Does the Holy Spirit bear witness “to” or “with” our spirit?

Explanation:

We know from the Old Testament that it was important to establish matters based on two or more witnesses. For example, in Deuteronomy 19:15 we read, A single witness will not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offence that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. Likely, given the profoundness of the fact that those who were once enemies with God are now children of God, Paul adds certainty to this fact by affirming it on the testimony of two witnesses. That is, we can be certain that those who were once enemies of God are now children of God because both the Holy Spirit and the human spirit testify to this fact.

Counterargument:

When we analyze the immediate context, we notice that this argument is not strong. For according to the immediate context, it is not the Holy Spirit who testifies that we are children of God, but it is we who make this confession. For in Romans 8:15 Paul specifically writes that we received the Spirit by whom we cry, Abba! Father! In other words, it is the Holy Spirit who leads us to notice that we are God’s adopted children. With this in mind, when we reach Romans 8:16, it is likely that Paul is explaining what he wrote in Romans 8:15. That is, he is explaining that the Holy Spirit not only makes us God’s children but makes us aware that we are God’s children.⁵

Response to counterargument:

While it is true that Paul explains in Romans 8:15 that the Holy Spirit leads us to see that we are children of God, we know from his letter to the Galatians that the Holy Spirit himself testifies that we are sons of God.⁶ He writes in Galatians 4:6 that God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, Abba! Father! In other words, Galatians specifically points out not that it is we who cry out to God as Abba! Father! but that the Holy Spirit also cries out on our behalf, Abba! Father! This affirms that both the Holy Spirit and the human spirit bear witness to the fact that we are God’s children. In other words, the Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

Explanation:

In Romans 8:16 Paul writes that the Holy Spirit συμμαρτυρεῖ our spirit that we are children of God. The most natural way to take the verb is bears testimony along with.⁷ That helps us determine Paul’s meaning. For it implies that Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit bears testimony along with our own human spirit. In other words, there are two who bear witness that we are children of God: the Holy Spirit and our own human spirit.

Counterargument:

The verb συμμαρτυρέω should be understood within the context that it is used. In the case of Romans 8:16, Paul uses it in the context of testifying that believers are children of God. Now, if we take συμμαρτυρέω to mean bears testimony along with, this implies that the human spirit on its own can bear witness to the fact that believers are children of God.⁸ It would be surprising for Paul to contend that believers can bear witness on their own that they are children of God, because believers have a sinful nature. Thus, it is more likely that Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit bears testimony to our human spirit that we are children of God. In other words, we should translate συμμαρτυρέω as bears testimony to rather than bears testimony along with.⁹

Response to counterargument:

The problem here is that we cannot put meanings onto verbs that are not there. That is, we want to determine Paul’s meaning based on the meaning of the terms he uses, not what we think those terms ought to mean. In the case of συμμαρτυρέω, we notice that the verb is a compound συν- verb. When a verb has the compound συν- attached to it, this strengthens the sense of with. The verb literally means to provide supporting evidence by testifying, to confirm, to testify with.¹⁰ In other words, the natural sense of συμμαρτυρέω prefers bearing witness alongside, rather than bearing witness to.

The weakness of this view is that it does not account for the flexibility of the verb συμμαρτυρέω (to testify with). That is, while the verb might naturally be translated to testify with, we know from other uses, such as Romans 9:1, that it can also simply mean to testify to. In other words, while it might not be the most natural, it is certainly still possible to translate συμμαρτυρέω (to testify to), which does fit nicely with the immediate context.

