Assurance of the Spirit

Okay, very good. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Once again, it's a great blessing to have you worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ with us. I'm going to invite you, brethren, to please open up your Bibles to the Book of Romans, Romans Chapter 8. Today we're going to continue with our study through the Book of Romans.

And as we prepare our hearts to witness the blessing of baptism with Brother Josh, Sister Sarah, I want us to consider from Romans chapter 8 a beautiful truth about the Holy Spirit. So Romans chapter 8. Today we're going to continue with our study through Romans chapter 8. If you remember last week, we could not conclude the topic of the work of the Holy Spirit. So today we're going to aim to do that and we're going to be addressing particularly Romans chapter 8 verse 9 through 16, and we're going to be paying more careful attention to verses 15 through 16.

If you read them with me there, I will set just the topic that we're going to be addressing today. Romans chapter 8 verse 15. The apostle says, For you did not receive the spirit of slavery, to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." What I want us to consider today is this spirit of slavery that leads into fear, Compare against the spirit of adoption.

This is the spirit of christ that leads us to cry Abba father the apostle is going to be contrasting here in verse 15 This is spirit of fear of slavery better that leads us on to fear Against this spirit of adoption the spirit of christ that leads us into confidence or assurance or certainty that we cry Abba Father. And the Apostle says the Spirit of God testifies to or with our spirit that we are the Children of God. On one side we have a spirit, spirit of slavery that produces fear. On the other side we have the spirit of adoption, the spirit of Jesus Christ that leads us to confidence so that we cry Abba Father. Fear against confidence.

And this is going to be the work of the Holy Spirit. So let us come. before the Lord, first of all, and let us pray that He will help us and guide us as we consider this passage. And then we're going to be reading together from verse 9 through verse 16 of Romans chapter 8. Let us pray together, brother.

Father, we come before You in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, and we give You thanks for Your presence among us by Your Holy Spirit. Especially today, Lord, we give You thanks that we get to see and witness with our physical eyes the external manifestation of Your glorious power, your Holy Spirit in saving sinners that were dead in sins and trespasses and now by purely by your grace you give the gift of salvation so we rejoice in the fact Lord that your Holy Spirit continues to work and continues to bring people into life and is purely by your grace and for your glory and as we prepare our hearts to witness the Glorious ordinance of baptism, Lord of our brother and sister, we come to the Scriptures and we pray, Lord, that You will help us, that You will teach us, that You will direct us and point us to Christ Jesus. We are so feeble and weak and without You, Lord, there's nothing in us. So we pray, Lord, that You will teach us through the Word of God. We're coming here to worship You and not to worship ourselves.

We come to this place not to have the center of it, men and the experience of men, but we come to this place so that You will be exalted and in Your glory, Lord, that we will be benefited and that we will be edified and conformed to Your image. So I pray, Lord, that as we read this passage and as we communicate the truth of this passage, that You will protect us from our own interpretations and that You will guide us. in the truth of the Holy Scriptures by Your Holy Spirit, so that Your people will be edified, pointed to Jesus Christ. And if there is anyone among us who is not in Christ Jesus, that by the same power of Your Word and by the same power of Your Holy Spirit, they will be brought to the feet of Jesus Christ. Bless us, Lord, as we consider this text.

and guide us and encourage us in our heart, Lord, by knowing that the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ through the comforting of the saints, the assurance of the saints that takes us from a place of fear and slavery into a place of freedom, adoption, uncertainty and assurance. I pray, O Lord, that you will do that and that you will bless us. It is in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. Very good, Romans chapter 8.

We're going to be reading from verse 9 through verse 16. As I said, this is the same passage from last week, but the focus of our attention today is going to be verse 15 and 16. Let us read together. This is the Word of the Lord, Romans chapter 8, verse 9. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.

Paul is speaking to Christians. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who dwells in you."

Verse 12, So then, 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 all who are led by the Spirit are sons of God. Why?

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with or to our spirit that we are children of God. Amen. This is the reading of God's Word. Now, brethren, if we were going to give a summary to these verses that we have read from verse 9, through verse 16.

And if we were just going to put in a simple sentence, we could say here that the Apostle Paul is speaking about the contrast between living in the flesh and living in the Spirit. The Apostle has these two categories of people, those who are not generally in Christ Jesus, those who live according to the flesh, and the Christian who is in Christ Jesus, who lives according to the Spirit. The Apostle has made it very clear that those who live according to the flesh, they are under the condemnation. But those who are in Christ Jesus, for them, verse 1, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The question that we tried to answer in a couple of weeks ago is, what is to live according to the flesh?

And we said that living according to the flesh is two words. Freedom and the mind. The person who lives according to the flesh does not have freedom but rather has bondage. Bondage to sin. So living according to the flesh is a person who is in bondage to sin.

