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The same goal, `adoption', is associated with predestination in Romans
8.
First let us see the structure.
Romans 8:1 -39
A
1 -4.
No condemnation. God sent His own Son (huios).
B
5 -15. Led by Spirit of God. sons now (huios).
C 15 -17. Spirit itself bears witness. Sonship (huiothesia).
D 17 -21. Suffering and glory. Manifestation of sons (huios).
C
22 -28. Spirit Itself intercedes. sonship (huiothesia).
B
29,30. Conformed to the image of His Son then (huios).
A
31 -39. Who condemns? He spared not His Own Son (huios).
Just as the chapter opens with a statement concerning the believer's
immunity from condemnation, so it closes with the same fact, and upon the
same ground, namely, the gift of God's Son:
`There is therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus ... God sending His Own Son ... Condemned sin in the flesh' (Rom.
8:1 -3).
`He that spared not His own Son ... who is he that Condemneth? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is even at the
right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us' (Rom. 8:32 -
34).
This, then, is the beginning and end of the matter, even as it is the
beginning and end of the structure -- `His own Son'. The next fact that
emerges is that all who are thus blessed are `sons of God' too. The member
marked B 5 -15 is full of references to the Spirit, the spirit of
resurrection anticipating now in this life and in these mortal bodies, that
glorious consummation when we shall in actual fact be `conformed to the image
of His Son' in resurrection glory. And so the two corresponding members
read:
B
5 -15 Led by the Spirit of God. sons now (huios).
B
29,30 Conformed to the image of His son then (huios).
Added to this leading by the Spirit of God is His `witness' and His
`intercession'.
`The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God' (Rom. 8:16).
`The Spirit Itself maketh intercession ... for the saints according to
the will of God' (Rom. 8:26,27).
This `witness' and `intercession' are closely associated with the fact
that these sons of God are not yet in glory, but here in the midst of a
groaning creation. They are strengthened to suffer because of the glory that
is to come; they are `saved by hope'; and while they often know not what to
pray for, they do know that all things work together for good. It is in this
realm that the witness and intercession of the Spirit have their place. In
the structure it will be seen that the word Son gives place to Sonship, which
is the word translated `adoption' in the A.V.:
C
15 -17
Spirit Itself bears witness.
sonship (huiothesia).