Spiritual Depression Pt 12: The Spirit of Bondage

Romans 8 and the Spirit of Adoption

Okay, we're up to part 12 of our study on spiritual depression, and this study is about the spirit of bondage. And we're going to be—it's a fairly long section, 15 verses today, but it's important that we look at this portion of Scripture before we get into our study.

So therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mindset on the flesh is death, but the mindset on the Spirit is life and peace.

Because the mindset on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. But the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you.

He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

For you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, Abba, Father. Okay, now, we could go on and on because this chapter just gets better and better as we go.

The Context and Purpose of Romans 8:15

But we're looking at this for a specific reason. As I usually do, I want to start with a quotation from the beginning of the chapter from Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. No greater words than these have ever been written.

They stand out even in a great chapter like this as an expression of truth, which is quite unique. It is one of the most magnificent statements that is found anywhere in the whole realm and range of the Scriptures.

Yet there is nothing more important about a statement like this than we should realize exactly why it was the Apostle ever made it. Keep that in mind. The danger with some of these resounding phrases is that we tend to content ourselves with the words or with some general impression which they make upon us.

We enjoy them so much that we do not realize their significance, and therefore we do not truly appropriate to ourselves the teaching which they are meant to convey. Just think about his quotation here for a minute, what he's saying.

Far too often we have a favorite portion of Scripture, we go to it, we love it, we read it and all, but we take it out of the context that it was said in, and therefore we can miss some of the intent of the writers of it.

The key to the study this evening is found in the first half of verse 15. Remember, the key, the study tonight is called the spirit of bondage. Verse 15 of chapter 8 of Romans, for you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again.

Now notice how the verse begins with the word for. You could say whether it's any type of a conjunction, whether it's a therefore, a however, or a. But whenever we see those words, they are important because it ties in with what has preceded it.

Here's a quotation from the doctor, in other words, the statement is linked up with something that has gone before, and the apostle has a very definite object in view of writing these words, and it is that he is anxious to save these Roman Christians from a spirit of discouragement, from a spirit of despondency or depression.

Now remember what we're going through in this study is spiritual depression. What are the causes and what is the remedy? And we've gone through some, well this is the 12th lesson now, and we are looking at for those who are in a spirit of bondage.

All of the great doctrine of the New Testament is given in a certain context, and that's what we see in this chapter here as well. So when we're looking at verse 15 of Romans 8, you have to remember everything that went before it.

And in fact, in this particular case, not only, you can't even take chapter 8 by itself. What's the beginning of chapter 8? Everybody should know it. Therefore there's no condemnation in Jesus Christ.

You've got a therefore, which brings us back to chapter 7, and all the way back to chapter 6, we wind up going all the way back to chapter 1. It's one continuous thread. And so we need to remember what is the context that this is given in.

These epistles, which we have in the New Testament, are full of doctrine and of theology. And yet it would be very wrong to say that the collection of New Testament epistles is a textbook of theology.

It is not. The astounding thing is this, and it is important to bear in mind that these pronouncements and the doctrines are always introduced with some practical object in view, with the pastoral element right in the very forefront.

These letters are pastoral letters written primarily because the Apostle was concerned to help people to an actual enjoyment and outliving of the Christian faith which they had believed and accepted. So if we're coming to this idea of being in bondage, it's given for a reason.

So we're not, in going through this book of spiritual depression, this is not just a theological course. Now we use the theology of the Scripture, but to bring out some sort of a practical result. Remember, in fact, I forget who it was who said it, some great theologian somewhere along the line said, the Bible was not given to make us smarter.

It was given to change our lives. And always keep that in mind. How and why does the Apostle come to make this important statement? That is, the statement is that you have not been given a spirit of bondage.

Put another way, what is the cause of this type of depression or discouragement? Again, the point he's making is that those who are in bondage, and we'll explore that a little bit as we go through, are those who are in spiritual depression.

The Spirit of Bondage and the Problem of Living the Christian Life

Okay. It is nothing less than the problem of living the Christian life. How's that for words of encouragement? The problem, if you like, of dealing with sin. Paul has been dealing with that problem from the beginning of the sixth chapter of this mighty epistle, and he's still dealing with it here.

These people to whom he is writing have been converted and have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, but now they are up against the problem of living this new life which they have received in a world that is antagonistic and utterly opposed to them.

Okay. There's your context again. And what's interesting about the lesson tonight, we have talked in all the previous lessons, we've talked about some sort of failure, weakness in faith, something of that nature.

Not recognizing that faith is an activity, all of those type of things. But notice, the problem that we're having here is living the Christian life. So the question then is, how does this play out? Why would just living the Christian life bring us to depression?

Sometimes the cause of the spiritual depression is no specific problem. In other words, it's not a specific sin. Remember we've seen how somebody who has committed some great, heinous sin in the past, and that can haunt them, or somebody who has come to faith late in life, and they're despondent over wasting so many years of their life.

