One More Gust of Wind
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, Romans 8:16 NASB
Spirit Himself – I thought we’d resolved this. When we examined verse 12, we came to the conclusion that the Greek pneúma should be read as “vital force.” The apparent conflict about who does what to whom was over. It is God’s pneúma, God’s vital energy that is behind the resurrection, the Messiah’s authority, and our life in the Kingdom. It all sounded so logical.
And then we read this! “The Spirit Himself.” What? This clearly suggests that the Spirit (capital S) is a person, a “him-self,” an independent consciousness. Did we get it all wrong?
No, we didn’t. The Greek phrase is αὐτός τό πνεῦμα (autŏs to pneúma). The “intensive marker” autos can be translated as “self, her, she, him, his, it, they” and “them.” The choice depends on context, and in this case, doctrine. There is no legitimate textual reason not to translate Paul’s statement as “the viral force itself testifies with our vital force that . . .” In other words, the non-Trinitarian translation of this verse simply says that God’s vital force is in concert with God’s animating, vital force in us. The two energy sources agree: we are His children. This is the equivalent of Paul telling his readers that their own spiritual experience confirms the larger case of God’s vital involvement in the world. The translators have offered us a theological, doctrinal version of Paul’s letter. Notice that they are happy to capitalize pneúma in the first instance but refrain from capitalization in the second instance in the same verse. The Greek words are exactly the same. Why capitalize one and not the other? Because of the doctrine of the Trinity. No one wants to claim that we are divine so they don’t capitalize the second “spirit”.
Maybe Paul isn’t so confused after all.
And now that we have settled the translation misinformation problem, we can concentrate on the real message of this verse. We have an inner confirmation that we belong to God because there is a deep-seated testimony within us acknowledging that God has accepted us and we are pleasing to Him. This verse isn’t really about technical, doctrinal issues at all. It’s about Paul’s effort to validate the inclusion of these Gentile readers into God’s family. For Paul’s readers, it’s not enough to be given all the proof texts from the Tanakh. It’s not enough to be told that the Messiah opened the way into the Kingdom. There is yet another confirmation: Look inside yourself. Don’t you feel it? God is working in you just as He has worked in the life of His chosen people, Israel, and just as He has been active in your personal history. You belong—and you know it!
Topical Index: Himself, autos, family, belong, testimony, Romans 8:16
