Romans 8:15-17 "Life by The Spirit pt.4"

Introduction

Life by the Spirit is the dynamic where the Holy Spirit has transformed people that they are empower to believe the gospel and to live for the glory of God in Christ.

Kind of like those talk shows where a guest would come on and get a makeover to the point that the no longer even looked the same. Even their closest friends and relatives can’t believe the change.

The Holy Spirit gives makeovers too but they are of a spiritual nature that have an affect that in the end transforms the whole person from the inside out.

But this liberation changes our status as well in this world. We are in a new position now because of the Holy Spirit’s work in us. Look at your text at verse 15:

I. The Liberation of the Spirit (15).

The Holy Spirit does not take us back to be under the spirit of the law and slavery to the law. The only thing this reminded us of is of our failures to keep the law and justly being under the wrath of God.

The Holy Spirit has changed our status forever. We are liberated from the system of law performance as a means to earning the favor of God.

As a matter of fact Paul speaks of our liberation in legal terminology. We have recieved the spirit of Adoption. We have gone from being slaves to sin under the law and have been given the status of sonship as children of God.

This standing identity that we have as children of God has been brought to pass by the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit of God having applied the work of Christ to us has made us one of the family of God.

So Christian, if the Holy Spirit of God lives in you, you are a covenant child of God. Your legal adoption has come to pass and we are able to cry out to the Father just as Christ did in Mark 14:36 when He prayed, Abba! Father!

So we do not come to God under the OT law system which would be a fearful thing. But we come to God as our heavenly Father in covenant relationship to Him through Christ by the Spirit.

Why do we have such a difficult time with this as we live the Christian life? I find that in my own experience I can loose the covenant child perspective when I fall for the deception of my good works earning my standing of favor before God or when I fall for the notion of my sin causing me to fall out of His favor.

My little brother is Korean and he is legally adopted. We know next to nothing about his biological origins. We only know that he was left on the mayor’s doorstep in a particular village and the mayor brought him to the orphanage.

He was adopted through the Holt adoption agency. And my parents flew to the big city of Chicago to pick him up. He was about 6 months old when he was adopted and he came to live with us.

He got a new name and a new identity. He became the Son of C.U. and Sherril Revlett. If you were to see him you would think he is some Asian guy. But when I see him he looks just like my brother. I know him as one of my family members. And he grew up calling my dad, Daddy. And my mother, Mom. And my parents were and are very proud of him.

And never have they ever expressed a single time any regret in the adoption of my brother. Even in those times when he was being disobedient to them. They never regretted the adoption. He was their child. And if you were to ask him to this very day who his parents are, he would say: C.U. Revlett and Sherril Revlett.

You see there is a legal covenant that has established him as one of my Dad’s children. And it was not my brothers doing. He was 6 months old. He was clueless and was not of age but my parents initiated the covenant of adoption without consulting him for his consent. And it was all done legally according to law.

Christian the Spirit works and carries out the divine decrees of God in much the same way for us. God is the one who initiated our covenant of adoption and established us in Christ as His children. And He did not get our consent to inform Him of His decreed will to make us His child.

He initiated it on our behalf knowing that in the end it would be for His glory and our good. That work of grace has resulted in our liberation from being under the law resulting in our condemnation.

God rescued us from our justly deserved destruction. He set us free by the Holy Spirit applying the work of Christ to us. The love for God because of all that He has done is why we should be glad to embrace our sanctification for His glory.

And the reality of that dynamic in our lives reminds us again and again that we are children of God, adopted by a covenant that is sealed by the blood of His only begotten Son.

As a matter of fact the Holy Spirit actually gives confirmation to this truth. Look at verses 16-17:

II. The Confirmation of the Spirit (16-17).

Here we see that Paul says the Holy Spirit bears witness with our Spirit in verse 16 but he doesn’t mention how this actually takes place. That is because he has already told us that the Holy Spirit will bring change if we are authentic believers. You can go back to Romans 8:4-8 and see it.

Basically it is a life lived by the Spirit and not by the flesh. A life that shows forth the evidence of transformation by being fully engaged in the sanctification process.

This transformation doesn’t come from you. The power of the Holy Spirit is at work transforming you into a functioning disciple of Jesus Christ in a progressive manner.

This means conviction of sin with a change in your disposition towards it and power for living more and more for Christ. Love for Christ is the motive and the Spirit is the power source.

This is how the Holy Spirit provides the supporting evidence that we are children of God.

This is an assurance builder in the life of the believer. Your life and worldview begins to match what Scripture says because you are being led by the Holy Spirit. And you love it, even when, at times, it hurts. Yet we still endure and persevere in Christ by the Spirit.

If the Holy Spirit confirms it then the obvious is true as well as verse 17 points out. If children, then heirs. Well if we are heirs then what is our inheritance.

Well it says here we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. In a family it is not uncommon for the children to be heirs of the estate of their parents. And usually being adopted doesn’t matter one bit. Biological kids get the same think along with those who are adopted.

God has only one begotten Son. He is the “mono-gene” of God. We see this word in John 3:16 used in the Greek language. We know that this is referring to Christ. All the other children of God are adopted as children into the family through Christ by the Holy Spirit.

So what does Christ get as an inheritance? We read in Hebrews 1:2-4 “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

Christ gets it all and guess what? So do we as the children of God because we are heirs with Him. Provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

To suffer with Him means to suffer for Him and His purposes in all the trials we face in the world. This would include our sanctification. Because suffering produces steadfastness (James 1:2-3). That is why James tells us to count it all joy when you face various kinds of trials because those trials that we face are producing something good for us.

God initiates our salvation by grace through faith as applied by the Holy Spirit and this justifies us. The progressive act of sanctification begins as the Holy Spirit works His transforming power into our lives. This fallen world in these fallen bodies give us many trials all of which aid us towards the goal of glorifying God in the world and securing us to Him in eternity. It is in eternity that we will be glorified.

He will be our God and we will be His children and all the barriers of sin will be no more.

Conclusion:

Who will take the Son?

There was a man who was very wealthy and he and his son both had a passion for great art. They spent many years collecting paintings from all the great masters.

At one time the Son, hired an unknown artist do paint him as a birthday gift to his father. The father loved it. Of all the paintings in the collection it was his favorite. Eventually the son was called away to war and during the war the father recieved news that his son had been killed.

As you can imagine it broke the father’s heart. Years went by and the father ended up dying. The day came that the art collection would be auctioned off. People came from all around the globe and across the country to the auction to get the chance to buy one of the works of art from one of the masters.

But when the auction began, the first work of art to be sold was the portrait of the son. The auctioneer couldn’t get a single bid, “Who will take the son, can I get a thousand? Can I get five hundred? Who will take the son?” No one wanted it. People began to scorn and rail against the auctioneer, “Bring on the Masters, we came for the real works of art”.

The auctioneer brought the price down to $20. And finally one of the old servants who worked as a gardener for decades for the man and had actually watched the son grow up and was very fond of both the man and the son bid on the son for $20. He was elated, it was all he had and he was able to buy it. Sold! For $20 to the Gardner!

With that the auctioneer turned off his microphone, folded up his portfolio and declared that the auction was over. The crowed began to scream and yell, what about the works of the Masters? The auctioneer said, the rich man auction had only one stipulation to the auction. Only the portrait of the Son would be auctioned off. And whoever took the Son got the rest thrown in.

Whoever takes the Son gets it all. Who will take the Son today?

Unbeliever will you take the Son? You need a savior. Believe the gospel for salvation.

Believer the Son has paid your penalty and put His Spirit in you and you are being sanctified by His grace and power working in you. Confess and receive from Him. Lets pray!