ACC ~ Romans 8 v17

GLORIFIED WITH HIM. ORIGEN: The Son of God says to his fellow heirs: “You will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Thus Christ leads his fellow heirs not only into a part of the inheritance but into a sharing of his power. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

PROVIDED WE SUFFER WITH HIM. DIODORE: 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.PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

HEIRS OF ONE STILL ALIVE. AMBROSIASTER: 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. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

CHILD AND HEIR. CHRYSOSTOM: Notice how Paul gradually increases the attraction of the gift. For it is quite possible to be a child without being an heir. … Nor are we simply heirs; we are “fellow heirs with Christ.” See how concerned Paul is to bring us ever nearer to the Son! HOMILIES ON ROMANS 14.

ADOPTED INTO THE KINGDOM. AUGUSTINE: By spiritual regeneration we therefore become sons and are adopted into the kingdom of God, not as aliens but as his creatures and offspring. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 23.78.

READY IF NECESSARY TO SUFFER. PELAGIUS: He who is worthy to be a son is worthy to be made an heir of the Father and a coheir with the true Son. This happens if we are ready when it becomes necessary to suffer for him as he suffered for us. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Good works can hardly be done without suffering, yet the suffering of the saints is nourished by a great hope. For nothing earthly is promised but rather eternal glory. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

FELLOW HEIRS WITH CHRIST. THEODORET OF CYR: 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. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.