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How do you feel about God as Father? And why?  Share |
Romans 8Life Through the Spirit 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. 5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. 9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. 12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if 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, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For 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." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17Now 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.
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Adoption In first-century Rome an affluent adult would often adopt a young boy, often a slave (girls were adopted in rare situations), to become their son. Adoption was a public act before witnesses, acknowledging the end of an old life and the beginning of a new one. This new son’s life was forever changed. He received a new status, a new security, new responsibilities and duties, a new family, and an inheritance. Unlike a biological son, the adopted child could never be disowned; he had permanent access to the father. A new beginning Paul articulates his message to the Roman believers using this image of adoption. It’s an illustration that can inform our lives, too. Our heavenly Father has taken the initiative to adopt us into his family (vs 14,15), and has set us free from the fear that enslaves us (v 15). Our old lives are over; we have a new beginning. We can never be forgotten, discarded or rejected, because we have been adopted. We have a new security; we have a new family in our community of believers. We have new responsibilities and duties as the Father commissions us onward; and we have an inheritance (v 17; see also 1 Peter 1:4). God is our Father; we don’t just believe in him, we belong to him. Not on account of what we have done, but on account of who he is. We’re adopted.  Share |
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‘Heavenly Father, show me what it means to be your child, adopted into your family.’  Share |
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The way our inner disposition controls the way we live is a regular theme in the Bible (see, eg, Jeremiah 31:33,34; Ezekiel 36:25,26). Paul again offers two contrasting lifestyles (vs 5–8). Note how he connects people’s way of life to their underlying way of thinking. The word translated ‘mind’ (vs 5–7) indicates the direction of a person’s will, or their ‘mind-set’ (Ephesians 5:17). The convictions of our hearts will steer the course of our lives. So, says Paul, having the mind-set of the Spirit will enable the believer who already lives in the Spirit (v 9) to live according to the Spirit (v 4b). If I truly want to please God, I need to nurture a disposition of heart and mind that is both Spirit-led and Spirit-filled. That challenges me to ask, ‘what am I filling my mind with?’ If I am serious about growing in the Christian life, am I seeking to fill my mind with spiritual food? Do I engage with Scripture? Do I really seek God in prayer? This isn’t optional – we have an obligation to live in a Spirit-guided way (v 12; eg Ephesians 4:22–24). Paul wants us to know the assurance of ‘no condemnation’ (v 1) while also heeding the warning of verse 13. We need this balance in our lives. ‘Security without responsibility breeds passivity, but responsibility without security leads to anxiety.’1 If the Spirit is truly present in our lives, we will produce fruit, but the Spirit does not do his work without our response, and we can only do this through the Spirit (Galatians 5:16,17,25). We are the dearly-loved children of the King of the universe! We will never be rejected. If we really understand this, how can we not break out in amazed praise (vs 15,16)? And what a motivation to put to death the misdeeds of the body (v 13)! 1 Moo, Encountering the Book of Romans, p258  Share |
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Start your quiet time with this verse: ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts’ (Psalm 139:23).  Share |
Struggling With Sin 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. 14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Share |
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