March 13, 2005 Romans 8:16-18
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God or you could even say co-heirs with Christ, since we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
This text is not one that many Lutherans are familiar with. It talks of listening to a communication of the spirit within. Lutherans are leery of such communications, because many times such communications are actually from the devil. In the 22nd chapter of 1 Kings, kings Ahab and Jehoshaphat met together to determine whether they should attack Ramoth Gilead. A whole slew of prophets came forward and said, “go ahead and attack.” But one prophet by the Micaiah said what really happened.
1 Kings 22:19-23 I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “‘By what means?’ the LORD asked. “‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’ “So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”
All of these prophets were sure that they were speaking for the LORD, but in reality they had the wrong spirit. They were only speaking lies. They shouldn’t have trusted the spirit within.
In the same way, when Luther met with Zwingli at the Marburg Colloquy, they had reached an impasse at the Real Presence in the Lord’s Supper. Ultimately, Luther said to Zwingli, “yours is a different spirit.” The spirit that he was listening to and so confident in - it was not God’s Holy Spirit - because he was not basing his faith on God’s Word but on reason. It’s a part of our heritage, then, to question that inner calling, that seeming “spirit” and feeling within that the world likes to point to. We simply don’t trust it. All too often that “spirit” is only being led by our sinful flesh or the devil himself.
Yet in today’s text, Paul talks about a testimony of the Holy Spirit with the spirit - the regenerated part of the Christian. How do we know what spirit this is? How can we trust it? Is it just a feeling? What does it - the Holy Spirit want to say to us? We’ll find out as we listen to Paul tell us to -
Listen to the Spirit Within
I. Know what you are
First of all, when we listen to the Spirit, He gives us IDENTITY. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. The Holy Spirit wants us to have an unwavering conviction that we are God’s children. It’s kind of like Peter - when Jesus talked to him after the resurrection. Three times - Jesus - God Himself - asked Peter if he loved him. In the midst of this questioning - in which most of us would have begun to question our own faith - Peter held fast to what the spirit within told him. He said to Jesus, “Lord, you know all things. You KNOW that I love you.” Peter knew who he was - in spite of his weakness.
How do you really know if you’re a Christian? Is it just a feeling? It’s more than that - although feelings are definitely involved. Paul explains what this testimony involves in vs. 13-15. There are two things that testify to you that you are God’s children. Romans 8:13-14 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
The first testimony is reflected in your lifestyle. What are you living according to? Those who have the Holy Spirit within do not live according to the sinful nature. “Live” is a present active indicative. It is an ongoing and regular part of your lifestyle - living literally in accordance with the “flesh”. When the decisions you make are made to please your flesh - then you know that you are being dominated by the flesh. For instance, a child who lives day after day knowingly ignoring his parents wishes for him to clean his room, is living according to his own lazy flesh. A man who buys a yearly membership to Playboy and indulges his eyes in the pleasure of that flesh day after day, is not led by the Holy Spirit. A wife who lives in constant hatred of her husband has chosen the way of the flesh. It doesn’t matter what you say you believe if your on-going actions give a completely different story. When you knowingly continue in sins that you know are wrong, you know that you do not have the Spirit - for the Holy Spirit cannot live with such unrepentant ongoing behavior.
This is a difficult testimony to read however. Why? Because every day we - even as Spirit driven Christians - still sin in ways that we don’t want to. There are Christians who give into the temptation of lust. There are Christian children who give into the temptation of laziness. It is an ongoing battle for every Christian, and we often lose these battles. Just because we lose these battles on a regular basis, doesn’t mean that we don’t have the Holy Spirit. It’s when we stop battling it and decide to not fight it - that we accept our weaknesses as a way of life - those are signs of a lack of the Holy Spirit. But the first sign is to be able to look at your lifestyle and not have any open and ongoing sins of rebellion that are consuming your lifestyle. Then you know you are Christian. This is always a difficult sign to find confidence in, because we are all much more weak than we would like to be.