That's not what he's addressing here. What he's addressing here is no specific problem, just the daily problems of trying to live a godly life in a world that is antagonistic to it. Does that fit our society today?

I would say yes. It is simply the everyday battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. We're told right in Scripture that those are the three fronts on which we battle, and any one of those three, and sometimes it's all three of them working together.

Remember, Satan's goal is to cause us to stumble, to make us inefficient or ineffectual in the battle of the daily Christian life. So what type of person is susceptible to this particular type of depression?

Look at what the doctor says. We have already considered many examples of the various means which the devil in his subtlety uses to discourage us. This again is a very common one, and particularly so with the conscientious type of person who takes the Christian faith very seriously, the type of person who says not, now I'm converted all as well, but rather, this is a great and glorious life, I must live it.

We are considering here the peculiar temptation that comes to such people. Now notice how different this is. This is, are you a Christian who says, I recognize, I've been converted, I know I'm a sinner, and I have this great and glorious Christian life ahead of me, praise God, watch out, you might be spiritually depressed.

But I think as we go along, you'll see that everything he's saying here is absolutely true. Now again, he's not saying that everybody that says that. It's just that that's the type of person who would be susceptible to this.

The problem is a failure to understand that faith must be appropriated. Notice how often depression comes with a misunderstanding of faith. It's not that they don't have faith. All right, and I'll expand on this as we go along a little bit.

And it actually begins with the study of the scripture. The scripture defines the conduct and the morality which the Christian strives to live by. Right? We come to faith. What do we want to know? What do I do?

How do I live this life? And what's the pastor or the elder come and tell you? Well, you've got to start with reading the scriptures. He might even give you passages. Read the Sermon on the Mount. Read the epistles.

All right. Let's face it. Sanctification is a high standard. We're told to be holy. How holy are we told to be? Be ye holy as I am holy. So sanctification is a high standard. So the person sets this new standard, sets about this new standard as though he must do it alone.

See, here's where the problem comes in. I see this and I say, all right, I'm going to hunker down and I can do this. All right. Isn't that what every inspirational movie we see out there? I can do this.

Just think of all the, I love it, the little girl. It's always, for some reason, it's always a little girl. And, you know, to save the day, she sits down at the computer. I know this system. I can do this.

And she starts typing and the problems all go away. How many movies have you seen like that? Jurassic Park is one. All right. The Christian sometimes reads the scripture. I can do this. He forgets or misunderstands the role of faith in sanctification.

And he finds himself in bondage to a set of rules and regulations that he can't live up to. And I'm not talking about the rules and regulations from scripture. I'm not talking about God's law. See, that's one way to get rid of this.

Well, let's do away with God's law. All right. But I don't think I have to address that with this crowd. This is what Paul calls the spirit of bondage. They see that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.

They are quite clear about their justification. However, they now begin to look positively at the Christian life and in a very subtle way. Quite unconsciously to themselves, they turn it into a new kind of law with the results that they get into a spirit of bondage and of serfdom.

They think of the Christian life as a great test which they have to take up and to which they are to apply themselves. All right. Now, let's Colossians. Colossians addresses this very issue. Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.

Notice it says a Sabbath, not the Sabbath. That's very important. Things which are mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Notice what Paul is talking about here, which expands on what he's talking about in Romans 8, is where we start setting up rules to help us live a holy life to keep the law of God.

The law of God is still binding. That's not the issue. The issue is when we start setting up additional regulations. All right. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement or the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head from whom the entire body being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments grows with the growth which is from God.

If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees such as do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, which are all referred to things destined to perish with you in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men.

Now, but aren't they useful? These matters which have to be sure the appearance of wisdom and self-made religion, self-abasement and serve treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

This is what he's referring to back in Romans 8. All right. Now, the spirit of bondage. Yeah, I'm going to pass over the spirit of bondage leads to fear. Look again at verse 15, for you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again.

Notice you have not received the spirit of slavery or a spirit of bondage, depending on your translation. All right. And what happens if you develop this bondage mentality that, you know, setting up all of these man-made rules and regulations.

All right. It leads to fear. Fear again. Prior to Christ, there's always fear. What's the number one command of scriptures? Fear not. The next question then is, in what sense does it produce fear? In the first place, it tends to produce a wrong fear of God.

There is a right fear of God, and we neglect and ignore that at our peril. But there is also a wrong fear of God that is a craven fear, a fear that hath torment. All right. So let's look at that. What happens is they begin to see God as a taskmaster who is waiting for them to do something wrong so he can punish them.

Where do you... What area of Christianity would you see something like this? Whenever. Yeah. There's one big... That's a big area of it. For the believer, that is a wrong fear of God. There's another fear that is produced by this type of bondage as well.

