Rom 8:17

“I give you these instructions, beloved, assured that ye also hold the same opinions [as I do]. But I guard you beforehand from those beasts in the shape of men, whom you must not only not receive, but, if it be possible, not even meet with; only you must pray to God for them, if by any means they may be brought to repentance, which, however, will be very difficult. Yet Jesus Christ, who is our true life, has the power of [effecting] this. But if these things were done by our Lord only in appearance, then am I also only in appearance bound. And why have I also surrendered myself to death, to fire, to the sword, to the wild beasts? But, [in fact, ] he who is near to the sword is near to God; he that is among the wild beasts is in company with God; provided only he be so m the name of Jesus Christ. I undergo all these things that I may suffer together with Him, He who became a perfect man inwardly strengthening me.”

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." And therefore he afterward says: "Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (As it is written: For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we have been counted as sheep for the slaughter, ) Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him who loved us.”

“But give me now your best attention, I pray you, for I wish to go back to the fountain of life, and to view the fountain that gushes with healing. The Father of immortality sent the immortal Son and Word into the world, who came to man in order to wash him with water and the Spirit; and He, begetting us again to incorruption of soul and body, breathed into us the breath (spirit) of life, and endued us with an incorruptible panoply. If, therefore, man has become immortal, he will also be God. And if he is made God by water and the Holy Spirit after the regeneration of the layer he is found to be also joint-heir with Christ after the resurrection from the dead. Wherefore I preach to this effect: Come, all ye kindreds of the nations, to the immortality of the baptism. I bring good tidings of life to you who tarry in the darkness of ignorance. Come into liberty from slavery, into a kingdom from tyranny, into incorruption from corruption. And how, saith one, shall we come? How? By water and the Holy Ghost. This is the water in conjunction with the Spirit, by which paradise is watered, by which the earth is enriched, by which plants grow, by which animals multiply, and (to sum up the whole in a single word) by which man is begotten again and endued with life, in which also Christ was baptized, and in which the Spirit descended in the form of a dove.”

“Here "suffer with him" does not mean that we should sympathize and come to the aid of the sufferer, as it usually does in everyday parlance. Christ did not suffer in order to get attention, nor did he undergo weakness in order to gain the sympathy of those who felt sorry for him. To suffer with Christ means to endure the same sufferings that he was forced to suffer by the Jews because he preached the gospel.… If we suffer with him we shall be worthy to be glorified with him as well. This glory is the reward of our sufferings and is not to be regarded as a free gift. The free gift is that we have received remission of our former sins.”

“"And if children, then heirs." Observe how he enhances the Gift by little and little. For since it is a possible case to be children, and yet not become heirs (for it is not by any means all children that are heirs), he adds this besides-that we are heirs. But the Jews, besides their not having the same adoption as we, were also cast out from the inheritance. For "He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out the vineyard to other husbandmen": and before this, He said that "many shall come from the East and from the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, but the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out." But even here he does not pause, but sets down something even greater than this. What may this be then? That we are heirs of God; and so he adds, "heirs of God." And what is more still, that we are not simply heirs, but also "joint heirs with Christ." Observe how ambitious he is of bringing us near to the Master. For since it is not all children that are heirs, he shows that we are both children and heirs; next, as it is not all heirs that are heirs to any great amount, he shows that we have this point with us too, as we are heirs of God. Again, since it were possible to be God's heir, but in no sense "joint heir with" the Only-Begotten, he shows that we have this also. And consider his wisdom. For after throwing the distasteful part into a short compass, when he was saying what was to become of such as "live after the flesh," for instance, that they "shall die," when he comes to the more soothing part, he leadeth forth his discourse into a large room, and so expands it on the recompense of rewards, and in pointing out that the gifts too are manifold and great. For if even the being a child were a grace unspeakable, just think how great a thing it is to be heir! But if this be great, much more is it to be "joint heir." Then to show that the Gift is not of grace only, and to give at the same time a credibility to what he says, he proceeds, "If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together." If, he would say, we be sharers with Him in what is painful, much more shall it be so in what is good. For He who bestowed such blessings upon those who had wrought no good, how, when He seeth them laboring and suffering so much, shall he do else than give them greater requital? Having then shown that the thing was a matter of return, to make men give credit to what was said, and prevent any from doubting, he shows further that it has the virtue of a gift. The one he showed, that what was said might gain credit even with those that doubted, and that the receivers of it might not feel ashamed as being evermore receiving salvation for nought; and the other, that you might see that God outdoeth the toils by His recompenses. And the one he has shown in the words, "If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together."”

“As not every son is an heir of the one who procreated him, St. Paul rightly adds heredity to the adoption of sons. And given that a friend may often receive some inheritance from the Lord, Paul does not omit the word son but even adds that we are "fellow heirs with Christ," thereby revealing his ineffable love for mankind. For not all those who have been blessed with saving baptism enjoy these good things, but only those who accept the fellowship of the Lord's sufferings as well.”

