Passage

Romans 8.16

"The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God," (Romans 8:16, NASB95)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15. For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

"16. The Spirit himself beareth 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 so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him. 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward." (Romans 8:14-18, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. 15. For you didn't receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!""

"16. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;"

"17. and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him. 18. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us." (Romans 8:14-18, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

"16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"

"17. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:14-18, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"14. for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God; 15. for ye did not receive a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye did receive a spirit of adoption in which we cry, 'Abba, Father.'"

"16. The Spirit himself doth testify with our spirit, that we are children of God;"

"17. and if children, also heirs, heirs, indeed, of God, and heirs together of Christ, if, indeed, we suffer together, that we may also be glorified together. 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory about to be revealed in us;" (Romans 8:14-18, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle
Audience: the Christian believers in Rome (mixed Jew + Gentile congregation)
Location: composed in Corinth on the third missionary journey; addressed to Rome
Time period: composed c. AD 57

Theological reading

Romans 8:16 is one of the load-bearing assurance verses in the New Testament. Paul has just declared that believers received "a spirit of adoption" by which they cry Abba, Father (v. 15). Verse 16 names the inner mechanism: the Holy Spirit Himself bears joint-witness with the believer's own spirit that they are God's children. The verb is συμμαρτυρεῖ (symmartyrei), "co-testifies", a compound of syn (with) + martyreō (to bear witness). The Spirit does not testify to the believer's spirit from the outside; the two testimonies converge.

The verse grounds Christian assurance on a dual basis. The objective ground is the cross-resurrection and the gospel announcement that the adoption is real (v. 15). The subjective ground is the inner witness of the Spirit, who confirms that the announcement applies to me. This dual ground is what distinguishes Christian assurance from mere self-persuasion. Patristic and Reformation exegesis treats the verse as the canonical text for the testimonium Spiritus Sancti internum (the inner testimony of the Spirit), the doctrine which John Calvin made central to Reformed epistemology of faith.

The apologetic significance is twofold. First, the verse provides a properly basic ground for Christian belief that does not reduce to inference from external evidence; this is the biblical anchor for Reformed Epistemology-style accounts. Second, the verse answers the Divine Hiddenness objection on its own terms: God is not silent toward those who are His; the Spirit's inner witness is itself the divine self-communication. The verse also pairs with Galatians 4.6 (parallel adoption-formula) and Romans 8.15 (the immediate antecedent introducing Abba).

Key words

G4151 - pneuma, pneuma (Strong's G4151), Spirit. The Holy Spirit as personal divine agent, not merely impersonal divine influence.
symmartyreō (Strong's G4828), to bear joint-witness, to co-testify. The compound force is critical: two witnesses converging, not one informing the other. Lexicon entry not yet built.

Theological themes

Assurance of salvation. The verse is the primary New Testament basis for Christian certainty of one's adoption.
Adoption. Believers are not merely forgiven; they are made children of God with the legal-familial status of heirs (v. 17).
Inner witness of the Spirit. The Reformed testimonium internum doctrine, central to Sanctification and to the assurance tradition.
Trinitarian shape of salvation. The Father adopts; the Son is the elder Brother whose suffering and glory believers share (v. 17); the Spirit witnesses.

Cross-references

Galatians 4.6, the parallel adoption-formula: "God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father!"
Romans 8.15, the immediately preceding verse introducing the spirit-of-adoption.
Romans 8.17, the joint-heir consequence flowing directly from v. 16.
1 John 3.1, the parallel Johannine "see how great a love the Father has bestowed, that we should be called children of God."
John 14.16-17, the Paraclete-promise where the Spirit dwells with and in believers.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.