Fools rush in where angels fear
to tread. I'd like you to think about that
for a moment. That came to my mind this last week as I was
studying the scriptures. I could not help but think of
the many, many times in my own personal life as a Christian,
yes, as a minister. when I have rushed into areas
of biblical truth where angels would fear to tread. Have you
been guilty of it? I have, I'll admit it. However,
the more I study the scriptures now, the more I am convinced
of how cautious one needs to be in the handling of sacred
truths. Beloved, I do not want to be
guilty of rushing in where angels fear to crash. I have read the
works of men recently, and I have seen how they have rushed in. where angels would surely have
feared to tread. I'd like for us to think about
that. I'd like for us to apply that to our own personal lives.
One would think that after years of study and becoming acquainted
with Scripture, that it would be much easier to get a message
than when he didn't know very much, generally speaking, about
the Scripture. Well, in a sense that is true,
and in another sense it isn't. Or the student of Scripture will
understand what I've said and why I have made the statement
that I made. I'm rethinking a lot of things.
In fact, I never study any portion of Scripture. But what when I
go back into it, I do not try to rethink it. There is not a
book that I have studied any more out of all the 66 books
of the Bible than the book of Romans. And yet, beloved, I don't
know what I'd like to know about Romans. Do you? Do you? I said last week that we have
a distinction between the children of God and the sons of God in
this portion of Scripture. I affirmed that this morning,
even though there are some who say there is no distinction between
the statement children of God and the statement sons of God.
I'm going to try to show you in our studies beginning this
morning through the next several services that there is a distinction. During the time that we're going
through this study, which is really the third point of our
outline that we gave last Sunday, beloved, if you will follow me,
you will have greater assurance of your relationship to the Lord
when we have finished. I want to make another statement.
If there is any doubt in your mind as to your relationship
to the lost, then that doubt should be lost from your memory
as a result of these studies that we're going to make. If
you think that you're saved, but in reality you're not, You
can know where you stand before God if you'll follow me in this
series of studies. In other words, if you're living
under a false pretense of salvation, you'll know. In fact, I enter into this this morning
with fear and trembling, because I know what all is involved.
Believe me, I do. And some of the things I'll be
sharing with you were such a blessing to my heart I could not keep
them. I had to go out of the study and say, listen to this
Juanita. In fact, I learned some things
that were precious to my own heart in the study of these verses
and yet I thought I knew basically what these verses teach. And
basically, we might say, foundationally, I did. But there was much I didn't
know. And I'm sure in five years from
now, if the Lord spares my life and I'm able to come back to
this portion of Scripture and study it again, I'll find at
that time there are some things then that would be so precious
to my own heart and life. that I have the same feeling
then that I have this morning as I stand before you. Let's begin our study. The distinction
between the children of God and the sons of God. We're going
to begin with verse 14. Look at it. We'll spend some
time. In fact, I'm not going to try
to even outline what I'm going to give for the next several
services. We're just going to go from verse 14 to verse 15
to verse 16 to verse 17 and right on. And every time we leave one
verse and get into the next verse, we'll see why the Spirit of God
led the apostle to write in the manner in which he wrote. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. They are the sons of God. Now for a question, are you being
led by the Spirit? Do you know that you're being
led by the Spirit? The Holy Spirit of God is being
blamed for a lot of things today by individuals of which he is
not guilty. Every heretic under the sun makes
the claim that he's being led by the Spirit. I'm going to make this as practical
as I can. Not only are we going to dig
into the meaning of words, but we're going to make it practical.
