“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 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. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” – Romans 8:9-16
LIGHT FOR NOW: The moment you are born again, you are welcome to God’s family.
We saw in previous study that Paul’s words in our key text explained the spirit in us. Hence, his use of “spirit of life”, “spirit of God”, “spirit of adoption”, etc. do not describe different concepts, but some concepts, however, using different words to characterize what we have received. Paul explained in 1Corinthians 2 that the spirit which we have received is not of the world, but of God. Galatians 4:4-6 “But when the fulness of 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, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father”.
Paul explained in his epistle to the Galatians similar to how he did in Romans with regard to the spirit we have received. In verse 5, he says we have received the adoption of sons. The term “adoption” which implies placement or sons was also used by Paul to explain the same fact in Romans 8. Observe that in Romans 8, he used the term “the spirit of adoption” to refer to what we have received, while in Galatians 4, he says we have received the adoption of sons (verse 5), and in verse 6, stated that we are sons because God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts. The phrase “Abba, Father” also seen in both texts shows the fact that in the new birth, we are born of the spirit, we are born of God; therefore, we are sons of God and God is our father. Glory!
INSTRUCTION: Acknowledge God as your father.
CONFESSION: I am in the family of God by the spirit. God is my father and I am his son, in Jesus Name, Amen
QUOTE: God is father to only those he has begotten in Christ.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: ROMANS CHAPTER 8; EVENING: GALATIANS CHAPTER 4
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 