Romans chapter 8. Today I want
to try to look at beginning at verse 12 of Romans 8 verse 12. And it's my intention to get
down through verse 17. But notice how verse 12 begins. It begins with this word, therefore. Therefore. Now, my pastor always
used to teach us, when you read in Scripture and run into this
word, therefore, see what it's there for. Because it refers
back to what has been already declared, stating these things,
therefore, we have this hope. Therefore. Because of all the
mercies of God through Christ that have been abundantly bestowed
upon us, being raised from the dead by the power of God, being
made new creatures in Christ Jesus, being constantly filled
with the Holy Spirit, being made righteous in Christ, being delivered
from the curse of the law, having peace with God in Christ, being
reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, waiting for
the resurrection of our bodies that will be made like unto His
glorious body. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors. We are debtors to His mercy.
We are debtors to His grace. We are debtors to His love. He's
loved us with an everlasting love. We are debtors, but not
to the flesh. We don't owe this flesh anything. This flesh, the wages of sin
is death. That's all this flesh, all this
flesh has is a righteous judgment pronounced against it. Flesh,
that which is born of the flesh, all flesh is grass. We're not
debtors to the flesh, but we are debtors to God, aren't we?
We're debtors to His love, His mercy, His grace. We are not
debtors to the flesh to live after the flesh. Brethren, He's
addressing the brethren. He's addressing those who were
made sons of God by the Spirit of God. He's addressing those
who are the children of God, who are the heirs of God, joint
heirs with Christ. The brethren, the family, the
church family, we are debtors unto our gracious God and Savior. I used to have a dear old friend
in the church here in Ashland, one of the elders there, and
he would always use this phrase when he prayed, Lord, we come
to Thee as mercy beggars. I love that phrase. And that's
all we are. We're mercy beggars. We're mercy
beggars. We are debtors unto our gracious
God and Savior for all the spiritual blessings we have. He's blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ.
All the spiritual blessings we enjoy right now and forever,
they're freely given. Freely given, sovereignly given,
eternally given. Look right across the page at
Romans 8.32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Remember I told you one of my
favorite verses in the book of Romans is Romans 3.24. justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that we have in Christ
Jesus. And then there's another verse
over in 1 Corinthians 12, or rather chapter 2 verse 12, Now,
we have not received, we have received not the Spirit of the
world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God. We've not received
the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God. And
that's the only way we'll know these gifts of God are freely
bestowed upon us. You see, all that we have We
owe to His grace. We can say with the apostles,
I am what I am by the grace of God. All that we know, He taught
us. By nature, we're ignorant fools.
We're dumb. God must teach us the gospel. All that we know, He taught us.
All that we have experienced, He's revealed unto us. And all
that we ever will be, He made us object of His love. He made
us trophies of His grace. It's all of grace, is it not?
Those who are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ
love to serve Him out of love, out of His love to us. We love Him only because He first
loved us. And we serve Him by serving His
people. Is that right? We serve Him by
serving His people, His family. And I thought about this, we
love Him by loving His people as well. We love Him by loving
His people. The Apostle John put it this
way, we know that we pass from death unto life because we love
the brethren. We love the brethren. You see,
His love constrains us. It's not the whip of the law. It's not even the promise of
rewards. That's what a lot of people in
religion talk about. Rewards. Never one time in Scripture,
there's a word ever in a plural sense, rewards, in reference
to a believer. It's always singular. Christ
is our exceeding great reward. If you have Him and have been
joined to Him, You have all things. His love constrains us. Constrains
us. You remember what our Lord said
to that Pharisee when the woman was washing his feet, and the
Pharisee complained, Oh, if you knew this woman, who she was,
you wouldn't let her touch you. And here's what he said, Her
sin, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, she loved
much, because her sins, which were many, were forgiven. But
to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. Those who
are great sinners, who are forgiven, they love the Lord Jesus Christ,
because He first loved us. Now we sing this song all the
time. It's on hymn number 17. Oh, to grace, how great a debtor!
