Introduction
There are many things in nature that are completely mystery for some of us. Let’s say for example the caterpillar which becomes a beautiful butterfly. How can such creature that crawls on the ground be changed into one that flies? How can a black, fuzzy, rather ugly creature be transformed into a beautiful, fascinating creature with brightly colored wings?
In similar ways, there are lots of things in the spiritual realm that are also a complete mystery to us. How can a person who is indifferent or hostile toward God becomes a deeply committed follower of Jesus Christ? In short, how can a person who is dead because of sin becomes one who is born again into a new life?
Such phenomenon is greatly expressed by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17,
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things passed away; behold new things have come.”
Such is the condition of a person who is “in Christ”. He is living in ‘newness’. That is the work of the Holy Spirit in every believer.
At this point, we have arrived into the climax of Paul’s discussion of the outcomes of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believers’ life. This is actually the very core of the 8th chapter of Romans. This is where Paul boldly declares our special position in Christ in relation to God. Such special position is the string in which the preceding and succeeding discussions hang.
These verses advance another 3 important outcomes of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
I. New Motivation (vv. 12-14)
In the preceding two verses Paul indicates that a believer has a new life because the Holy Spirit resides in him and a new of hope of having a new bodies in the distant future because of the same Spirit..
But right at the middle, while waiting for the fulfillment of that hope, believers are confronted by the fact that we are still living in a fallen world and a physical body which is inclined toward evil.
But we are not alone. We have the Holy Spirit at home in us, remember? And it means we are no longer in bondage to our sin, therefore we are no longer obliged to do its prompting (v. 12).
Instead we are being led by the Spirit of God (v. 14). And the leading of the Holy Spirit has something to do with the moral character of the Christians, that is, the Holy Spirit enables us to defeat sin (v. 13).
The phase ‘put to death’ (NIV) in Greek has the meaning ‘to consider dead’. In other words, the Apostle Paul tells us to consider dead our sinful habits.
Jerry Bridges, a noted Bible teacher from The Navigator, in his book The Discipline of Grace, futher clarifies the same thought,
“[To put to death] a sin means to subdue it, to deprive it of its power, to break the habit pattern we have developed…”
As Christians we must be serious enough to purposely break such sinful habits we have. We must hate not only one particular sin, but all sin for what it really is. Because it is in realization that all sin is wrong, a rebellion against God, something that breaks the heart of God, and that despises His authority that we begin to put to death sin in our daily life.
We have to understand that it is not an easy task. Our sinful habits are so strong and deeply rooted. And no amount of cosmetics, money, prestige, and religiosity can enable us put sin to death. The passage is clear: Putting our sinful habits to death is possible only by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is our new motivation as children of God; to put to death our sinful habits through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
II. New Relationship with God (vv. 14-15)
To better appreciate the essence of these verses, we have to understand our former relationship with God is that of enemies (cf. Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21).
We need to understand that we are enemies of God because of sin –the gap between God and man –we are, therefore, alienated from Him.
It only means we are separated from the very source of life, peace, joy, victory, hope, salvation. Have you realized the weight of that matter?
Before we came to know Christ, we were once separated with no access whatsoever to the very Being who is the source of everything that makes sense and has significance in this world.
That is our old relationship with God. It is characterized by hostility and alienation.
But the good news is, now that we are “in Christ” the indwelling of the Holy Spirit assures us of our new relationship with God. We are not just friends or servants of God, but we are indeed children of God by virtue of adoption.
The Apostle Paul indicates that we received the ‘Spirit of adoption’ who causes those who believe to be adopted children of God.
Our concept of adoption is far different from the concept of adoption in the New Testament. In most cases, an adopted child, at that time, was most honored than natural children. And in all cases, to be adopted by someone was considered a special privilege.
In the Roman customs, adoption includes a process. Since the child to be adopted is under the ‘Potrea Protestus’ of his father, there should be a negotiation.
The process is divided into two:
1. ‘Mansupoteo’ – this is a symbolic sort of sale. If the father would agree to let his son be adopted by another man there was this symbolic sale they went to; they had some scales and some copper and they used this symbolism to carry out sort of a transaction like I’m selling this young man to you. They did it three times. Twice the father symbolically sold the son and twice he bought him back and then the third time he didn’t buy him back and the Potrea Protestus was broken.
2. ‘Vindicateo’ –the ceremony wherein the adopting father went to the Roman magistrate and presented a legal case for the actual legal transference of the person to be adopted into his own Potrea Protestus. And when all this was complete the adoption was done.
By virtue of our union with Christ we become adopted children of God (cf. John 1:12-13; Gal. 4:4-7). It means that we are no longer the rule of anything else; we are not under the rule of satan and tyranny of sin. We are under the administration of God. We are His children. And to be His children is to be in the position of honor, position of being divinely chosen, and a position of close relationship with God. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us confirms that!
III. New Privileges (vv. 16-17)
An adopted child in the Greco-Roman world enjoyed special privileges, including the treatment of being a full-pledged child, no longer liable for any obligation (such as debts) of his previous family, and above all, he is the legitimate heir of his adopting father.
This holds true for every believer. The passage declares that we are, indeed, full-pledged children of God. Here are the proofs: we are led by the Spirit of God and we can address God in the most intimate sense, which is the cooperative witness of our own spirit and the Holy Spirit.
Nowhere in the Old Testament can we find that the Jewish people addressed God as ‘Abba’. It is actually a term of endearment, intimacy or closeness to someone addressed to. According to F. F. Bruce, a late professor of Biblical history and Literature, ‘Abba’ is an Aramaic word which is used by the Jews as a familiar term by which children address their father; but Jewish people do not use it to address God!
What is significance about the term is that Jesus used it in his agonizing prayer in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36). This only shows that only the Spirit of Christ is able to make believers call God their ‘Father’.
Second, we are no longer liable for any obligation of our past sinful life. Since Jesus Christ Himself paid it in full and has cancelled our debts, “therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”.
Finally, as children of God we are to inherit the full rights of sonship (v. 17). According to that verse we are ‘heirs of God’ and ‘fellow heirs with Christ’. The New Testament affirms the inheritance reserved by God only for believers.
In Ephesians 1:14, Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of that inheritance.
In Ephesians 5:5, He tells us that no unbeliever is entitled for such inheritance.
In Colossians 1:12, Paul clearly declares that only Christians are entitled for that inheritance.
In Colossians 3:24, Paul indicates that such inheritance is the Lord’s reward.
In Hebrews 9:15 and 1 Peter 1:4 the inheritance is said to be eternal.
Although the Bible is silent regarding the exact nature of such inheritance that we are heirs to we are, nevertheless, assures by the word of God that it is a glorious one! It is so great! Though it isi still in the distant future, and we are at present share the suffering of Christ, we know and we believe that our glorious inheritance is worth the pain, the sacrifice, the suffering, and the cross.
John Piper, the preaching pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in reflection of the same verse, says,
“No pain, no gain. No cross, no crown. No suffering, no inheritance. That’s the way it is.”