And that is that the task laid before them is too great. Nobody can do this. Okay. And that's also related to the wrong fear of God. God expects too much from you. All right. The task is so great that there's no hope of attaining it, and that leads to spiritual depression.

There's another fear that proceeds from this bondage, and that's the wrong fear of the devil. We are never told to ignore the power of the devil in Scripture. That's just something that we're not told to do.

In fact, the Scripture warns us several times how powerful and deceptive and seductive he can be. However, he is not all-powerful. He's not all-knowing. And we are informed in Scripture that the devil is always under the restraint of God.

So while we're told to be aware and not ignorant of his schemes, we are not to fear him, again, in a wrong manner. And then there's another fear for those who succumb to this bondage, and that the fear of the sin remaining in them, though they are saved.

Again, we're told to be aware of the sin, but not to be controlled or governed by it. So here's a summary of this depression. In other words, I can sum it up like this. The spirit of fear which results from the spirit of bondage in this type of Christian is ultimately a fear of themselves and a fear of failure.

And these people, the apostle addresses in verse 15. Again, you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but that's only the beginning of the remedy. The answer lies in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit, Adoption, and Freedom from Fear

And this is an extremely important point. You have been thinking of this task of yours as if you alone, by yourself, had to live the great Christian life. You realize that you are forgiven and you can thank God that your sins are blotted out and washed away, but you seem to think that that is all and that you are left to live the Christian life on your own.

If you think like that, says Paul, it's not surprising that you're in a spirit of fear and bondage. For the whole thing is entirely hopeless. It means that you just have a new law which is infinitely more difficult than the old law.

But that is not the position, for the Holy Spirit dwells within you. Romans 8, 13, for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. But by the spirit, you are putting to death the deeds of the body.

Notice the difference. It's still up to you. You have got to put effort in, but it's by the power of the Holy Spirit that you're able to do that. That's a whole lot different than hunkering down, building up all the gusto you can muster within you.

It's not that at all. Then look at the rest of verse 15. For you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but... You love that word, right? Whenever you see that word in Scripture, that's usually an indication something good is following it.

Unless something good preceded it, then it might be something bad that's following it. But one way or the other. But, you have received the spirit of adoption as sons. Notice the difference. Spirit of slavery, spirit of adoption.

The Christian has real freedom in Christ and is given the Holy Spirit. When you come to Christ, freedom is a real thing. It's not just some theological principle. It's a practical attitude that comes to you.

And the adoption changes our relationship to God. We are no longer slaves to sin, but sons of Almighty God. Yes, we are given the mandate to become holy. But we are given the Holy Spirit to aid us in accomplishing that goal.

It is through an understanding of this doctrine that we can overcome our fears and depression. This is the way to get rid of the spirit of bondage and that false spirit of fear. We ought to realize that the Spirit of God is in us.

We must look to Him. We must seek His aid. We must rely upon Him. That does not mean we ought to be passive. It means we believe that as we are wrestling, He is empowering us. We would not even have bothered to exert ourselves unless He had prompted us to do so.

He works in us and we work it out. And as we realize this, the task is not impossible. Do you see the difference? I hope you can see the difference in the two things. Now, there's another related principle in the text as well.

Look again at verse 15. You have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption by which we cry out, Abba, Father. Now, how does that help? Well, there again, we've taken from that word on.

We've received the spirit of adoption as sons. But look at this. By which we cry out, Abba, Father. Only the believer in Christ can make that cry. How does that help? It reminds us that God is our Father and we work not out of fear as for a taskmaster, but to please our Father who is in heaven.

Do you see how that changes the whole perspective? Remember, depression is a spiritual issue. That's why the whole title of the study is called spiritual depression. So, if you find yourself moving, and by the way, it's a very real thing.

Again, we're not talking about clinical depression as described by the psychologist. This is spiritual depression where a Christian can actually get down on himself. It affects him emotionally, physically, in every way as well as spiritually.

But notice how this will change our emotional. Remember way back when we said that one of the biggest weapons in fighting spiritual depression is our emotional well-being. Is that right? I'm going to smack you right up.

No. That's exactly the opposite of what I said. What is the number one weapon in fighting spiritual depression? Truth. It's truth. And here, what is the truth that can move us out of this spiritual depression?

God is our Father. You've got to come to realize that God is our Father. So, as we set to live the Christian life and exercise dominion over this world, you realize how stupid that sounds if this isn't true?

I'm looking at this ragtag group of people in front of me here, and I'm telling you that you guys are going to go and exercise dominion over this world, and you're going to fight kings and princes, and you're going to win.

No, you're ragtag. I got 20 -20 vision, artificial eyes, bionic eyes. Paid a lot of money for these. But look at it. It reminds us God is our Father, and we work not out of fear. That changes the whole thing.