daily I'm constrained to be, let Thy goodness, let Thy goodness
like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee." See, His love
constrains us. His love compels us. Thy people
shall be willing in a day of God's power. It's not the whip
of the law. It's not the fear and punishment of the law. It's
not even the promise of reward. God's people are motivated by
love. Love to Him and love to one another. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors
not to the flesh, not to the flesh to live after the flesh,
but we are debtors to his mercy and to his grace. Now look at
verse 13, for if you live after the flesh, if you live after
the flesh, you shall die. Now, admittedly, we are dwelling
in this body of flesh. There's no denying that. In the
flesh dwelleth no good things. For if you live after the flesh,
you shall die. But if you through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Now what does this mean? Only
by the power of God the Holy Spirit given unto us in a new
birth that now dwells in us by His Spirit do we desire to mortify,
which means to kill or suppress, now listen carefully, any fleshly
idea of salvation by the deeds of the law or the deeds of the
flesh. That's what we kill out. We still
have in the back of our mind because of this rotten, sinful,
self-righteous flesh that we think we can earn God's favor,
merit God's favor, or at least remove His wrath by our good
conduct. But none of that is true. We
must kill out this false idea of any notion of salvation by
the flesh. And that's what he's talking
about. Where if you live after the flesh, or try to earn salvation
by the flesh, you shall die. Up in verse 6, It says, for to
be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. But if you, through the Spirit
of God, and this is the only way this can happen, the only
way we can mortify and kill out any idea of the salvation by
the deeds of the flesh, is that the Spirit of God does invade
our heart, our mind, Our thoughts, our thinking, our motive. But
if you through the Spirit do mortify the deed to the body,
you shall live. You shall live in Christ. Now, believers are taught in the Word
of God to have a little bit of confidence in the flesh. Oh, I get that wrong. We are the true Israel which
worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have
no confidence in the flesh. None what so ever. It's a scary thing to think that
any sinner would trust his flesh to stand before God and present
himself just in his flesh. All flesh is grass. and it will
surely pass away. Surely pass away. So it's only
by the Spirit of God, by the grace of God, do we deaden, kill
out this idea of salvation by the deeds of the law. The Apostle
Paul put it this way, put off the old man, with his deeds,
and put on the new man which is created in righteousness and
true holiness." That's what happens in regeneration. Now, for as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are truly the sons
of God. Now, a lot of people talk about
the Holy Spirit this, and the Holy Spirit that, and the Holy
Spirit this, and have you got the Holy Spirit, or have you
caught the Holy Spirit, or are you speaking in tongue by the
power of the Holy Spirit? All the different things. What
is the paramount chief office of God the Holy Spirit? It's to reveal the Lord Jesus
Christ. Remember our Lord said, when
He the Spirit of truth has come, the Comforter, The Comforter,
what does God the Holy Spirit comfort us with? It's not good
feelings about ourselves. He comforts us with Christ. Remember
John 16 says, He'll take the things of Christ and show them
unto you. The chief office of God the Holy
Spirit is to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ and to exalt Him
in your heart, soul, and mind. To lift Him up. to lift Him up
and suppress, put down any idea of salvation by the works of
the law or the deeds of the flesh. As many as, I love that statement,
as many as, reminds me of what's said in Acts 13, verse 48, as
many as were ordained to eternal life believe the gospel. As many as that are led by the
Spirit of God. What does the Spirit of God lead
us unto? Christ, the fountains of living
waters. They, and that reveals that they
are sons of God. Those who are quickened by the
Spirit of God who made new creatures in Christ are called sons of
God, children of God, chosen by His eternal election, adopted
into His household, By nature, we're children of wrath, even
as others, but it's only by the adoption of love, the adoption
of God's electing love, that we are called sons of God. John
put it this way. Remember from our study in 1
John 3, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed
upon us, that we should be called sons of God. Now by nature, what
are we? Children of wrath, even as others.
but by his grace he's made us sons of God." Now listen to this
carefully. A lot of people have the notion
that God is the father of all men. They call that the universal
fatherhood of God. You ever heard that statement?