They cannot do any other thing than sinning before the Lord. And because they sinned before the Lord, verse 5 through 9, The mind of these people is focused on the things of the flesh. And if the mind is set on things of the flesh, the outcome of that is death. This is the side of the flesh that is to be outside of Christ Jesus. On the other side, the apostle presents to us those who are in the spirit, those who are Not in bondage to sin, but rather they have been set free, verse 2, from the bondage of sin and the law.

They are liberated from the dominating power of sin and hence their mind is not set on things of the flesh, but their mind is set on the things of the Spirit. The outcome of the person that is in the Spirit is not death, Like the one that is in the flesh. But the outcome of the mind of the person that is set on the things of the Spirit is going to be life and peace. And why can the Christian live a life in the Spirit? Someone might ask that question.

Why is the Christian able not to live according to the flesh that produces death? But why is the Christian able to live a life in the Spirit? Someone may say, well, just because they have had faith. And because they have had faith, now they can live in the Spirit. Or someone may say, well, because they participate in the things of the Christian religion.

And that empowers them to live a life in the Spirit. The answer that the apostle gives us is that the reason why the Christian can live a life in the Spirit is not because of themselves. But it's because of the Spirit that has been given unto the Christian. Apart from the Holy Spirit coming and being in us, we are unable, in and of ourselves, to live lives that please the Lord. We belong, naturally, to the side of the flesh.

And that which we do, naturally, is what our flesh wants to do. But the intervention of God gives us the mercy of the Holy Spirit that now comes and lives in us and empower us to live according to the ways of the Lord. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. And last week we addressed three actions or three works or three aspects of what the Holy Spirit does in the life of the Christian. We said first that the Holy Spirit dwells in the Second, we said that the Holy Spirit leads the Christian.

And thirdly, we said that the Holy Spirit gives comfort to the Christian. Actually, the main thing that I said last week is that the purpose of the work of the Holy Spirit is not the exaltation of the person, but the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ. Christ. If we are going to understand the office or the work of the Holy Spirit, we ought to understand it in light of the purpose of the work of the Holy Spirit, and that is to glorify Jesus Christ. How does the Holy Spirit glorify Jesus Christ?

First, The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ by taking possession of the sinner that was dead in their sins and trespasses, and coming and dwelling in him or her. This is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus by taking possession of the sinner and coming and cohabitating there, or dwelling in the Christian. This is what the Apostle tells us in verse 9. He says, You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit.

If, in fact, the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. To be a Christian is equal to have the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwelling in him or her for the glory of Jesus Christ. This is how the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus by taking possession of the sinner and coming and indwelling in them, or him or her. Second, as we have there in verse 14, the Holy Spirit does not only glorify Jesus Christ by taking possession of the sinner, but verse 14, the Holy Spirit also glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ by leading The Christian, we are told there in verse 14, For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. The children of God are led by the Holy Spirit.

So the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus by taking possession of the sinner and indwelling him or her But second, the Holy Spirit also glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ by leading the Christian. And the question that we asked ourselves last week is, what is the meaning of being led by the Holy Spirit? In times in which people think that whatever decision they make or whatever action they take that they say that is led by the Holy Spirit. While there is truth in that, in that the Christian is being led by the Holy Spirit, if we want to be more biblical and if we want to submit to what the Scriptures actually said, to be led by the Holy Spirit is the action of the Holy Spirit in us that leads us to holiness and righteousness. That's what the apostle says there in verse 13.

Says, for if you leave according to the flesh, you will die. But if by, or through, or in the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Why? For you, for all who are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God. To be led by the Holy Spirit is not only that I have this guidance into making a particular decision, but more biblically, to be led by the Holy Spirit is the action of the Spirit of God in us that leads us to be holy like Jesus Christ is holy.

And all Christians are led by the Holy Spirit. That is, all Christians are in a process of being sanctified and becoming like the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true that the Holy Spirit gives promptings to certain people to do particular things. It is true, like we see in the book of Acts, for instance, that the apostles were prompted to go into a particular direction and the Holy Spirit will tell them not to go into this place. This is the prompting of the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

But not all Christians are prompted in that particular way, like Paul or the apostles were, but all Christians are led by the Holy Spirit into holiness and righteousness and Christ-likeness. And finally, we said, which we are going to be addressing today, that the Holy Spirit does not only bring glory to Jesus Christ by taking possession of the sinner and dwelling in him, and second, glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ by leading the Christian unto holiness. But thirdly, and very importantly for our lives, the Holy Spirit is going to glorify Jesus Christ by bringing comfort or assurance to the Christian. And that is the two verses that we have this afternoon in verse 15. And for 16, if you pay attention there once again, there the apostle is going to tell us that we have not received the spirit of slavery that produces fear or to make us fall back into fear, but rather we have received the spirit of adoption by whom or through whom we cry, Abba, Father.

