The Assurance of Adoption

Well, there are events in life that mark us as people oftentimes so drastically that we are able to remember exactly where we were at the moment that those things occurred.

For example, on January 28, 1986, I was in the fifth grade. I was sitting in a classroom where TVs had been rolled out that morning for us to watch as the

Challenger space shuttle lifted off, only to watch just a few seconds in as it disintegrated.

I remember on November 9, 1989, my family along with millions of other

Americans sat and watched the evening news as the Berlin Wall began to come down.

And of course, September 11, 2001, I was standing in a conference room at DuPont giving a training session to a bunch of mechanics on a new software.

Each of us have events in our life that have marked us.

Some of these events have marked us disastrously. Some of these events have marked us and we celebrate them.

Most families not only have dates such as these that affect not only our personal history but all of history, but we also have dates that are personal to us.

Some again that are difficult such as the loss of a grandparent or parent or possibly even the loss of a child.

And again, there are those that we celebrate. My family is no different than any other family.

There are many dates that we love to celebrate. However, we have one date in our family that is a little different than the others.

You see, in January of 2002, Lisa and I made a decision. After we had gone through an extremely difficult time in our life, but what we never expected to happen was that after we made that decision, the speed with which

God would work and our lives would be utterly flipped on their head.

In fact, just 12 short weeks later, we were standing at a bedside in a hospital in Baptist Medical Center in Columbia as we watched the birth mother of our oldest daughter bring her into the world.

Now over the course of the next few months, as we took our daughter home and began to care for her, we continued through the process of legally adopting her.

Ultimately, this was culminated and completed during the first week of August 2002.

Now although we had certainly welcomed Kaylee as part of our family, she was our daughter, she was our parents' granddaughter, she was a niece to our brothers and sisters, she was cousins, there was still the process of going through this legal formality and it was not until the judge ruled on that morning in August that she legally and officially became a part of our family.

The South Carolina Code of Laws concerning adoption contains this statement, after the decree of adoption is entered, the relationship of parent and child and all the rights, all the duties, and other legal consequences of the natural relationship of parent and child exists between the adoptee, the adoptive parents, and the kindred of the adoptive parents.

In other words, that child, in every way, shape, or form possible, has become part of this family with all of the responsibilities that come along with that and also all of the joys.

Now over the last three weeks, we have seen as we have stood at the foot of the mountain our total inability as individuals, we were reminded in Romans 3, 10, and we were actually reminded of this again yesterday in the message at the wedding, that there are none who are righteous, not even one.

We've also seen the truth that our only hope is being declared righteous and that is only through Christ alone, through faith in him, the only way that we are made right in the eyes of God.

And finally, last week, the truth that through the power of the resurrection, not only have we died to sin, not only have we been changed, not only have we been crucified in that sense, but we have been made alive with Christ, demonstrating that our desires have now changed.

The old man is dead and we walk in a newness of life.

We know that we are no longer under sin.

It said last week, sin shall not be a master over us, for we are no longer under the law, but under grace.

In our passage this morning, we will be looking at a text from the 8th chapter of the book of Romans.

This particular passage not only reaffirms this radical change that has occurred in the life of a believer, but it reminds us of our new way of life and demonstrates for us the truth that through the assurance of adoption, we are completely and wholly brought into the family of God.

And I'll remind you of the words of the adoption decree, we are literally brought into and all the rights, duties, and other legal consequences of a natural relationship of parent and child now exist in the adoptive relationship between us and the

Father. And if there was ever one who could live up to the ultimate standard, it is

God the Father, which brings us to our text.

So this morning we will read from Romans chapter 8. We will begin in the first verse and we are going to read down through the 17th and then we will narrow our focus to the verses 12 through 17.

If you will please rise for the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, complete, sufficient, and authoritative word.

Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse 1 reads in this way, 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 of 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 righteous 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 mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.

Because the mind set 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 are not able to 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. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

But if 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 brothers, 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 practices of the body, you will live.

For as many as are being led by the spirit of God, these are sons of God.

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out,

Abba, Father. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.

And if children also heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Almighty God, we are loved with an everlasting love, clothed in eternal righteousness.

Our peace flows like a river. Our comforts are many and large. Our joy and our triumph are unutterable.

Our souls are lively with knowledge of your salvation, and our sense of justification is unclouded.

