May 25, 2023 – Thursday
Romans 8:14-15 NIV
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba,Father.”
Romans 8:14-15 ESV
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!”
Comments
Once you have A – accepted the fact that you are a sinner, then B – believed Christ died for your sins on the cross and was resurrected three days later, and C – called upon Jesus as your Savior and Lord after repenting, you will receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God.
At this point, 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. To be clear, we first become sons of God through Jesus Christ and only then are we led by the Spirit of God. After all, it only makes sense that as sons of God that we would then be led by the Spirit of God. To be led means we need to cooperate with the leading of the Spirit of God, as we are not forced to follow the Spirit’s leading.
Ephesians 4:29-30 shows us how we may grieve the Holy Spirit by not following its lead; 29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. And in the next two verses tells us how we might live so as not to grieve but to be led by the Holy Spirit of God , 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Guzik provides a list of where the Spirit leads us: to repentance, to think little of self and much of Jesus, into truth, into love, into holiness, and into usefulness.
Then in the next verse Paul writes, 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” You might ask, how can this be? What does Paul mean by this? He actually means what he writes for in the Roman world of the first century to be an adopted son meant one had the same full status as a son born naturally into the family. Thus, while we may easily imagine Jesus calling upon His Father as Abba (equivalent to our Daddy!) we need to remember that we are in Christ and He is in us. This results in us having the amazing freedom to also call upon Father God affectionately as our Abba.
Bottom Line: We should not only be led by the Spirit but seek the leading of the Spirit. We should do all we can to avoid grieving the Spirit as it only wishes to bring us closer and closer to God in our walk as Christians.
Prayer: Heavenly Father – Abba, You give us so much when we deserve nothing. You even give us the privilege of calling upon You as our Daddy. Help us to be worthy of being Your sons through the grace we have through Jesus. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek