Adopted Sons - Part 2 (Romans 8:14-16)
INTRODUCTION:
Last Sunday we began looking at three more verses in Romans 8 and only got through the first one. This morning I want to look at the next two verses that we did not get to last week. In these three verses Paul uses the picture of adoption to show our close and permanent relationship with God the Father as His beloved children.
Last Sunday I explained the importance of understanding adoption from a Roman point of view because this is how Paul understood adoption and used it in his writing. I explained that an adopted son could have greater privilege and status than a natural born son. An adopted son could become the heir and inherit not only the majority of the estate, but also the father’s title and become the one to carry on the family name, even if there were biological children in the home or still living when the father died. Because there was so much at stake adoption was taken very seriously and several steps had to be taken to make it legal. First, the boy to be adopted had to sever all legal and social ties with his biological family as if he was never related to them. Second, the boy would take on the adoptive father’s name and assume his place in his new family permanently, even any debts or obligations that were his before were done away with, as if they never existed, or as if he never existed in his old life. The adoption was a whole new start. For this adoption to be legal it had to be witnessed by seven reputable witnesses, who if need be could testify to any challenge of the adoption after the father’s death. We will see that this is the point of view that Paul speaks of us as adopted sons of God the Father. Let’s pray and then get into our passage this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans 8:14-16. I will read all three verses again just to keep us in the context of the passage. Please stand if you are able in honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Romans 8:14-16,
“For all who 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 a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,” (Romans 8:14–16, NASB95)[1]
ADOPTED SONS HAVE ACCESS TO THE FATHER (Romans 8:15)
Paul again begins verse 15 with the conjunction “for” which as I have said before can also be translated “because.” Paul is referring us back again to the previous verse as he has been throughout the first part of this chapter, building one truth upon another. Because we are being led by the Spirit of God, we are the sons of God, because we are the sons of God Paul says that we have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again. This spirit of slavery leading to fear is what we had before we became the sons of God through God’s grace by faith in Jesus Christ and His death, burial and resurrection for us. This is the very slavery that Jesus came to this earth to free us from. The author of Hebrews writes for us in Hebrews 2:14-15, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself [Jesus Christ] likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” (Hebrews 2:14–15, NASB95)[2]
Each and every person lives their life in slavery to fear, the fear of death, until Christ. We may deny this fact, we may try to dismiss or cover up our fear, but when the reality of it looms in front of us and we must face it the fear is there, and it is real. Why are we subject to this fear of death? It is because we constantly live in sin and the consequence of that is that we are constantly under God’s judgment. Why do you think that people want to deny that God exists, because if He does then they are answerable to Him. Slavery to sin brings slavery to fear, and our ultimate fear is death. Through Christ’s death on the cross the one who had the power of death, Satan, the one who enslaved us to sin and fear was rendered powerless, and by God’s grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and He frees us from the slavery to sin and from our slavery to fear. Fear of judgment and death does not come from God the Father to those who belong to Him. Paul reminded Timothy that the spirit if fear is not from God. In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul wrote to this young pastor and son in the faith, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV)[3] John also spoke of our being no longer enslaved by a spirit leading to fear, but instead being perfected by God’s love. He wrote in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18, NASB95)[4]
If we have not received from the indwelling Spirit a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, then what have we received from Him? Paul writes that we have received a spirit of adoption as sons. Paul is not so much speaking of the legal transaction that must take place for a boy to be adopted as a son, but rather he is speaking of the assurance that believers have that they have been adopted by God the Father as sons. In other words, when we come by faith and receive God’s gift of grace in Jesus Christ and our sins are forgiven and we are justified by God, we are regenerated or transformed through the work of the Holy Spirit, the result of this transformation is that we are truly and permanently adopted as children of God, but not only that but we are given a spirit of adoption. What that means is that because the Holy Spirit indwells us, our spirit recognizes and understands that as adopted sons of God we always have the privilege to come before God as our beloved heavenly Father.
Often adoption is done for a number of different reasons. For example, a child might be adopted out of family obligation, I remember when an aunt of mine was tragically killed in a car accident and she was separated from her husband at the time, I remember my parents talking about taking my aunt and uncle’s children into our family, this did not happen, but if it had it would have been out of obligation to the family. Sometimes adoption is done out of pity or sympathy for the child, taking him or her out of a situation and giving them a better life. We know from a Roman point of view a son could be adopted because the father was not happy with his own son and wanted a son that met his idea of what kind of character or skill that his heir should possess and would adopt a boy with that character or skill. But God’s adoption of us is different from all of these, God seeks out unworthy men and women of His own choosing and makes them His children solely on the basis of their faith in His true Son, Jesus Christ. Paul undoubtably had in mind the Roman custom of adoption with the understanding that an adopted son permanently received all the rights and benefits of a natural born son and could even attain greater privilege and prestige than the natural born children. This adopted son had the same rights and privileges to approach the adoptive father as the biological children did. With this in mind Paul assures us that we are truly adopted children, actually viewed as adopted sons with a promised inheritance, and because of this new indescribable relationship that we have because of God’s immense grace poured out on us, we have the full right and privilege to cry out, “Abba! Father!” to God, our heavenly Father, just as a child can do to his earthly father. This desire to call out to God with our inmost petitions and praise, and to have fellowship with Him is evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, which proves and assures us of our salvation and of eternal life.