Why? For the Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are the children of God. Here we have the third action or the third work of the Holy Spirit. Not only He indwells us, not only He leads us, but thirdly, the Holy Spirit brings comfort or assurance to the Christian. What I want us to do from this text, and I hope briefly so that we can enjoy the baptism that we have outside, two things.

First of all, I want us to consider those two spiritual experiences that Paul is going to implicitly give us in verse 15. Verse 15, he's going to give us two spiritual experiences. The first one is going to be one of the slavery that leads onto fear. The apostle says, you have not received the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. This is the experience of fear of slavery.

contrasted with the other experience that the Christian has received. That is the spirit of adoption by whom we cry of a father implicitly there in verse 15. We have two spiritual experiences, the spiritual experience of slavery that leads onto fear and the spiritual experience of adoption that leads to confidence that is seen in this cry of the heart. Abba, Father, this endearing way of addressing the Father with confidence and certainty. On one side, we have fear, lack of confidence because of slavery.

On the other side, we have assurance and certainty. These are the two implicit spiritual experiences that we have there in verse 15. Now, I feel that I'm speaking too fast. Am I speaking too fast? Okay, so we have these two experiences there in verse 15.

Now these two verses here are more clearly explained by the apostle in the book of Galatians in Chapter three, Chapter four and Chapter five. And it's because on this chapters of Galatians that we can understand what the apostle means here. So first, we're going to try to understand what are that experience of slavery and fear and that experience of adoption into confidence. And after that, I hope that with time, we will be able to see the characteristics of this experience of fear and slavery and this other experience of confidence or adoption that leads us to the Father. These are the two things that we aim to do this afternoon first.

Let us go into understanding those two experiences. First one of slavery that leads them to fear. Second one of adoption that leads them to confidence. As you can see there, those two experiences are clearly stated there in verse 15. And what I want you to pay attention to is that the Apostle does not say that Christians will never experience fear or slavery.

Rather, what he says is that the spirit that we have received is the spirit of adoption by whom we cry, Abba, Father. Pay attention once again there to verse 15. He says, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry of a father. The apostle tells us that the spirit that we have received the Holy Spirit is meant to make us children of God, and this is going to lead us to confidence and assurance by whom we cry of a father. But we know from the book of Galatians that even though we have received the spirit of the son by whom we cry of a father, we still have the flesh and we can fall back into slavery and we can fall back into that fear that is characteristic of our flesh.

Actually, these two experiences are explained to us if we go to the book of Galatians in chapter 5, there we can actually understand them from the scriptures. In Galatians chapter 5, there the apostle, Galatians chapter 5 and 3 and 4 and 2, he's going to explain these two spiritual experiences of fear and slavery and adoption and freedom and confidence. Galatians chapter 5 verse 1. It says here, speaking of this freedom, Galatians chapter 5, verse 1. For freedom Christ has set us free, ascend firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Here we have, in different language, but the apostle is going to explain it in the following verses, these two aspects. One, you have been set free in Christ Jesus, so don't go back to the yoke of slavery. The same two experiences that we have in Romans chapter 8. In one side we have slavery that leads to fear and we have confidence of freedom, sonship, freedom that leads to assurance. We go and read verses 2 through 6 and then we get an insight into what the apostle is referring to.

Verse 2. Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he's obligated to keep the whole law. You're severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace, for through the Spirit by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.

For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor circumcision accounts for anything, but only faith working through love. Here the apostle is addressing a particular situation that was happening in the Galatian church. And that situation is that even though they have believed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith, and they have been set free by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now there were some people in the context of the Galatian church that they were trying to make themselves to make themselves right before God through the keeping of the law and through obedience or self-performance. If we were going to put it in simple words, the spirit of slavery that leads unto fear is the spirit that makes a person to trust in their own performance, works, and deeds, thinking that they are going to be made right before the Lord, while the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the one that makes us know that we are adopted and we are the children of God, is the one that gives us faithful confirmation that we are children of God.

And in this confirmation that we're children of God, we have the freedom to approach God whom we cry Abba, Father. These two spirits are rooted in two different things. The spirit of slavery that leads to fear is rooted in self performance. The people of the Galatian church, they wanted to be made right with the Lord by the keeping of the commandments. The other spirit, the spirit of adoption, leads us to faithful certainty that in Christ Jesus, we have everything that we have, and this freedom grants us access to the Father without fear and without trembling.

On one side, we have self. On the other side, we have Jesus Christ. The Apostle makes it more clear, I think, in chapter 3. If you come with me to Galatians chapter 3, verse 1 through 6, there, once again, the Apostle is going to... Tell us about this error of this spirit of slavery that leads them to fear that the Galatians were falling into.

Galatians chapter 3 verse 1. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected, or completed, or are you going to end it by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Does He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith, just as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness? Here we have the error of the Galatians. They have initiated their path in the freedom of the Holy Spirit.

