Romans 8:22-23 - Exposition

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only so, lout 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 . The present unwilling subjection of the whole visible creation to evil is here still more forcibly expressed, and spoken of as being what is known—a subject of experience to all who observe and think; and it is added that this state of things continues still—it is "until now." The yearned-for deliverance has not yet come; and therefore we should not be surprised if we too, the regenerate, while in the body, are not yet exempt from our share in the universal groaning. For we have but the first fruits of the Spirit as yet, not its full triumph; cf. "the earnest of the Spirit" ( 2 Corinthians 1:22 ), and "the earnest of our inheritance " ( Ephesians 1:14 ). Its being said that we still wait for our adoption as sons is not inconsistent with other statements (as in Ephesians 4:5-7 , and above, Ephesians 4:14 , etc.), to the effect that we are already adopted, and are already sons; for υἱοωεσία here denotes the final realization of our present sonship, when the sons of' God shall be revealed ( Romans 8:19 ). Similarly, our redemption ( ἀπολύτρωσις ) is here regarded as future. In one sense we are redeemed already; in another we await our redemption, i.e. the full accomplishment thereof. It is the consummation called by our Lord ἡ παλιγγενεσία ( Matthew 19:28 ), and by St. Peter, ἀποκατάστασις πάντων ( Acts 3:21 ). cf. 2 Peter 3:13 , and Revelation generally. "Of our body" seems to be added with reference to what has been seen above as to our present "mortal bodies" being both the organs of the lust of the flesh and the hindrances to the proper development of our inward spiritual life.