All Roads Lead to Romans
February 22, 2015 :: Romans 8:15-27
We’ve reached the point in Romans 8 where just about every sentence could become a sermon. Just about every sentence from here to the end of the chapter is just loaded with glorious spiritual truth. I’m almost embarrassed to preach 13 verses to you when, just the first verse would be enough for us to chew on all morning.
But I’m also committed to not staying forever in this one book and also committed to trying to preach Paul’s argument, not just the individual statements of truth that the book contains.
So, we’ll take this section up together because of the theme of the Spirit that ties it all together.
In the last two messages on the Great Eight, we’ve seen how Paul has begun to emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit in our salvation and our sanctification.
Verse 1 is the banner flying over all Christians, say it with me, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...”
And why? Because of the Spirit.
“because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
We saw last week that if the Spirit of God lives in you (and He does live in all true believers), then you get life and peace now and forever and you have both an obligation and the ability to kill sin. V.6
“The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace...” and verse 13: “[I]f you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
That’s where we left off last week. The Spirit gives us the power to kill sins, to execute, to put to death the misdeeds of the body.
And why? Because those who are in the sway of the Spirit are the sons of God.
And in our passage for today, Paul takes off on that theme, being the sons, the children of God.
And that comes, again, not from ourselves, but from the Spirit.
Do you see what I mean about each sentence could be a sermon?
Take this first sentence for example.
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”
It starts with “for,” and that’s because he’s explaining further why Christians can kill sin. They can kill sin because they are God’s children.
How did that happen?
How did you become a child of God?
Well, there are lots of ways of answering that question with truth, but what Paul emphasizes here is that we were adopted by God when we received the Spirit.
He starts by saying that there is a kind of spirit we did not receive.
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear,”
I could imagine a world in which God made me His slave by putting a spirit of slavery into me.
In fact, that’s some people’s idea of what Christianity is. We obey out of fear like a cringing slave who is worried that his master will be unhappy with him.
But that’s not the Spirit we received. V.15
“[B]ut you received the Spirit of sonship.”
That’s going to be the title of today’s message, “The Spirit of Sonship.”
If you have the King James, it says, the “Spirit of Adoption.” If you have the ESV or the NASB or the 2011 NIV, it says something like “the Spirit of Adoption as Sons” “Or to Sonship.”
The idea is that the Holy Spirit is involved in God’s adopting us as His son. The underlying Greek word here refers “to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture” (NIV 2011 footnote for verse 15).
This is not just any Spirit. This is the Spirit of Sonship.
And you got Him when you became a Christian.
You received the Spirit of Sonship.
And that makes you God’s own child.
Now, we could just stop there and marvel at that and tease out the implications of that for the next half hour.
You received the Spirit of Sonship.
What does that mean for you and me?
We’re going to see at least three amazing things.
#1. THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP ASSURES YOU THAT YOU BELONG.
To God the Father. V.15 again.
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear [like you might if you were still trying to be justified through following the Law], but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’”
Now, that’s amazing.
Because that’s calling God, “Dad.”
“Abba” is an Aramaic term of endearment for your father.
It was what Jesus called God!
And Paul says that because we have the Spirit of Sonship, we can cry out “Abba, Father.”
So much more than just a slave!
There is a biblical category for calling ourselves slaves of God.
But that’s not the only the category, and it’s not the deepest category for our identity.
Because we have the Spirit of Sonship, we are the sons of God!
And He tells us so. V.16
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.”
The Holy Spirit whispers this into our hearts.
“You belong to God.”
“Jesus has saved you.”
“You are a son of God.”
“You are a daughter of the King.”
“There is no condemnation for you...”
The Spirit of Sonship assures us that we belong.
Now, not every Christian can hear that voice at every second of every day. But all true Christians have heard it and will hear it when they need to most.
Because it’s the ministry of the Spirit to testify to and with our human spirit’s that we are the children of God.
He uses the gospel. He reminds us of what Jesus did for us.
And He shows us how we’ve changed since we began to trust Jesus. How we hate what the Father hates and love what the Father loves.
And it’s mysterious how He does it. It’s not audible voice for most of us.
But He’s there whispering it to our hearts. “You are God’s child.”
“You’re not a slave, you’re a Son.”
“You have all the rights and privileges of an adopted Son.”
Do you remember when the prodigal son came home in Jesus’ parable?
He told himself that he would go home and be a slave for his father. He had wished his father’s death and squandered his inheritance.
