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Romans Commentary Chapters 1-8  /  Romans 8:14-18 Our Adoption as Children of God  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 10
Paul’s heirship is explicitly conditional here: “joint heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him,” and Ambrosiaster expands suffering to include killing the flesh, ridicule, and refusing fleeting pleasures (with Clement adding “internal persecution” from ungodly desires); what “suffering with Him” are you currently avoiding, and what would change—practically—if you believed Romans 8:17–18 as stated, not softened?
Another way to ask: Romans 8 says we are heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him—what kind of suffering (saying no to sin, being mocked, giving up comfort) are you avoiding right now? If you took Romans 8:17–18 at face value, what would you do differently this week?

Direct Answer The transcript defines “suffering with Him” broadly: not only persecution, but mortifying the flesh, enduring ridicule, and denying fleeting pleasures, including the painful “internal persecution” of resisting ungodly desires. If Romans 8:17–18 is believed as stated, a believer would accept these hardships as the condition of future glory and see present afflictions as incomparable to the coming reward.

Support from Transcript:

  • Romans 8:17 is conditional: “joint heirs with Christ if we suffer with Him so that we also may be glorified together.”
  • Bercot: Paul’s promises are “all conditional… We will be glorified with Him if we suffer with Him.”
  • Paul to Timothy: “If we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.”
  • Ambrosiaster: suffering includes “put to death the flesh,” “enduring ridicule,” and “denying ourselves the fleeting pleasures of this world.”
  • Clement: the most painful can be “internal persecution… tormented by ungodly desires.”
  • Romans 8:18: present sufferings are “not worthy of comparison” with future “glory,” echoed by “light affliction… eternal weight of glory.”
Discussion Follow-ups Which is harder for you right now: external ridicule, or the internal war of saying no to desire—and how would the promised “glory” change your willingness to endure?

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