Section 9
children of God in verse 16 and the sons of God in verse 14. The children of God are in the initial stage of the divine life, the stage which mainly concerns the birth, while the sons of God are in a more advanced stage, the stage which con cerns the growth in life. In order to be children of God we need the witnessing of the Spirit with our spirit, but in order to be the sons of God we need the leading of the Spirit by the sense of the divine life.
The Firstfruit of the Spirit
Romans 8:17 says, "And if children, heirs also; heirs of God and joint-heirs of Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified with Him." In verse 17 we see that we have pro gressed from children to heirs. The semicolon in this verse indicates that there is a condition involved in being an heir. We should not say that because we are children we are heirs. This is too hasty. There is no condition imposed for us to be the children of God. As long as the Spirit witnesses with our spirit, we are the children of God. However, for us to progress from children to heirs there is a condition.
The condition for being heirs of God and joint-heirs of Christ is that "we suffer with Him