glory in the future. This is a reference to the glorification that every believer will experience at the end of his or her life (vv. 18-25). Our glory then will be in proportion to our suffering for His sake as His disciples now (cf. 1 Pet. 4:12-19).
The New Testament teaches that the amount of inheritance the children of God receive will vary depending on our faithfulness to God (Luke 19:11-27). However, there is no doubt that all Christians are the heirs of God and will inherit glorification as well as many other blessings (cf. 1 Pet. 1:3-12).261
"All regenerate men have God as their inheritance, or as Paul puts it, are heirs of God' (Rom. 8:17; Gal. 4:7). That heirship is received on the basis of only one work, the work of believing. But there is another inheritance in the New Testament, an inheritance which, like that of the Israelites, is merited. They are also heirs of the kingdom and joint-heirs with the Messiah (2 Tim. 2:12; Rom. 8:17)."262
This verse is not teaching that experiencing glorification, the third stage of every believer's salvation, depends on our suffering for Jesus' sake. God will eventually glorify every Christian, those who take a stand for the Lord and those who do not (vv. 29-39).
"Such passages leave no room at allfor a partial rapture!' Allthe saints will share Christ's glory."263
