Whose spirit is Gods spirit bearing witness to in Romans 8:16?#
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God (KJV).
Romans 8:14-17 (NRSV)
14 "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba![a]
Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit
that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of
God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so
that we may also be glorified with him."
Under the influence of God's spirit with the spirit of " his chosen ones" (Luke 18:7, Col. 3:12 NRSV) convinces them that they are children of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.(Verse 17 above)
Luke 18:7 (NRSV)
7 "And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him
day and night? Will he delay long in helping them?"
The scriptures talk about God's children ,the chosen ones and by means of his spirit , gives them a feeling of sonship, which gives rise to a unique hope of heavenly resurrection. The following verses say that they will be like him (Jesus) and that they will no longer be slaves, but Sons of God.
1 John 3:2 (NRSV)
2 "Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet
been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will
be like him, for we will see him as he is."
Galatians 4:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP)
6 "And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the Spirit of
His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you
are no longer a slave (bond-servant), but a son; and if a son, then
also an heir through [the gracious act of] God [through Christ]."
By means of his spirit, God induces within them such a strong heavenly hope that they forego everything in this world and devote their lives in the service of God, Jesus, Paul, Peter, and many others mentioned in the scripture are examples to us.Paul wrote they they long to be clothed in their heavenly dwelling.
2 Corinthians 5:1-5, 8 (NRSV)
5 "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we
have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our
heavenly dwelling— 3 if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not
be found naked."
4 "For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden,
because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that
what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us
for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a
guarantee.8 Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away
from the body and at home with the Lord."
The gathering of the "chosen ones" will continue until the symbolic harvest, this is shown in the Parable of the wheat and the weeds, (Matthew 13:24-26, 36-39) when the Son of Man (Jesus) will send his angels to collect the weeds and burn them up, the wheat - fine seed (Chosen Ones) will shine like sun in the kingdom of their Father. (Mat.13:43) And they are to rule as priests and kings over the earth, John wrote:“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation."(Rev. 5:9-10 ) Those redeemed from the earth "chosen ones" total 144.000. (Revelation 14:1-5)
Understanding the word spirit in the verse. Romans 8:16
The Spirit itself
The word spirit appears twice in the verse and has two different meanings "the Spirit itself" refers to God's holy spirit, and was understood by the first century Christians, to be the power of God as shown by the verses from the OT.
Isaiah 63:11 (NRSV)
11 "Then they remembered the days of old, of Moses his servant. Where
is the one who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of
his flock? Where is the one who put within them his holy spirit."
Genesis 41:38 (NRSV)
38 "Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find anyone else like
this—one in whom is the spirit of God?”
Exodus 31:3 (KJV)
3 "And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in
understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship."
1 Samuel 10:6 (NABRE)
6 "The spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will join
them in their prophetic ecstasy and will become a changed man."
Numbers 11:17 (NRSV)
17 "I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some
of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear
the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it
all by yourself."
"Our spirit."
Refers to a person’s individual spirit , the emotions ,thoughts , feelings and actions that emanate from a person’s figurative heart. such as:
1 Peter 3:4 (NASB)
4 "But let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable
quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight
of God."
Colossians 3:10 (NRSV)
10 "And have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being
renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator."
Luke 1:80 (NASB)
80 "And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit,
and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to
Israel."