But now they were being tempted to be made right or to make themselves right before the law by the keeping of the law and their own performance. No longer they were trusting by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the finished and completed work, the spirit that had liberated from the dominated power of sin. But now they were trying to make themselves right before the Lord by the keeping of the law, their obedience and their performance. Here we have the two spirits, the spirit of slavery that leads to fear, that is rooted in self-performance, trying to make yourself right before the Lord by the keeping of the commandment. And on the other side, we have the Spirit of God that frees you, that knows that it's not about your performance, but it's about the completed and finished work of Jesus Christ.

This gives you the freedom to know that you are a son of God, not because of what you've done, but because of the completed and finished work of Jesus Christ. And it leads you into communion and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. These two spirits are the spirits that Paul, if we return to Romans chapter 8, is trying to address. He has mentioned in verse 12, 13 and 14 that Christians are supposed to mortify the deeds of the body. And he knows that in that work of sanctification and mortification of the deeds of the body, the Christian is going to be tempted to derive satisfaction from their own performance.

Because when we try to make holy, or make ourselves holy before the Lord, or to be righteous before the Lord, we're always going to be tempted to do it by the keeping of the external commandment and not by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is exactly what Paul is telling us in verse 13. He's not telling us that we ought to keep or that we are to put to death the deeds of the body. He's telling us that we have to do it by the Spirit. That holiness is by the Holy Spirit, not in the flesh.

He says in verse 13 of Romans chapter 8, 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. Here, the contrast is not unrighteousness and righteousness, but the contrast is unrighteousness and righteousness by the power of the Holy Spirit. If a person pursues to be right, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, that person can find themselves trying to be holy and righteous before the Lord in their own flesh. and end up making the same mistake of the Galatians, that once they had started by the Holy Spirit, purely by the grace that comes from the Lord.

I'm a sinner. I'm broken. There's nothing good in me. You're the one who saved me. Now, once they have received the grace, they try to fix themselves in their own flesh, in their own self righteousness, according to the law and not according to the power of the Holy Spirit.

One is the spirit of slavery that leads to fear. The other one is the spirit of the Holy Spirit that makes you known and certain that you are adopted by God and that you can approach the Father crying, Abba, Father. Now, there's going to be three aspects that we're going to see in Romans chapter 8. Three characteristics that I think are going to help us to go a little bit deeper into this experience of slavery that leads on to fear. If you actually pay attention there to verse 15 and 16, the apostle is going to tell us a few details about these two experiences.

First, the apostle is going to tell us about the condition of this spirit, this spiritual condition. And this is the condition of slavery. It says in verse 15, For you did not receive the spirit of slavery. This spiritual condition is a condition of slavery. Second, the apostle tells us that this condition of slavery produces something.

And that is fear. Pay attention. For you have not received the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. What is the condition of this experience? That is slavery.

And what it produces in the Christian or in the person is fear. And as we're going to see from the scriptures, this condition of slavery and fear will usually lead the Christian into separation or just being away from the presence of the Lord. That is actually what the apostle says there in the Greek, in that expression of falling back into fear. That is returning or being separated from unstayed into going back into fear. That is the condition of slavery that produces fear and it removes you, brings you back into this situation that you were before.

Slavery, Fear and separation. On the other side, contrasting this fear of this slavery, fear and separation in the Spirit of God, we have the contrary, the opposite to it. Instead of slavery, we have the spirit of adoption that Paul explains in Galatians chapter 4, that this is the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. This adoption does not produce fear, but actually produce certainty and assurance that is expressed there by the apostle in this expression when we cry, Father. And here, implicitly, when the person cries, Abba, Father, is this aspect of communion.

That is, the Christian can genuinely and freely come into the presence of the Father by this Holy Spirit. Let us examine these three aspects from the Book of Galatians. this aspect of slavery. If you come with me to slavery in Galatians chapter 2, we are going to see that the main manifestation of this spirit of slavery is always going to be self-righteousness. This spirit of slavery is manifested always in self-righteousness.

We have that in Galatians chapter 2, and this is the situation that was happening in the Galatian church. Romans, or better Galatians chapter 2. We are told that there were certain false brethren in the context of the Galatian Church, and this spirit of slavery produces self-righteousness. Verse 4 of chapter 2, it says, Yet because of false brethren, or false brothers, secretly brought in, in the context of the church, 2-4, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery, to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you." You can read the whole chapter, chapter 2, but the point of the apostle is this, that the Christian had received Freedom by the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus.

The Christian knew that it was no longer about their obedience or performance or unrighteousness. That we are all dead in our sins and our trespasses. And that the only way that a person can be justified before the Lord is purely by the grace of the Lord, by faith in Jesus Christ. But there were certain people that were entering into the church that they were bringing this spirit of slavery. What was that spirit of slavery?

