THE PRIVILEGES OF THE SPIRIT LED LIFE!

Romans 8:14–17 (KJV 1900)

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Intro: Imagine being born into a family that was poverty stricken.

A family that was dysfunctional and doomed to life of destitution.

A family with no hope or prospects of a future.

A family that was dying of a incurable disease one by one.

and that your family didn’t even care about or for you at all.

Now imagine that along comes a kind, gentle, and wealthy man.

This man tells you that he loves you and offers to take you in as his own child.

This man offers you everything your natural family could never give you and he offers it to you free of charge.

All you have to do is come with him and consent to be his child.

Sounds fairy tale, doesn’t it?

But! that is exactly what happens to every person who places their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul tells us that every saved person has been brought into the family of God and enjoys all the rights and privileges of natural born children. Let’s look at these verses today and talk for a few minutes about;

I want to talk about;

The Privileges Of The Spirit led Life.

I. The Privileges of Our Adoption (v. 14–15)

A. We Have A New Family (v. 14)—According to Paul, when we believed, we became the “sons of God.” That is, we were removed from our old family of Adam and were transplanted into the family of God.

We are literally His children, 1 John 3:1–3

1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

John’s verses tell us that we are His children now, and that one day, we will be just like our new Father.

Notice the first part of verse 14 says. It says that “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

What does this mean?

That those who are in the family will begin to act like the family.

For instance, My sons act a lot like their father Sometimes, on the phone you cannot tell the father from the son. They phrase things like their parents and even sound like their parents. We all develop traits that are similar to the family to which we belong.

The same holds true in the life of the believer. If A person is saved, they will develop traits that are like the heavenly Father’s family.

The primary trait being that they will be led by the Spirit of God!

You see, every child of God has the Holy Spirit living within him,

Romans 8:9 (KJV 1900)

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

If the Spirit of God is in you, He will make His presence known!

And He will change the life He inhabits.

By the way, this is the assurance of salvation.

You see, God’s children are “led by the Spirit”.

Does the Spirit of God ever lead you to do anything?

If not, you might need a check up!

B. We Have A New Father (v. 15) tells us that we have been delivered from the bondage of fear and that we have been adopted into the family of God.

In our society, adopted children often feel, and are perceived to be, second class members of the family. That is sad, but true for many.

They are forever reminded they were not born into the family. But adopted.

But! In ancient Rome, things were different.

To be adopted was considered a great privilege.

Adoption—The word “adoption”means to place as a son.

This picture of adoption is a picture of what God does for the Christian.

In the ancient world the family was based on a Roman law called “patria potestas,” meaning the father’s power.

The law gave the father absolute authority over his children as the long as the father was alive.

He could work, enslave, sell, and if he wished, he could pronounce the death penalty. Regardless of the child’s adult age, the father held all power over the personal and property rights of the children.

Therefore, adoption was a serious matter.

It was a common practice so that a family would not become extinct by having no male children.

And when a child was adopted, three legal steps were taken.

#1 The adopted son was adopted permanently. He could not be adopted today and disinherited tomorrow. He became a son of the father--forever. He was eternally secure as a son.

#2. The adopted son immediately had all the rights of a legitimate son in the new family.

#3. The adopted son completely lost all rights in his old family. The adopted son was looked upon as a new person—so new that old debts and obligations connected with his former family were cancelled out and abolished as if they never existed.)

When we came to Jesus, we were taken out of Adam and adopted into Jesus.Now! We have a new Father!

C. We Have A New Freedom (14–15)

These verses tell us that as children of God, we have been delivered from the power and influence of the flesh. We are no longer driven by Satan and the whims of the flesh. But Now, we are to be led by the Spirit of God.

Not only have we been delivered from our old leadership, we have been delivered from the life of fear that we used to live under while we were in our old family.

Now, in Jesus, we are bought into a close relationship with our new Heavenly Father.

A relationship so close that we are Privileged to call Him “Abba” or “Daddy.”