For there is little that we need to pray for, little supplication that we need to make.

Christ smiles upon our souls as a ray of heaven, and our supplications are swallowed up in praise.

How sweet is the glorious doctrine of election when based upon your word and shaped within our souls.

For we thank you that you will keep the sinners you have loved and that you have promised that they will not turn away from you, because without that none of us would ever make it to heaven.

We wrong the work of grace in our hearts, Lord, when we deny our new nature and our eternal life.

If Christ were not our righteousness and redemption, we would sink into the deepest recesses of hell by our misdeeds, shortcomings, unbelief, and lack of love.

Father, if our sanctification were not by the power of the Holy Spirit, there is no sin that we would not commit.

We pray, how long will it be until we obtain the mind of Christ, and how long will it be until we are conformed into his image?

All the things of life we count as less than nothing when we compare to the love of Christ.

All of our boasts are lost with one simple glimpse at your electing favor.

Father, we know that all the treasures of a million worlds cannot make us richer, cannot make us happier, cannot make us more content, for,

Father, your unsearchable riches are ours. Heavenly Father, one moment of communion with Christ, one glimpse of true grace, is inexpressible and incalculable.

There is no longing for your presence, though, without knowledge of the sweetness of it, and no such knowledge without the inward working of your

Spirit in our hearts. Indeed, there would be no love of you in our hearts at all unless you from all eternity did elect us, call us, adopt us, and save us to the uttermost.

Father, we give thanksgiving and praise to you for your covenant of grace, and we pray all of these things in the precious name of our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. You may be seated. As we come to this particular passage in the middle of Romans chapter 8, we need to make sure that we are sound in what has occurred in the beginning of Romans 8 down through this particular passage.

Paul has unpacked for us some interesting information and given us some very beautiful truths that we need to ensure that we have before we really step in.

We open Romans chapter 8 in verse 1 with a conclusion that comes out of what

Paul works through in chapter 7. We read a little bit of that last week, but I just want to remind you that at the end of chapter 7, in what we call chapter 7,

Paul, writing to this church in Rome, writes these things in verses 24 and 25.

Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death?

And then he says, Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then on the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh, the law of sin.

And then he opens chapter 8, or what we have decided is chapter 8, with the statement,

Therefore, as a result of all of these things that have come before, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Which is amazing news, wonderful example of this beautiful conclusion that we are no longer held in this place.

This reality of not being under condemnation has been made real by the imputed righteousness of Christ.

An imputed righteousness that cannot be marred, that is absolutely perfect, not just at the moment that it is imputed to us, but for all times.

And so there is no way that we can sully the clothing of the righteousness of Christ that has been given to us.

He goes on in the following verses to demonstrate that we have become free from the law of sin and death, and that the dominion that sin had over us has now been removed, and therefore we are free in Christ.

As freedom is demonstrated, the truth is that we can now walk according to the

Spirit. The reality of this is if you go back up to verse 7 here, it says that a mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, and it is not even able to subject itself to the law of God.

This is who we were prior to coming to faith, prior to having the righteousness of Christ imputed to us.

We were under this condemnation, but now, having been set free from that dominion, we are able to live and worship and walk according to the

Spirit. And through that, we have now obtained peace with God and live in that peace through the power of the

Holy Spirit. Last week, we came down to a final verse that I briefly mentioned earlier, and in that final verse, we were presented with a statement that said that we were no longer under the law, but under grace.

This is a tremendous truth for a believer, because it speaks directly to this same freedom that we have just been talking about, this freedom from the dominion of sin in our life.

This freedom that we have obtained in Christ. But unfortunately, this is a passage that is also greatly misused and greatly misinterpreted.

It has been taken by those who claim that there are believers, that they are believers, and that it is used in a couple of ways.

One, it is used in a license to do pretty much whatever they want to do, and then secondarily, it is used in combination with some of our text this morning to demonstrate that there can be a falling away.

However, as we will see through our text this morning, neither of these things is true.

Paul begins our text with the words, so then. So then is a transition statement that is designed to bring us to an understanding of a logical conclusion based on the evidence that we have been given.

For example, if you were to go home and there was something awry in your house, and you went through a process and gathered evidence, eventually you would come to a conclusion of what happened.

Typically at our house, we blame it on the cat. And we would say, so then, the cat did whatever.

So Paul brings us to a point of conclusion where he says, so then, bringing us down to this truth that we are going to see.

