Romans 8:13-17

All right. Well, I was going to suggest the same, but I didn't know how to, so I'm glad Wes decided to do that.

I'm thankful for talented musicians. I think it's rather amazing that Wes broke a string or two, maybe, I heard.

And that was his harmonica guitar playing debut, and he carried on just the same.

So we appreciate that, Wes. A very good morning to you.

If you'll take out your copy of God's Word and turn with me to Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

But it's very, very good to be back with you today.

You may or may not know this, but I wasn't here last week because I had a stomach bug,

and I appreciate the concern and the prayers of everyone who knew that and was worried about me.

Please keep praying for our family. You may notice that the rest of my family is not here this morning.

Our house over the past couple of weeks has kind of felt like a health clinic and not a home.

We have another little guy sick now.

Cademan yesterday, we took him to the park, and rather than his normal joyful self to be at the park,

he walked around with his arms hanging like this and just walked around,

at which point we thought, something's wrong with Cade.

And got him home, and he had 103 temperature.

We laid him down at 12.15, and he took a five-hour nap.

And we went back in and checked on him at 5.15.

And, I mean, I don't know how much he actually slept during all that time.

We went in there, and he was laying on his back in his crib, just staring at the ceiling.

And so we've given him medication.

He's doing much, much better this morning.

But that's where the family is, and we're ready for a little relief from illness around our house.

So please keep them in your prayers.

Let's read this text together.

This morning, I'm going to be focusing our attention on verses 14 through 17,

but I want to include in our reading verse 13.

I really want these five verses, and although I'm going to be focusing on four of them,

I want you to include verse 13 in your minds.

I really want you to take these home and meditate on them, carry them with you in the coming weeks.

I believe it'll have a profound effect on your life if you do.

So let's read together, beginning chapter 8, verse 13.

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.

But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,

but you have received the spirit of adoption as a son by whom we cry, Abba, Father.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

And if children, then heirs.

Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him,

in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Please join me in prayer.

Father God, we thank you for the blessing of your word.

We thank you that you sent us Christ, your word embodied.

And we also thank you for the written word that we can study this morning.

And I pray, Father, that today the truths of these four verses will not be lost on us.

That they will affect us in a deep way.

And an understanding of who we are in Christ will cause us to live as Christ lived.

In spite of all my preparation, I am incapable of changing hearts.

No amazing thing I can say or say anything in an amazing way

will cause anyone to think any differently unless your spirit intercedes.

So I pray, Father, that you will do so this morning.

That you will be at work in our lives.

That we will all believe the truth of your word this morning.

And I pray this in the precious name of Christ.

Amen.

So, Paul in chapter 8 has been talking to us about life in the Spirit.

What that looks like.

We have been justified by faith and we now have the Spirit of God.

And how is it that our life should look in light of the great truth of the Gospel?

And how is it that we live by the Spirit?

And he turns to kind of conclude that section to speak of our sonship.

This great doctrine of our adoption as sons in Christ.

And it is a precious, precious truth.

And so, I want to show you from these four verses, verses 14 through 17 this morning, three things.

Number one, if you have placed your faith in Christ, then you are a son of God.

If you have placed your faith, saving faith, in the personal work of Jesus Christ,

then you are counted as a son of God.

And you have His Spirit dwelling within you.

The Spirit of God then dwells within you and you are a son of God.

So, how is it that we live righteously before God?

It is by His Spirit.

Because we will be led by Him if we are sons of God.

The parallel text to this text is found in Galatians 4, verses 4 through 6.

Galatians 4:4–6

And it reads,

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law,

to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

So you are no longer a slave, but a son.

And if a son, then an heir through God.

So we see that the Spirit generates within us two changes in our attitude toward God.

We see that we are no longer slaves, but sons.

Our text in Romans says,

We did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall into fear,

but we received the spirit of adoption as sons.

And so we see this change that's generated within us.

Number one, we now have, as Christians, a humble submission to Jesus' Lordship.

A humble submission to Jesus' Lordship.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote,

Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says,

Jesus is accursed.

And no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit.

So the Spirit of God generates in us this new attitude toward Christ.

We recognize humbly that Jesus is Lord.

We can't do so otherwise.

And we submit to that Lordship.

Number two, the Spirit generates within us a bold and childlike confidence.

In Mark 14, 36, Jesus says,

Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.

Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will.

And we know this is the prayer he prays in the Garden of Gethsemane,

before he's to be delivered to Pilate to be crucified.

Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.

And here's where Paul is borrowing this language,

this terminology of Abba, Father.

It's this bold, childlike confidence.

The word Abba is actually the Hebrew word,

which you've probably commonly heard as Daddy.

was that endearing term that Jewish people called their fathers, Daddy.

And I recognize fully now as a father,

and as a father of a son who says Daddy to me,

that he's laying a claim on me when he says Daddy.