The idea is that we are brought into such an intimate relationship with God that we are like small children who lift their voices to God as a hurting, helpless child would, who cries out to his father.

There is the idea of intimacy and dependence,

but also of a complete lack of fear.

Of course, there is respect and reverence,

but there is the sense that our Father will not harm us,

that if He loved us enough to die for us, He will certainly take care of us as we walk with Him.

II. The Privilege of Our Assurance (v. 16)

Not only have we been adopted into the family of God, but we are given priceless assurance of that fact in our hearts day by day.

A. Our Communion With The Spirit

The child of God has a blessed communion with the Holy Spirit of God.

This relationship that was predicted by the Lord Jesus Himself,

John 14:16–18

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

John 16:7–15

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

The Spirit of God spends time with the redeemed and this is a truth that the saint of God should not take for granted

He leads us and teaches us all we need to know about how to live for the glory of God in this world.

B. Our Confidence In The Spirit

The Spirit of God has fellowship with those who are saved by grace and that is one of the surest ways to know that you have been born again!

If you are genuinely saved, you will know it because the Spirit of God will have communion with you.

He will speak to your heart.

He will tell you things.

He will guide you.

He will warn you.

He will lead you.

He will feed you.

He will comfort you.

He will teach you the truth.

If the Spirit of God never speaks to your heart, then you need to examine yourself. It may be that you have never truly been saved!

Like a mother who wraps her arms around that child everyday and expresses her undying love, the Spirit of God does the same thing for the child of God. He is the Divine lover of our soul!

III. The Privilege of Our Wealth (v. 17)

Not only are we adopted into the family and assured of that fact everyday of our lives, we are also wealthy beyond measure.

Notice what this verse teaches us about our new standing.

A. Our Privilege—

verse 17 teaches us that we are the heirs of God.

May I remind you that our Heavenly Father is wealthy beyond measure? The Bible teaches this truth, Psa. 50:10–12

For every beast of the forest is mine,

And the cattle upon a thousand hills.

I know all the fowls of the mountains:

And the wild beasts of the field are mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell thee:

For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

We have the privilege of sharing in the vast wealth of our heavenly Father. That is why Phil. 4:19 means so much to us;

19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

He is able to meet our needs no matter how great they may appear.

What He has belongs to us right now,

Luke 12:32

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

B. Our Portion—

Not only are we the heirs of God, but we have been made joint-heirs with Jesus.

Literally, we are given an equal share in the wealth of our Father.

Under Jewish Law, the eldest son would be given a double portion of the father’s wealth.

However, under Roman Law, all sons were treated equally.

When I think about this, it isn’t the idea of getting things that amazes me. But! I am amazed when I come to the understanding that I have been placed on the same level with Jesus. Joint heirs

Please do not misunderstand me, but you and I that are saved have been declared to be the sons of God and we are given the same standing before God as is His Son Jesus Christ!

We will never be Him, but we have been made to be like Him in the Father’s eyes! Hallelujah!)

C. Our Promise

As we pass through life, we will go through tough times and we will face many trials. There will be times when we will feel like God has forsaken us and is not meeting our needs.

However, we need to remember that we are “pilgrims and strangers” in this present world.

The fulness of our inheritance will not be realized until we arrive at home in our Father’s House.

When we get to Heaven, then we will see just how rich we are.

One look around will tell the tale forever, Rev. 21:1–22:5 .

Conc: There is no comparison between what we have now in the Spirit and what we have endured in the flesh.

God has encouraged me afresh as His child through this passage.

There may be those here today who are struggling with this matter of assurance. If so, the Holy Spirit can help you get your sonship settled.

Others may be dealing with a need in their lives. Why not bring that need to the One Who owns it all and let Him meet it for you?

Some may just want to come before the Lord and thank Him for adopting you into His family.

We are a blessed people and we need to be grateful. Whatever the need of your heart is today, there is help in the presence of God.