STRAIGHT FROM ROMANS 8 - Obligated to Our Father
May 22, 2022
Romans 8:12-17
Introduction:
Have any of you here this morning had to appear as a witness in a court case? I have.
When I was 26 years old I had to testify that one of the young men who was being put into a drug rehabilitation center was extremely violent and had to be held down to keep him from hurting himself, and from hurting us…I was a witness for the defense…and I really tried to “tell the truth, the whole truth, so help me God.”
I’m not sure how effective and powerful my testimony was…but the defendant was found “not guilty.” It might have been that three or four of us on the staff testified to the same truth, and although the testimony came from four different people and different perspectives, it matched…it was not only true for each of us…but it rang true to the jurors.
Or let me ask you one more question…an easier one…Has anyone asked you if they could use you as a reference on a job application or a school admission form? “Yes,” me too, lots of them…by the way, if I don’t know you or your family well, I’ll tell you “No” or I’ll put that truth down on the form.
But sometimes, for you and I, the request is easy…we recommend this person or family wholeheartedly…they’re not perfect! No one is, but I’ve witnessed their character and integrity and I have no hesitation about putting my name on the dotted line as a reference…
I believe the theme of our text today…and maybe the verses that hold all of Romans Chapter 8 together…are found in verses 14-16.
“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of “Sonship,” literally, “Spirit of Adoption.” And by Him we say “Abba” Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Why is this essential? Why does the Apostle Paul place such great emphasis on this truth?
I. BECAUSE AT ONE TIME WE WERE ALL SLAVES
Slavery was a horrible and sinful stain that resided in our country for the first 90 years of our existence. Its horrible tentacles reached into the 1960’s and beyond. Those of us who have never been judged by the color of our skin will never understand how deep those scars go…
But, slavery existed when Paul wrote this letter to the Romans around 58 AD. In fact one of Paul’s other letters we call Philemon addresses this issue with his owner Onesimus…slavery was very real.
It’s why Paul uses this analogy…“When you were adopted into God’s family through Christ you did not receive a spirit that made you a slave again…A slave again to fear.”
He clearly says, “At one time you were a slave to fear”…AT ONE TIME WE WERE ALL SLAVES TO FEAR.
When was that? When we were controlled by our sinful nature…when we had our minds set and governed by what that nature desires.
You see Satan doesn’t treat anyone as a child…He treats absolutely everyone as a possession…as a slave. His goal will never be to bless you…His goal will always be to keep you under his control…away from freedom…enslaved by your sinful nature…Jesus describes Him well…as “The Thief” who comes only to steal, kill and destroy (And then Jesus describes why he came). I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). Two chapters earlier in John 8 Jesus said this about the Devil, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
You see Satan has an ally in every single man and woman, including you and I. His ally is “our nature,” “our hearts.” He whispers “You know you want this”…”Look”…and we look, and our “nature,” our “hearts” go “Yeah, I do want that.” A feeling washes over us…that would feel good. The law of God might say don’t…but we want to do it anyway.
And the Evil One usually figures out something we really like and focuses on that with a scheme to have us mastered by it…like a padlock and chains. Remember these words? “We’re tempted by our own evil desires…then after desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it’s full grown gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15)
I like how the Message translation says it: (The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.)
We know what it’s like to be slaves to the sinful nature…we know the misdeeds of the body…every one of us. Satan promises the same things he did to Eve in the garden…Freedom…Happiness…Independence…and our nature responds like metal to a magnet to those promises…and before we know it…sin has become a full grown killer…we’re not happy…we’re not free…and we’re not independent…Sin is like a narcotic…the more you take for the pain…the more you need.
And pretty soon, as 2 Peter 2:19 says, “We have become slaves to the sin that masters us.”
That which controls our thinking…and that which controls our lives…this might be a life that has you lying in the gutter of addiction…or it might be a life that has you greedily accumulating wealth in the penthouse…Either way, even if you have not realized it yet…you are a dead man (or woman) walking into a Christ-less eternity… “You are living according to the sinful nature and you will die.” (v. 13)
(Satan is still saying to your soul… “God didn’t really say that…Don’t worry about it…You’re not gonna die…Look how good that looks…How your eyes will be opened…Come on…You believe in God, that’s enough…Just live for yourself…Don’t worry about eternity…Be happy today.”)
And pretty soon we wonder, “Why the things we thought would give us freedom, begin to feel like chains.”
But, there’s Good News, Gospel News, Amazing Grace News!
II. GOD HAS AN ADOPTION PLAN
[The Romans took adoption very seriously. When verse 16 says, “but you have received the Spirit of Sonship”…it literally says, “the Spirit of Adoption.” The Greek word is “huiothesias” and means “the placement of a son, that does not naturally belong to a father, into a position where he has the same privileges, benefits, and responsibilities as a natural born son.”
Romans went through a process where rights were transferred…where a child was symbolically purchased from the other family line…it was called Patria Potestas. When it was complete the adopted child had every single privilege and right of the natural born. It was done in the presence of 7 witnesses who stepped forward and swore the adoption was genuine (many of the Roman emperors were adopted sons through the process of Patria Potestas…including Caesar Augustus)]
The Apostle Paul is a Roman Citizen…He knows the process and the result…1) the adopted child loses all rights to his former life, including all debts. 2) Even if other children are born afterwards it doesn’t affect his inheritance…he is a co-heir. 3) He receives a new name…He is regarded as a new person, and 4) in the eyes of the law he is absolutely the son of a new father.
The Apostle Paul carries every single one of these Roman truths over to our Spiritual adoption by God, the Father…Our former life is erased, our debs are cancelled. We are co-heirs with God’s only son, Jesus Christ…We are brand new people.
And the witness to the process…the one who proclaims the adoption is absolutely real and true…God’s Spirit.
His witness and affirmation of this adoption is so convincing it makes us yell out “Abba.” This is the Aramaic word for Father…but it’s really more deeply intimate…it means “Daddy.”
[Almost every single morning…before my coffee or shower…I walk across the hall and into our living room. It’s been converted into a toddler’s play area…because Kari watches my granddaughter Oaklynn each weekday while Karissa is at Tanbark working…I do this because most of the time Oaklynn will be playing and look up and shout “Papaw!” Sometimes she hands me her blanket and reaches for me to pick her up…It makes my heart jump with love…No prompting, no bribery with candy….She just recognizes who I am with joy and yells it…“Papaw.”
When Jesus says we must be born again to see and enter God’s Kingdom, God’s family…He is speaking an essential truth…It’s not a suggestion or recommendation. Unless you are born again through the Holy Spirit…you do not belong to God. He isn’t your Daddy.
When we come to a place of belief…that Jesus is God’s Son and died for our sins so He could save us…there is a response…there is repentance…a true sorrow for our sin and a change of our hearts in regard to who will be in charge of our future…We’re willing to confess that we believe Jesus paid for our sins…and we want Him to be Lord over our future…When we are baptized into Christ it’s for the forgiveness of our sins, and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…It’s that Spirit that enters this “tent” of a body and makes it a temple. It’s the Holy Spirit who brings our dead spiritual lives to life. He wraps Himself around our souls and without prompting recognizes who God is…He’s now our Father. He’s our Daddy who has adopted us and given us all rights and privileges as His Son, Jesus.
There is no such thing as a non-Spirit filled Child of God…There might be non-Spirit filled church goers…or even people who believe…but to enter the family of God…you must be born again. We are set free…no longer slaves to fear…we are sons and daughters who walk in the Spirit…bear the fruit of the Spirit…“and live such good lives among the pagans (unbelievers) that although they accuse you of doing wrong they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.”
It comes from a realization in my Spirit that I am no longer a slave…I no longer am condemned to death…I have an answer for my temptations and struggles now…and in the future…we are now God’s children…we are now heirs of God our Father, and co-heirs with Christ…Get that!
Jesus is God’s only Son…but we have been adopted by God to share the exact same inheritance as His only Son…because of His only Son. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” (v. 17)
“The Holy Spirit Himself, joined with our spirit cries out”…This adoption is authentic, it’s real, it’s guaranteed…God is now our Father!
Our text starts with a “therefore”…it links the following scripture with what came before…What came before: “If the Holy Spirit lives in you, He’s the same Spirit that brought Jesus back to life. He now lives in your temporary body, and He will bring it to life as well.”
“THEREFORE” brothers and sisters, (He’s writing to born again, spirit filled followers of Christ) we have an obligation…a responsibility. What is that obligation? Live a resurrected spirit life…not a dead body, sinful nature life!
(I gave my life to Christ 3 months before my 18th birthday on January 17th. I'd been attending youth group with my Cousin Becky who helped lead me to Christ. My youth minister Brewster baptized me. I'd dropped out of High School and after me conversion I wanted to go back and finish. Please understand my reputation and past would not make that an easy process, but I had an advocate that loved my family named Thermus Reynolds, Lafayette's Vice Principle...He went to bat for me and allowed me to come back and finish....I love this man....he was at my ministry ordination after I graduated from college. My primary focus was to be a witness for Jesus but I knew without doubt I had an obligation to live in a way that honored the risks they'd taken to go back to school. I wasn't earning my salvation or working for grace....my obligation was to live in a way that proved their trust was justified...I believe this is exactly what Romans 8:12-17 is all about my brothers and sisters!!!!!)
Let's pray together