But what welcome did the prodigal get? His father ran to meet him–that never happened in that culture–and he embraced him and said, “My Son! My Son!” “This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
I hear him whispering it in his ear. “My son, my son.”
That’s what the Spirit of Sonship assures all genuine believers.
The application of this truth is to rest and rejoice.
Be comforted by the Spirit’s ministry. Rest in that. Don’t tell yourself that you have to earn God’s favor. Jesus has already done that for you.
Rest in the Father’s love.
Rejoice in the Father’s love.
You don’t have to live in fear. You can live in peace because the Spirit of Sonship assures you that you belong.
You belong!
Now, that also means that you can kill sin. Because you have this Spirit at work in you, you can put to death the misdeeds of the body.
But not to curry favor with the slavemaster. No!
Instead to live out your family name!
Because God is your Father, you can say “NO” to the things your father hates.
Rest and rejoice.
#2. THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP ASSURES YOU THAT YOU WILL INHERIT.
All of God’s promises.
In verse 17, Paul takes this idea of sonship one step further.
“Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
Do you see how good this is?
“Now if we are children, then we are heirs...” Makes sense, right? If you are someone’s child, especially in this culture, if you are their firstborn son, then you inherit from them all of what they’ve promised you.
He says, we’re “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” that’s because He’s actually the firstborn son, and we are IN CHRIST, we are IN HIM.
The Spirit of Sonship has included us into Christ so that we inherit what He inherits.
Which is GLORY.
We’re going to see more about glory in future sermons, but it’s just amazing to think that we are going to inherit it.
This verse says that we are going to share in Christ’s glory.
He deserves it. We don’t. But we get it anyway with Him.
Because of the Spirit of Sonship.
Now, there is another thing that we inherit here. And that’s the sufferings of Christ.
That’s not as fun to think about, but all Christians will suffer in this life. Some a little, some a lot.
Some Christians will die for Christ. Others will merely be inconvenienced for Christ.
But we must all suffer something for and with Christ. How could we think that our master would suffer and we would be immune?
Suffering is the path to glory.
Not everybody sees that. There are prosperity preachers out there with great big smiles that say that God wants us all to be healthy, wealthy, and successful.
But this says that God has suffering for all of us “in order that we may also share in his glory.”
But it also says that’s more than worth it. V.18
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Yes, it hurts right now. But on the scales of eternity, there’s no comparison.
It’s like which is better a grain of sand or a twenty tons of gold?
Our suffering right now which could be very great is not even a grain of sand compared to the twenty tons of gold that will come in the future for the children of God.
Because we have the Spirit of Sonship, we are going to inherit the incomparable glory of Christ.
But it’s not here yet. In fact, the whole creation is waiting for that day when it is revealed. V.19
“The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.”
That’s more than just us Christians.
That’s the whole of creation. That’s the butterflies and trees and oceans and lions and elephants and whales and microscopic organisms and mountains and every created thing.
The whole created world is standing on tiptoe and straining its neck to see what God is going to when He unveils the sons of God.
You see, we are not who will be. You and I don’t look that impressive to the creation right now.
Yes, we’re made in God’s image, but that image is marred and scarred and broken.
But there is coming day when we are going to be unveiled and the creation will wonder at what God has done in us. How do we know? The Spirit of Sonship assures us that it’s coming. V.20
“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
The whole world is broken.
Remember our theme last Summer of “Restored?” The world is not like it’s supposed to be.
Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, killer ice storms.
Death, decay, rot, disintegration. Things fall apart, the center doesn’t hold.
The creation was frustrated. And now it groans. V.22
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
The whole world is in labor. And it hurts.
Ladies, does labor hurt?
What kind of a stupid question is that?
Paul personifies creation and says that the whole of creation is in labor.
Labor is worth it because of what is going to come. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt. It hurts plenty.
Our entire creation hurts and groans like labor pains because we have not yet seen the return of Christ and the revelation of the sons of God.
But it’s coming! V.23
“Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit [even us, even we], groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
We groan, too.
Even we who have the Spirit also groan.
Even we who have the Spirit of Sonship. Because we have the Spirit of Sonship, we groan. Because we are not yet what we will be.
Christian, it’s okay to feel bad that you have not arrived.
It’s okay to long for that day when you are perfected and no longer sin at all.
It’s okay to long for that day when you don’t hurt any more.
It’s right to long for that day when you receive your adoption.
... Wait.
Aren’t we already adopted?
Verses 15 and 16 said that we are.
The Spirit says to our spirit that we are the children of God.
But there is a sense in which we have not yet been fully adopted.