Explanation:

Paul’s sentence could be translated as either, The Holy Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, or, The Holy Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit. For theological reasons it is better to take the second translation, that the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit. What the Holy Spirit bears witness to is the fact that we are children of God, and it is not possible for the human spirit to recognize that one is a child of God without the aid of the Holy Spirit. To say it another way, the natural human spirit, unenlightened by the Holy Spirit, is unable to confess that one is a child of God because the natural human spirit is sinful. This rules out translating Romans 8:16 that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit, and affirms instead that the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit.¹³

Counterargument:

There are two problems with this argument. First, it does not tell us why, in this context, the human spirit cannot bear witness to the fact that it is a child of God. That is, what support is there for the theological argument that the human spirit cannot bear witness that it is a child of God? Second, even if there is independent theological support for the notion that the unaided human spirit cannot bear witness to the fact that one is a child of God, Paul does not seem to have the unaided human spirit in mind in Romans 8:16. Rather, he clearly writes in Romans 8:15 that we have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, Abba! Father! So Paul has already established in Romans 8:15 that he writes about a believer who is aided by the Holy Spirit to call to God Father. Thus, we can assume that the human spirit that bears witness that one is a child of God is aided, because Paul already said so in Romans 8:15.

Response to counterargument:

As this counterargument admits, Paul already implied in Romans 8:15 that the unaided human spirit cannot bear witness to the fact that one is a child of God because Paul clearly says that it is through the Holy Spirit that we cry Abba! Father! Thus, we can offer Romans 8:15 to clear away the charge that there is no support for the notion that the unaided human spirit cannot bear witness to the fact that one is a child of God. Since the unaided human spirit cannot bear witness to the fact that one is a child of God, we ought to interpret Romans 8:16 so that the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit, rather than with our spirit, that we are children of God.

Explanation:

In Romans 8:15 Paul explains that it is by the Holy Spirit that we cry, Abba! Father! When we use Romans 8:15 to inform the meaning of Romans 8:16, we notice that Romans 8:16 likely expands on the notion that the Holy Spirit helps us see that we are God’s children. That is, in Romans 8:15 Paul writes that by the Holy Spirit we cry, Abba! Father! and in Romans 8:16 he expands on this, explaining that the Holy Spirit bears witness to our human spirit that we are God’s children. In other words, we cry, Abba! Father! because the Holy Spirit is speaking to our spirit, assuring us that we are God’s children. Thus, the Holy Spirit both inspires us to cry out to God, and to notice that God is a father toward us.¹⁴

Counterargument:

This argument overlooks the natural meaning of the verb συμμαρτυρέω (to testify with) (Interpretation 1, argument 2).¹⁵ For, when it comes to συν- compound verbs like συμμαρτυρέω, the verb naturally has to do with being alongside, or with. This implies that the natural meaning of Romans 8:16 is that the Holy Spirit testifies along with our spirit. Now, this argument contends that the immediate context suggests we should interpret συμμαρτυρέω as testifies to rather than testifies with. The problem is that the immediate context does not strongly favour testifies to over testifies with, so the immediate context cannot overturn the natural meaning of συμμαρτυρέω. For in Romans 8:15 Paul has already explained that it is through the Holy Spirit that we cry, Abba! Father!” so he has already established that the Holy Spirit aids the human spirit. Thus, he adds the future insight in Romans 8:16 that not only does the Holy Spirit aid the human spirit but he testifies along with the human spirit.

Response to counterargument:

It is not clear what it means for the Holy Spirit to testify along with the human spirit. To whom does the Holy Spirit testify that we are God’s children? The Holy Spirit is God, so it is not likely that he is testifying this to himself. The fact is, the most likely party to whom the Holy Spirit testifies is us, giving us confidence that we are God’s children, which motivates us to take Paul as saying that the Holy Spirit testifies to our spirit, even if this is not the most natural translation of συμμαρτυρέω.

The one problem with this interpretation is that it introduces a redundancy between Romans 8:15 and Romans 8:16. For according to this view, Romans 8:16 has to do with the Holy Spirit testifying to our hearts that we are God’s children. But Paul has already essentially said this in Romans 8:15, when he writes that by the Spirit we cry, Abb! Father! Now, we can alleviate the redundancy because in the case of Romans 8:15 the Holy Spirit helps us cry to God as Father, and in Romans 8:16 the Holy Spirit convicts us that we are God’s children, so the Holy Spirit’s activity differs between Romans 8:15 and Romans 8:16.