The word “Abba” is the everyday, familiar form of the Aramaic term for father. This would be the first word a small child would learn for his father, his abba. It is a term of closeness, tenderness, dependence, and complete lack of fear or anxiety, it was a term that made a child feel secure and safe. It speaks of the intimate relationship that a child has with his father, an equivalent in English would be Dad or Daddy. Jesus even used this term when addressing God, we see Him use this when He was agonizing over the cup of God’s wrath that He was about to experience as He took upon Himself the sins of the world. We read His words in Mark 14:36, “And He was saying, ‘Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.’” (Mark 14:36, NASB95)[5]
Think about what this means. When we are saved, we are crucified with Christ and our old sinful nature is completely canceled in the eyes of God, from the moment we put our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation we no longer need to fear sin or death, because Christ death and resurrection completely and forever conquered both of these on our behalf. In Jesus Christ we are transformed and given a new nature and we are adopted as a true child with all the blessings, privileges, and inheritance that belong to a true son. And while we wait with hope for that day when we will see our Lord face-to-face, His own Holy Spirt indwells us, lives in us and is a ceaseless witness to us that we have been adopted into the family of God.
Paul’s readers would have clearly understood the great honor and privilege of being God’s adopted children, because they understood it from the Roman viewpoint, especially his readers in Rome. Paul in his letter to the church in Ephesus declared in chapter 1, verses 3-6, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3–6, NASB95)[6] What Paul was saying to the Ephesian believers is that long ago, before He began creating the earth, before He ever created the first human being in His own image, before He spoke light out of darkness, God in His sovereignty chose every believer to be His beloved and eternal child. Just let that sink in for a moment, before creation began God chose you to be His beloved and eternal child, that blows my mind, that is too much for my finite brain to handle, that God chose me countless ages ago to be His child. That is what Paul told the Ephesians, if that does not cause your heart to soar and make you want to lift your voice in praise to Almighty God then the person next to you had better check your pulse. John MacArthur writes, “It should be kept in mind that, marvelous as it is, the term adoption does not fully illustrate God’s work of salvation. The believer is also cleansed from sin, saved from the penalty of death, spiritually reborn, justified, sanctified, and ultimately glorified. But those who are saved by their faith in Jesus Christ by the work of His grace have no higher title than that of adopted child of God. That name designates their qualification to share full inheritance with Christ. It is therefore far from incidental that Paul both introduces and closes this chapter with assurances to believers that they are no longer and never again can be, under God’s condemnation.”[7]
SONSHIP IS ASSURED BY THE SPIRIT (Romans 8:16)
To give us further assurance of our salvation, of the fact that we are in a permanent relationship with God the Father as His beloved and eternal sons, “the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” (Romans 8:16)[8] If you will remember when I told you about Roman adoption, I said, for it to be legal there had to be seven reputable witnesses to the adoption, so that if need be they could testify to the truth of the adoption if it was contested after the father died. The Holy Spirit is our witness, He is constantly present in our lives providing inner testimony to our spirit, which He made alive and sustains, that we truly are the children of God, the adoption is valid and permanent. How does the Holy Spirit bear witness with our spirit, well He certainly does this through His ministries of illumination and sanctification, as well as through the longing to spend time with our heavenly Father in prayer and through the reading of His Word to us. You want God to speak to you, read His Word, this is how He speaks to us. This is His final revelation to us, if you want Him to speak to you then you have to be reading His Word. There are no new revelations today, no new words of encouragement, it is all right here in His Word everything we need for life and godliness and the Spirit will illumine it to us.
The Spirit bears witness with our spirit also by producing in us the fruit of the Spirit, as He produces in us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, as these are produced and we bear them in our lives they give us assurance that we are the children of God. When we exercise the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given us and we experience His power working through us this is again evidence of the Spirit’s presence, assuring us of our salvation, of our adoption. As the Spirit does His work of sanctification in you there will be a change in your thoughts, you will desire to set your mind on the things of the Spirit. Because of your love for God you will begin to hate sin, you will begin to reject the things of the world, you will begin to long for Christ’s return, your love for other Christians will increase, as you experience answered prayer, and you can more easily and readily discern truth from error, as your desire grows and longs to be more Christlike, all these are evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit and this is the Spirit bearing witness with your spirit that you are a child of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit bearing witness of our adoption is possibly one of the most precious of the Spirit’s ministries to us.
CONCLUSION:
In these three verses Paul uses the idea of adoption to show us the close and permanent relationship that we have with God the Father as His beloved and eternal children. In verse 14 Paul taught that sons of God are led by the Spirit and we looked at two very important ministries of the Spirit of God to believers, the ministry of illumination and the ministry of sanctification. Illumination is The Spirit clarifying God’s Word for us and giving us understanding into what is written. Sanctification is the Spirit taking what He has illumined to us and applying it to our life to conform us to the image of Christ. Both of these ministries assure us of our salvation and that we are sons of God.
In verse 15 we learned that as adopted sons we have access to God the Father as if we were natural born sons. We have been given all the blessings, privileges, and inheritance of sons and we can approach God crying out in petition or praise addressing Him as Abba, Father. This spirit of adoption given to us by God and the intimate relationship that we have with Him is assurance again of our salvation and that we are part of God’s family.
In verse 16 we learned that our sonship is assured by the Holy Spirit. God assures us by His Spirit bearing witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. He does this through the ministries of illumination and sanctification, by producing His fruit in our lives for us to bear through our service done in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we see Him working through our lives this is further evidence that we are children of God.
As we grow in our relationship with Christ and God our Father the desire will grow in us to have fellowship with God, we can talk to God through prayer bringing our adoration, our confession, our thanksgiving and our supplication to Him. But we have a desire to hear Him speak to us. He does speak to us through His Word, which means we must be reading it. If we spend time in God’s Word and prayer you will hear Gods voice speaking to you through His Word. It takes time, it must be a priority if you truly desire to live the life God has called you to live.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Romans 1-8. Chicago, IL : Moody Press, 1991.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.