That spirit of slavery was that they were trying to be self righteous in the presence of God. That is that they needed to keep the commandments on obedience in order to be right before the Lord, even to the point. If you remember that even Peter is going to be tempted to going to those ways as we read there in verse 11 chapter two verse 11. But when Cephas, that is the Apostle Peter, came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles.

But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas, For them all, if you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" Peter, do not be a hypocrite when it comes to the truth of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are you trying to make yourself right in the eyes of men?

by the keeping of commandments that you know that will never save you. Why are you going against the truth of the gospel that is purely by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter? Why are you being self-righteous and hypocrite? Why are you acting according to a spirit of slavery that leads them to Fear, fear of men, fear of punishment, fear of not being accepted. Why are you being led by the flesh?

Is what Paul says to Peter. When you have the Spirit of Christ that tells us, as he says there in verse 15, that we ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law, no one will be justified. When we are tempted to be right before the Lord, with our own works and our own performance, we are following the same pattern of behavior of the spirit of slavery and fear that we're in the Galatians, that they thought that by the keeping of the commandments they could make themselves right before the Lord. Are we to obey the commandments and we are to be obedient?

Of course we are. But the spirit and the heart of it must be the glory of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. We are to be holy by the Spirit and we are not to be holy just by the commandment of the external obedience. We are not to make ourselves right. The Spirit of God is that graciously make us right before the Lord.

That is the heart of the gospel. That apart from Him, we are dead. That apart from Him, we have nothing. That is purely by the grace of the Lord that rescued us and saved us from the self-righteousness of our hypocritical ways. That we want to make ourselves right before the Lord by the keeping of the commandment and the externality of the letter.

rather than submission by faith to the finished and completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ that liberates us to be before the presence of the Lord with boldness and certainty. And it is this self-righteousness that is going to lead the person to the fear of condemnation. The author of Hebrews speaks about that, if you come with me quickly to Hebrews chapter 2. In Hebrews chapter 2, there the apostle gives us this insight, or the author of Hebrews gives us this insight into what this fear produces in the life of the person. So Hebrews chapter 2, in Hebrews chapter 2, when the apostle is speaking about the finished and completed work of Christ, he says there in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 14, since therefore the children share in the flesh and blood, 2.

14, since therefore the children share in the flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he may destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil." Pay attention to what it says that Jesus Christ did in verse 15, "...and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Pay attention to 15. What did Jesus Christ do when he died upon the cross?

He delivered all those who through fear of death, and here death is the punishment that comes from the breaking of the commandments that we're required to obey. This is the accusation of Satan that is the accuser, the one who brings guilt to the person. He says, verse 15, and deliver all those who through fear of death or punishment or accusation were subject to lifelong of slavery. Apart from the grace of Jesus Christ, brethren, we live a life of bondage to our incapacity to fulfill the requirements of God. And when apart from Christ, we realize that we are unable to fulfill the requirements of God, the only outcome of it is slavery.

and fear of punishment. When we realize that the commandment says you shall not lie and we have lied without Jesus Christ and without the gospel and without his spirit, the only thing that comes upon us is fear of punishment because we have broken the commandment. Without the grace of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the commandment punishes us and points us to the guilt that we have that leads us on to death. The Apostle John speaks beautifully about this. In 1st John, if you come with me there, the Apostle compares their fear with love.

If you come with me to 1st John chapter 4, beautifully he speaks about the power of love, the caste of fear and how fear is related to punishment. He says there in 1st John chapter 4, 1st John chapter 4 verse 16. 1 John 4, verse 16. So we have come to know, verse 16 in chapter 4. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. Pay attention to 17. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is, also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." Just read once again verse 18.

Fear has to do with punishment. This is the spirit of slavery that leads on to fear right away from God. Why? Because of fear of punishment. Contrasted with the spirit of adoption of love in Jesus Christ that gives us certainty by whom we cry, Abba Father, and we enter with boldness into the presence of God.

Yes, we are sinners, but by the spirit of adoption of Jesus Christ, we have the certainty that we can enter with boldness to the presence of God because of Jesus. The spirit of slavery and fear produces this aspect of punishment that separates us from God. Once again, verse 18. there is no fear in love but perfect love cast out fear for fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not yet been perfected in love and the question is what is the love that perfects it is made perfect in the heart the cast of fear the apostle has made it clear in verse 9 in this is the love of god verse 9 of the same chapter chapter 4 in this is the love of god Or in this, the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, that we may live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. On one side, you have the spirit of slavery that leads unto fear, fear of punishment. You are under the law, under sin, and everything is pointing to your guilt, and that produces separation and shame from the Lord. On the other side, you have the Spirit of God, the Spirit of adoption in Christ Jesus, that by faith tells you, even though I'm a sinner, even though I have broken God's commandments, It's no longer about the things that I've done, but it's about what Jesus Christ has done for me. And by faith, I know that He paid for my sins upon the cross.