The second sign of Christianity is a much more solid sign. It is found in the attitude that the Holy Spirit gives you. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” You know you have the Holy Spirit if you aren’t a slave to fear - if you regard God as your Father. If you do not fear standing before God on Judgment Day - you know you have the Holy Spirit. If you are not afraid of the wrath of God - if the law of God doesn’t send you running from God, if you don’t only feel guilty all the time, then you know you have the Holy Spirit. If you can confidently say, “I am a child of God,” then you know you have the Holy Spirit. If you feel that you are so holy that you can stand before the holy God, then you know you have the Holy Spirit. This is what separates the pretend Christians from the true Christians.
Such confidence does not come to those who only rely on their feelings - because their feelings come and go. This confidence also doesn’t come to those who rely on their lifestyles - because they always find some room for improvement when they really look into God’s Word. The only place that this confidence comes from is in the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives a promise from God the Holy Spirit Himself. These promises are laced throughout the first eight chapters of Romans. Just listen to the first three verses of this chapter. Romans 8:1-3 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man. The Gospel states that there is NO condemnation for sinners like us, because we were already condemned through Christ on the cross. When we believe that God already sent us to hell in Christ, we can stand before God without fear. The Holy Spirit testifies to you in these verses that you already paid the price - when Christ paid the price and said, “it is finished.” The Holy Spirit says that this is yours through FAITH in Christ - not by works. When you look at Jesus, the Holy Spirit within says, “I know I am holy. I know that through my baptism God has made me a child of God. (Romans 6) I have nothing to fear on Judgment Day - because I know that Jesus already paid the price.”
If you’re not a Christian, all of these words about holiness and perfection in Christ sound like strange and confusing terms. They don’t make sense. They seem too easy. They seem too arrogant. In a sense - this confidence is impossible to explain - except to those who have it. The Spirit testifies to our spirit. It’s not that we’re confident because of who we are, but because we really believe that Christ was who He said He was - the Savior. It’s more than a feeling. It’s a conviction that even though we still feel the effects of sin and still commit sin, like Peter - we still believe that cry of the Holy Spirit when He says to us, “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)
II. Know what it brings
When the message of IDENTITY gets through to your heart and soul - and you realize that you are actually God’s SON or DAUGHTER through faith - then the Spirit also gets you to see the natural CONNECTION. You are now part of a family. This can be good and it can be bad. Imagine, for instance, that you were adopted by President Bush. Immediately you would become a member of the most powerful family in America. You would inherit a nice ranch in Texas. But you would also be on the top ten hit list of Muslim fundamentalists. Names bring good and bad with it. In the same way, Paul talks about what to expect when you learn your identity as a Christian.
There are two things we can expect as heirs of God. If we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God or you could even say co-heirs with Christ, since we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Notice that in being heirs of God, Paul also calls us co-heirs with Christ. With faith in Christ, God identifies us with Christ - His blood is put on our souls. His righteousness is put on our account. We are indeed co-heirs - joined not only at the hip - but at the heart and the soul. However, this means that not only does God identify us as Christ, but so does the world. If the world looks at us as Christ, then that means that the world will also want us to suffer.
How do we know this? Suffering was the only way that Jesus could be IDENTIFIED with US. He couldn’t do this only by living on our planet and eating our food and walking in our shoes. He had to go through the same temptations we had. He had to live under the same laws that He gave. But ultimately, He had to take this a step further. In order to be identified with SINNERS, Jesus had to become a SINNER - not in the active sense - but in the passive sense. Jesus had to become us on the cross. Therefore, on the cross God no longer looked at Jesus as His beloved Son whom He loved. Jesus - on the cross - no longer called Him Father - He called Him - “My God” - who had forsaken Him. At that moment in time - Jesus had the worst connection with the world - the connection of sin and hell. Why? In order that He could erase that sinfulness from us - and share with us what HE had - His righteousness. It took SUFFERING for Jesus to identify with us.
