SONS OR SLAVES?
Text: Romans 8:14 – 17
Rom 8:12-17 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— (13) for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (14) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. (15) For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" (16) it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (17) and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
There is a story that I once read about an insecure little girl. The story was about “… a little girl who was asked to bring her birth certificate to school one day. Her mother wisely cautioned her about the important document and told her not to lose it. The child forgot; you guessed it. She did lose it. When she became aware of her loss, she started crying. When asked why she was crying, she answered, “I lost my excuse for being born!” (Wilson O. Weldon. Not Afraid. Nashville: Upper Room, 1984, p. 35). It is sad to think about how many people there are in the world who feel insecure about who they are just like the little girl in this story. Like this little girl, we want to feel that feeling of security. We want that security that comes from knowing that we belong to a family.
Someone (William Glasser) once said, “… the need to belong has been built into our nervous systems …. We always need involvement, and we always feel pain when we have none. The pain warns us to seek involvement with others.” (William Glasser. The Identity Society. New York: Harper, 1972, pp. 74-75). There is no doubt that there are many who feel like they are outsiders.
Have you ever heard someone say that even though they were in a crowd, they still felt alone? Have you ever felt like that?
Satan looks for opportunities like that as ports of entry to magnify that feeling of loneliness. This is where he uses his arsenal of lies, pulling one fiery arrow (Ephesians 6:16) out of his quiver to shoot at you one after the other. Here’s the thing we need to remember, Satan’s fiery arrows are no match for God’s love because as Paul says in Romans 8:38 - 39, there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love.
Did you notice what Paul did in this text? Paul speaks about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as he reminds that if we are God’s children, then we are also heirs---joint heirs because we are adopted sons and daughters of God through what Jesus did for us on the cross.
THE LONGING TO BELONG
What is the difference netween being a slave and being one of God’s adopted children?
1) Slaves vs. sons: In the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, slaves were not members of the family. "Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. "So if the Son… " [God's only begotten Son (John 3:16)] "… sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:35-36 NIV). Believing and living in relationship in Jesus Christ is what keeps us free.
2) P C hangup: People from the pc camp (political correctness camp) might get hung up on the language of “son”. In doing so, they take the meaning out of context to make it fit into their pc camp. God’s Word I not bound by such foolishness. In the Greek NT, the word “son” is used figuratively of all children according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance.
3) Rivaling kingdoms: In his Bible commentary, David Guzik gives this illustration:
“An 82 year-old Christian woman from Hong Kong told of her life in China, but still used much of the vocabulary that the Communists used in describing their revolution - they called it “the liberation.” She was asked, “When you were back in China, were you free to gather together with other Christians to worship?” “Oh no,” she answered. “Since the liberation no one is permitted to gather together for Christian services.” “But surely you were able to get together in small groups and discuss the Christian faith?” “No, we were not,” the woman replied. “Since the liberation all such meeting are forbidden.” “Were you free to read the Bible?” “Since the liberation, no one is free to read the Bible.” ….. The point is clear: freedom does not consist in the word “freedom,” or in words, but in relationship to Jesus Christ, through abiding in His Word, and being His disciple.” (David Guzik's Enduring Word Commentary). The enemy works through those who submit to worldly methods to keep us away from being free through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! That is why Paul understood that his captors could arrest but the one thing they could not do was take away the freedom that Christ gives to us.
4) Relationship: Jesus Christ gave His life on the cross for us so that we might have eternal life through Him which makes us heirs. In other words, we are adopted children. We do not always know what the future holds, but if you know the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ, you can be assured that he holds your future. An heir will usually receive an inheritance. As God’s children, we are heirs of salvation.
How many are slaves to sin because they are mastered by the sin that holds them captive (John 8:34)?
1) Satan’s rap sheet strategy: One of the biggest fiery arrows that Satan uses from his quiver of arrows is to remind us of our sinful past, implying that we do not belong and are not good enough and will never be good enough.
2) Satan’s own rap sheet: What did Jesus say about Satan’s rap sheet? Jesus said [Satan] “…. was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan’s agenda is to deceive, steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10 paraphrase).
3) Following: Jesus tells us that we follow the voice of the one we listen to albeit the voice of the devil who is the father of lies (John 8:44) or the voice of the Lord (John 8:42-47). It is those who are slaves to sin, who do not know God and do not have a relationship with the Savior, who experience the kind of anxiety that comes with being estranged from God.