And because He's the Son, and I have His Spirit, I am a child of God. No longer because of my performance, but because of the finished and completed work of Jesus Christ. And that certainty, that assurance of the Spirit of God in you is what leads the person to cry, Abba, Father. Actually, when the Apostle 1st John Chapter 2 speaks about the encounter of the person that is not abiding in Christ, he speaks about this shame or this separation from the person that is not abiding in Christ. If you come to 1st John Chapter 2, In verse 28, there's also this idea of fear of punishment.

It says in verse 28 of chapter 2 of 1 John, and now little children abide in Him. In 1 John chapter 4 is abiding in His love. They finish a completed work of God in Jesus Christ. And now little children abide in Him so that when He appears, that is the second coming of the Savior, we may have confidence. and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

Abide in him so that when he comes you may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. Of course the apostle is not saying here that Christians, depending on their performance, they will be accepted or not. What he's speaking is about the experience of the Christian, that if the Christian is not abiding in Christ and in his love and bearing fruits of righteousness in Christ Jesus, then the shame that this produces of not being abounded in the presence of Christ, what is going to produce is a fear of punishment upon the encounter with God. Why? Because the spirit of slavery produces fear and leads them to separation.

But that is not the spirit that we have received. We have received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry, I have a father. This is what the Apostle says. If we return to the text, let me point you to a couple of things there about this spirit of adoption. Someone might say, what is the meaning then of having this spirit of adoption?

How does it feel? Is it something that I hear in my head that tells me you are a child of God? Or is this an emotion that I no longer feel fear? What is it that is the spirit of adoption by whom we cry, I have a father? There's many things that could be said, but I'm going to point you only to what the Scripture says.

Because the experience of this is going to be different from person to person. But there's a couple of things that we do know from the Scriptures of what it is to have this spirit of adoption by whom we cry, Abba Father. If you pay careful attention there in verse 15, the apostle does not say that we are the one who that we are the ones who cry, Abba, Father. Rather, the apostle tells us that it's by this spirit, or through this spirit, that we cry, Abba, Father. He says there in verse 15, For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom...

this is the spirit of adoption, we cry, Abba, Father. Now, it is not very clear here in Romans 8-15, but what the apostle is actually saying is that it's not us, the ones who cry, Abba, Father, but rather it's the spirit that has been given unto us, that the one that is actually crying, Abba, Father, in us, or by whom we are crying, Abba, Father, the Holy Spirit of the Son. Paul makes it more clear in Galatians chapter 4. Come to Galatians chapter 4. The language of Paul is incredible because it is almost saying that is the Spirit that is in us, the one that cries Abba Father.

It says in Galatians chapter 4, Galatians chapter 4 in verse 4. Let us just read from verse 1. Galatians chapter 4 verse 1. I mean Paul has given the analogy that we were under the law and we were like children who were under the schoolmaster. And once we arrived to a certain age, we're liberated from the schoolmaster.

The schoolmaster is the law. We were slaves under the schoolmaster, but now we are free when the time of the fullness of time comes. He says in verse one of chapter four, I mean that the heir, as long as he's a child, he's not different from a slave. Though he is the owner of everything, but he's under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way, we also, when we were children, we were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

Remember the spirits that he's comparing there in Roman chapter 8, the spirit of slavery that leads them to fear, the sense of punishment, that I have done the thing that I was not supposed to do, He's telling us that before Jesus Christ, we were enslaved to these principles of the world. Verse 4, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent for His Son. And Paul says, in purpose, His Son. His Son, born of a woman, born under the law. With which purpose?

Verse five, to redeem those who were under the law. Those who were slaves under the law. He says, verse five, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God, pay attention to this, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Literally what He says is, He has put the Spirit of His Son into your heart, and the Spirit of His Son that is into your heart, Christ, Abba, Father.

This is very powerful because it tells us that the only reason why we are the children of God is not because of the things that we have done, but because of what we have received. We're not children of God because of your faith. You're not children of God because of your performance of your worship deeds. Yes, faith is the means by which we become sons. But the sonship of a person, the legal status of a sonship of a person, or being a child of God, is because what God has freely given and put into your heart, and that is the Spirit of His Son.

Just as a father and a mother who cannot conceive and have children, they go to a place to adopt a child, and they're the ones that come and choose that child. And then they sign a document so that this is the legal seal that makes these people the parents of this child. And this child cannot do anything about becoming the child of these parents. So God has done everything that is needed and has given us the status of being the children of God, not only legally by saying, you're forgiven, you're my son, but also by giving His Holy Spirit into the heart. And this Holy Spirit is the one that is going to do the work in the children of God.

Because this is the Spirit that leads us to cry, Abba, Father. Oh, brother, I cannot see the love of the Father. I cannot see the cross. I can only see my sins. I can only see the things that I have done.