I've talked to many backsliding Christians in my lifetime who
have said, I'm being led by the Spirit. Beloved, when you think about
every heretic under the sun laying claim to this verse, and even
backsliding Christians lay claim to this verse, something is wrong
somewhere. Now look at that first word of
the text. For as many. Let's not go any
further than that for a moment. For as many. The Apostle Paul
is explaining further what he has just stated in the 13th verse. Now you're going to have to look
at verse 13 for a moment, even though we're not giving an interpretation
of it this morning. For if ye live after the flesh,
ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Now he's going
to explain the last phrase of verse 13 by saying what he does
in verse 14. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now he uses the word
wioe. Not techner, the word for children. And technon is the singular,
which means child. He doesn't use the word now for
children. He uses the word son. For as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. As many of you who are mortifying
the deeds of the Bible. You're the children of God. In
other words, that is one proof of you being God's children. For as many of you as are led
by the Spirit of God. That proof that you are the children
of the sons of God. Now Paul gave a statement of
assurance in verse 1 of Romans 8, and this is the leading text
of the entire 8th chapter of Romans. There is therefore now
no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh but after the spirit. He leaves the opening statement
that he makes as he introduces this subject of Assura. And that's
what Romans 8 talks about, Assura. I want to know if I'm saved or
not, don't you? I want to have Assura of my relationship
to the Lord. I don't want to be in doubt about
my salvation, and there isn't any need for one to be in doubt. And this is what the eighth chapter
of Romans is all about. After the leading verse, there
is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Then you'll notice, beginning
with verse 2 through verse 4, We have a different aspect of
assurance given us in that section, and then there is another division
beginning with the 5th verse through the 13th. And that is
another division which gives to us assurance of salvation. Now I'm not going to discuss
those verses because I'm trying to limit our present study this
morning and for subsequent lessons to the distinction between children
of God and sons of God. Now I'd like to make another
statement. in the light of this 14th verse,
for as many as are led by the Spirit of God. How does one know
when he's led by the Spirit of God? Is it by some inner feeling? Is it by some superstitious belief? How does one know when he is
being led by the Spirit? One can know when he is being
led by the Spirit when whatever he does is in harmony with the
revelation of truth that has been given to him in the Bible. Beloved, you cannot know whether
you are being led by the Spirit of God unless you have a basic
and fundamental knowledge of the Word of God from Genesis
to Revelation. Don't forget that, please. How
many people today study the Scriptures and have to know? They don't
even study the Scriptures. The average religionist does
not study the Word of God. And yet, when you talk to him,
I'm being led by the Spirit. Let me raise another question.
What about all these individuals today who are always going around
saying, I, I'm led by the Spirit, I'm led by the Spirit, I'm led
by the Spirit. I'll tell you something, I'd
be skeptical of that character at the very beginning. One who
is being led by the Spirit of God does not go around and always
use the statement, I was led, I'm being led. If he's being led by the Spirit
of God, his life will manifest he's being led by the Word of
God, and he will not tell everybody that he comes in contact that
I'm being led by the Spirit. What he's doing, he's bragging.
And he's trying to make an impression. Isn't that true? So beloved,
I'm giving you some warning. Be skeptical of that individual.
I don't care who he is. It may be someone close to you.
It may be someone in the same church family with you. It may
be someone that you're closely associated with outside the church
family. But it doesn't make any difference
who it is. Be literate of the individual who is always going
around, I'm led by the Spirit. I'm led by the Spirit. The Spirit
led me. The Spirit led me to do this.
The Spirit led me to do that. That is what? Manifesting a super-piety
which stinks. Because the person who is being
led doesn't brag about it. He just faithfully and obediently
walks in the will of Christ. Now there is a distinction, I
said, between children of God and sons of God. I read a work
this last week, and it was a lengthy work. It covered page after page
after page, and I went through it. The writer has many wonderful
things, and my life has been blessed by many things that he
has written. But he made the statement, there
is no distinction between children of God and sons of God. After
having read through the years many other works, that not only
have made that statement, but have proved the distinction,
I wanted to see what he had to say. I'm going to give to you
a quotation. I'm trying to refrain from calling
names, because when I use many of these persons, I'm not speaking
in a derogatory manner about them. Because, beloved, I'm quoting
from men who believe in the doctrines of grace. And I've been blessed
by all of these men. So I hope you understand that.
Like the very man that wrote what I am now going to quote.