Now, what is necessary here, again, and I know people think, oh, this guy is up here beating a dead horse again.

It is necessary that we understand the context, that we study the context, that we recognize what this is all dealing with.

We cannot simply take one little piece of this passage and go, oh, well, we know what it means.

It means you can lose your salvation, because that's not what the passage teaches. So we have to keep it in context.

It takes very little effort, quite honestly, for us to look around and recognize the negative effects of taking this passage or any of these truths of scripture and mishandling them.

The truth that we misunderstand coming out of this passage so often is the truth of freedom.

You see, what we think is that freedom means that we are no longer under any type of obligation and that we can do whatever we want, whenever we want, however we want, but the reality is that's simply not how it works.

We would be free to choose a path or identity, but ultimately, we would do so in a way that completely contradicts the natural order of this world.

If we need evidence of this reality, we need nothing more than to see what's happening around us right now.

It is the very living out, the very definition, the very definitive proof of what

Paul writes in the first chapter of the book of Romans. He writes this in Romans 1, 21 through 32, for even though they knew

God, they knew he existed, the evidence was around them. They did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible

God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and of four -footed animals and crawling creatures.

Therefore, God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity so that their bodies would be dishonoring among them.

For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. They worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator.

And again, he says, for this reason, God gave them over to dishonorable passions. And again, later it says, and they did not see fit to acknowledge

God. God gave them over to an unfit mind to do those things which are not proper.

And that although they knew the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death.

They not only do the same, but give their hearty approval to those who practice them.

This is the natural outworking of people who think that freedom means do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want.

Even those who would profess to be believers yet say they have absolute freedom.

The reality we have here is that even as we come to faith in Christ, there is still the matter of sinful flesh that we have to deal with.

There is still the truth that sinful flesh is existing, which is why

Paul brings us to this conclusion. Look at what he says. He says, so then brothers, we are under obligation.

Listen to me. The truth of God's word declares unequivocally that we have been set free.

But what we have been set free from is the sinful nature that has kept us in bondage.

Listen, it is not that we are no longer obligated to anything. We are still under an obligation, but our obligation has simply changed.

It is this change in the obligation that gets to the heart of the matter. You see, in the

Greek language, this word can also be translated better.

We use the word obligation here, but it can also be used as better.

It's a financial term. And so the text could read in this way, so then brothers, we are debtors.

So first of all, we need to be clear about who Paul is writing to, lest any of us misunderstand.

The fact that Paul includes the term brothers makes it clear that even if you haven't followed the entirety of the book of Romans, even if you haven't read the entire letter to understand that it was written to believers, here now

Paul is calling these people to which he's writing this letter, brothers. These are believers.

And he says, so then believers, so then brothers, so then fellow heirs with Christ, so then my brothers and sisters in Christ, we are debtors.

And he identifies us in the same way. Those who are part of the family, we are under a financial obligation of some type.

Now in our world today, anytime we borrow money to purchase a house or a car or maybe a new pair of shoes, because they're that expensive apparently nowadays, we find ourselves under a contractual obligation that says that we will pay back the money that we borrowed to obtain that what we wanted.

Now listen to this. Here's what I want you to recognize. In that contract, in that obligation, you are 100 % free to live in the house, to drive the car, even to wear the shoes, as long as you make the payments.

But when you do not honor the obligation, things change.

For us here as believers, we are still debtors. We are still under an obligation.

It is just that the obligation has now changed. How different is this than what we hear in the average group of believers talking about?

How different is this than what we teach people in our churches about how they are free, but we don't help them understand what it means when we say that you're free.

Paul says that we are no longer in debt to the flesh.

The obligation is no longer to the flesh. It is no longer that we are required to live according to the ways of the flesh.

And then he goes on to elaborate exactly what this sinful nature means, what this desire means.

Listen, this is the amazing grace. That our inability to come, that the truth that none seek, is a result of the obligation to the flesh and the desire that is created by the sinful nature that we have.

But this is what God sets us free from by the righteousness of Christ, because we have been justified.

Verse 13, For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die.

This is nothing new. This is the requirement. This is the very result of sin.

If you back up to chapter 6, for the wages of sin is death. This is the requirement.

This is what is due. This is the result. And so if we are still under the flesh, if we are still living according to the flesh, we must die.