4) Lukewarm: How many who call themselves Christians are neither hot nor cold (Revelation 3:16)? How can Lukewarm Christians win anyone for Christ when they do not embrace their relationship to Jesus? Is Jesus just their Savior? How can Jesus be Lord of those who are lukewarm? As Jesus said, “Not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of Heaven” but only those who do the Lord’s will” (Matthew 7:21). The lukewarm are lukewarm because they are
WALKING IN THE SPIRIT
How well do we walk with the Holy Spirit?
1) Fruit of the Spirit: In Matthew 7:16 Jesus said we will be known by our fruits. The Holy Spirit. As Paul reminds us, God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children ( Romans 8:16). “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:22).
2) Crucifying the old self: Paul said, “for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). Essentially Paul says the same thing when he said when he said those who belong to Jesus crucified the flesh with its passion and desires because they are led and guided by the Spirit (Galatians 5:24 -25).
Is there such a thing as walking with the Holy Spirit be default?
1) No default plan: Planes have autopilot, cars have cruise control and answering machines have default messages but we cannot operate in our spiritual lives by default. That is why we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.
2) Vacuum: “Nature abhors a vacuum” is a saying that Is attributed to Aristotle.
3) Parable: Jesus told a parable Matthew 12:43-45 about the danger of an empty house. The point was that you cannot keep a vacant house clean because the evil spirit that was evicted returns with seven other evil spirits if a cleaned house is left vacant.
4) Yoke: It has been said that “ BUSY is an acronym for Being Under Satan’s Yoke”. (Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges and Phyllis Hendry. Lead Like Jesus. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2016, p. 129). Jesus used the world “yoke” as a spiritual metaphor in Matthew 11:29 meaning of “a yoke of submission”. We can find the rest that Jesus was talking about because He calls us to be His disciples who will follow His example of humbling serving Him by also serving others.
HEIRS
How many times have you seen step-children portrayed as lesser than in books and movies?
1) Stereotype of step-children: How many times have you heard of the “Red-headed step-child” rule where the step-children are neglected or unwanted? There are times when step-children become part of a new family, only to feel awkward. Sometimes their awkwardness comes from the new and unfamiliar place where they are in their lives. There are other times when step-children feel awkward because of how they might be made to feel left out and excluded. The point that I am trying to make is that through the Holy Spirit, when we believe in Jesus Christ and accept the gift of salvation we become God’s adopted children.
2) Adopted children: God does not treat adopted children like step-children! “As someone (D. Stuart Briscoe) has said, “… in the first century, adoption [was] far from suggesting inferiority of position in comparison to that of the naturally born child, [it] was actually a means of putting the one not naturally so born into a position of great”. (D. Stuart Briscoe and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Romans, vol. 29, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982, 164)..
3) Blessed Assurance: As God’s adopted children, we can sing with joy the blessing we are lavishly given through God’s grace, having been washed of Jesus’s blood and being born of God’s holy Spirit these word from the hymn “Blessed Assurance”:
“Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
We are given the ability to chose to be born again and become adopted sons and daughter because of what God’s only begotten Son did on the cross to purchase our salvation because we were “bought with a price”
As heirs we will inherit a life with God the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit for eternity.
1) Marching orders: Jesus called us not only to be saved but also to evangelize the lost sheep whom Jesus wants to be part of the flock (John 10:16).
2) Adversity: Until that time comes, when the Lord call us to our place in Heaven that the Lord Jesus Christ promised that He is preparing for us, (John 14:2) we will from time to time experience suffering, and the storms that will come our way and from the hate of those who oppose us (John 15:18).
3) God’s grip: Back in 1975, George Beverly Shea was once a featured artist at a singing event. From time to time he would get original compositions that would be sent to him with a request for him to record them. There was one song that had a catchy title---“God’s Grip Don’t Slip”. As someone (Brian L. Harbour) pointed out, about the title of that song it had “… atrocious grammar, but terrific theology”. (Bian L. Harbor. From Cover To Cover. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1982, p. 184). All human fathers will die one day. God our heavenly Father is eternal and if we are one of His adopted children, then we will also be heirs who will be glorified after our suffering because “God’s Grip Don’t Slip”.
4) Momentary suffering and eternal glory: We do not always know what the future holds, but we do know that God holds our future. We also know that we will share in glory with Jesus, just as we have suffered with Jesus although not in the exact same way that He suffered. II Corinthians 4:17 – 18 put it this way: “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (RSV). God does not want anyone feeling like they have “lost their excuse for being born”.
5) Liberated: God does not want us to be slaves to sin, death and the fear of death. As Hebrews 2:14-15 puts it Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, (15) and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. That is why God gives us the opportunity through Jesus Christ to become adopted sons and daughters rather than slaves who would perish. It is only God’s children---adopted children who have become sons and daughters and heirs, because a slaves of sin do not have a place in the family of God.