I am Cade's provider, and I'm his protector.

When Cade comes to me and says Daddy,

he's coming to me because he knows that I love him,

and I want what's best for him.

When Cade's doing his own thing,

he never includes me in that process.

But when Cade needs the love of his father,

he comes to me saying Daddy.

The English word we have here for father in this phrase,

Abba, Father, is the Greek word pater.

And it means literally father in the Greek,

but that terminology would have been

giving the great reverence and respect

that a father deserved.

So this Abba, Father,

is as if what we're claiming when we say this

is that He is mine, God is mine, Abba,

and I am His Father.

What a precious truth.

If we could just take hold of that

and believe it this day,

believe our lives would look radically different.

Another way we can say this,

as we saw in 1 Corinthians 12, 3,

Jesus is Lord and God is my Father.

What a great thing to proclaim.

And out of this humble confidence,

we're empowered to live

as the children of God ought to.

Now, ladies, it's important for you

to see and understand

that Paul is not being sexist

when he speaks of our adoption.

As sons.

The Roman Greek understanding of adoption

played a major part

in his writing here.

Adoption was something

that was incredibly important

in this culture.

And someone who was adopted

could not be unadopted.

Did you know that's the case

with our adoption laws?

That when a child is adopted,

that child can never be unadopted.

A child,

if I was in a situation

where I could no longer care for Cade,

I could drop him off someplace

and say,

I no longer could be this child's father.

But if I were to have adopted Cade,

I can't do that any longer.

The law does not permit me

to unfather that child.

Substantial for our understanding

of who we are in Christ.

That there is nothing

and no one

that can take us out of his hand.

We have been adopted.

It has been sealed for us

forever

to be sons of God.

Now,

in the Greek culture,

being a son of a father

meant a lot.

It meant that you were to be

a herald of the father.

You were to be

a reflection

of who the father was.

You were meant

to show the father's character

in the community.

In the same way,

as Christians,

we are called

to do just that.

to show the world

who our father is

by properly reflecting

his character.

And we'll speak about that

more in a moment.

But it was

a substantial thing

to understand

that when

a son

was adopted,

he was asked

to do the very same thing.

So the father

had come

to this orphan child

and adopted the son

and given him

the full rights

to his inheritance

and to the bearing

of his character

as one who wasn't adopted.

So ladies,

you are,

in this cultural context,

a son of God.

You want to be

a son of God.

Paul wasn't sexist,

but he was speaking

to a very masculine-dominated

culture.

So he was using

the language

that they would have understood

and would have found precious.

the ladies

who read this letter

or had this letter read

to them

would have said,

me,

a son

of God,

would have been

substantial

and mind-blowing

for them.

So as

the sons of God,

number two,

if you are

a son of God,

then

you will live

as a son of God.

That's the implication here.

We see,

verse 14,

that those who are led

by the Spirit

of God

are sons

of God.

Now,

what he's trying to give us

is some empirical data,

some way that we can observe

who the sons of God are.

Those who are led

by the Spirit

into righteousness,

verse 13,

to put to death

the deeds of the body,

those who are

killing sin

and living to God,

those are sons of God.

That's the exterior measure

of that thing.

But that is not

what makes us sons.

Living like sons

does not make us sons.

Being sons

causes us

to live

like sons.

You know,

it's one of my great

struggles

to find the perfect analogy.

And I always say to you

that analogies

always fall short.

And they often do.

And so,

if you're trying to come up

with a great analogy

for this,

and I've had a few

that came closer

than others,

and I think the favorite

one that came into my head,

as you can see,

I'm attempting

to grow a beard.

I don't know

that I'm doing

a great job of it,

but certainly,

growing a beard

does not make me a man.

But being a man,

I can grow a beard.

Now,

that falls short

because not all men

can grow beards.

Some men

I respect deeply.

Wes,

being one of them,

gave it a good shot

for seven months,

and it was bad.

But he's a man

I respect.

So the analogy

falls short.

But here's another one

for you.

This is a rock.

And the rock

always does its job

perfectly.

Without fail,

this rock,

I'm going to try

to set it up the edge

here so you can see it,

this rock

is just sitting here.

Doing the very thing

that this rock

was created

to do.

This is what it was doing

when I found it

in the parking lot.

Doing nothing else.

But the fact that

this rock

is just sitting here

does not make it a rock,

but it's a rock,

therefore it just sits here.

Are you with me

on that?

Now,

there are some

exterior things

we can see

about the rock

that let us know

it's a rock.

This rock

is just sitting here

would be one.

It's gray.

The fact that it's

not jumping around

in trees

lets me know

it's not a squirrel.

There are things

I can observe about it

and say,

that's a rock

fit for my analogy

this morning.

I will pick it up

and take it inside

with me.

And I should have

washed it off.