If the Spirit of Christ is in you, purely by grace through faith, the same Spirit is the one that will lead you to the realization and the understanding that the person is forgiven, purely in the person of Jesus Christ. This is what Paul says, and with this I will finish in Romans chapter 8, in the beautiful verse there that we have in Romans chapter 8, verse 26. This is the continuation of the thoughts of the spirit of adoption. This is the continuation of this glorious truth in Romans chapter 8 verse 26. It says 8 26.

Likewise, Romans chapter 8 verse 26. Likewise, the spirit helps us in our weakness. So we do not know what to pray. for what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints, according to the will of God.

Pay attention to this 27 once again. And he who searches their hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. This is the glory of what it is to be a Christian and salvation by grace through faith alone. And that salvation is of the Lord. When a person has been forgiven of their sins, this person is not only changing their mindset about who God is, and this person is not only just changing their opinion about God, but this person now becomes the vessel that receives the presence of the Holy Spirit.

And upon receiving the Holy Spirit, this person now becomes the child of God. And that same Holy Spirit is the one that will lead that person into the submissive will of the Lord, to understand and to comprehend the will of the Lord. This was exactly the same experience of the Lord Jesus Christ as He was facing fear and the temptations as He was going to go to death in Gethsemane. If you come with me to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter 14 is exactly the experience of the Lord Jesus Christ in the likeness of our flesh was tempted without seeing and was made perfect through obedience.

Hebrew chapter three and Hebrew chapter five. He was without seen, but in the likeness of our flesh, he fulfilled everything that the father required of him and set the example of how we ought to be children of God. Mark chapter 14. Let us read together. Verse 32 Mark chapter 13.

It says they're here. Mark Chapter 14 verse 32. And I finished with this. And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray.

And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful even to death. Remain here and watch. And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.

Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but your will. That is what Paul says in Romans chapter 8. His groanings within us is the one that leads us into the will of God. Verse 37, And he came and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, Simon, are you asleep?

Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Pay attention to this. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. The Spirit is willing to have the certainty of the adoption that we have in the Father.

And that is His will, not my will. But the flesh is weak. My flesh leads me into slavery, and into fear, into punishment. My flesh, what I have in me, is weak. The Lord says there, verse 39, And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.

And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. And he came a third time and said to them, Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough. The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand. " The example of the Savior. The Savior, who knew all things, and in His power and in His might, knew that He could conquer and destroy whatever enemy or opposer will come His way. The example of the Savior was that in time of trial, in time of difficulty, and in time of temptation, He came on his knee and he prayed to the Father, to the Abba Father, acknowledging that it is the work of the Savior, the work of God himself that was going to be fulfilled.

Not my will, the Lord said, but your will be done. And that is the same spirit, the Spirit of the Son, that suffers in Gethsemane. and that was victorious upon the cross, the same Spirit has been bestowed upon the children of God. That in the time of temptation, the time of difficulty, the time of fear, we may know that we have not received the spirit of slavery that leads into fear, but we have received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry, Abba, Father. It is the Spirit Himself in us that helps us, enable us to come to the feet of the Father and to have certainty that we are adopted as children of God, not because of our performance or works or deeds, but because Jesus Christ is the one that is righteous.

So certainty and assurance that we're the children of God is no longer based on the things that I've done. I'm not having faith in the prayer that I prayed five or 10 or 15 years ago. But my certainty and assurance of salvation is that the Spirit bears witness with my spirit that even though I'm a sinner and I deserve hell, He has made me His son by the grace of Jesus Christ. So my certainty is no longer in my performance. Yes, I'm a son of God because of the things that I do.

But now my certainty and assurance is derived from the testimony of the Holy Spirit that bears witness with or to my spirit that even though I'm a sinner, I'm broken, I have broken God's commandments, I am the child of God because of the finished and completed work of Jesus Christ." No longer there is place for self-righteousness that leads unto fear and performance. In the Gospel, the only place that there is, is for mercy and grace that is found in Jesus Christ. So that the person finds certainty and assurance of their position as children of God. No longer in themselves, but in the person of Jesus Christ.

When that happens, brethren, That is no longer human religion. That is no longer the choice of the flesh. But when that happens, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that leads a person not only into assurance and certainty of who they are in Jesus Christ, but once a person knows that they are the children of God, that drives a person into holiness, into righteousness and Christ-likeness. Where are we going to find the strength that is needed to die to the sins that are in my mind? Where am I going to find the strength and the power that is needed to overcome the temptation that so strongly is at the door knocking on my door?

How am I going to or where am I going to find the power that is needed to overcome these thoughts and these desires that are within me, not within myself? The strength is found in the finished, completed work of Jesus Christ. And when my eyes are detached from myself and placed in Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit will work in me the certainty and assurance to know that my belonging to God is not dependent upon me, but dependent upon Himself. And in that there is much power. My heart and my soul will be led to cry, Abba Father, not because of how good I have been during that week, but because when I say that, I see the Savior dying upon the cross and His Spirit being bestowed and given unto me.

And the Abba Father is no longer mine, but the Abba Father is the Spirit that in agreement with myself now cry unto the Father with certainty and assurance that I can enter into this throne of grace in time of need, because I have a high priest who can sympathize with my weaknesses, who was tempted but without sin, who was in trouble but never, never fall into unrighteousness. I can be one with Him into the presence of the Father, and I can be assured that just as the Son is Son, I can be Son of the Father in Jesus Christ. And as long as Jesus Christ remains the Son of the Father, I will remain the Son of the Father because of the Son. And that is a crazy thought, brother and sister, that as long as Christ remains the Son of the Father, if I happen to be by grace through faith in Him, I will remain to be the Son of the Father. That's why Paul says, we'll say it later on in Romans chapter 8, for there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus.

Because the love the Father has for his children is not found in you. It's not found in me. It's not found in the things that we do. It is found in the person of Jesus Christ. That certainty and that assurance is what gives perspective to our lives.

That certainty, that assurance to be a child of God is what gives perspective to our trouble. That certainty, that assurance is what gives perspective to our temptation. That certainty and that assurance is what motivates us and grant us the power to do what God has called us to do. And that certainty and that assurance is what leads us to want to bring glory to Him and not to ourselves. My God gives us the grace that is needed for us to be whole.

The great blessing that has been given to us in the spirit of the son by whom we cry out of a father and might he protect us from being like the Galatians that trusting in their flesh and in their own performance, they fell back into that spirit of slavery that leads them to fear and to self righteousness and to wanting to be right before the Lord in our own flesh and in our performance. That is against the gospel that grace and mercy belong to Christ and in that the Christian is to find delight. Amen? Amen. Let us pray.

Father, I pray, Lord, that you will grant us, according to the truth of the scriptures and by the power of your Holy Spirit, I pray, O Lord, that you will grant to these brothers and sisters an insight and revelation, illumination into the glorious truth of what it is to be a child of God. If there's anyone among us, Lord, who is doubting the condition before you, O Lord, If there's anyone that has fallen back into this spirit of slavery that leads them to fear, punishment, separation. If there's anyone among us, Lord, that is trusting in their own works and their own righteousness, I pray, oh Lord, that you will grant us by your Holy Spirit to see. the finished and completed work of Jesus Christ, that we will not see what you have done as just simply an appendix to our lives, but rather that we will see our full identity and who we are defined by what you've done upon the cross for us and us being your children. I pray, O Lord, that you will strengthen the faith and the heart of each one of my brothers and sisters.

When we are tempted to despair, when we are tempted to fear, when we are tempted to be ashamed, when we are tempted to separate ourselves and to go away from Your presence, Lord, I pray that You will protect us in that place. And rather, Lord, that You will draw us closer by Your Holy Spirit, that by faith we will know that we have the Spirit of the Son, Jesus Christ. Just as our Savior cried out, Abba, Father, there in Gethsemane, as he was facing temptation and pain and difficulty, that we will also be empowered, like our Savior, to say, not my will, but your will be done. So help us, O Lord. Please, I pray that you will strengthen these brothers and these sisters for us to delight in the fact that when we were dead in our sins and our trespasses, and when we were under the condemnation of the law, you made us alive together with Christ Jesus.

And not only you forgave us, but you made us your children. So as we are going to now witness, Lord, the glorious truth of baptism, and as our brother and our sister are going to the watery grave to proclaim the glorious truth of being united to Jesus Christ, that we will also remember the day of our salvation, that we will remember the day in which we were rescued purely by your grace, that we were enslaved to that spirit of slavery and fear and punishment, that spirit of the flesh. And now we have been brought into Your presence, Lord, by the Spirit of the Son, Jesus Christ, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. And if we can have certainty that we are your children, it's purely about what ye have done. So as we witness and as we see the testimony and we hear the work that ye have done in Sarah and Josie, Lord, I pray that you will use this time to strengthen this brother and this sister in their testimony before you and the testimony that you give of the forgiveness that they have in Christ Jesus.

And as we behold and hear of your work, I pray, Lord, that the church will be strengthened and encouraged. And if there is anyone among us who is not in Christ Jesus, as we see the forgiveness that is granted to sinners, that they will be pierced by the truths of the gospel and come to the feet of Jesus. We praise you, Lord, and we give you thanks for allowing us to partake and to be witness of the work that you've done in the life of this brother and this sister. We pray Lord now from even this moment that you will keep them, that you will protect them, that you would guide them, that they will rejoice in the fact that they are united to you, not because of the works that they have done or the obedience that they have, not because of the decisions that they have made, but because of the grace that comes from above and that saved them and gave them your Holy Spirit. by whom now they can cry, Abba, Father.

We praise you, Lord, and we ask that your presence will be among us. It is in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.