Now this is not talking about physical death. We've got to get that through our head because here's the reality.

Everybody will physically die unless God returns, Christ returns first.

You, I, everyone sitting here this morning will die unless Christ returns before that day.

We will die a physical death. The death that's being talked about here is spiritual death.

The second death, the death that leads utterly to the place where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Where there is hatred and absolute wrath of God rains down on you eternally.

That's what this death is about. And in contrast to that death,

Paul says, But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the practices of the body, you will live.

Now there are those who have taken this verse and who have misconstrued this as a possibility for someone to lose their salvation.

What they have said is, is if you fail to put to death the sin in your lives, you will ultimately be damned.

Here's the problem with this. The problem with this, first and foremost, is it makes salvation contingent on your action and not

God's grace. That's number one problem. If it's relying on you, then it's a salvation of words, not a salvation of grace, not a salvation of faith in Christ alone.

Second problem with it is this. Scripture is clear that regenerate people still sin.

1 John 1 verse 8. If we, by the way, so that we're very clear here, this is

John, a believer, writing to fellow believers. So when we say we here,

John is specifically referring to himself and other believers. So if we, believers, say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

We as believers will still sin. Yet the difference is, even though we still sin, what

Scripture teaches us is that the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to not continue to live in that sin.

In Ephesians 1, 13 through 14. 1

John 3, 9. Everyone who has been born of God does not sin because his seed abides in him.

And he cannot sin because he has been born of God. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy.

And we talked about this past Wednesday night how that's exactly what we were discussing when we talked about the perseverance of the saints and the reality that the eternal security doesn't rest on you.

It rests on God. God is the one who does the keeping. And when John talks about not sinning and when

Jude talks about keeping you from stumbling, he's not talking about a single action of sin, but a lifestyle of sin.

What we see here in verse 13 is that the life of the believer will be marked, not necessarily by a once for all action, but by a continual action whereby we allow the spirit working in us to continually put to death the sin in our life.

I want you to notice a couple things here. I know a lot of us don't necessarily be crazy about grammar and those kinds of things, but there's some things here we need to understand.

The verb that we translate putting to death is in what is known as the present active tense.

Now, what does that mean? Well, that means that even though Paul is writing this to the church at Rome all these years ago, the action is a continual happening in the life of every single believer.

So it is something that you do today, you'll do tomorrow, you'll do the next day, and every single day from now until either you die a physical death and go home to be with glory or Christ returns and calls us home to glory, whichever one comes first.

This will continually happen. Every day you will be exposed to a new sin in your life.

The spirit will continue to work. You'll get the big ones out of the way. We talked about this on Wednesday night. You get the big chunks out of the way, and then every time you move a big chunk, you uncover 50 little chunks.

And every time you uncover one of those, and it keeps going. And so what it says to us here is first, this present active tense means that there's a continual action.

But then on top of it being in the present active tense, it is also in the indicative mood.

Now I know that's getting way technical for some people, but here, let me explain to you what indicative mood means.

What it means is this present active action that's happening is based on a truth.

And so what we see here in this language is Paul saying, if you are allowing the spirit, if you are being, if you are by the spirit, through the power of the spirit, putting to death the practice of the body.

This action of putting to death doesn't occur on your strength, your power, your ability, but by the

Holy Spirit. Now within this verse, in fact within the pages of Holy Scripture at large, we see that there is an absolute command that we as believers are given when it comes to our life.

We are not to continue. It is an imperative command that our lives are to be lived in obedience to God.

1 Peter 15 -16, Peter writes this, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your conduct, because it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy.

The beautiful truth though that undergirds or supports this reality is that it is not a guesswork.

It is a guaranteed result in the life of a believer. I want you to walk away from here understanding that one, your life will be holy.

Two, it's not up to you. Now, don't misunderstand, there are obedience that we need to do, there are things that we need to take, but you don't walk in guesswork.

You walk in security. You walk in an understanding that it will occur. Look at these verses,

Philippians 3, Romans 8, 29 -31, because those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his

Son. Predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son.

It would happen so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers, and those whom he predestined, he's already done it.

It's finished. Guess what? That means that those that haven't even been born yet, that are predestined, has already been finished for them as well.

Because what has occurred is, those that he's predestined, he's also called them. Those that he's called, he also justifies.