When he stood before his congregation a number of years ago, he knew
that he was presenting something at that time with which the people
to whom he ministered were not familiar. He said, I don't want
you to think that I'm giving you something that I've thought
up. So he went back into the works
of the Puritans, and beloved, he quoted Puritans whose names
I haven't heard about. And I've studied the works of
the Puritans for more than 30 years. He gave some quotations
from two, and they were great quotations. And there was truth
in those quotations. And so he gave many, many quotations. It was a tremendous work because
He did a lot of research. But now this man makes a statement,
and I know why he made it. He's an Englishman, and he is
fed up with this Catholic movement, and I am too. I'm just as fed up with a Catholic
movement as he is. It is this quote high life movement
that is sweeping not only Europe, it has swept Europe for a number
of years, but now it is beginning to sweep America. And I could
call you the names of different ministers who are involved in
the Catholic movement, the higher life movement. Now he made this
statement that the distinction which they make, and it is true
they make the distinction, between children of God and sons of God,
that they go too far, and I agree they go too far. But, beloved,
it is a tragedy when one doesn't go far enough, and that's exactly
what this man has done. So I am wondering if he is not
prejudiced to some extent because of his view of the Keswick High
Life Movement. And so he's going to the opposite
extreme. I said I'm going slow, but I
guarantee if you'll follow me, what I'm going to give will be
helpful. Let me give a statement. This man says, and I quote, any
unbiased and unprejudiced person must agree that the terms sons,
comma, children, are interchangeable." Now, he says, any unbiased and
any unprejudiced person. Now, further on in his same work,
listen to this, he goes on to say, In fact, he admits there
is a difference. Here's the interesting thing.
This is why you have to be so careful when you read someone,
beloved. This is why you have to be so
careful when you listen to someone speak. And I illustrated this
morning with Billy Graham's message in the Hour of Decision this
morning. Now listen to this. He goes on to make this statement.
He admits there is a difference in Galatians chapter 4. And he stated the difference
is not in relationship, but in appreciation of one's position. That's exactly what I believe.
That's exactly the distinction that I'm making. I want you to
see something. In one place he says there is
no distinction. In another place, he says, there
is a distinction, and then in order to explain the distinction,
in the light of Galatians 4, he says, the distinction is not
in relationship, but in appreciation of position. Now let me stop
for a moment. The word children, as I've already
stated, comes from the Greek word tetra. And the word tecna
comes from the Greek word which means what? To be begotten or
to bring into being. And denotes relationship. And
the word is what? Denotes relationship. So I say to you this morning,
upon the authority of Scripture, that whenever the Apostle Paul
talks about children, he's talking about relationship. Relationship. Now when he uses the word sons
in verse 14, rather than the word children, he is simply saying,
I want you to know that the persons who put to death are crucified
the deeds of the body, that is a manifestation of maturity,
of position, of an adult son, if you please. When he talks
about the witness of the Spirit in verse 16, as we'll see later
on, and I'm just getting to this now, pointing it out, showing
you the difference. The Holy Spirit will bear witness
and does bear witness with the spirit of the Christian which
gives to him the assurance that he is what? A child of God which
denotes relationship. That's verse 16. I'm jumping
ahead for a moment but I did it for a reason. Now, notice what this man did. He said, first of all, there
is no distinction. And then he says, there is a
distinction. And the distinction is not one of relationship, but
appreciation of position. That's exactly what I believe.
So, if I had read that statement and had not read the first statement
by him, I would have said, he agrees with me and I agree with
him on the distinction between children and sons. Now let's
look at the word relationship for a moment. Since he stated that the distinction
is one of, not of relationship, but of appreciation of position,
but there is a distinction in relationship. Now I agree that union is union. Relationship is relationship. But I want to point out something.
