In Romans 6-8, Paul discusses how the justification received in Christ has consequences for the Christian's life. Within this discussion where Paul shows that by baptism (a) the Christian has been united with Christ in death, (b) freed from the Law (c) placed under the power of the Spirit (d) for an inheritance of glory, the Apostle to the Gentiles underlines the relationship that the Christian now has with God. In Rom. 8:14-17, we find Paul declaring the Christians "children of God".
Romans 8:14-17 occupies a central position in Romans 8, bringing together thematic threads in vv. 1-13 and 18-39. Verses 14-17 is arranged in such a way that verses 14 and 17 create a frame for verses 15-16 that highlights the kind of Spirit received by the Christian in baptism (cf. Romans 5:5;6:3-4). Those who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death. Dead in Christ, they are also dead to the Law but alive in the new law of the Spirit (cf. 7:6) by which the love of God has been poured into the hearts of the baptized. And so Paul could say at the beginning of chapter 8 that the Christian has been set free from the law of sin and death (8:2)
The "spirit of slavery" and the "spirit of adoption" contrasted in verse 15 highlights the status of the Christian with regards to the Law. The Law makes us aware of sin and therefore of judgment, but does not give us the power to the will of God (Rom. 7:14-23). But God Himself has given us empowerment through Christ in whom sin in the flesh is condemned "so that the just requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Rom. 8:4).
The "Spirit of adoption" that Paul refers to is the Spirit that makes us children of God, the one who gives witness that we belong to Christ (Rom. 8:9). It is the Spirit that gives us the power to call upon "Abba" (Rom. 8:15), the Father of Our Lord, Jesus Christ (Rom. 15:16). The Lord's prayer, which the Christian has been empowered to pray, is one of the signs that demonstrate his present status as child of God. Even when the Christian prays, it is the Spirit who prays in and through him, interceding before God "with sighs too deep for words" (Rom. 8:26).
But the "Spirit of God" is incompatible with "sin" and "flesh". The Pauline contrast between "flesh" and "Spirit" is a contrast in the direction of one's life. A life that is turned away from God is life in the flesh; a life turned away from sin, is life in the Spirit. Those who are "led by the Spirit of God" are those who have lived the consequences of their baptism into the death of Christ. Because they are now "dead in Christ", they are also dead to the inclinations of the flesh and to sin.
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Indeed if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Romans 6:4-6
In the face of the Judgment that now looms over the world, the Christian's reaction is hope (8:24), not fear (8:15). And even in the face of suffering and evil, the Christian is assured that he/she is destined to the inheritance of the children of God. It is the assurance of those who continue to experience the love of God in Christ (Rom. 8:31-39)
Thematic Similarity with 1 John 3
The passage from Rom. 8:14-17 with its theme of the Christian's divine filiation can be compared to that of 1 John 3:1-3. The contexts of both passages, however, are different. The Letter to the Romans is a systematic presentation of Paul's gospel to the community of faith that he has not yet met. 1 John, on the other hand, is a pastoral intervention to a community who has just survived a crisis of faith. These differences only highlight the common conviction shared by the two authors of the status of Christians before God. In 1 John 3, the emphasis is laid on the reality of God's love as shown in the cross of Christ of which water, blood and the Spirit are witnesses. By this love, the Christian has become "child of God." 1 In Romans, however, we have the Pauline contrast between the Law and the Spirit bearing on the life of the Christian. Because the Spirit has been poured into the Christian (Romans 5:5) and has been baptized into the death of Christ, he has began to share in the new life of the Spirit, the Spirit of filiation that makes him cry out "Abba, Father."
Note for the Liturgy of the Feast of the Holy Trinity
The present selection from Paul is read on the Solemnity of the Holy Trinity. Note that in these passages, one finds references to the Father, the Son (Christ) and the Holy Spirit. The connection of the passage to the Trinity is mediated by the Christian's baptism (Rom. 6:3-4). In fact, references to the changed status of the Christian brought about by baptism is indicated by words having the nuance of filiation ("children", "adoption", "heirs"). Through baptism, one has become a child of the Father, a co-heir with the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. The gospel reading from the commissioning of the apostles in Matthew 28, underlines the baptismal connection to the economic Trinity2: "Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
- 1. The thematic connection between the death of Christ and the sonship of Christians appears also in Paul (cf. Gal. 4:4-7) but always within the context of the thematic contrast between Freedom and Slavery.
- 2. The term "economic Trinity" is the Trinity as revealed in the history of salvation and found in the Scriptures. It is distinguished from the "immanent Trinity" which is more speculative.
