09 Jul Adopted Heirs

Romans 8:12-18

¹² So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 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. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 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 we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷and 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. ¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Today I want to talk about the primary role of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers. What does it mean to be led by the Spirit? The topic of the Holy Spirit is one that creates many controversies in Christian circles for the past hundred years. On one side of the camp, we have the hyper charismatic. By the way, in case some of you are wondering, I am a charismatic. I believe in the gifts of the Spirit and how it still functions today. I know I do not sound like a typical charismatic preacher but I am. I believe in the gifts of healing, speaking in tongue and all other manifestations of the Spirit. But I also have a very high view of the Bible in that the Bible tells us how we should operate in these gifts. The Bible is not silent on the matter and there are many charismatic practices that are not in line with the Bible. Anyway, that’s another sermon for another time.

So on one side of the camp, we have the hyper charismatic. These are the people that treat the Holy Spirit like GPS. So they insert the destination that they want to go and expect the Holy Spirit to give them guidance for every single steps. They are very spiritual. They asked the question, “Holy Spirit, what should I preach on Sunday? Please speak to me.” So they waited till Saturday night for the Spirit to tell them what to preach. Then Saturday midnight suddenly the heavens opened and the Spirit spoke to them and tell them what to preach. Then the next day when they preach they say, “The Lord speak to me last night that in order for us to preach the Gospel more effectively, the church need to buy me a private jet. If Jesus was alive today, he would not ride donkey. He would use private jet.” Here is my problem with that. First, the Lord is always speaking. That is why we have the Bible. We believe the Bible is the word of God. When we read the Bible, we are actually listening to God speaking to us. We do not need to wait till Saturday midnight for the Lord to speak to us. Just open your Bible and read it! Second, if you just find out what you will preach on Saturday midnight, how do you manage to find time to study it? “I don’t need to study. The Spirit is speaking to me.” Okay but then why are the verses being used are out of context? Holy Spirit will never ever contradict the Bible. How does Jesus humbled himself and entered Jerusalem with a young donkey equals to the need to buy a private jet? If you are preaching the Bible out of context then I doubt you heard the Holy Spirit. So this is what the hyper charismatic do with the Holy Spirit. They asked, “Holy Spirit, should I date Bob or Billy?” And they expect a dream or an audible voice that give them the answer. “You shall not date Bob or Billy but you should date…” This is one side of the camp.

The other side of the camp goes to the other extreme. They almost never make reference to the Holy Spirit unless they have too. They have seen the damages and the chaos created by the hyper charismatic and they decided to stay as far away from it. It’s been said that their trinity is not God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit but God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Bible. They don’t know what to do with the Holy Spirit. They have a very high view of the Bible, which is good, but they neglected the Holy Spirit, which is unhealthy.

So today I want to talk about the primary role of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers. What does it mean to be led by the Spirit? Let me start with a statement. The primary role of the Holy Spirit is to make the love of God the Father comes alive in you by making the work of Jesus real to you. Notice I write ‘primary.’ I am not talking about secondary role of the gifts of the Spirit etc. I am talking about the primary role of the Holy Spirit that is true for every believers. Christians can disagree on whether the gifts of the Spirit still continue today but no Christian can neglect the Holy Spirit and his role in our lives. I believe that if you get this right, it will enrich your relationship with God.

Let me give you the context of Romans 8. Romans 8 is probably the greatest chapter in the whole Bible. It is written by Apostle Paul. Romans 8 has two dominant themes: Led by the Spirit and the assurances that Christians have. Although they are two, we will see that in fact they are actually one. You can have assurance as Christians because Christians are those who are led by the Spirit. Let me summarize to you what happen in the earlier chapter of the book of Romans. In the first 3 chapters of Romans, Paul argues that everyone is sinner without exception. Gentiles are sinners and the Jews are sinners as well. The Jews think they are special because they are chosen by God and they have the law of God. But then Paul smack them in the face and remind them that none of them can live up to the standard of the law. All of them are doomed. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). The wrath of God is coming for all of us. But then comes Jesus who lived the perfect live we could not and he offered himself as a sin offering. Jesus took the wrath of God on sin upon himself and died at the cross and resurrected on the third day. Now for those who put their trust in Jesus, they are being justified, made right with God, by faith. We don’t have to earn our acceptance in front of God. It is given by God the moment we trust in Jesus.

Then in chapter 4 and 5 Paul explains that now Christians have peace with God. Jesus not only paid the price that we owed God, but through Jesus we also have peace with God. God is no longer angry toward us. He loves us. Then in chapter 6 Paul explains that Christians are now dead to sin and alive to God. When Jesus died, we died with him. And when Jesus was resurrected, we are resurrected with him. We are no longer slaves to sin but we are now slaves to righteousness. Sin is no longer our master but God is our master and therefore we live for God. But then in Romans 7, Paul explains to us the dilemma that we face all the time in Christian lives. Paul writes, “I want to do what is good but somehow I did not do the good that I want to do. I don’t want to do what is bad but somehow, I did the bad that I do not want to do. I know I died to sin and I no longer serve sin but why do I find desire to sin within me. I want to do what is right but I cannot do it. In my inner being, I delight in the law of God but there is another desire at war within me that makes me unable to do what I want to do. Oh no. What is wrong with me? I don’t understand myself. Wretched man I am. Who can help me? HELP!” And kaboom, Romans 8:1-2 – There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. The greatest news in the universe. How many of you are thankful for Jesus?

So this is the context of Romans 8. Paul explains to us the role of the Holy Spirit in setting us free from the law of sin and death and reassures us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Ellis). Now hear me clearly on this one. Romans chapter 8 is true for every Christians. There is no such thing as Christians without the Holy Spirit. Some try to argue that Romans chapter 8 is only true of Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit. So before Romans chapter 8 can become a reality for you, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But that is not what Paul is saying. In Paul’s mind, there are only two ways to live. To live according to the flesh or to live according to the Spirit. To set the mind of the things of the flesh is death, but to set the mind of the things of the Spirit is life and peace. There are only two options. (Timmy). Whether you are dead or you are alive. There is no third option – Christians who are not filled with the Spirit. This category does not exist in Paul’s mind. Romans 8:9 – 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. Did you catch that? If you do not have the Spirit of Christ, a synonym for Holy Spirit in Romans 8, you do not belong to Christ. Translation: You are not Christians. (Hartadi). So, the truth of Romans 8 is true for every Christians.

I want to look at three things that the Holy Spirit does in every believers. The Spirit leads you; The Spirit gives you a new relationship; The Spirit makes you heirs of God.

The Spirit leads you

Romans 8:12-14 – So then, brothers, 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 of God are sons of God. 

The first thing that Paul reminds us is that we owe nothing to the flesh. The word flesh here does not describe human flesh but it is a word that is used to describe desire that is contrary to the will of God. We owe nothing to the flesh. The flesh does not do any good to us. All it does is it enslaves us and killed us. We are debtors not to the flesh but to the Spirit. It means that we owe everything to the Spirit. It is the Spirit that set us free and gives us life. It is the Spirit that we should listen to. It is like a girl who had a really bad ex-boyfriend. Her ex-boyfriend used to torture her, talk down to her, beat her, and treated her like a slave. But then comes another man who rescues her from her ex-boyfriend. This man quickly becomes her new boyfriend and he loves her. He speaks life into her, treats her kindly, buy gifts for her and cherishes her. So, Paul is saying, “Why would you listen to your ex-boyfriend who tortured you? You already have a new boyfriend who loves you. You don’t owe anything to your ex-boyfriend but you owe all the joy and life you have right now to your new boyfriend.”

This is what the Spirit does in you. The Spirit transforms our desire. We no longer seek to please the flesh but the Spirit. It means that we are at war with the flesh. We put the deeds of our body to death by the Spirit. We do not treat sin like a pet. For many of us, we often think of sin like a domestic pet that that we can control. “It’s not a big deal. It is just a small sin. I can handle it. I can take care of anytime I want to. No one need to know about it. I have it under control.” But that is not the picture of sin in the Bible. The Bible again and again picture sin like a predator ready to devour you at any time. You don’t try to tame predators. You point your gun at it and shoot it. You put to death all desires that is contrary to the Spirit. This is a serious business. And this is what it meant to be led by the Spirit of God. The Spirit leads you to kill sin in your lives. Don’t change this verse to mean that “The Spirit leads me to meet the right women or career in life.” That is using the verse out of context. Yes the Spirit does offers us guidance in everyday decision in life but in Romans 8 this is not what Paul have in mind. The primary meaning of being led by the Spirit is to kill sin in your lives.  With another word, to be led by the Spirit is to grow in Christ-likeness. To desire what Christ desire. To want what Christ wants. It means the way you live today and the way you lived before you come to know Christ is different. You are living differently. Are you living differently?

To be led by the Spirit means that we actively pursue to put to death sins in our lives. It is an active continuous effort. But pay attention to Romans 8:14 – For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. The word ‘for’ gives reason to why we put sin to death. The first reason Paul gives us is we put sin to death because we are led by the Spirit. This is a passive word. We do not command the Spirit but the Spirit is the one who lead us to put sin to death. It tells us something about how we put sin to death. We do not put sin to death by our willpower. You can try. But it is not going to work. It is impossible to kill sin by willpower alone. That’s the dilemma Paul presented to us in Romans chapter 7. The only way we can kill sin is by the Spirit. The Spirit is the one who does the work and we put sin to death in response to what the Spirit has done. And when we are led by the Spirit of God to kill sin in our lives, then we know that we are sons of God. Don’t get the order wrong. Paul did not say that if the Spirit leads you then you become sons of God. Paul says that you know you are sons of God if the Spirit leads you. So being led by the Spirit to put sins to death in your lives is the evidence that you are sons of God. This changes the game. This truth changes how we kill sin in our lives by the Spirit. I’ll talk more about it later.

The Spirit gives you a new relationship

Romans 8:15-16 – 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.

The second thing that the Holy Spirit does is he gives you a new relationship with God. Paul already hint at it in verse 14 by referring to Christians as “sons of God.” But now Paul explains to us what does it mean to be sons of God. First, Paul says that we received the Spirit of adoptions as sons. It means that God of the Universe is not just our judge, but he is also our Father. Everyone who put their trust in Jesus received the Spirit of adoption as sons. With another word, we have a new relationship with God from which we operate. There is a shift from seeing God primarily as Master to God as Father. Why is this important? Because it shows that we have a unique relationship with God. We often used the phrase “God loves you” to everyone we know. Although it is true that God loves everyone to some degree, but it is also true that God has a special love for his children. Ps. Semuel loves everyone in this church. But the way Ps. Semuel loves me and my sister, especially his granddaughter, is different from the way he loves you. He would gladly gave his life for his family but I am not so sure he would do the same with you. And what Paul is describing here is that the Holy Spirit gives us a new relationship with God. There is a specific special kind of love that God has for us. Christians received the Spirit of adoptions as sons.

Now we need to understand something about adoptions in the first century. Because we often think of adopted children as someone with inferior status in comparison to natural children. Listen to this quote. “In the Roman world of the first century AD an adopted son was a son deliberately chosen by his adoptive father to perpetuate his name and inherit his estate; he was no whit inferior in status to a son born in the ordinary course of nature, and might well enjoy the father’s affection more fully and reproduce the father’s character more worthily.” – F.F. Bruce. Did you get that? An adopted child is not someone less than natural child. The father deliberately chose his son to inherit his name and wealth. God is not stuck with you. God deliberately chose you and adopt you as his children. And to further emphasize this point, Paul writes that God adopted you as sons. Paul does not say children. Because in those days, sons received special privileges that daughter did not. You are adopted as sons of God.

And it gets better. We do not only received Spirit of adoptions as sons, but second, we received a Spirit by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit enables us to cry “Abba! Father!” Paul uses the word “Abba” here for a very specific purpose. Just think about it. The epistle of Romans is written by Paul in Greek, to a Greek speaking church in Rome. The word “Abba” is an Aramaic word for Father. Why would Paul suddenly use an Aramaic word in a letter written in Greek? This is not a coincidence. Paul deliberately used the word “Abba” to make a strong point. Some scholars try to argue that the word “Abba” means “Daddy” in our context today. So Paul is trying to show the childlike relationship that we have with God the Father. This is a very popular interpretation in the last 20 years. However, the latest scholarship shows that we might have push it too far. The word “Abba” is also used by some adult children to speak to their father. So why did Paul introduce the word “Abba” in this passage? Let me tell you why. In Jewish context, they hold God in such a high reverence until they are even afraid to pronounce his name. They are very careful about using God’s name. However, there was one person who showed up and boldly refer to God as “Abba.” Jesus entered the scene and he taught his disciples to refer to God as “our Father.” So here is the point. The Holy Spirit not only gives us a new relationship with God, but the new relationship that we have with God is as intimate and as precious as the relationship that Jesus has with the Father. The kind of joy and delight that Jesus has in his relationship with the Father is also ours. God delight in us as much as he delights in Jesus. This is incredible. The same intimate relationship that Jesus has with God the Father is also ours through the Holy Spirit. We are the sons of God!

That is why Paul writes that we did not received the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. We have no reason to be afraid of God. Our relationship with God is not based on master-servant status which is based on performance. If God is primarily our Master and we are his slave, then we have every reason to be afraid of him. We will relate with him based on performance mentality. We feel confident to approach him if we do well and we are afraid if we do not perform well. But Paul tells us that our relationship with God is one primarily based on father-son familial status. There is an assurance in the relationship. God is not primarily our Master but he is our Abba. I am not saying God is not our Master but I am saying that the fundamental relationship we have with God is him as our Father.

Let me give you an example. Right now I am working fulltime at ROCK Sydney church. And I have a boss. His name is Semuel Jusuf. I am also part of ROCK Sydney church. And I have a pastor. His name is also Semuel Jusuf. So Ps. Semuel is both my pastor and my boss. At work, I am under the leadership of Ps. Semuel and at church I am under the authority of Ps. Semuel. Correct? But how many of you know that that is not the fundamental relationship I have with Ps. Semuel? When I talk to him in person, I don’t refer to him as Ps. Semuel. I don’t go, “Good morning Ps. Semuel. How are you today?” No. If I do that, he’ll go, “Are you high or something? Did you inhale too much green whistle?” Because you know that even though it is true that he is both my boss and my pastor but the fundamental relationship that I have with him is that he is my father. I do not need to do good job at work and preach well at church in order for him to love me. He loves me even though I might not do good job at work and preach a really bad sermon. Why? Because I am his son! This is what the Gospel gives us through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes the love of God comes alive by making the work of Jesus real to us. Can you imagine that? Having the God of the universe as your Abba?

As wonderful as this truth is, Paul pushes it one step further. We do not only receive the Spirit of adoptions as sons, but third, the Spirit bears witness with our spirit. Romans 8:16 – The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. This is not repetition of verse 15. This is something different altogether. The word ‘bear witness with’ comes from a Greek word symmartreo. This is a legal word which mean to testify. So the idea is that you are already a child of God. You already received the Spirit of adoption. But then there are times that the Spirit comes to you and testify together with your spirit that you are children of God. Let me put it in a picture to you. Imagine a courtroom scenario where you are on trial. Your lawyer are trying his best to defend you but the judge and jury are not sure what the verdict is. They are not sure if you are innocent or guilty. But suddenly, your lawyer says, “Your honour, we have a new witness and he will testify regarding the situation.” So, this witness comes and testifies for you and gives new evidences that proves that you are innocent. This is what is happening in verse 16. The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

This is a very sweet experience. I’m going to be careful with this one but this is not your everyday intellectual understanding that you are sons of God. This is something different altogether. This is a special testimony of the Holy Spirit that gives assurance to our soul that we are sons of God. It is out of your control. You might be listening to a sermon or you might be reading your Bible when suddenly something jumps out in your spirit that speaks to you, “You are my child.” If you are a Christian, you have felt it before. It happens few times in my life but the one that I will never forget is the time when I was diagnosed with leukaemia. The first few days was very bleak. My dad was crying, my mom was crying, my sister was crying, my friends was crying and I was crying as well watching them crying. It was a very dark moment. I prayed and asked the question, “Why me Lord?” But something happened on the third day. To this day, I can’t really put it into words. As I prayed and questioned God, there was this sudden impression that God loves me. That the fact that I was still breathing was because he loves me and that even in the midst of cancer, God was loving me. I don’t know how to describe it at that time but today I understand that the Spirit himself was bearing witness with my spirit that I am a son of God. And just like that, all my fear, question and doubt are gone. I know I am a child of God and that I will be okay no matter what. Even death cannot separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Some of you was there and still remember it. I was scheduled to preach at youth that coming Sunday. I was not going to let this opportunity went by. I have to tell the church that My God is a good Father and that I am his son and that his purposes for me is always good. So I asked one of the cameramen to come to the hospital and record my sermon from hospital bed. And to make it more dramatic, I wore hospital gown with all the pipes in my hand and chest. I know that I know that I know that God is my Father and I am his son. It is a supernatural experience. One that is beyond logical understanding. The supernatural witness of the Holy Spirit. Have you experience that? If you have not, I pray that the Holy Spirit will allow you to taste the sweetness of this experience. Only the Holy Spirit can do this for you. And we cannot control him. John chapter 3 describes the Holy Spirit is like a wind that blow wherever he wishes. We can only pray and ask.

The Spirit makes you heirs of God

Romans 8:17 – 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.

So here is what’s true about you and me as children of God. We are not only children but we are also heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. It means that we will receive inheritances. What inheritances? I’m glad you asked. There are mainly three inheritances that the book of Romans speaks about. First, we will inherit the world. The world and everything in it belongs to God and one day all of it will be given to us. Do you know what it means? It means that one day you and I will rule the world together with Christ. The world and everything in it is created for our eternal joy and the day will come where we will experience all the goodness of the world without sin.

The second thing that we will inherit is a new glorified body. The longer I lived, the more I look forward to a new glorified body. When I was your age, I thought I was invincible. But now that I am older, I can’t wait for the day that I can sleep and not have to worry about injuring myself while I was sleeping. “Oh, I have a back pain.” “What did you do?” “Sleeping.” Some of you have no idea what I am talking about. Don’t worry. Your time is coming. It doesn’t matter how often you go to gym, your body will eventually wear out. Ladies, it does not matter how often you Botox that face, it won’t be long before your face looks like a wrinkle shirt. But I have a good news for us. A day will come where we will be given a new glorified body. I don’t know what that body will looks like. I don’t know if we will have wings and fly everywhere. But I do know that it is a perfect body. One that will never wear out and never get sick.

The third thing that we will inherit, and the most important one, is God himself. Our greatest inheritance is not the gifts of God but God himself. Every gifts that God gives and prepares for us only serves to make God even better. If we get all of God’s gifts and we do not get God, then we lost everything. But if we get God, then he is enough no matter what. This is what it means to have God as our inheritance. We will finally taste the fullness of his love for us. And it will take eternity to explore the beauty of God.

However, these inheritances come with a condition. We often like to skip this part but we cannot. We want to be glorified with Christ. We want to receive all our inheritances. The world, the glorified body and God himself. Amen. But there is a condition to it. Paul says that we will be glorified with Christ if we suffered with Christ. There is no glory without suffering. There is no crown without cross. This is the unbreakable law of the kingdom of God. It does not matter how hard we try to skip over it, we cannot. The only way we will experience the glory of Christ is that if we experience the suffering of Christ. So this is the hard truth. If you are children of God, if you are heirs of God, you will suffer in this world. There is no way around it. Do not believe the lie of Prosperity Gospel. Children of God will suffer in this world. Paul cannot be clearer on the matter. But he does not stop there. Listen to what he says next. Romans 8:18 – For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. So yes, we will experience suffering in this present time. But when we compare the present suffering with the future glory, it is not worth comparing. Paul is not trying to downplay sufferings. He acknowledges the pain of sufferings. But what he is saying that in comparison to what is to come, it is like nothing. It is losing one cent when you are promised one billion dollars.

Application

There are many applications that we can draw from these verses but let me just give you two specific application. First, the Holy Spirit gives us a new way to fight sin. Let’s take sexual sin for example. You are experiencing sexual temptation that is contrary to the word of God and you know you should not indulge yourself in it. How do you fight this temptation? The old way to do it is to go back to the law. The law of God says that we should not do it. Then don’t do it. So what do you do? You try to gather your willpower to fight the temptations. You keep telling yourself, “Do not look at porn. Do not look at porn. Do not look at porn.” Do you know what usually ends up happening? It’s like me telling you, “Do not picture elephant in your mind right now. Do not think about elephant. Do not…” Now, what are you thinking? It does not work. Willpower alone is not enough for us to fight sexual temptation. We need to go underneath our sexual temptation. We need to ask the question, “Why am I being tempted to look at porn? Why am I tempted to have sex outside marriage? What drives my sexual desire?” Because if you do, then you will find that what drives you to sexual temptation is that you believe that sex is your saviour. You believe that sex is what you need. Sex is what satisfies you. What happen is you forget who you are. You forget that sex cannot satisfy you. You forget that Christ has died for your sin and that you have received the Spirit of adoption. You forget that you are child of the King.

And this is what the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit reminds you who you are. The Holy Spirit reminds you that Jesus has died for you and paid the full price. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit reminds you that you are not acting in line with who you are. You are sons of God. At the moment of sin, you are forgetting who you are. So the Holy Spirit reminds you of who you are and of what Christ has done and helps you act in line with who you are. We do not kill sin by willpower. We kill sin by the Spirit. We shoot sin in the head because we know we are sons of God. This is sanctification. The Holy Spirit makes the love of God the Father comes alive in you by making the work of Jesus real to you. And this is not a onetime process. It is a continuous ongoing process. As long as we are breathing, we need to put to death the desire to sin in our lives. And the Holy Spirit leads us by reminding us who we are in Christ. We are adopted heirs of God.

The second application that we can draw from this passage is that the Holy Spirit gives us a new perspective to view sufferings. Sufferings is not punishment from God. No. At this moment, in all your weaknesses and imperfections, God loves you completely. God does not love the future better version of us. God delights in us just like he delights in Christ. Suffering is not God’s punishment but it is God’s mercy for us. Hear me clearly in this. I did not say that suffering is good. It is hard and it is painful. But God does his best work in us through pain and hardship. It is in those dark times filled with tears that God is restructuring our hearts and remind us that he is our greatest inheritance. Suffering is a mercy because it prepares us for the glory that is to come.

I’ve used this similar illustration from Spurgeon and I will use it again. Let’s say that one day I received a phone call that tells me that I have 10 million dollars waiting for me in CBA from an uncle I never know I have. So I quickly run into my white horse in my pyjamas and make my way to the nearest CBA. And along the way, my white horse breaks down. I will not step out of the car and complains, “Oh no, my white horse. My only beloved white horse. How can I live without you?” No I would not do that. I would walk out of my car, find me a taxi, pick up my $10 million dollars, and then buy a thousand white horse. Again, I’m not saying suffering is easy. But I am saying that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Remember who you are. You are adopted heirs of God.

Discussions

1. What is the primary role of the Holy Spirit?
2. What does it mean to be led by the Spirit? How does Paul’s use of the phrase “led by the Spirit” differ from the way many people often use the phrase?
3. How does 1^st century understanding of the term “adoption” help us see our adoption in Christ?
4. “Abba! Father!” Explain the significance of this phrase in our relationship with God.
5. Read Romans 8:16. How is this experience differ from verse 15?
6. What is the unbreakable law of the Kingdom of God conveyed in verse 17? What does it tell us about our current experience here and now?
7. The Holy Spirit gives us a new way to fight sin. Give examples of how you would use Romans 8:12-18 in your daily battles with sin.