Are you following me? There are several aspects of
relationship. There are several aspects of
union. There's eternal union with the
Father in the doctrine of election. Are you following me? There is
the union of redemption when Jesus Christ died the just for
the unjust. There is union and regeneration
when the Holy Spirit imparts to the depraved sinner the finished
work of Jesus Christ on the cross. There is union of glory when
we stand in the presence of the Lord. Now I could elaborate on
those more, but what I'm showing you is there are different aspects
of union. There's eternal union, the union
in election, union in redemption, union in regeneration, and union
in glory. But we're looking at something
else, too, in this passage. We're looking at adoption. Adoption. We're looking at placing
as sons. Now, there are differences of
opinion about adoption, so we're going to have to make a study
of adoption not so much this morning, that'll be in a subsequent
lesson. Now let's go to the 15th verse. After making this statement for
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. Now he's going to explain that
verse. Look how it begins in verse 15. For ye have not received the
spirit of bondage or gain to fear, but ye have received the
spirit of adoption, whereby we cry out of awe. Now, we're not
going to have time to get any further than verse 15. In fact,
we will not even be able to complete verse 15 this morning, and I'll
show you why. Now, look at your American Standard
Version, if you have it, and there's a little difference in
the way it reads from your King James Version. I want to point
it out at the very beginning of our study of verse 15. for
you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit
of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Now I want you to see how the
apostle developed something. And beloved, this is shouting
ground for the believer. He has given the Roman believers
something that they could latch on to in verse 14. He said, I
want you to know, all of you that have been put into death
crucifying the deeds of the Bible, You have been doing that because
you are the sons of God. For only the sons of God would
do that. And you are led. How do you know
you're led? You're led by the Word of God. Whenever you're led, whatever
you do, if you're led by the Spirit, it's in harmony with
the Word of God. And whatever you do, if it is
contrary to the scripture, you can rest assured of one thing,
it's not the spirit of God, it's another spirit. And do you know
what spirit that is? I'll let you guess. If it's not
of God, it can only come from one other source. One other source. Now he says four. Ye have not
received the spirit of bondage of gain to fear, but ye have
received the spirit of an option whereby we cry above." I'm going to shock some of you
by giving to you the many different concepts of this verse, but I'm
going to have to. You're going to be exposed to
it if you're a student. If you have a desire to know
the truth, if you want assurance, sooner or later you're going
to be exposed to these things. So I'm going to expose you to
them this morning. This verse, like almost every
other great doctrinal text, is greatly debated. Beloved, it
is greatly debated even by grayish men. Now some say that the word spirit,
follow me now and please take some notes. If not, you can get
the tape later and that's what a great number of you have done
this last week or last Sunday's messages and I'm glad that you've
done that. That's what the tapes are for. And I want to try to
give you enough on the Lord's Day morning and evening and Wednesday
evening to keep you busy all week. What time you have. Keeps me pretty busy just preparing
for the service. Now, first of all, there are
those who say the word spirit in both places does not refer
to the Holy Spirit, but to the disposition of one's mind. So what do you think about that?
Now there are those who believe this. Now look at the text again. They see the word spirit as it
is connected with bondage, and the word spirit as it is associated
with adoption. In both places, the word spirit
does not refer to the Holy Spirit, but to the disposition of one's
mind. Number two, there are those on
the other hand who say that the word spirit in both places refers
to the Holy Spirit. To the Holy Spirit. I'm not wrong yet. And there
is a third view, and the third view is there are those who say
that the first time the word spirit is used, That is, in connection
with the spirit of bondage, it refers to the disposition of
one's mind, whereas the second time it refers to the Holy Spirit. Now let me run that by again.
I want you to see that there are differences of opinion, and
I'll give you something else in a moment that will show you,
beloved, that you can't just sit down and read the Word of
God or even memorize it and understand it properly. There are those who say the word
spirit in both places refers to the disposition of one's mind.
There are those who say that the word spirit in both places
refers to the Holy Spirit. And there are others who say
that the first time the word spirit is used it refers to the
disposition of one's mind, whereas in the second time it refers
to the Holy Spirit. Now before I give you another
problem area with many people, let's look at this for a moment.
In the first place, we're going to look at the spirit of adoption.
We're going to back up for a moment. Now there is no question in my
mind that the spirit of adoption refers to the Holy Spirit. And I'm going to prove to you
now that it is the Holy Spirit here, and not the disposition
of one's mind, because we have a divine commentary in Galatians
4. Would you turn to Galatians 4?
We're going to be studying every place where the word adoption
is found. And by the way, it isn't found. It'll take long
to look at them. So turn to Galatians chapter
four for a moment. You say, well, I just don't have
time for such studies. Beloved, I believe that the child
of God wants to know truth. All right, look at verse six.
And because ye are sons God has sent forth the spirit of his
Son, the spirit of his Son, notice that, into your heart crying
out of the Father. There is a divine commentary.
