Waiting And Hoping With Perseverance 

We also groan and wait with perseverance for the coming glory.

a. “Who have the first fruits of the Spirit”: This means we have a taste of the glory to come. Can we be faulted if we long for the fulfillment of what we have received in the first fruits?

b. “Eagerly waiting for the adoption”: We are waiting for our adoption. Although there is a sense in which we are already adopted (Romans 8:15), there is also a sense in which we wait for the consummation of our adoption which will happen at the redemption of our body.   

• God does not ignore our physical bodies in His plan of redemption. His plan for these bodies is resurrection, when this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53).

c. “We eagerly wait for it with perseverance": The fulfillment of our redemption is something still distant, yet we hope for it in faith and perseverance, trusting that God is faithful to His word and the promised glory will be a reality.   

• Leon Morris on perseverance: “It is the attitude of the soldier who in the thick of battle is not dismayed but fights on stoutly whatever the difficulties.”

Based on the Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik