Title: Evidence of our Adoption Script: Romans 8:14-17
Type: Expos/series Where: GNBC 6-6-21
Intro: When our children were young would often play board or card games in the evenings. One of their favorite games was the perennial favorite, “Clue”. Colonel Mustard, Prof Plum, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green, Ms. Scarlett, and Mrs. White. The object of the game was to assemble evidence, through the process of elimination, so that one could clearly state who the murderer was, the murder weapon, and the room in which the dastardly deed was done. Great came. Those who are methodical in the collection of evidence usually do well. In passage examining today, Apostle Paul very methodically lays out evidence for the believer’s adoption in Christ.
Prop: In Rom. 8:14-17 Paul gives 4 pieces of Evidence Proving the Believer’s Adoption.
BG: 1. These evidences also demonstrate the witness of the HS in the believer.
2. IN this section, Paul gives us info on our entry into the Family of God.
3.
Prop: Let’s exam. Rom. 8:14-17 to amass 4 pieces of evidence assuring the Believer of his Adoption.
I. 1st Evidence of Adoption: The HS Leads the Believer into Radical Holiness. Vv. 13-14
A. The Holy Spirit Leads the Believer in Living a Holy Life.
1. Holiness
a. V.14 clarifies v.13 for the reader “because” by changing the imagery. Those who thru the Spirit put the body’s misdeeds to death (v.13b) are now called “those led by the Spirit”, while those who have entered into the “Spirit filled” life are now called the “Sons of God”.
b. Illust: Roman adoption was based on “Patria Potesta”, which gave fathers absolute control over their families. There was no “coming of age” for the child as long as the father was alive. Family was the absolute possession of the father. Made adoption in Roman society very difficult. 2 step process: Mancipatio – symbolic sale. 3x the symbolism was carried out. 2x the father sold his on and then bought him back. The 3rdx he did not buy him back and the pack was view as broken. Next followed a ceremony called Vindicatio, where the adopting father went to a high level magistrate and presented a legal case for transferring the son to the new Patria Potesta. When this had happened the adoption was complete.
2. Being Led by the Spirit is an Experience that should characterize all Christians.
a. Very clearly we see here that part of this “leading of the Spirit” are promptings He gives us to put to death the misdeeds of our sin nature. Illust: This is why when you and I have come to a genuine faith in Christ we are convicted by the Spirit of sins which before our conversion we could have cared less about. Illust: Angry words. Swearing. Lying. Stealing. Laziness. Gluttony. Immorality. Fear. Unloving husband. Disrespectful wife.
b. One commentator (Godet) has said: “The HS drives the believer where his flesh would fain not go.” The HS often compels the believer against his/her own will. The flesh naturally seeks its own comforts, pleasures, passions, desires. The flesh doesn’t think about others or how impacts others. However, once the individual is born again, all of a sudden begins to get impulses and leadings, contrary to his/her very nature to do or not do certain things. This is the HS’s leading.
B. The Holy Spirit allows us to experience a New Life to those who have come to Christ.
1. Obedience is the hallmark of our adoption.
a. V.13b See, v. 14 is an elaboration on v. 13. We are to put to death the misdeeds of the body by the HS so that the promise of our new relationship with God will in fact be proven in our experience. V.14 See, we are declared “Sons of God” as we put to death the sinful flesh. In doing such we are then called “God’s children”.
b. The result of this is that we now experience a new, rich, and full life by progressively walking in holiness. What’s also very telling is that the popular notion that we are “All God’s children” is patently false. We are all God’s offspring as a result of creation, but we become his reconciled “child” only through new birth and its resultant adoption.
2. The HS causes the believer to radically follow Christ.
a. Just as those who are indwelled by the HS are in Christ, so it is that those who are led by the Spirit are children of God. V14. Because of that we are granted a special, close, personal, and loving relationship with God the Father. As a result, God expects us to live different lives from the world. To model His holiness in our lives and relationships.
b. Illust: David “Packy” Hamilton is a man I know of from N. Ireland. Hamilton was raised in a non religious family. But his last name gave away his past, Protestant ethnicity. Walking home from school one day, he was approached by a group of boys, a couple of whom were friends at school. Without warning, the boys beat him up and threw him in the river because he was a “Protestant”. Instantly, Davey Hamilton was filled with hatred towards all Catholics. He joined a terrorist para (UVF) and began a life of violence. Caught by police and sentenced to Long Kesh/Maze prison. Mother said he was a hopeless case. But an 80 yr. old aunt began to pray. 2.5 years later, after never going to chapel, or Bible study. Came into cell one evening. And on his bed was a tract that said: “Jesus is coming back soon.” His cellmate had not put it there. Davey laughed about the tract. Wadded it up and threw it out the window. Instantly hit with conviction and heard a voice say: “It’s time for you to change. To become a Christian.” Began to read Bible. Saved. One of first actions was forgiven opposing terrorist and offer him friendship. Friends, that’s radical holiness! Loving enemies. That’s evidence of the Spirit.
C. Applic: 1st evidence of Adoption is radically living how God wants us to live.
II. 2nd Evidence of Adoption: The HS Replaces the Believer’s Fear with Freedom. V.15a
A. The Apostle now Alludes to the Present Condition of the Christian.
1. Paul puts in the negative what is true about the Christian in the present.
a. Illust: In the 4th grade, while my father was away for work, I adopted a dog. “Wolf”, collapsed in our side yard. Starving. She was a beautiful Collie/Shepherd mix. She had not had an easy life to that point in time. Nose had been broken. Hind leg had been caught in a snare trap. Was afraid of most people…except me. I asked my mom if we could keep her. “If she is here in the morning, we can see.” After my mom went to bed I snuck outside with a rug and bowl full of cat food with milk on it! Guess who was there in the morning?! Few tense moments when dad got back. In time lost fear of people and became a wonderful addition to our family. Arguably best guard dog ever had.
b. “For you have not received a spirit of slavery…” Man’s natural response to the concept of “God/deity” is slavery. How to please Him. How to appease Him. He must be angry with me. He must despise me. Paul says: “No!” When one comes to Christ he ditches that spirit of slavery and its associated fear, for a rightful relationship with God and its accompanying freedom.
2. Since we did NOT receive the Spirit of Slavery, we No longer live in Fear of God.
a. Illust: The great NT scholar, FF Bruce reminds us not to take the idea of “adoption” out of the context of the 1st century Roman world. In our society and times people sometimes speak negatively of an “adopted” child. That was NOT, however, the case in the 1st century. Adoption didn’t mean you were some “second class” member of a family where most of the people thought you were an imposition. Rather, in the 1st century Roman world, an adopted son had been deliberately chosen by his new father so as to perpetuate his name and inherit his estate. He was in no ways seen as one iota inferior to the father’s son by natural birth.
b. Christian, I want to encourage you with that truth. You have been adopted into the family of God! You are no 2nd class citizen. You are a joint heir with Jesus. You have the love and affection of your father. You have been deliberately chosen by God’s sovereign grace to reproduce His character in our lives, perpetuate His Name in a lost and fallen world, and you have and will eternally enjoy His estate both here and now and for eternity in the New Heaven and Earth.
B. Paul Lists Three Truths that Accompany this new found Freedom.
1. 1st: We Receive the Spirit of Sonship. Paul wrote about this in Gal. 4:4-6 (Read) where in verse 6 he defines one of the benefits of salvation and assures Christians of our union with Christ as God’s children. Having made Jews and Gentiles His heirs through faith in Jesus, not works of the Law, the Father has given His people the “Spirit of his Son.” This is the “Spirit of Sonship” he speaks of here. Christ’s work puts us in position as sons and heirs of God. The Holy Spirit gives us the experience of sonship.
2. 2nd: We Cry out “Abba Father” - It is the Spirit of God who enables us to call our Creator, “Abba”, which was the Aramaic word for “Father”. We must be careful lest the familiarity with which we use this endearing term leads us to take lightly the privilege of having God as our Father. Abba was the intimate term used within Jewish families in the first-century AD and is also the manner in which Jesus addressed God (see Mark 14:36). Religions devised by men tend to view their deities as distant and unable to relate personally to their creation. God Himself in His revelation tells us that He desires a close, familial relationship with His people and, importantly, that He is able to have one.
3. 3rd: The Spirit Himself testifies with our Spirit that we are God’s children.” Just think of that truth, Christian. You are through Xst’s work, now an adopted son/daughter of God. Illust: Some people grow up in really messed up homes. Things happen, some people live believing lie that God hates them.
C. Applic: When come to Christ the HS empowers to no longer be fearful. But now have freedom to worship and serve God.
III. 3rd Evidence of Adoption: HS Prompts the Believer to Call God, “Father” vv.15b-16
A. The Holy Spirit Prompts us to Call God, “Father”.
1. Paul says that this Spirit empowered and initiated Cry is another evidence of our adoption.
a. v. 15 “we cry out” – that’s a strong, spontaneous call or cry to God. What do we cry out? “Abba” -Aramaic for “Father”. When someone is born again, the HS literally empowers the believer to confidently call out to God as a child would to his parent: “Father”.
b. No Jew would have dared address God with such a statement. No Jew would have spoken with such a confident, familial relationship. Judaism did not afford such a relationship then or now. Islam doesn’t afford such a relationship God is unknowable. Neither Hinduism’s Brahmin has no form and is everything while being nothing. Buddhism has no belief in a personal God. Illust: When Christ taught the Lord’s Prayer in Mt. 6:9ff, how did He tell us to begin: “Our Father…” Isn’t that amazing? Christ authorized His followers to use the same term to address God that He did!
2. What were the Consequences of this Adoption?
a. Illust: Roman adoption had 4 specific consequences: 1. The adopted lost all rights to his old family and gained all rights to his new family. 2. The adopted became an heir to his new father’s estate. Even if other heirs were born after the adoption, he was in no way displaced. 3. In law, the old life was completely wiped out. Even all former debts were cancelled. 4. In the eyes of the law, the adopted was the absolute son of his new father.
b. Think of those consequences in the spiritual realm: We have had our past relationship severed and we now have a new family. We are heir’s to our Heavenly Father’s estate! Joint heirs with Jesus! In law our old life has been completely eliminated. Col. 3:14 says: “having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” And finally, in the eyes of the law we are absolutely adopted as sons and daughters of God!