Those whom he's justified, he also glorifies. The end result is certain. Paul writing in the past tense here demonstrates for us the future certainty of these events.

Philippians 3, 12, not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also

I was laid hold of by Jesus Christ. Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet.

But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

1 John 3, 2, 11, now we are children of God, and it had not been manifested as yet what we will be.

We know that when he is manifested, we will be like him because we will see him just as he is.

These are certain promises. These are promises that have been given to those who are being led by the

Spirit. As we move into verse 14, Paul brings us to a conclusion that if you do these things, if you put to death these ways of the flesh, you will live.

Look at what he says here. But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the practices of the body, you will live.

And then he goes on, and understand, don't miss this, just like we've been constantly repeating here over the last few minutes,

God is not telling us that we are to do in our own strength, power, fortitude, or ability that we can accomplish these things, but they are to be accomplished by the power of the

Spirit. If by the Spirit you are putting these things to death, not if by Brad I'm putting these things to death, but if by the

Spirit you are putting these things to death. So not only are we to do this, not only is it to happen, but like I said, the end result is guaranteed.

In the next four verses, Paul demonstrates for us exactly how and why this is a reality.

The next four verses give us this depth of assurance that we can have as Christians.

One of the biggest questions that always gets asked, no matter where you go, no matter who you talk to, is,

I want to be sure, right? I want to know. And so these questions and these responses that Paul gives us in these next four verses that God uses

Paul to record, give us that assurance. And first of all, the first one of those is that if, verse 14, for as many as are being led by the

Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Now if verse 13 left any doubt in the minds of people regarding the security of a believer, verse 14 should sweep in and remove and dash that doubt.

Because what he says to us here is, if you're being led by the Spirit of God, you are the son of God.

Only those being led by the Spirit are the children of God. And so the question is, what does it mean to be led by the

Spirit? It means to live in a manner that is obedient. It doesn't mean you're going to be obedient all the time.

It doesn't mean you're going to get it right. You're not perfect, but you are going to continue to rely on the work of Christ in your life to gradually, through the process of sanctification, which we have, again, remind you,

I want to remind you, sanctification is painful. It is not happy and roses all the time.

There are trials and tribulations that you will go through that will test you. And they are there to bring about the sanctification, to bring about this transformation, to bring about this conforming into the image of the

Son, those whom he foreknew he predestined to be conformed into the likeness of Christ.

This is that process. And so in that process, you see this movement.

The people of God, the sheep of Christ, are called and led by him.

These are the same sheep that Jesus speaks of in John 10, verses 27 and 28.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish, ever.

No one will snatch them out of my hand. You know what's so amazing about that passage? You know what should be so comforting to a believer about that passage?

What effort did you contribute to that passage? None. It is all by the grace of God and the goodness of God.

So our first measure of assurance is that we are children of God, is that we are being led by the

Spirit of God. The second assurance that we are assured is the difference between what we were and what we are.

Verse 14, excuse me, verse 15, it says, For you have not received a spirit of slavery, leading to fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons.

Now there is a definite distinction between the man or woman that we were and the people that we become.

As people, before we are regenerated, before we are made new by the work of God in our lives, we live in bondage to sin, and we live in a state of fear.

Now it's necessary for us to understand this fear, because here in America we have lost what it means around fear.

Fear for us has become those events around October where we run out and we ride through a cornfield so somebody can jump out and scare us.

That's fear to us in America. But that's not what he's talking about here.

What he's talking about here is this living out this distress that we feel when there is some type of impending threat or condition, and we feel anxious or we feel concerned about it.

That's the fear that Paul's talking about. We live in this world where we may lose something that we hold valuable.

Property, people, money, objects, something that we think we cannot live without.

That's the fear. And so what happens is in the life of someone experiencing this fear, we begin to do things in order to ensure that we do not lose these things, right?

Because those things are dear to us. They're important to us. And so they become attachments.

This is who we were. Through the very act of fearing that we lose these things, we become enslaved to them.

Through the danger that we see, we think that we do whatever is necessary to keep these things.

As children of the Most High God, as those who have been given and received the spirit of adoption as sons, we no longer have this spirit of slavery that leads to fear.

We no longer are under the obligation of sin. We no longer are held captive by the things of this world.

We are now a new one. There is a change in legal status. The old master, the old ties, the old ruling have been eliminated, and we have now been welcomed into the family as sons who can now cry out to father in a way that could only be used in a closed family situation.