You ever heard that phrase? In the false religion that I
grew up in, Mormonism, we were all taught that God is the father
of all men or the universal fatherhood of God. That's not so. God is not the
father of all men. All men are the sons of Adam,
but all men are not the sons of God. All men are not the sons
of God. The scriptures, therefore, do
not teach what is known as the universal fatherhood of God. Now, here's the scripture that
nails that down. In John 8, 44, you remember the
Pharisees bragged that they were children of Abraham and sons
of God? Remember? You know what the Lord said to
them? You are of your father the devil, and you believe his
lie. So there it's teaching us that
God is not the father of all men. Now, we can say this, this
is true. He is a God and Lord of all men. That is true, but not the Father
of all men. He's the Creator of all men,
the Sustainer of all men, all things are in His hand. He is the God and Lord of all
men, but He's not the Father of all men. He's the Father only
of those sons of God given to the Lord Jesus Christ in that
eternal covenant of grace. He said, all that the Father
giveth to me. Those who are the sons of God,
all that the Father giveth to me shall come to me, and those
that come to me I will in no wise cast out. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God, sons
of God. Can you imagine such a blessing
to be called and known as a son of God, as a child of God? Put in his family, part of his
household, Now, that being so, look at verse 15. Being sons
of God, being led by the Spirit of God, you have not received
the spirit of bondage, legalism, and fear, again to fear, but
you've received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, He's
our Father. Some say that word Abba could
be rendered, he's our dear father. He's our heavenly father. He's
our daddy. I say that reverently. Abba father. We can cry unto
him, Abba father. You've not received the spirit
of bondage. The fear. Now we do reverence
his name. Holy reverence is his name. But
it's not a spirit of bondage, it's a reverential spirit of
awe and love and respect. Now two distinct things are declared
here, the spirit of bondage which genders to fear, fear, a slavish
fear, and then the spirit of adoption, freedom, and liberty
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We were in bondage to the law
of sin and death. But by His grace and power, we
have been set free by the grace of God. You remember back in
Romans 8 verse 2, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." From
the law of sin and death. And that's what Christ has done.
The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life. Turn over to the book of Galatians
for a moment. Chapter 4. I'm thinking of a song, an old song I remember reading
years ago where it contrasts the law and the spirit. Run,
run, the law demands. Run, run, the law demands. But
gives me neither feet nor hands. The gospel bids a sweeter song. It bids me fly and then gives
me wings. See, we've not received the spirit
of bondage, the spirit of liberty. Galatians 4 verse 4, but when
the fullness of the time was come, the time was come, God
sent forth His Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law, were redeemed from the curse
of the law by the blood of Christ, Galatians 3 verse 13, that we
might receive the adoption of sons. Now watch this carefully,
and because you are sons, now how did you become a son of God?
chosen in that covenant of grace. And because you are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your heart, crying,
Abba, Father. That's what we cry. Our Heavenly
Father. Wherefore thou art no more a
servant but a son and if a son there's an heir of God There
it is an heir of God through Christ now stay right in Galatians
and turn one page to Galatians 5 Galatians 5 Chapter 5 verse
1 stand fast therefore in the Liberty Wherewith Christ hath
made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage
That's referring back to the spirit of bondage and fear under
the law. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, if you go the route of circumcision,
the route of legalism by the deeds of the law, Christ shall
profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised that he's a debtor to do the whole
law. You're going to say, well, I'm going to seek salvation by
the law. You've got to do all the law. You better find you
a Levitical priest. You better find you a mercy seat,
a tabernacle, a temple. You better get in the livestock
business. You see, if you go that way, you've got to go the
whole way. Christ has become, he said, if
you go that way, Christ has become of no effect unto you. No effect
unto you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, if you say you've justified by the law, you've
departed from the grace of God. Now, a lot of people want to
point to this scripture and say, ah, there, you can lose your
salvation. Read that in the context of what's being said. If you
go the law route, you just demonstrate that you departed from the grace
of God and you never really knew the grace of God. The Lord has
adopted us. It was His choice. Now, many
of you know our dear friend Tony Moody. when I first met Tony,
he was in the process of adopting two little girls from China.