I said there is a divine commentary. No question in my mind that the
spirit of adoption is the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the
third person of the Godhead. Now let me show you something
else in Romans 8 before we go any further. In verse 2, look
at it, for the law of the spirit of life. Now there's a title
of the Holy Spirit here. He is called the spirit of life
in verse 2. Or drop down, if you will, please,
to verse 9. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of
God, the Spirit of God, there's another title, the Spirit of
God. Also look at the latter part. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, He is none of his. Alright, three places
thus far in Romans 8. The Holy Spirit is referred to
as the Spirit of Life, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ,
and now in the 15th verse, the Spirit of Adoption. And beloved, I'm going to prove
before we're through that it is the Holy Spirit that enables
the individual to cry out of a heart. Thus it is the Holy
Spirit, and not the disposition of one's mind. Now, I can't help
but get into this a little bit, even though I'll be expanding
on it more later. I said it is the Holy Spirit that enables
a person to cry out of a heart. In other words, it is the Holy
Spirit that enables a person to pray. No person, apart from
the Spirit of God, can pray. This relative of mine that I
told you about last week that called me several times, well,
she called again this last week. And of course she is, well, a
usual Southern Baptist. Just a usual Southern Baptist.
She's going to influence everybody she comes in contact with. After
all, a person just has to be influenced by me. I can just
get around it. I can just say enough. And she's
going to get these lost women to pray. And I come back with
a scripture that a lost person can't pray if she doesn't pay
any attention to it. And so you hear it said on the radio all
the time today, now if you're a sinner, just pray this simple
prayer. And then they tell you what to
say, remember? They tell you what to say. You just pray this
simple prayer. Let me give an illustration.
I was reading Dr. Barnhouse's work on Romans 8,
as well as everything else in my library on these verses this
last week. And that's why it took so much
time. And Dr. Barnhouse said he was an epic
Indian. on a missionary tour. And he
said he went to this place where they had a school and he said
they were doing what he considered a pretty good work. And he said
one day he overheard the leaders of the school and they had all
these Indian children and youngsters there and they were being taught
to pray, quote, Lord's Prayer end of quote. You know what I
mean by quote Lord's Prayer end of quote? The so-called Lord's
Prayer. Our Father which art in heaven
hallowed be thy name and so forth. He said he was shocked. He was
shocked by it. So he had an opportunity to speak
to all these missionaries and workers. He said, now I appreciate
a lot of the things that I've seen. But he said, when I was
in your school and saw your teachers teaching those Indian children
to pray, quote, the Lord's Prayer, end of quote, I was shocked.
And he just stopped. He wanted to shock the teacher.
And he did. Immediately they began to ask
the question, Dr. Barnhouse, why were you shocked?
He said the very idea of teaching sinners they can pray! Now, beloved, you may not appreciate
that, some of you, if you haven't been well versed yet. You know,
Baptists, Methodists, and Protestants in general have been so brainwashed,
and I can remember I was. I can remember with Richard,
we have our family, oh Richard pray, I don't want to pray, you
pray! He didn't take any law to learn
a lesson there. You know what the Bible says? John 9 31, God heareth not sinners. That's playing up isn't it? God
heareth not sinners. That doesn't mean that he doesn't
hear a sinner when he curses and something else. God hears
everything. But he's talking about the subject
of prayer. He's talking about an act of worship. God hears
not sinners. But if a man be a worshipper
of God and doeth his will, then he hears. But God doesn't even
hear the disobedient Christian, much less the person who doesn't
even know the law. It is a spirit, the Holy Spirit
of God, within a person that enables that person to cry out
as a father. And no person can address God
as father apart from the Holy Spirit of God. And I challenge
any religionist to repeat that with the Word of God. You say, but what am I to teach
my children? Teach them to pray. That's what
you're to teach them. Teach them they're lost sinners
and their only hope is in Jesus Christ. There are plenty of things
to teach. But don't teach them to say their little prayers,
I lay me down to sleep and I pray the Lord my soul to keep and
if I wake before I die, I pray the Lord my soul to take. How
silly. And whenever a person does that,
he does it out of ignorance of the word of God. So Barnhouse was correct in what
he said, and I rejoiced in it when I read it. When I read it. So it is the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Adoption, that enables the recipient of
subjective life to cry Abba Father. Let me ask you a question. Can you cry Abba Father? insincerity,
if so, it's because of the Holy Spirit within you. The Holy Spirit within you. Now,
I have no doubt about the spirit of adoption being the Holy Spirit,
but what about the first time the word spirit is found? I've
come to the conclusion that the first time the word spirit is
used, it is not the disposition of mind, but it is also the Holy
Spirit. And it'll take one entire lesson
to develop that, but I'll give you a few things this morning.
