8:23 {22} And not only [they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within {d} ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [to wit], {e} the redemption of our body.
(22) Fifthly, if the rest of the world looks for a restoring, groaning as it were for it and that not in vain, let us also sigh, indeed, let us be more certainly persuaded of our redemption to come, for we already have the first fruits of the Spirit.
(d) Even from the bottom of our hearts.
(e) The last restoring, which will be the accomplishment of our adoption.
8:23 Not only [they], but ourselves also. Not only does the world groan, but Christians, though they have
the firstfruits of the Spirit, a pledge of a rich and full harvest,
groan. There is an eager longing for the fuller enjoyment promised.
Waiting for the adoption. We are already adopted children, but rather in expectation that in realization. We have not received the inheritance, the full revealing of the sons of God (Ro 8:19, Revised Version).
The redemption of our body. When the full adoption comes, we will not have these poor, frail, dying bodies, subject to weakness, sinfulness and decay, but spiritual bodies. For in this we do groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven (2Co 5:2).
8:23 And even we, who have the first - fruits of the Spirit - That is, the Spirit, who is the first - fruits of our inheritance. The adoption - Persons who had been privately adopted among the Romans were often brought forth into the forum, and there publicly owned as their sons by those who adopted them. So at the general resurrection, when the body itself is redeemed from death, the sons of God shall be publicly owned by him in the great assembly of men and angels. The redemption of our body - From corruption to glory and immortality.
8:18-25 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 always to continue as it is. Our having received the first-fruits of the Spirit, quickens our desires, encourages our hopes, and raises our expectations. Sin has been, and is, the guilty cause of all the suffering that exists in the creation of God. It has brought on the woes of earth; it has kindled the flames of hell. As to man, not a tear has been shed, not a groan has been uttered, not a pang has been felt, in body or mind, that has not come from sin. This is not all; sin is to be looked at as it affects the glory of God. Of this how fearfully regardless are the bulk of mankind! Believers have been brought into a state of safety; but their comfort consists rather in hope than in enjoyment. From this hope they cannot be turned by the vain expectation of finding satisfaction in the things of time and sense. We need patience, our way is rough and long; but He that shall come, will come, though he seems to tarry.
