Father, Son, Holy Spirit

 In 2009, Connie Lavoie told Readers Digest (3/09, p. 165) about the "House of Night," her favorite spot at the zoo. In it, nocturnal creatures crawled & flew about. One bright day, she stepped into the exhibit. Total darkness. Immediately, a small hand grabbed hers. "Who do you belong to?" she asked. A small voice answered. "I'm yours till the lights come on." We are sons & daughters of God. But are we a bit like that? His until we aren't scared anymore? Ro 8:12-17 shows us how God wants our relationship to be. 12aTherefore... Because of what Paul has just written... All God has done for us. In Ro 8:1-2, 1In Christ Jesus... 2He's set us free from the law of sin & death. In Ro 8:9-11, He's given us 9 the Spirit of God to lives in us. He's killed the old body of sin. He's raised us to new 11 life through his Spirit, who lives in us. We owe a debt we can never repay. 12bBrothers & sisters, we have an obligation. A debt. Live up to His Spirit within us. 12cNot to the sinful nature. We don't 12dlive according to it. Why not? 13aIf we do, we'll die. Does Paul mean eternal death? Loss of salvation? Or does he mean early death, but no loss of salvation? This is troubling. Theologians have been deeply divided ever since Paul wrote. At one extreme some (Calvinists) point to God's sovereignty. They say "Once saved, always saved. It's impossible to tear our salvation out of God's hands." At the other extreme, others (Armenians) point to human free will. They say, "Even if we're saved, we're free to turn away from it. We can lose salvation by our actions. The Bible clearly teaches both God's Sovereignty & human free will. I don't think we can reject either possibility. In the end, salvation is God's free gift. Totally up to Him. Whatever death sin leads to, it's all up to God. What can we do? Work out what He's worked in. Work at it as hard as we can. Work as hard as we can to cooperate with the Spirit. Not to cooperate with the sinful nature. Thus, we try as hard as we can. But we can't earn salvation. Don't try. Salvation is God's free gift, accepted by faith in Christ Jesus. How it all works is a deep mystery. We have free will. Completely. Yet, somehow, God works in us so that we will what He wills. We choose His will, moment by moment. Ideally, that's what we want to do. But God is all powerful. He knows us completely-much better than we know ourselves. He can play with our circumstances so that our most attractive choice is what in fact He wills. How do you think He causes His unbelieving instruments to do His will? (Think Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, & others.) So, yes-we do have an obligation not to live according to the sinful nature. To do that, we'll need help. And we have the Holy Spirit's help! All God's power is available to help us live up to our calling! We don't have to die from sin. 13bIf by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you'll live. Putting those misdeeds to death is up to us. We can do so only by the Spirit's power. I wonder what kind of life he meant. Eternal? Long life now? Scholars can't agree for the same reasons. Either way, I know what I want to do. If I can't put those misdeeds to death by myself, I want the Spirit's help. He won't do it without us. And, glory be, He's waiting for us to LET Him help! If we do? 14Those who are led by the Spirit of God show themselves to be God's sons & daughters. Jn 15:1-5 explains how this works. Unless we remain in Jesus, we aren't attached to the vine. If we aren't attached, we can't bear fruit. We can't produce the fruit of the Spirit (LJPPKGFGS-C). We can't produce the fruit of good deeds. Nor can we put to death the body's misdeeds, the bad fruit. To produce good fruit requires the Spirit's help. Only if we're abiding in Jesus does His Spirit abide in us to help us. One more thing. All who accept Christ, all who have His Spirit, are saved, adopted, & will inherit heaven. But in Lk 19:12-26, Jesus shows that we'll also be rewarded according to our faithfulness. The more faithful we are, the greater our reward. If we fail to produce fruit, however, we will prove to unfaithful & lose even what we had. As we follow the Spirit, He'll lead us on faithful paths. Always. In Him, we'll produce the fruit He expects. Others will notice. They'll see our good fruit. Our Christlike character & our good deeds will show them whose children we are. If we're led by God's Spirit. The best news of all? So long as we remain in Him, we never need fear that we'll fail Him! Why? 15aFor we didn't receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear. Fear of sinning, certainly. But in the Spirit, we're free of all fear. None of God's people need to fear. Ever! Look at Php 4:13. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Any exceptions? If we can do all things, then why fear anything? There isn't! There's nothing we need to be afraid of. Are we sure Paul means all fear? Yep. To name a few verses, look at [Do Not Fear - 1] Isa 35:4; 41:13; 51:7; 54:4; [Do Not Fear - 2] Hag 2:4-5; & 1 Pet 3:14. There's another overriding concern. To fear God is to worship Him. Look at Lk 12:5. Jesus says, 5I'll show you whom you should fear. Fear him who, after killing the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." Why is it so important not to fear anyone or anything else? Whatever we fear, we worship. So, why waste time worshiping anyone or anything that has no power to help us? (Or hurt us.) What's left? Only God. Fear Him. Him alone. When we fear God rightly, it's worshipful obedience. Besides, is the Spirit in us? Are we abiding in Him? If so, what is there we can't conquer? Nothing! Never do we need to fear. No one. No thing. Ever. Let's don't take the Spirit for granted. Let's receive Him! In Him, 15bwe receive the Spirit of sonship. His Spirit in us is the proof we're princesses & princes in the KoG. Daughters & sons of the King. 15cBy him we cry, "Abba, Father." Father God is our Papa! Just as Jesus taught us to say. And it isn't just us saying so. 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we're God's children. Why's that so cool? For one, our God is an awesome God. Any doubt? Think the most powerful thing we can imagine. Cat 5 tornado? 9.0 earthquake? Tsunami wave 50 feet high? God is much more powerful! He's an awesome God! Who but His children can crawl up into the lap of such an awesome God?! We can! And that isn't even the greatest privilege of being sons & daughters. 17aIf we're children, then we're heirs-heirs of God & co-heirs with Christ. Jesus has already inherited all power & glory. He's 1st fruits of what we'll be. And we'll be co-heirs with Him! Sound too good to be true? It isn't. Is there a catch? Maybe. We have to get from now to not yet. For now, 17bWe're heirs if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 1st the suffering. That's now. Then, the glory. One more thing. Today is Holy Trinity Sunday. This is the day the church celebrates our Triune God. One God. Three distinct Persons. Why's this so important? God the Father can only be known & approached by holy people. We aren't Holy. We need a Savior. So, God the Father sent His Son to redeem us. Because He's God the Son, He alone has power to save us all. When we accept Him as Savior, God the Son restores us to the relationship the Father always wanted. At the instant of our regeneration (salvation) God puts God the eternal Holy Spirit in us, as the 1st fruits of our eternal inheritance. His Spirit unites us with God & with other believers. He's the source of koinonia. With God & others. His Spirit is in us. We abide in Christ. As we do, His Holy Spirit will transform us increasingly into the Son's likeness. All 3 persons act in distinct ways in our redemption, justification, sanctification, & salvation. 3 persons. One God. Mystery! When God adopts us, he gives us His name. What are we called? Christians. We belong to Christ. We bear His name. We've inherited His estate. We're heir to all God's blessings-on earth & in heaven. As heirs, what has to happen for us to receive our inheritance? Someone has to die. Jesus did! Because He died on the cross & rose from the grave, we have access to God's promised blessings. We have a future in heaven. An inheritance out of this world. Blessings for now on earth. Power to move mountains when we pray in His name. The fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Good deeds. Freedom from fear. All rights of children with a beloved Father. Our faith isn't just pie in the sky when we die. It's steak on the plate while we wait. God-Father, Son, Holy Spirit - Romans 8:12-17 Page 1 of 1