Now let's go and look at something else in this passage of Scripture.
There are some other things that I would have you to observe.
So we have seen, first of all, that there are three basic views
of the word spirit. Now, you're going to have to
make up your mind as to what you believe, unless you just
say, well, I just don't think it makes any difference anyway,
and you just go on your merry way. And that's not characteristic
of a Christian. Or to say, it gets too deep for
me. I'm trying to be practical. And
since great men are divided on it, well, then I don't need to
be worrying and racking my brain about it. That doesn't satisfy. And I'll tell you what, that
doesn't satisfy the Christian. And it will not satisfy when
you stand before the judgment seat of Christ Jesus. Now, let's look at two other
things. And there is much debate over this in verse 15. Much debate. To what does the spirit of fear
or slavery, of bondage, what does that refer to? I'll give you two different views
on this. Hell by grave's man, beloved. Hell by grave's man. One view is that the spirit of
bondage refers to the pre-Christian condition of an individual. In
other words, they believe it refers to slavish fear, his pre-Christian
condition. Whereas the spirit of bondage
applies to the individual who is saved and he will never be
brought back into that slavish fear again. Now that's one deal. They believe
that the spirit of slavery or bondage refers to the pre-Christian
condition, and the second, the spirit of adoption, refers to
the Christian life. Now the other position is that
both refer to the Christian life. the spirit of slavery as well
as the spirit of adoption, both referred to the Christian life,
but a development, a progress in that Christian life. And beloved,
it is the latter which I believe. I tell you, the scriptures are
wonderful. Well, let's look at this for
a moment. Now I want to show you that there
are many different views on adoption. And I'm going to quote some Puritans,
and then I'll quote one later writer. Thomas Watson said, and
I quote, Why is faith the instrument of adoption more than any other
grace? Now, when I first started reading
that, I said, that's what I believe, and I do. Remember what I said
last week? We're the children of God by
regeneration. Sons of God by adoption. Watson said, why is faith the
instrument of adoption more than any other grace? And then he
quoted Habakkuk 2.14. That just shall live by faith.
Now listen to this. Life makes us capable of adoption. It is subjective life that makes
us capable of adoption. I agree with that 100%. Dead
children are never adopted. Are never adopted. Now that's
a great statement and that was made by Thomas Watson, the Puritan
back in the 17th century. And yet, a little further on
in his work on adoption, I read this thing. Faith is a quickening
grave. Oh, now what does that do? Are
you following me? Really, beloved, are you following
me? Faith is a quickening grave. How can faith be a quickening
grave and at the same time, Be what? That which enables us to
be called sons of God. Here's a statement in direct
contradiction to what he had said in the beginning of his
development of the subject of adoption. Now brother, I don't
mean to be so meticulous. But I've come to a place, I want
to know why these men contradict themselves. I've contradicted
myself and when I find a contradiction in my message or in something
I've given, I tell you, I'm going to correct it. Now listen to John Gill. John Gill said, quote, regeneration
and adoption differ. When he starts off, I said, boy,
this will be good. Regeneration and adoption differ. They do differ, I believe. And
he begins in that manner. And I'm not taking anything out
of context. My wife said to me, when I read her this, she said,
now did you take a statement here and then one a little further
on? I said, no, here it is, all in a package deal. Right here,
here it is. Just quoting in verbatim. You see, we have to be careful
when we quote someone. We have to consider why he is
saying what he said in the light of the context of what he's saying.
Brother, that's one thing that you and I must learn in the study
of the scriptures or the reading of the works of anybody. Now
listen to this. Regeneration and adoption differ.