And him and his wife, they looked over a list of names and somehow
they settled on those two little girls. They had absolutely nothing
to do with it. Those two little girls adopted.
It was His choice. Tony and Rita's choice. They
had nothing to do. Those two little girls, they
were adopted. He chose them. Likewise, God in that covenant
of grace had chose us. He adopted us. The Lord said,
you didn't choose me, I've chosen you. He chose us in Christ. before the foundation of the
world. I like what Spurgeon said about that. Thank God he chose
us before we were born because he never would have chosen us
afterward. Thank God the election is eternal. We were chosen in
him before the foundation of the world. Children, it says over here,
we're going to see that in Romans 9, the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works but
of Him that calleth. He adopted us, He chose us in
Christ before the foundation of the world. And then one day,
we didn't know anything about that, did we? In that eternal
covenant of grace, when He chose us, and when the Lord Jesus Christ
came and adopted us, and when He died for us to put away our
sin, we didn't know anything about that. until one day he
called us by the gospel. And that's what Paul says over
there in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, We are bound to give thanks
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit, that's regeneration, and belief of the truth, that's
the fruit of it, were it not that He called you by our gospel
to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, there is that call. It's the invincible, irresistible
call of God the Holy Spirit with the gospel of God concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is an irresistible call. It's a call out of darkness into
light. It's a call out of ignorance
into right and true saving knowledge of a true and living God. Now,
look at verse 16. Romans 8, 16. The Spirit, and
let's read it this way. The Spirit Himself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are children of God. We are adopted sons of
God. We are children of God. Now God the Holy Spirit is called
the third person of the blessed Trinity. You remember we studied
that in 1 John 5. For there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, The Word, which is the Son, God
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these three are one. And there
are three that bear witness in the earth, the Spirit, the water,
and the blood. These three agree in one, salvation
is of the Lord. The chief office of God the Holy
Spirit is to magnify Christ, to convict us of our sin, and
to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ unto us, and show our need of
Him, to show us that we are His children by the adoption of His
grace, by His choice, and by His adopting love. The Spirit
Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children
of God. The children of God. Now look
at verse 17. And if children, sons of God,
children of God, if children, then we're also the heirs of
God. The heirs of God. Now, when you
have a parent or a grandparent that maybe is very well off,
they will always write a will, last will and testament. And
sometimes they include the names of their children and grandchildren.
And they become the heirs to whatever the parents or grandparents
Now think about this. Our Heavenly Father, God our
Father who owns everything, has all salvation, all grace now,
and all glory forever. He's made us, He's chosen us
to be His heirs. We receive everything. He gives
everything to us. in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we're joint heirs with Christ. How much has God loved the Son?
He loves us the same way. How has God blessed the Son?
God the Son, He's blessed us the same way. That's what we
read over in, you remember over in John 17, I in them, thou in
me, that they may be perfect in one, And the love wherewith
you have loved me, the Lord said, you have loved them with an everlasting
love. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if
children, then heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so
be that we have suffered with him and we have been crucified
with Christ, we may also be also glorified together with Him. When He by Himself purged our
sin, He sat down in the right hand of the throne of God. And
if you read Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4, 5, and 6, where it
said, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us
together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made
us sit together in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ right
now. Think of it. In my head and husband,
who is exalted and seated on the throne of God, every believer
is seated in Him right now. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ, if so be that we suffer with Him, we may be glorified
together with Him. Heirs of God. Peter called it,
inherited it, incorruptible. undefiled, fades not away, that's
reserved in heaven for you. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's amazing. That's amazing
grace is what that is. Amazing grace, how sweet to sound,
that saved a wretch like me. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. Being in that eternal union with
Christ, being one with Him, what's true of the head? It's true of
the body. We're in Him. Sons of God, children
of God, heirs of God. It doesn't get any better than
what we have in Christ.