We don’t yet have our new bodies. V.23
We “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
I can’t hardly wait.
So much of life in the here and now is groaning.
And that’s right. The whole world groans, why wouldn’t we?
But we don’t groan in despair. We groan in hope. We groan like labor pains expecting that joy to come. We groan in hope. V.24
“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
He’s saying, “This is what it’s all about. It’s not here yet. It’s not hope if you have it in your hand. But we have the promise, and it’s secure. And so we wait.”
The Spirit of Sonship assures us that we will inherit the glory of Christ in new glorified bodies.
Application? Wait and Hope.
Did you see how we are to wait in verses 23 and 25?
V.23 “ We wait eagerly.”
That’s exactly right. We don’t get used to this world and give up hoping. We strain forward in faith. We wait eagerly.
And v.25, “We wait for it patiently.”
Because we’re not there yet.
It’s easy to get tired waiting for our inheritance. It’s easy to get distracted waiting for our inheritance.
The world says, “Hey! Look over here. This is what’s important, and it will make you happy. You can forget about all that groaning. Pay attention to this.”
But the Spirit of Sonship says, “Wait eagerly. Wait patiently. Because you are God’s child, all of this will one day soon be yours. Wait for it! Long for it. Groan for it. But know that it’s on the way.”
Do you need to hear that? I needed to hear that this week.
We look around in the newspaper and we see a world that is coming off of its hinges.
But that’s exactly what the Bible said would happen. It’s been happening ever since the creation. V.20 “The creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it.” Who was that? Adam? Satan?
No, God. “In Hope” it says! “The will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
That’s what’s going to happen.
We just have to hold on for it. And stay busy doing our Father’s work.
That glorious freedom is coming soon.
Wait and hope.
And number 3.
#3. THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP ASSURES YOU THAT YOU HAVE HELP.
With your prayers.
V.26 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.”
The Spirit of Sonship assures us that we have help.
And we need help.
We are weak. We groan. Our lives often hurt. Things are not the way they are supposed to be.
And in our weakness, we don’t always know what to pray.
Do you ever feel that way? Things are rough, and you don’t even know what to say to God.
Well, here is good news. The Spirit of God is also praying.
He intercedes, verse 26, “The Spirit Himself intercedes.” V.27, “The Spirit intercedes for the saints (that’s us) in accordance with God’s will.” Literally, “according to God.”
If you could have a prayer partner that would perfectly pray for you when you didn’t know what to pray, wouldn’t that be great?
It turns out that you have one–the Spirit of Sonship. The Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us with “groans that words cannot express.”
Now, it’s possible that this is the Holy Spirit at work in our own groaning prayers. The groans of verse 23 turned into prayers that the Holy Spirit is interpreting for us.
I think that’s a very good possibility.
But it feels when you read it that it’s the Spirit that’s doing the groaning.
The creation groans.
Christians groan.
And even the Spirit groans. He feels what we are going through alongside of us and perfectly interprets our prayers to the Father.
The One who searches our hearts. He knows perfectly what the Spirit thinks and the Spirit prays for us in accordance with God’s will.
Isn’t that good news?
Who know better what to pray for than God Himself?!
And God Himself is praying to God Himself for us!
That’s mind-boggling and mysterious.
But it’s so good, because we desperately need that help.
Because until our full adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies, we are going to be so weak. We need help.
We groan and we need help groaning in the right direction.
Isn’t it great news that the Spirit is going to groan with us and interpret our prayers so that they are by the time they reach the Father, exactly what God wants?
The application is to trust and pray.
Go ahead. Pray! You can’t do it wrong if you do it in faith.
Your prayers are going to be weak. So what? Pray anyway, because the Spirit of Sonship assures you that you will have the help you need.
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for [but pray anyway!], but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
If the Spirit is going to help you in that way when you pray, why wouldn’t you pray?
Trust that He is working and pray. And pray some more.
Do you see what a difference it makes to have the Spirit of Sonship?
He assures you that you belong to the Father.
He assures you that you will inherit all of God’s promises.
He assures you that you will have the help in praying that you need.
Rest and rejoice.
Wait and hope.
Trust and pray.
***
01. All Roads Lead to Romans
02. I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel
03. The Bad News
04. Hope for Holy Sexuality
05. The Even Worse News
06. The Worst News
07. Justified
08. Father Abraham
09. The Blessings of Justification
10. How Much More
11. New You
12. Slaves Of...?
13. A Life-Changing Relationship with Jesus Christ
14. No Condemnation
15. If the Spirit Lives in You
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