---
title: Romans 8:17
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/romans-8-17/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/romans-8-17.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Romans 8:17
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Romans 8:17

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "If, then, we are children, we are also heirs—heirs indeed of God, but joint heirs with Christ—provided we suffer together so that we may also be glorified together"

## JW Usage

Watchtower commentary restricts Romans 8:17 to the 144,000 anointed Christians — only they are "joint heirs with Christ" and only they will share his glory in heaven. The great crowd are not heirs in this sense; they receive the inheritance of paradise earth as faithful subjects of Christ's heavenly rulership. The "if we suffer together" clause is taken as the condition of anointed faithfulness through trials.

## Protestant Usage

Read v17 inside Paul's golden chain. V14 names the children of God as "those who are led by the Spirit"; v15 says they cry "Abba, Father"; v16 says the Spirit testifies with their spirit that they are God's children; v17 then draws the implication: "if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." The chain is unbroken from Spirit-indwelling to glorification. Whoever is in the chain at v14 is in it at v17. The Watchtower's restriction to 144,000 must apply to all four verses or none — meaning either only the 144,000 have the Spirit and cry "Abba" and are God's children, or all believers are heirs and joint heirs with Christ. The two-tier system collapses on the chain's continuity.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Golden Chain](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/golden-chain.md) — Romans 8:29-30 -- No Fork in the Road [Salvation]