Romans 8:23

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. AND NOT ONLY [THEY] BUT OURSELVES ALSO, [ ou (G3756) monon (G3440) de (G1161), alla (G235) kai (G2532) autoi (G846)] - rather, 'And not only so, but even we ourselves;' that is, besides the inanimate creation, WHICH HAVE THE FIRST-FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT - meaning, not 'the Spirit's first-fruits,...

23._And not only so_, _etc. _There are those who think that the Apostle intended here to exalt the dignity of our future blessedness, and by this proof, because all things look for it with ardent desire; not only the irrational parts of creation, but we also who have been regenerated by the Spirit of God. This view is indeed capable of being defended, but there seems to me to be a comparison here between the greater and the less; as though he said, “The excellency of our glory is of such importance even to the very elements, which are destitute of mind and reason, that they burn with a certain kind of desire for it; how much more it behoves us, who have been illuminated by the Spirit of God, to aspire and strive with firmness of hope and with ardour of desire, after the attainment of so great a benefit.” And he requires that there should be a feeling of two kinds in the faithful: that be...

18-25 The sufferings of the saints strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time, are light afflictions, and but for a moment. How vastly different are the sentence of the word and the sentiment of the world, concerning the sufferings of this present time! Indeed the whole creation seems to wait with earnest expectation for the period when the children of God shall be manifested in the glory prepared for them. There is an impurity, deformity, and infirmity, which has come upon the creature by the fall of man. There is an enmity of one creature to another. And they are used, or abused rather, by men as instruments of sin. Yet this deplorable state of the creation is in hope. God will deliver it from thus being held in bondage to man's depravity. The miseries of the human race, through their own and each other's wickedness, declare that the world is not al...

Verse 23. _AND NOT ONLY THEY, BUT OURSELVES ALSO_] Neither the _Gentiles_ only, but we _Jews_ also, (however we belong to a nation envious of the heathen,) to whom God hath granted the first fruits of the Spirit; we sigh among ourselves for their sakes, waiting for the adoption; that is, the redemption of our mystical body, whereof the Gentiles make a very great part. _Lightfoot's_ works. vol. ii. p. 359 and 707. The scope and design of St. Paul in these verses may be thus summed up:-The apostle shows that the whole creation is in a suffering state, into which it has been brought by the disobedience of one man, Adam; therefore, it was _made subject to_ _vanity_-pain, sickness, and death; not willingly, for mankind had no part in that transgression which "brought death into the world and all our wo;" but God subjected the whole, purposing to afford them a deliverance and infusing into e...

AND NOT ONLY THEY - Not only the creation in general. “But ourselves also.” Christians. WHICH HAVE THE FIRST-FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT - The word used ἀπαρχὴ aparchē denotes properly the first-fruits of the harvest, the portion that was first collected and consecrated to God as an offering of gratitude, Deuteronomy 26:2; Exodus 23:19; Numbers 18:13. Hence, the word means what is first in order of time. Here it means, as I suppose, that the Christians of whom Paul was speaking had partaken of the first influences of the Spirit, or had been among the first partakers of his influences in convert

EXPOSITION ROMANS 8:1 (_c_) _The blessed condition and assured hope of such as are in Christ _Jesus. The summary of the contents of this chapter, which follows the Exposition, may be referred to in the first place by the student, so as to assist comprehension of the line of thought. ROMANS 8:1 THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION TO THEM WHICH ARE IN CHRIST JESUS. (The additional words of this verse in the Textus Receptus have but slight support, having probably been supplied from Romans 8:4. They are out of place here.) "Nunc venit ad liberationem et libertatem. Non autem ponit adversativam δὲ, _autem,_ sed conclusivam a!ra, erg

AND NOT ONLY THEY, BUT OURSELVES ALSO,.... Not only they Gentiles, but we Jews likewise: WHICH HAVE THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE SPIRIT: meaning either the apostles, who were all Jews, and who most of them received the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit on the day of "Pentecost", which was the day of the firstfruits, Numbers 28:26; and to which there seems to be an allusion here; or else the Jewish converts in general: to the Jews the promises of the Messiah were made; to them he first came; the Gospel was first preached unto them, and some of them first believed in Christ; they had the grace of God communicated to them in conversion, which they received as the firstfruits, with respect to an after increase; or in regard to glory, like the firstfruits, grace is of the same kind with glory, and is a pledge and earnest of it; saints judge by grace the firstfruits, what glory is,

Romans 8:1. _There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit._ To my mind one of the sweetest words of that verse is that little word now. «There is, therefore, now no condemnation» at this very moment. Walking under the power of the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus, there is, therefore, now no condemnation to believers. It is a logical conclusion, too, from something that went before. You and I are not absolved from sin apart from the truth, but there is a great truth at the back of it which necessitates it. «There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.» Romans 8:2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Je

ADOPTION Literally, placing as sons. See Adoption, (Romans 8:15)....

ROMANS 8:23 ui`oqesi,an {A} Several witnesses, chiefly Western (î46vid D G 614 itd, g _al_), omit ui`oqesi,an, a word that copyists doubtless found to be both clumsy in the context and dispensable, as well as seeming to contradict ver. Romans 8:15....