I shared with you earlier regarding the new status of adoption process, but the decree, the law, the code also states the following.

It decrees that all rights and responsibilities have been terminated for the previous biological parents.

Meaning that all of that old way has now been severed for us, for you, for me, as believers.

The ties to the old man, the old life, the former ways have been completely and totally severed.

Meaning we do not have to be in bondage to them anymore. And at any point in time in which we find ourselves in bondage to them, it is because we have allowed ourselves to move back into that state.

But by the Spirit, by the power of the Holy Spirit living in our life, we now have the ability to step forward.

So our second measure of assurance is that we have been given this spirit of adoption.

That we have been called and welcomed into the family. The third measure of assurance is found in the end of verse 15 and in verse 16.

That not only do we have this measure of assurance in being led by the

Spirit, the severing of the former ties and the granting of the rights and privileges of one in legal status, but we also have

His Spirit testifying with our spirit. We have the

Holy Spirit indwelling the believer, testifying with our spirit that we are now

His. It is this inward conviction that has now been endorsed by the

Holy Spirit. It is evidence in the truth of who we have now become. We can turn to any number of places in Scripture and see this reality, but right here in verses 15 and 16, we see them.

We separate these two as if they are two separate things completely with our numbering system.

But the reality is that verse 16 is simply a continuation of verse 15. As Mounce writes, the very fact that we can cry out,

Abba Father, excuse me not Mounce, Obing writes, Abba Father is an acclamatory prayer in which the

Holy Spirit joins with the human spirit to bear witness to the fact that Christians are now children of God.

And as children of God, we are now recipients of the promise.

The final verse, verse 17, demonstrates for us what it truly means to be an heir of God.

We receive as true sons and daughters of the

Most High, as one who has had our status changed, as one who has been brought into the kingdom.

Not only are we now children, but we are heirs. Now in the system that Paul was in, you needed to understand something.

Not all children who were adopted were considered heirs. Not all who were brought into a family were considered to be part of the family.

So when Paul says that these children, us, are brought into the family of God and then made heirs, this was a shocking revelation.

This would have turned the world upside down. Those that were adopted, unfortunately, many times were seen as less than.

They were undesirable. Yet what

Paul says here is, God brings you into the family and he makes you co -heirs with Christ.

This goes back to what it means to be truly adopted. Christ described it in John's Gospel as being grafted into the vine.

You are one in adoption. It is not just the family has decided to take you in, to provide for you, to care for you, but that you have been given equal status with any other children.

Hebrews 2, 10 -17, we read, For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.

For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one.

You and I, brothers and sisters, are those who are being sanctified. This is believers.

For which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will recount your name to my brothers.

In the midst of the assembly, I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold,

I am the children whom God has given me. Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same.

This is why Christ came. This is why God incarnate stepped out of all eternity, becoming fully man and fully

God, holy man, holy God, that through his death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who fear of death or subject to slavery all their lives.

That's us. Oh, doesn't it feel good to know that you have been set free from slavery?

For surely he does not give help to angels, but he gives help to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in all things, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make a propitiation for the sins of his people.

Now, the likelihood that you and I sitting here in the United States of America will be nailed to a cross is very slim.

We may see a time, and it wouldn't be surprising if we see a time where we do live under threat of life.

We will share in the sufferings, but the suffering is the opposition from the world. Philippians 3, 10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death.

1 Peter 4, 13, but to the degree you are sharing the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exultation.

Mounce writes regarding this passage, as members of the same family we share in the same trials of life as well as a benefit.

Hunter writes, for Christ the path of suffering was the path to glory. For his joint heirs, it must be the same.

So as we bring this to a close, as we come to an end of this rich and weighty passage, let's take a moment to step back, to truly view and consider the full scope of what

Paul has delivered to us, of what truth has been proclaimed.

First of all, he has shown us that the newness of life comes not by human will or human experience, but by the regenerating power of the

Holy Spirit. That through the work of the

Spirit in our life, we are no longer debtors to the flesh, no longer bound by those corrupt demands or deceived by the false promises of flesh.

That we are yet still debtors, yes, but not debtors to sin. Our obligation now is to the

Spirit and that is not a burden, it is freedom. Freedom to live as sons and daughters of the

Most High God. This freedom, this freedom is grounded and rooted in the doctrine of adoption of truth that is both deeply theological and profoundly personal.

