For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15) For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out , “Abba, Father”. (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (17) and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul to the Christians in Rome. Our verses today address the assurance of salvation. Some think they are saved when in reality they are not – no one who is living according to the flesh (world) kills his/her sin on a heart level; meaning they control sin so they can look good to others but do so out of pride, not to please God. If the believer’s faith is genuine then they are reborn in Christ and new life always manifests itself in changed thinking and behavior. God has changed their hearts. It is the indwelling Spirit’s activity that is the cause of the believer’s activity which is evidence that they are children of God. The faithful have been adopted into God’s family as his chosen heirs. There is in the faithful a similarity of disposition, character or nature because believers reflect the character of their Father because they share His nature and have, in Christ, access to His presence.

The Spirit is leading and guiding our lives in faith in Christ. The Spirit confirms the gospel promises to the faithful through His inner witness – our inner witness that we are God’s child. Believers are God’s children and His heirs by adoption. The adopted individual was regarded as a new person beginning a new life. God’s children enjoy security and intimacy with Him. (Abba was the familiar expression of intimacy used by Jewish children to address their fathers.) In the first verse of Romans chapter 8 – “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh , but according to the Spirit.” They are free from the law of sin and death, not just a freedom from divine condemnation. The mind of the flesh is death but the mind of the Spirit is peace and life. As many as are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. The Spirit we have received in faith is not the spirit of bondage to fear and doubt but is the gracious Spirit of adoption. How to live in and by the Spirit is the single most important lesson a believer can ever learn. For many people the view of Christian life is just a list of dos and don’ts. God has given us something better than rules, better than a formula, better than experience. God has given us the Holy Spirit and that is the secret of living the Christian life.

My favorite, C.s. Lewis wrote “It is quite right that you should feel that ‘something terrific’ has happened to you (it has) and be all ‘all glowy.’ Accept these sensations with thankfulness as birthday cards from God, but remember that they are only greetings, not the real gift. I mean, it is not the sensations that are the real thing. The real thing is the gift of the Holy Spirit which can’t usually be – perhaps not ever – experienced as a sensation or emotion. The sensations are merely the response of your nervous system. Don’t depend on them. Otherwise when they go and you are once more emotionally flat (as you certainly will be quite soon), you might think the real thing had gone too. But it won’t. It will be there when you can’t feel it. May even be most operative when you can feel it least.”