It's getting my Bible

all dirty.

But nonetheless,

we can observe

that it's a rock.

But it's because

it's a rock

that it does

its job perfectly.

It just does

what it was made

to do.

And that's how

we should be

like the rock.

As sons of God,

we should live

as the sons of God.

Now,

of course,

we carry around

the baggage

of our flesh.

It's the point

that Paul's making

in verse 13

that we should be

putting to death

those things in us.

That flesh,

those deeds.

We should be putting

that to death

and living to God.

It's the great

truth that someday

will be delivered

from our body

of flesh

that should be

so profound

in your life.

If you understand

how you ought

to live,

how your life

should look,

and how vastly

you fail at that,

being delivered

from that someday

should blow

your mind.

Someday,

my body

will be glorified

and I will be

set free

from this

weight

of my flesh.

So,

how does it look?

What should our lives

be looking like

as the sons

of God?

Number one,

we should be

putting to death

the deeds of the flesh.

Verse 13,

as I showed you,

and a couple of weeks

ago I showed you

that if we're going

to put off

the old self,

we must put on

the new.

We must live

to God.

And we have a great

example of that

in Christ.

The only man

who ever lived

a sinless life.

Let's take our

cues from Him.

And let's live

in righteousness.

And number two,

and here in our text,

we will suffer

as Christ

suffered.

You see there

in verse 17,

we'll be heirs

with Christ

provided we suffer

with Him

in order that we

may also

be glorified

with Him.

We're going to

celebrate that

this week,

aren't we,

on Good Friday?

The ultimate

and final

suffering of Christ

on the cross,

the bearing of

God's wrath

for our sin.

Let's look

quickly

in the Scriptures.

I'll encourage you

to jot these down.

What was said

of suffering,

that those

who are sons

of God,

Christians,

will suffer,

Jesus said it

in Luke 9,

23,

if anyone

would come

after me,

let him deny

himself and

take up his

cross daily

and follow me.

That verse

has nothing

to do with

dieting

or any of

the other

various things

we want to

apply it to

in our life.

That's not a

cross.

A cross is

where you die.

A cross is

where you

suffer and

bleed out.

It's not

the place

where we

inconvenience

ourselves

slightly

for our

Savior.

Paul said it,

2 Timothy 3,

12,

Indeed,

all who

desire to

live a

godly life

in Christ

Jesus

will be

persecuted.

The author

of Hebrews

said it,

Hebrews 12,

6 and 7,

For the Lord

disciplines the

one he loves

and chastises

every son

whom he receives.

It is for

discipline that

you have to

endure.

God is

treating you

as sons.

For what

son is there

whom his

father does

not

discipline?

Peter said

it,

1 Peter 4,

13,

But rejoice

insofar as

you share

Christ's

sufferings,

that you

may also

rejoice and

be glad

when his

glory is

revealed.

Take joy

in the fact

that you

suffer in

this world

because it

is evidence,

that's what

he's saying,

it is evidence

that you are

a son of

God.

Because if

you suffer

now,

you will

one day

rejoice and

be glad

at the

revelation

of his

glory.

Because

you're

a son

of God.

And what

kind of

suffering is

he speaking

of here?

I believe

all kinds.

The

persecution,

calamity,

disease,

death,

those things

that sin

bought the

world.

We ought

to suffer

all the

time in

this world.

Look at

the following

verses in

Romans later.

As the

creation

groans,

for the

return of

Christ,

so should

we.

This world

ought to

feel so

foreign and

strange to

us that

we long

for Christ

to return

and set

all things

right.

Suffering

ought to be

a part of

our daily

activity.

Living in

a place that

we don't

belong.

On top

of that,

we're going

to deal

with

sicknesses.

My family

is going

through that

now.

consequence

of the

fall.

We're going

to deal

with

persecution.

If you

live godly

in this

world,

people will

not like

you for

it.

You will

be either

the fragrance

of life

or you'll

be the

fragrance

of death.

And those

who are

dying do

not like

that.

You will

be

persecuted.

how do

we

bear up

under

that

kind

of

thing?

How do

we

live in

this

world

so

uncomfortable?

What he's

trying to

tell us,

right?

Because we're

sons of

God.

And if

we're

sons of

God,

then we're

co-heirs

with Christ.

We are,

as he is

an inheritor

of God,

we are

also

inheritors.

Verse 16,

the Spirit

bears witness

that we're

children of

God,

and if

children,

then heirs.

Heirs of

God and

fellow

heirs with

Christ.

What are

we heirs

of?

We're

heirs of

a limitless

inheritance.

And I'm

going to

answer that

more completely,

at least in

part.

I don't

even know

if this

is a

complete

answer to

what we're

heirs of,

but at

least in

part.

This is

point number

three,

by the way.

If you're

a son of

God,

then you

have a

limitless

inheritance.