I shared with you just a brief snippet of our personal process, the transformation and the decree that it came.

But we as brothers and sisters in Christ, as co -heirs, we have received a spiritual decree from Heaven itself that we are now sons of the

Most High. We, who were once far off, who were once strangers, have now been brought near, not as guests, not as servants, but as sons and daughters with full legal standing, full access, full inheritance.

And the evidence, the evidence of this adoption, the evidence that we have been brought and made as co -heirs,

Paul tells us plainly, the Spirit within us cries, Abba, Father.

This is not a formal petition. Abba, Father is not a courtroom language.

It is the cry of a son or daughter to their father. It is an intimate call.

It is an immediate thing that happens. It is real and it is a mark of the Spirit's presence within us.

It is the assurance that we are not what we once were. We have been adopted and in being adopted we have now been transformed.

This assurance doesn't exempt us from suffering. One of the greatest deceptions in the church today is that somehow, by following Christ, life gets super easy and we get all these benefits.

The reality that we see in Scripture is far from the truth. Paul tells us that as children we are heirs and if we are heirs of God, co -heirs with Christ, we suffer with Him that we may be glorified with Him.

And if children, also heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

We love the glorification part. We really don't want to talk about the suffering. But Scripture is clear. The truth, the reality exists.

This is not fine print. This is not something to be hidden in the Christian life. This is part of the pattern.

It's part of who we are. It's the path of the Son. It must be the path of the sons. Just as it was the path of Christ, so too it must be the path of all who follow.

Christ's way was marked by sorrow, by rejection, and ultimately by the cross.

But ultimately, it was the path to resurrection, to glory, to inheritance.

So here is the question. It's not just a question of doctrine.

It's not just a do you know and understand what has been said here this morning, but it is one of devotion.

If you claim to be a child of God, is there evidence of adoption in your life?

Is there evidence of the Spirit's work in you? Are you, by the power of the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the body?

Are you walking as one who knows that you're adopted, assured and secure in Christ?

Let me assure you, this is not a call to legalism, as though some will say it is. It's not even a call to self -reformation.

It's not a call for you to white -knuckle it. This is a summons to surrender, to yield to the Spirit, to live under the leading of the

Spirit, to trust the promises of God who has called you. It is a call to remember that you are not your own. You were bought with a price.

It is a call to rejoice that you are no longer a slave but free, but a son, no longer cast out, brought near, no longer under condemnation, but that you have been clothed in the pure, perfect righteousness of Christ.

And if you sit here today and you are not a child of God, if the

Spirit has not yet made His dwelling within you, then there is no better moment than this to cry out to Him, not in fear, but in faith, not in hesitation, but in hope.

Come to the Father, the Father who stands ready to receive you, redeem you, adopt you, because the final and glorious truth, once you are

His, you are His eternally. Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we come before your throne in awe of the grace that has been lavished upon us in Christ.

Father, we thank you for the truth that we find in your Word, truth that reminds us that we are no longer slaves to sin, that we are no longer bound by the flesh, but that we are now sons and daughters adopted into your eternal family.

What mercy, what love, what grace, that you would not only justify us through the righteousness of your

Son, but that you would call us your children and make us heirs of glory. Lord, even as believers sitting here this morning, we confess that we are often forgetful of who we are in Christ, that we are often tempted to live as debtors to the flesh, to fear what has already been conquered, to seek our comfort in what cannot satisfy.

Lord, we pray for forgiveness and for the renewal of our minds by the power of your

Spirit and the truth of your Word. Father, may we leave this place today with confidence, not confidence in ourselves,

Lord, confidence in you, confidence in your promises.

Father, we ask for strength to help us walk by the power of the Spirit, to daily put to death the deeds of the body, to rejoice in the assurance of our adoption.

Father, we pray that your Spirit joins with our spirit, crying out, Abba, Father, not as a ritual, but as children who know they are loved.

Father, we pray for strength for the road ahead. We know that there will be suffering.

We know that there will be joy. But in all of these things, remind us that we are co -heirs with Christ and that regardless of what this world throws at us, there is a greater glory that awaits until then.

Keep us faithful. Keep us rooted in your Word. Keep us dependent on your

Spirit and focused on the hope of our inheritance. We pray all of these things in the name of our

Savior, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, our righteousness, and our brother.