“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us,” Romans 8:17-18.
These verses were part of ay Bible reading on Tuesday 18th July. Romans chapter 8 is brimful of a gloriously heart-warming setting forth of the sweetest Gospel truths. This is a truth that can’t be overestimated!
Each statement of the Holy Ghost inspired apostle is a miniature Bible in itself!
These two verses contain so much but I do wish to set forth a few considerations that were suggested to my soul as I read them.
I. THE PRIVILEGED POSITION AND STANDING OF THE CHRISTIAN
“Children, heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ”.
1. There is a reference first of all to our spiritual birth. That is when it all began. Before we were ‘Born again’, were “the children of disobedience . . . the children of wrath,” Ephesian 2:2-3.
We were sinners in rebellion against God and destined for hellfire! We were totally undeserving of the kindness of God which plucked us “a brand . . . out of the fire?,” Zechariah 3:2.
2. As children born into God’s family, we became heirs of God. We were born into an unspeakably rich inheritance!
What has been made over to us and which we have begun to enjoy to a small degree, cannot be valued in human terms. Just the knowledge imparted to us by the Gospel has been valued by David, as “more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb,” Psalm 19:10.
If that is the value of the ‘the letter’ telling us of our inheritance, what must not our inheritance be worth?
Again its value is seen in that it is an eternal inheritance. Hear Peter’s words on this matter.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time,” 1 Peter 1:3-5.
Ought this not to remove all fear of dying for this is what awaits us in glory?
Savour this truth, dear Christian!
3. To further add to the value of that which we will fully inherit one day, note that we are joint-heirs with Christ!
The Greek word thus translated, sugkleronomos, is explained as meaning, ‘One who obtains something assigned to himself with others, a joint participant.’
In legal terms, that means that Christ cannot enter into His inheritance without us by His side, claiming ours!
Again, Christian, muse on this breathtaking truth! As Christians we each one make up an absolutely essential component of the eternal purpose of God and without US, that purpose cannot be finalised and accomplished!
This is truly awe-inspiring!
II. FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS WILL SUFFER WITH CHRIST.
To be eternal linked to Christ means that in time we are associated with Him also.
1. Some shamefully seek to hide that association! The ‘great and the good’ have been guilty of such reprehensible behaviour. “And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto. But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak,” Mark 14:70-71.
Peter was most strident in his denial of the Saviour but others deny Him just as effectively though less noticeably! I need only mention Joseph of Arimathaea. He was a “disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews,” John 19:38.
He did recover himself from that cowardice that stopped his tongue. Christian, remember just what a Christian is.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved,” Romans 10:9.
2. That which engenders such fear and silence is real. Peter saw in the abuse His Saviour was suffering, that which would befall him if he acknowledged that he was a follower of Jesus!
It is our privilege to feel something of the pain that the Saviour endured at the hands of men.
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not,” Isaiah 53:3.
The Lord Jesus was held in contempt. The word ‘rejected” comes from a Hebrew word found in Exodus 14:12. Here the Israelites are chiding with Moses and reminding him of their opposition in the past to his witness. “Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness,” Exodus 14:12.
All told, Isaiah 53:3 depicts a ‘silent’ disowning of the Redeemer, arising out of a heart that holds Him in contempt. Such is the experience of those who openly, unashamedly STAND with Christ in days such as these.
3. The little phrase, ‘if so be that we suffer with him’, indicates that such suffering is not the constant portion of every Christian. I believe that EVERY Christian will at some point suffer, at least to some measure, the abhorrence of unregenerate man. It fell on Christ in its fulness but some drops will also fall on every Christian at some time!
Might I say of Free Presbyterians, that happened in early years of our denomination and reached somewhat of a peak in the 1960s to the early 1980s.
I took this picture of some old ‘Revivalists’ magazines I have in my possession.
You will not see such headlines in today’s Free Presbyterian church magazines. These headlines illustrate the topics dealt with under the leadership of the late Dr Ian Paisley, who was the Editor.
We are much too ‘respectable’, in the views of foolish men, to issue forth such condemnations today against those some of our ministers choose to march alongside and share in preaching meetings with!
It has even been told to students in our Bible College that there is no need for protest today. ‘The day of protesting is over’!
Any who have put forth such nonsense is unfitted for the ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church, never mind a lectureship in its Bible College!
These ‘wise’ men do not seem to note that they are contradicting the inspired Word of God, written by the likes of Jude!
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints,” Jude 1:3.
The word “contend” is closely associated with the word “strive”. “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able,” Luke 13:24. There is fervent effort denoted by both “contend” and “strive”.
An apology and a correction is due from any who taught the folly to any student that the day of protesting is over!
‘Quiet’
In adopting this ‘quiet’ avoidance of owning Christ, there is a refusing to do that which Paul urges upon all believers.
“Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach,” Hebrews 13:13.
Have we forgotten what Paul tells us in our text? “If . . . we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together,” Romans 8:17.
A view, no matter how small, of Christ’s glorious kingdom, will make us ready and willing and glad to suffer a little with Him here!
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Thursday 20th August 2026