B. This calling God “Father” is another evidence of our Adoption.
1. Christian, when you are praying, and in your spirit, you begin to pray: “Dear Heavenly Father…” you are experiencing the “witness of the HS”. When we do that we are taking on our lips the very words Christ used to address God, and in such a way it is evidence of the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are God’s child. In doing so, the Spirit affirms the love God has lavished on us in Christ and thus the assurance of the Father’s love for us.
2. Some Christians have had bad experiences with their parents and find it hard to relate to God as their Father. But while the deeds of our parents influence our understanding of God’s fatherhood, we need to remember that He’s a perfect father, not prone to the faults of men and always concerned to protect us and provide for our well-being. God our Father never withholds good gifts from His children, and we can trust Him with all that we are.
C. Applic: Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote 4 chapters on the phrase: “you received the spirit of adoption” and 8 more chapters on “the witness of the HS”. To sum up his insights, Lloyd-Jones said this was more emotional than intellectual, and that at its core, conveyed the assurance and security the believer has in the Father’s love.”
IV. 4th Evidence of Adoption: The HS is the 1st Fruits of the Believer’s Heavenly Inheritance vv.17&23
A. Now the Apostle turns our attention to our heavenly inheritance as believers.
1. Paul points to the future application of this tremendous truth.
a. Now, notice the beautiful argument of logic the apostle employs: He has just spent the preceding few verses outlining the assurance we have as children of God. Now he says it: “If we are children…then we are heirs..heirs with God and co-heirs with Christ” Think about this beautiful thought. Our inheritance is eternity with Him.
b. Illust- IN the OT, the Levites, the priestly tribe of Israel was given no land, other than cities. The reason? “Because the Lord Himself was their inheritance.” (Dt.18:2) The Psalmist echoed this sentiment in Ps. 73:25 “Whom have I in heaven, but You?” We are told in the NT that in time to come, God will be our “all in all” I Cor. 15:28
2. Our inheritance is Sure.
a. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance, because He Himself is the 1st fruits, guaranteeing the accompanying harvest in due season. (v.23) The very same HS Who assures us that we are God’s children also assures us that we are His heirs.
b. Illust: As many of you know, I love to garden. This time of year many people like to eat what are called “New Potatoes”. New potatoes have thin, wispy skins and a crisp, waxy texture. They are young potatoes and unlike their fully grown counterparts, they keep their shape once cooked and cut. They are also sweeter because their sugar has not yet converted into starch, and are therefore particularly suited to salads. As long as don’t dig up the whole plant, those few new potatoes signal that something else is happening below the surface. Accompanying harvest in a few weeks.
B. Our Inheritance Assures us of our Eternal glory. V.17
1. This is True for the Believer Who identifies with Christ in this life.
a. Reav v.17 – Are you sharing in Christ’s sufferings? Are you suffering, not for being stupid or insensitive, etc., but are you sharing because you are identified with Christ? The essence of true discipleship is union with Christ which means identification with Him in both good and bad times.
b. Illust: A young Scottish woman named Margaret Maitland was drowned for her faith in Christ. Her persecutors bound her to a stake in the sea nearer to the land than her companion in suffering, hoping that Margaret would be terrified into renouncing Christ. As the tide came in, they asked her, “Margaret, what do you see yonder?” She replied, “I see Christ suffering in the person of one of His saints.” Margaret knew that Christ would be with her when her turn came and would never leave her or forsake her. As He did for Stephen, the glorified Christ would sustain His suffering saint through the trial and then receive her into glory.
2. We are told by the Apostle Peter of this very same hope. I Peter 4:13 declares: “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” If we are alive at His coming, can you imagine what will be seen! All of the suffering for the cause of Christ will be worth in all.
C. Applic: It was January 26, 1940. Ronald Reagan married famous actress Jane Wyman. About a year later, they would have a daughter named Maureen. She always wanted a brother and on March 21, 1945, got her wish when Ronald and Jane adopted Michael at just 3 days old. “I was born German and three days later I was Irish," jokes Michael. At 4 years old, Michael would find out in an expected way how he came to be a Reagan. Years later, as an adult, got a call one day that his son, Cameron, was on the steps of the school crying. "I said, What's wrong? He said, Is grandpa really my grandpa? I said, Yes why? He said, Kids say he isn't because, Dad, you were adopted. Your mom and dad didn't want you. So, is my grandpa really my grandpa?" "Greatest gift Irene Flaugher gave me was life. She gave me a chance at life. Greatest gift Jane Wyman and Ronald Reagan gave me, is really nurturing that life." "My parents, Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman never referred to me as adopted. I was always their son. We are all adopted into Christ's love but when you bring a child into to your home, that's your child. You don't have to pigeon hole them and say, that's the adopted one." Guess what brother’s and sisters? God doesn’t either! PTL!