Therefore Paul says that since we are connected with Christ, we also inherit that same hatred that Jesus received - not from God - since that was completed - but from man. Several years ago I went to visit a man who had some very bitter feelings toward his congregation from the way they had treated him and our Synod as well. I had nothing to do with that history. I had nothing to do with the way they treated him, so I thought that I might be able to get somewhere with him. Yet when I got to his home, I was treated very coldly and rudely, because I came as a Pastor of that congregation and a member of that Synod. My association with the church made him project his feelings toward me. In the same way, when we come connected to Christ, as we preach HIS Word of righteousness and salvation, it angers people. When we tell people that they aren’t good enough to get to heaven, they don’t like it. When we tell the Hindus and the Muslims and the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons that they aren’t going to heaven, it enrages them. When we tell the work righteous that filthy sinners are declared holy free of charge, they think this method is outrageous. It makes them feel angry. They hate our way, because it exposes how unholy they really are. Even though we are trying to help them, Paul says “don’t expect anything but suffering.” You’ve inherited the condemnation of the world. They’ll call you judgmental. They’ll call you narrow minded. They’ll say you’re brainwashed. They may even take your property and your life. The words of the Holy Spirit make this clear. Mark this: ANYONE who tells you that Christianity should bring riches and fame and no suffering is not speaking by the Spirit.
Who are we, then, to say that we won’t take this suffering? There once was a girl who told her parents she loved them and hugged them every night before she went to bed. But when she went to the Mall with her parents, she made them walk ten feet behind her. The parents were naturally saddened by her behavior. Isn’t that what we say to Jesus when we are too embarrassed to say prayers before meals? Isn’t that what we say to Jesus when we don’t like to talk about Him outside of church? Is it right to take the good and not the bad? What kind of a slap in the face is it to say to Jesus, “I’d like to be connected to you before God, but not before the world?” Don’t do that to Him!
It’s never easy to suffer. Jesus didn’t have an easy time going to the cross. But what does the Holy Spirit say? Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus kept his eyes focused on the joy before him - the joy of knowing that He was wiping our slates clean - and giving us a free salvation. With his eyes on the reward - He went through the cross - so we could have heaven! So Paul gives us a similar motivation. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. When you compare the crosses that you have to go through with the glory that will be revealed to us in heaven - it doesn’t compare! The Spirit says - “Be willing to suffer now - expect to suffer - but know that in the end - when you are revealed as God’s children and receive the inheritance of ETERNAL heaven - it will all have been worth it.” That’s the benefit of being connected to Christ.
Several years ago Anna Nicole Smith - a Playboy model - married a guy about fifty years older than her - who just happened to be a multimillionaire. When he died, the family contested the will, which stated that she should receive millions of dollars. The family didn’t think she deserved such an inheritance, because she only married him for his money. The courts decided in the family’s favor, declaring her to be a gold digger.
Our marriage to God - it is different. God is the beautiful and rich King, and we were the ugly and filthy prostitutes. God had nothing to gain by marrying us. Yet God was not hoodwinked into marrying us. He knowingly, in His mercy, decided to become one of us and marry us because He wanted to make us holy. He wanted to give us the inheritance of heaven. So He came and died for us. He washed us and made us His own in baptism. There are many in this world who don’t like this message. The Jews of Jesus’ time hated it. The work righteous of today still persecute us for it. They try to contest the will - and complain that we’re not worthy of heaven. They call us infidels. They threaten us with harm and violence. Don’t listen to them. Listen to the Spirit within. He says to you, “it is finished. It is finished. It is finished. You are a child of God, even though you don’t deserve it. You are an heir, even though you haven’t earned it. Jesus has earned your salvation. He promises you - you are a child - through FAITH. Therefore, look forward to your inheritance. Listen to my words!” Amen.