Adoption makes men the children of God. What did he say? Regeneration makes them appear
to be so by giving them the nature of children. Adoption is not
a work of grace in us, but an act of grace without us. Having its complete being in
the mind of God, it is antecedent to a work of grace. Now, Bavnick,
who has worked on systematic theology, holds the same view,
and I could quote you many others. Bavnick says there is no distinction
between adoption and justification, and he explains it like this.
He said, since adoption is not any different from justification,
in that justification we know declares one righteous, but in
adoption one is forgiven. So we're looking at two aspects
of this great truth. Forgiveness and the declaration
on the part of God of being forgiven. So he says, in reality, there's
no distinction between adoption and justification. Our firm there
is. Our firm there is, as we continue
to develop. Now listen to Robert Haldane.
Haldane, however you want to pronounce it. Listen carefully.
Quote, adoption is not a work of grace in us, but an act of God's grace without
us. After adoption comes our sonship
by regeneration. After adoption comes our sonship
by regeneration, not in the order of time, but of nature. For being
united to Christ, God forms in us his image, and this is the
second way in which we are made the children of God. Adoption
confers the name of sons and a title to the inheritance. Regeneration
confers the nature of sons and a meekness for the inheritance.
Now the last part of Haldane's statement is tremendous. It's
this. Let me give it to you again. Adoption confers the name of
sons. That's what I believe. Confers
the name of sons. and a title to the inheritance,
because we're going to see that in the 17th verse. And because
we are sons, we are heirs of God and God heirs of the Lord
Jesus and beloved, that looks to the kingdom. That looks to
the kingdom. So he says adoption confers a
name and a title to inheritance. Regeneration confers a nature
of son and a meekness for the inheritance. Now there's truth,
a great amount of truth in that statement. Now, later writers
say, and I'm in agreement with these men, adoption has almost
nothing in common with adoption practiced by men. Beloved, one
must understand that, and we're going to go into it. I'm just
simply setting the stage for the development of this subject.
Adoption is an act by which one already a child of God by birth
through the Spirit is placed forward as an adult son in relation
to God. That's the definition of adoption
in just a few words. Let me give it again. And this
is what I believe with all of my heart. Are you listening? Let me give it again. Adoption
is an act by which one already a child of God by birth through
the Spirit, and that's regeneration, is placed forward as an adult
son in relation to God. Childhood and adolescent years,
normal and physical lives, are excluded under grace in the spiritual
life. Notice, under grace in the spiritual
life. And this is a teaching of Galatians
4, 1 through 6. In human experience. Legitimate
birth and adoption never combine in the same person. Adoption
means place before God as an adult child. Now Paul states there are two
spirits in this passage. the spirit of bondage against
the fear, and the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father."
I'll tell you what, an hour's already gone, and I don't want
to start this because I don't want to just leave it hanging.
This is too important. So we're going to take our time.
And tonight we'll spend, I suppose, the entire period discussing
the distinction between the spirit of bondage against a fear and
the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Let me enclose it. Say this. What is the apostle doing? He
is giving the Roman Christians assurance. And I like what I read just recently.
What do we have in Romans 8? We have a new position, and the
position of the believers in Christ. Romans 8, 1-4. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. Oh, what a position. What a position. Then we have a new life that
is revealed in verses 5-13. If a person has not the Spirit
of God, then he's not a child of God. We have a new relation in verses
14-17. A new relation. Then we go from
this new relation to a new hope. In verses 18 through 25, we're
saved in hope. Five, there is a new help for
us. The Holy Spirit makes intercession
within us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Beloved, the
Holy Spirit doesn't groan. He enables us to groan. Then we have a new knowledge
given us in verses 28-30, and that knowledge consists of coordination
that we talked about last Sunday night, predestination, calling,
justification, and glorification. New knowledge! Oh, what assurance! And then we go to the new assurance,
verses 31-39. Nothing shall separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. But we're looking at one little
segment of this great doctrinal chapter which has to do with
a new relation. Children of God by birth, sons
of God by adoption. And by the spirit of adoption
we cry Abba Father. Another evidence of salvation
to be added to being led by the Spirit.