Working in the kingdom is a labor of love. Yeah, it's hard. Yeah, you're going to be up against it at times. But it's a labor of love. It's not working for a harsh taskmaster. Another quotation from Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones.

Filial love, filial reverence, filial fear is so different from that old servile fear. It is based upon the desire to please our Father, and the moment we grasp that, we lose the spirit of bondage. Our Christian living is not a matter of rules and regulations any longer, but rather our desire to show Him our gratitude for all He has ever done for us.

And finally, this doctrine also reminds us of our destiny. Notice verse 16, that follows verse 15. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, what has Christ earned as the heir?

All of heaven, all of earth. If indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. This is what's waiting for us. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you labor well in the kingdom, you will be glorified and you will be an heir with Christ in all that the Father has promised Him.

Does that change your outlook when the going gets tough? It should. So in conclusion, the way to get rid of the spirit of bondage and fear is to know that if you are a child of God, you are destined for heaven and for glory, and that all the things you see inside yourself and outside yourself cannot prevent the plan from being carried out.

That is the way to live the Christian life. Do not turn it into a law, but realize that you have received the Holy Spirit. Then work out this theme. Your father is watching over you. He is looking after you.

Yes, let me use scripture language. He is jealous concerning you because you belong to him. You belong to Christ. You are his brother. The Holy Spirit is dwelling in your very body and you are destined for glory.

Questions on Ezekiel, Sanctification, and Man-Made Rules

Questions? Yes. One of the things that God does do, he tells us right from the get-go what the negatives are going to be. Yes, he does. And the reason I bring that up, I was just reading this in Ezekiel, where when Ezekiel is commissioned, he is told right away that they are not going to listen to you, they are not going to hear you, they are going to be steely-faced against you.

Why does he do that? So that Ezekiel knows right from the start what he is going to face. But then he goes one step further and he speaks to Ezekiel. And the way it is phrased is he speaks to Ezekiel, tells him to put it in his heart, I am paraphrasing, then Ezekiel hears it.

So the word and the Holy Spirit is what gives him the wherewithal to now go and face those people which he already knows they are not going to listen to. We can apply that to ourselves as well.

We see that numerous times in Scripture where God tells somebody to go do something, he says, but you are not going to be successful. But this is what you have to do. And obviously it is for a purpose.

Yeah. Chains await you.

Any other questions? Yes. When you were talking about how when it comes to sanctification being a high standard and how some people, they find themselves in bondage to a set of rules and regulations that they can't live up to, but not talking about God's law, talking about, you know, basically making your own rules and regulations that may be stopping you from breaking God's law?

Is it talking about like...

No. Let me tell you what I meant by that. First, let's look at the Roman Catholic side. All right. The Roman Catholic Church put in, does several things that they believe make you more holy. So, for example, the whole system of monasticism is based upon this.

Okay. The more you separate yourself from the world and just close to yourself in a spiritual domain, the more holy you are. That's why they have people making vows of monasticism. They separate themselves so they can devote the whole day towards worshiping God in some way.

All right. They also have vows of silence, and the purpose of the vow of silence is, well, you can't curse, you can't blaspheme God if you don't talk. All right. Vows of poverty. Well, that'll free you from the love of money, supposedly, in theory.

So you see what I'm saying is they invent man-made rules, and that's what Paul is addressing in Colossians. Colossians 2. They invent man-made rules, quote, to help you become more holy. All right. Now, that's the Roman Catholic side.

Of course, evangelical Christians would never do this. There are churches where women are not allowed to wear pants because that's not right. Men can't have beards. They must be clean shaven. You can never touch a drop of alcohol.

The church I grew up in, in the youth group, we nicknamed the church the Church of No because a Christian was defined by what he didn't do. You couldn't smoke, couldn't drink, you couldn't dance, and a bunch of other things like that.

And that's what Paul is talking about. All of these rules, manners, do not touch, do not taste, do not handle. Firstly, they're of no fleshly value. They don't work, is what Paul says. And it's not what the Scripture teaches.

We have freedom in Christ. The Scripture, there's very few things the Scripture tells us to abstain from. It's a balance. Have a little wine for your stomach, Paul tells Timothy, but don't get drunk. But he never says don't drink alcohol at all.

There are some churches that actually teach something called personal sins. So it's besides the sins that are mentioned in the Scriptures, there's something called personal sins, which if it's something that personally convicts you and you overcome it, you're dealing with a personal sin.

And again, that doesn't exist in Scripture, but yet they teach this. So it's almost like a man-made law that they find. It's like a checklist. Oh, I did this, I overcame this, I overcame that, or whatever it is.

So I've heard that taught.

Anything that goes beyond Scripture, that's adding to the Word. And it's wrong. And it's of no value. Any other questions?