Question:
Romans 8:16,17 says, “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Why are we heirs if we suffer with Him? What does it mean to suffer with Him?
Answer:
Let me begin by quoting an excerpt from Mr. W. E. Vines’s commentary on Romans: “This (if so be that we suffer with Him) is not to be taken into such close connection with the phrase “joint-heirs” as to make that position conditional upon our suffering with Him here. The word EIPER, “if so be,” indicates here that to suffer with Christ is characteristic of believers generally. True Christianity is, in one way or another, a suffering quantity in this world.”I believe Mr. Vine is saying that we are not heirs because we suffer with Christ, but that because we have believed on Christ, we will necessarily suffer with Him. Suffering with Christ is thus the fruit of being a child and an heir of God.
Take “good works” to further illustrate this truth. We know that good works has nothing to do with our becoming a child of God, but Scripture maintains that good works will characterize the one who is truly saved (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5,8). If one professes faith in Christ, but does not manifest any good works, his so-called faith is called dead (James 2:20, 22) and cannot save him. Likewise, if one professes to be a child and an heir of God, and never experiences “suffering with Christ,” we would be justified in questioning the reality of his/her profession.
I believe this subject becomes clearer when we consider the second part of your question: “What does it mean to suffer with Him?” Scripture speaks elsewhere of suffering FOR Christ (Acts 5:41; 9:16; Philippians 1:29), but here alone do we read of suffering WITH Him. To suffer FOR Christ involves incurring the hatred and persecution of the world as we testify of Christ. But I believe suffering WITH Christ has a much broader scope. When our Lord walked the earth we know that He suffered greatly as He testified for the Father. Men ridiculed Him and eventually put Him on the cross because of His witness of the Father. Thus, He suffered FOR Him (the Father). But can we say that His suffering was confined to being persecuted on account of His testimony to the Father? When we read of Him prophetically in Isaiah 53 as a “man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” is this speaking solely of what He felt when enduring the hatred of an ungodly world? I don’t think so. I believe it is also referring to the sorrow and grief which He experienced when His holy nature constantly witnessed evil (in every shape and form) and the terrible effects of sin (such as disease, demon-possession, and death). (Ed. It also hurts the Lord, and His people when souls show by missing meetngs that they have turned from Him today.) We (who are children of God) have His holy nature, and as we walk in this world which is so contrary to God, we will indeed suffer as we see the ravages of sin, and in that way we will be suffering WITH Him. If one never suffers with Him in this way, we can be sure that the Divine nature is absent (He is NOT a child and heir of God).