And there's

three things

we inherit

at least.

Number one,

the world.

Romans 4,

13,

Paul wrote,

for the promise

to Abraham

and his

offspring that

he would be

heir of

the world

did not

come through

the law,

but through

the righteousness

of faith.

And so if

you have placed

your faith in

Christ,

you're a

co-heir with

Abraham,

and Abraham

was promised

what?

The world.

Psalm 24,

1 says,

the earth

is the

Lord's

and the

fullness

thereof,

the world

and those

who dwell

therein.

So the

whole world

belongs to

Jesus Christ

and we

are a

co-heir

with him.

Psalm 2,

8,

ask of me

and I

will make

the nations

your heritage

and the ends

of the earth

your possession.

And this

is the

father asking

the son

in Psalm

2,

8,

ask of me

and I

will make

the nations

your heritage.

So the

world will

someday be

ours

because we

belong to

the one

to whom

the world

belongs.

Number 2,

we will

inherit God

himself,

which we

get to

experience in

part now.

The great

work of God

going on

around us,

our invitation

to be involved

in that work,

the invitation

to pray,

to share

our faith,

spread the

gospel around

the world,

is God's

great love

of us

to involve

us in

what he's

doing,

to give

us some

of himself.

But one

day,

we will

behold him

fully.

Now,

dimly as

in a mirror,

but one

day we

will see

him in

all of

his glory.

Romans 5,

2,

B,

the second

half of

5,

2,

says,

we rejoice

in the

hope of

the glory

of God.

We find

our great

joy in

the knowledge

that someday

we'll behold

the glory

of God.

Revelation

21,

3,

is a picture

of that

glory.

And I

heard a

loud voice

from the

throne saying,

behold,

the dwelling

place of

God is

with man.

He will

dwell with

them,

and they

will be

his people,

and God

himself will

be with

them,

as their

God.

Psalm 73,

25,

and 26,

one of my

favorites,

the Psalm

of Asaph.

He wrote,

Whom have

I in

heaven but

you?

And there

is nothing

on earth

that I

desire beside

you.

My flesh

and my

heart may

fail,

but God

is the

strength of

my heart

and my

portion

forever.

My full

satisfaction

forever.

forever.

So,

we get to

inherit the

world,

we get to

inherit God

himself,

and we

get to

inherit

redeemed

and glorified

bodies.

Romans 8,

23 speaks

of the

redemption

of our

bodies,

and I

believe that

this is

what Paul

is trying

to say

in verse

17,

that we

will be

glorified

with

him.

I have

a body

that I

am so

happy is

going to

get replaced.

I am in

lots of

pain all

the time,

and I

won't take

the time

to tell

you why,

but I'm

in rather

excruciating

pain most

of my

days.

I am so

happy to

experience that

because this

is such a

precious truth

to me.

Someday,

my pain

will stop,

and I

will have a

new,

redeemed,

set right

body.

What a

glorious

truth

that is.

So,

we've

received,

as

Christians,

an

inheritance.

Shouldn't

this impact

the way

we live?

Shouldn't

this spur

us on

to live

as those

who are

called

sons of

God,

to cry

to God,

Abba,

Father,

Daddy,

whom I

love and

respect,

Jesus,

my Lord,

God,

my Father,

empower me

to live

by these

great truths

carried along

by your

Spirit,

the great

glory of

your name.

I hope

that today,

in large

part,

is an

encouragement

to you.

We've

experienced

some

chastisement

throughout

Romans so

far.

I hope

that today

you walk

out of

here filled

with joy

as a

Son of

God.

If you

have never

placed your

faith in

Christ,

saving faith,

a recognition

that you

are utterly

sinful,

there is no

part of you

that is not

sin apart

from Him,

that you

have been

separated

from God

forever.

forever,

unless

you place

your faith

in the

one who

bore the

wrath for

your sins.

You believe

that Jesus

is the

Son of

God,

and that

He died

on your

behalf.

If you

haven't done

that,

do that

this day.

Be filled

with the

joy of

being called

a Son of

God.

I think

that we

as American

Christians

have

issues with

our identity.

I think

that we

tack

Christianity

on to the

end of a

list of

many other

things that

we are.

And if

you do

that,

any of

those other

things you

think you

are have

become an

idol.

to you.

If you

say,

I am a

husband who

works hard

to provide

for my

family,

and I'm

a Christian.

Check your

heart in

that.

Because what

you ought to

say is,

I'm a

Christian and

a husband who

works hard

to provide

for my

family.

All of

our life

should be

encompassed in

our identity

in Christ.

We are

sons because

we've been

adopted.

We weren't

part of

his family

to begin

with,

but because

of what

Christ has

done,

we've been

adopted into

his family.

And it is

a glorious,

profound truth

that we should

treasure in

our hearts.

Please pray

with me.

a lot of