“And concerning the Apostles it is written, "They shall sit upon thrones," and this indicateth to us the greatness of their honour, and their equality with Him in inheritance, even as Paul saith, "If we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him." And again he saith, "Heirs of God, and children of the inheritance of Jesus Christ." And again he saith, "If we endure with Him, we shall reign with Him." And again he saith, "He shall change the body of our humility, and shall make it like unto His glorious body, according to His great power through which all things are subject unto Him." Now therefore unto this greatness will the disciple attain if he travelleth completely in his Master's footsteps, but in order that thou mayest not think that this portion of honour came only to the Apostles, Paul said, "If we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him, and if we endure we shall also reign with Him." And our Lord Himself said unto the Apostles, "Not ye only, but every man who leaveth houses, or family, or brethren, or sisters, or children, for My sake, and for My Gospel's sake, shall receive an hundred-fold in this world, and in the world to come life everlasting."”

“Since not all children are heirs, he proves that we are both children and heirs. And since not every heir inherits the better inheritance, he proves that we have inherited the better inheritance: for we are heirs of God. Again, since it is possible to be an heir but not at all a co-heir of the Only-Begotten, he says that this too belongs to us: for we are co-heirs with Christ. Having said that we shall be co-heirs with Christ, he proves that we shall attain this not without reason. For He who honored with such blessings those who had not yet shown any merit, will He not all the more reward them when He sees them laboring greatly? And He does this so that those receiving the gift may not be ashamed, as though they receive it without toil. Consider, however, what he suggests here: that one who has been deemed worthy of such gifts must subject himself to sufferings and afflictions.”

“If honor and riches: God shall set His good and faithful servants over many things, indeed sons of God and gods they shall be called and shall be, and where His Son shall be, there shall they be also, heirs indeed of God, and co-heirs with Christ. If true security: surely they shall be as certain that these things, or rather this good, shall never and in no way be lacking to them, as they shall be certain that they shall not lose it of their own accord, nor that God who loves them shall take it from His lovers against their will, nor that anything more powerful than God shall separate God and them against their will.”

“Then he posits the major premise, at "and if sons." First, he shows that to children is owed the inheritance, saying: If some are children, namely, through the Spirit, it follows that they are heirs, because the inheritance is owed not only to the natural child but also to the adopted: "we have been born anew to an inheritance which is imperishable" (1 Pet 1:4); "yea, I have a goodly heritage" (Ps 16:6). Second, he shows what that inheritance is. First, he describes it in relation to God the Father, saying, "heirs indeed of God." Now one's heir is a person who receives or gets his chief goods and not some small gifts, as we read in Genesis that Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac, but to the sons of his concubines he bestowed gifts (Gen 25:5–6). Now the chief good by which God is rich is himself. For he is rich of himself and not in virtue of something else, because he does not need the goods others have: "you do not need my goods" (Ps 15:2). Hence the children of God obtain God himself as their inheritance: "the Lord is my chosen portion" (Ps 16:5); "the Lord is my portion, says my soul" (Lam 3:24). But since the child does not obtain the inheritance unless the father dies, it seems that man cannot be an heir of God, who never dies. The answer is that this applies to temporal goods which cannot be possessed by many at the same time; hence one must die, if another is to inherit. But spiritual goods can be held by many at the same time; therefore, it is not necessary that the Father die in order that the children become heirs. Yet it can be said that God dies for us inasmuch as he is in us by faith: but he will be our inheritance, insofar as we will see him through form. Second, he describes this inheritance on the part of Christ, saying, "joint heirs with Christ," because just as he is the chief Son with whom we share sonship, so he is the chief heir, to whom we are united in the inheritance: "this is the heir" (Matt 21:38); "yet will I bring an heir to you" (Micah 1:15). Then he shows why this glorious life is delayed, when he says, "yet so, if we suffer with him." In regard to the first it must be recalled that Christ, the principal heir, attained to the inheritance of glory through suffering: "was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and so enter his glory?" (Luke 24:26). But we must not expect to obtain the inheritance by an easier way. Therefore, it is necessary that we attain to that inheritance through suffering: "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:21). For we do not receive an immortal and unsuffering body at once, in order that we might suffer along with Christ. Hence he says, "yet so, if we suffer with him," i.e., along with Christ endure the tribulations of this world patiently, in order that we may be also glorified with Christ: "if we have died with him, we shall also reign with him" (2 Tim 2:11).”

“Since there is no way that God the Father can be said to have died and Christ the Son is said to have died because of his having become flesh. How is it that he who died is always said to be the heir of the life, when heirs are normally heirs of the dead? But of course Christ died in his humanity, not in his divinity. For with God, which is where our inheritance lies, the Father's gift is poured into his obedient children, so that one who is alive may be the heir of the Living One by his own merit and not by reason of death.… What it means to be a fellow heir with Christ we are taught by the apostle John, for among other things he says: "We know that when he appears we shall be like him." …To suffer together with Christ is to endure persecutions in the hope of future rewards and to crucify the flesh with its evils and lusts, i.e., to reject the pleasures and pomp of this world. For when all these things are dead in a man, then he has crucified this world, believing in the life of the world to come in which he believes that he will be a fellow heir with Christ.”