Elliff’s Basement, February 13, 2008
14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Romans 8: 14-17
This next section of Romans 8, which extends almost to the end of the chapter, is about resurrection and conformity to image of Christ. Paul promises in verse 11 that “He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.” And in verse 13 he says: “. . . if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” The question that tonight’s text answers is, “how do we know that this promise is actually going to be fulfilled by God?”
God’s promise of resurrection and glory is totally counter-normal. The world scoffs at the idea that dead bodies will be raised and given freedom from sin and death. And on top of the fact that it is a seemingly ludicrous promise on its own, your knees hurt, and your grandparents are dying in front of your eyes, and you struggle with sin. It doesn’t look like resurrection is near. The purpose of Paul is to point us to what we can look at now, in our suffering on earth, that guarantees our future conformity to the likeness of Jesus.
Adoption by Being in Christ
To do this, Paul uses the picture of adoption. It is a beautiful way of depicting salvation that we have not come across yet in Romans. And it has everything to do with justification and being in Christ. If you get anything from tonight, get this: The more you dig into justification, its nature and results, the more you will get out of it. It doesn’t seem to stop. So let’s ponder this new view of that truth for a moment.
No one is born into the family of God. We have to start there. You will hear people say, “Well, we are all God’s children.” That is not true. All are born unaccepted outcasts, homeless rebels on the streets, and deserving of the punishment of the King. We were all “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).
But, “even while we were dead in our transgression” (Ephesians 2:5), outcasts and rebels, God chose us to be adopted into His family. How does this adoption happen? How do we become sons?
Galatians provides insight. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). This passage essentially breaks down into two parts. “You are all sons of God.” There is our adoption. “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” That is the ground of our adoption.
Does the sort of terminology found in the second part sound familiar? These are parallel ideas to Romans 6-8. You have been immersed (or baptized) into Christ so that He is now your representative (or, as Paul says here, you are clothed with Him). His life and death and resurrection are your life, death, and resurrection. His perfect flesh, not your own sinful flesh, is the garment that you now wear through faith in Him.
That reality of being in Christ is the basis of our adoption as sons. If Jesus is your representative (you are “in Him”), when He come before the Father and is accepted as a son, you are also accepted in the Beloved. If you are in the Son, you are a son as well. Contemplate this adoption. It is a beautiful picture of justification.
Future Inheritance
What does adoption have to do with resurrection and conformity the image of Christ? Inheritance! Look at what Paul says in verses 16-17: “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ . . .” If we are children of God in Jesus, we are heirs with an inheritance. That inheritance is attaining the glory of Christ. He is the “firstborn among many brethren.” What he has already inherited before us—bodily resurrection and glory—we will also inherit in the future as fellow heirs with Him.
The Assurance of the Spirit
We still have not gotten to the heart of the passage. We already knew that God promises an inheritance of resurrection and glory, even though we may not have understood it with that picture. The question still remains: What can we look to now—while our knees hurt, and while we see death and fight with sin—that gives confidence there even is such a thing as adoption into the family of God and therefore an inheritance?
Paul’s response is that the Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. The Spirit does this work in two ways, outwardly and inwardly.
1. The Spirit assures us of adoption outwardly.
Notice again what Paul says in verse 13 leading in to the passage we are studying tonight: “But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live.” There is a straight promise—“you will live.” What can you look to that confirms that? “If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Why does that matter? “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” To put it another way, the Spirit assures us of our adoption by supernaturally transforming our lives even now. And those who are led in way by the Spirit are the adopted children of God.
As I look at I my life before and after my conversion, I am sometimes simply amazed at the difference. Before, I was obviously a slave to sin. Now, though I still struggle even in the same areas, the change is astounding. I cannot attribute it to anything other than a supernatural work of the Spirit. I am sure the same is true for you. Paul is saying here, “Look at that! That amazing work of the Spirit points to one fact—you are in Christ and adopted as a child of God.”
2. The Spirit assures us of adoption inwardly.
The second way the Spirit is the indicator of our adoption and inheritance is in His work in giving a deep inward knowledge of it. “For you have not received a spirit of slavery [to sin] leading to fear [before God] again,” Paul tells us in verses 15 and16, “but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father! The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God . . .”
Do not throw this away because it is subjective. Many people in our circles have too much fear of feelings, when feelings are often legitimate and biblical. This is a true work of the Spirit that should be a sign to us of our adoption. Whereas before, as slaves of sin, we approached God in cringing fear, we now by the Spirit approach God in boldness, calling Him what only Jesus could call Him before—Father!
If you are a believer, look at the Spirit’s work in your life sanctifying and giving you boldness to call God Father, and be confident that you are a child of God, and if a child an heir with an inheritance of bodily resurrection, conformity to the likeness of Jesus, and complete freedom from sin and death . . . even though your knees hurt!
Bryan Elliff © 2008
