THE HOLY SPIRIT and SONSHIP Devotion 18 of 30 – Tomorrow:
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors; not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 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 as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "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 joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." (Romans 8:12-17, NKJV)
" . . . but you received the Spirit . . . "
Upon coming into Christ, we received the Holy Spirit. That is a fundamental part of Apostolic doctrine. This is declared frequently, and is beyond all controversy.
1. "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO WAS GIVEN TO US ." (Rom 5:5, NKJV)
2. "Now WE HAVE RECEIVED, not the spirit of the world, but THE SPIRIT WHICH IS OF GOD; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." (1 Cor 2:12)
3. "Who hath also sealed us, and GIVEN THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT in our hearts." (2 Cor 1:22)
4. "And because ye are sons, God hath SENT FORTH THE SPIRIT of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Gal 4:6).
5. "Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath GIVEN UNTO US THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT." (2 Cor 5:5)
6. "He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also GIVEN UNTO US HIS HOLY SPIRIT." (1 Thess 4:8)
7. "And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, BY THE SPIRIT WHICH HE HATH GIVEN US." (1 John 3:24)
8. "Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because HE HATH GIVEN US OF HIS SPIRIT." (1 John 4:13)
9. "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, WHOM YOU HAVE FROM GOD, and you are not your own?" (1 Cor 6:19, NKJV)
10. "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ or the remission of sins; and you shall RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.'" (Acts 2:38, NKJV)
This is not a gift received by SOME who are in Christ Jesus, but by ALL of them!
THE SPIRIT OF ADOPTION
The Holy Spirit is called "the Spirit of adoption" because His presence within is what confirms we are God's sons. His presence ratifies or confirms our status. Thus it is written, "And BECAUSE YE ARE SONS, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal 4:6). Notice, God is not said to send the spirit upon us, but in us. Just as out bodies are the most external part of us, so our hearts are the most inner part of our being. And that is where the Lord has sent the Holy Spirit – into our hearts.
Why use the word "adoption?" Why not refer to regeneration as a new birth, as elsewhere (John 3:5,8; 1 Pet 1:23)? This is not an uncommon view of our status in Christ. Later in this very chapter "the adoption" will be equated with the "redemption of our body" (v 23). Later, "the adoption" is said to have pertained to Israel "according to the flesh" (9:4), among whom we Gentiles have been grafted (11:17). Galatians 4:4-5 declares "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the ADOPTION of sons." Ephesians 1:5-6 associates our adoption with the predestination of God Himself. "Having predestinated us UNTO THE ADOPTION of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
The word "adoption" emphasizes the legality of our status as sons. To put it another way, it underscores the choice of God that we are His sons because He desired it to be so. The word also opens how we have been placed into the status of sons against the constraints of nature. There is nothing in us by nature that brought about our adoption. It was purely "according to the good pleasure of His will" (Eph 1:5). All of our obedience – every single bit of it – is a response to what God has done in Christ Jesus. That is encapsulated in these words: "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).
The term "the Spirit of adoption" instructs us that while our acceptance was according to God's predetermined purpose, it was carried out by the Holy Spirit. We were, in fact, "born of the Spirit" (John 3:6). Thus, God is said to have "chosen" us "THROUGH sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thess 2:13). Again, those in Christ are said to be "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, THROUGH sanctification of the Spirit" (1 Pet 1:2). When the Spirit given to the believer, He confirms we are genuinely the sons of God, and that the exceeding great and precious promises of God belong to us.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I thank You that Christ's work was so thorough it made it right for You to give me Your Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus, I thank You for this all-sufficient Gift.