Romans 8:14-17 (KJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 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. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

The Christian is a changed creature – a “NEW CREATION”. When you RECEIVE the Gospel of salvation, REPENT of your sins and RETURN to God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ, you are changed. The Bible says:

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) … if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The God Who separated light from darkness, water from earth. The God Who took a dead planet and turned it into a paradise, the God Who made Adam and Eve, the God Who set the universe in place around us – this God changes you.

You Are Changed By The Spirit Of God

The believer in Christ follows the Lord:

Romans 8:14 (KJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Believers follow God. We do not chase after SIN, but are led by our Savior.

You are not primarily driven by sinful desires. They may still be there, but your life direction, your wants and wills, move toward God. You are LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD. You believe the Word of God, the Scripture. Your heart seeks to follow the Lord Who saved you.

The Bible says in 1 John 4:1,

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (ESV)”

There are many SPIRITS in this world today.

When Satan revolted from God, He carried a third of the angels in revolt with him (Revelation 12:4). As Angels are “ministering spirits” (Hebrews 1:14), fallen angels are also spirits. We try or test the spirits to see if they are of God by comparing the message of the spirit to the Holy Scripture. What does the Bible say? When confronted with “The spirit of the world” (1 Corinthians 2:12) or Satan, the devil showed Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, he said to Jesus”:

Matthew 4:9 (NKJV) … All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.

Jesus “tried the spirit to see if it was from God” by focusing on the Scripture. He said:

Matthew 4:10 (NKJV) “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

Jesus quoted the commands of Deuteronomy 6:13-14 & 10:20 when He declared “IT IS WRITTEN”. God will not depart from His Word, the Bible.

When people repeatedly reject God’s Word and His Gospel, He sends a “spirit of slumber” (Romans 11:8) on them. But if, on hearing the Gospel you REPENT of your sins, and RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then God the Holy Spirit comes to your soul and changes you – and keeps on changing you.

Romans 8:15 (KJV) 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.

So many people resist coming to Christ in faith because they fear what they will lose. “I don’t want to have to give up my lifestyle”. Beloved, the most precious thing you have is your soul. When you are laying on your death bed, hours or minutes from leaving this earth, you will care little about how much money you have in the bank, how much fame or popularity you have. As you come toward the end of life’s present journey you will have fear. Our Lord Jesus said:

Matthew 16:26 (KJV) For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

What will you have as the clock ticks, and life ebbs, if you do not have Jesus? You will have the “spirit of bondage again to fear”. Bound to your sins, bound to the things of this earth, the treasures that are soon to pass, you have spirit of fear. The Christian has not received the spirit of this world, nor the spirit of fear. The Christian has received the Holy Spirit of God, the “SPIRIT OF ADOPTION”.

You were a child of Adam.
Christian, you are NOW a child of God.
He has adopted you, through the Blood of Christ.

It is commonly taught by false prophets that “God is the universal Father of all”, and that we are all by default “His Children”. This, indeed, is the spirit of error (1 John 4:6) and not the Spirit of truth. Jesus Christ said:

John 10:27 (NKJV) My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

The Child of God is led by the Spirit of God. The Child of God follows Jesus. The lost do not follow Jesus, nor are they led by the Holy Spirit. Therefore they are God’s CREATION but not His CHILDREN.

To be a Child of God, you must be “born again of the Spirit” (John 3:3, 7; 1 Peter 1:23). The Bible is very clear in its assessment of mankind. There are none righteous. There are none good but God (Matthew 19:17). The Spirit of truth declares that we are all orphaned from God because of Adam’s failure. Man refused to obey God in the Garden of Eden, and continued to refuse to obey God even after he was cast from that Garden. Man was orphaned from God because Adam – and we as his children – walked away from God. I was listening to Pastor Voddie Baucham preaching the other day when he said:

“The most foolish thing Adam did when he sinned was to run away from God and hide. When we sin, we should run toward God, for God is the Source of mercy and Grace.”

What did Adam do on sinning? He ran away from God, and hid himself. When God came into the Garden the Father asked “Adam, where are you?” (Genesis 3:9), not because God didn’t know where He was, but because God in love always reaches out to us, calling us to His side. Adam replied, “I heard you, and hid myself because I WAS NAKED AND AFRAID” (Genesis 3:10). Adam ran away. When God further inquired as to why Adam ran away, Adam once more ran from God by blaming others. He said,

Genesis 3:12 (NKJV) … The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.

To be saved, you need to run toward God, Who is mercy and grace. When we fill our hands with the forbidden God cannot put the best in them. We must empty our hands and come to Him on bended knee, recognizing that He alone is good, He alone is our Savior, Jesus alone is the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16).

Orphaned by sin we all need the Savior. God requires that all who would be in His family REPENT, and RETURN to Him through the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 10:13). The genuine Christian is the person who has seen themselves as orphaned, alone in this world without God. The genuine Christian realizes that they need to be received into God’s Family by Grace. The genuine Christian looks upon the Cross of Calvary with swelling heart, knowing the price that Jesus Christ paid for them. The genuine Christian has thrown themselves on God’s mercy – and has not been ashamed.

On the day that you believed and received Jesus Christ, you RECEIVED God’s overwhelming Grace. You also received the Spirit of adoption.

God the Holy Spirit came to live within you the day you called upon the name of Jesus. He now lives in you, just as Jesus has promised:

John 14:15-18 (NKJV) If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

The Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Adoption – comes to the believer and stays with us. He represents Jesus in our lives. Jesus went on to say:

John 14:26 (NKJV) But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

The Holy Spirit Brings The Believer
Into The Family Of God

Romans 8:15-16 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. (16) The Spirit ITSELF (Greek autos, pronounced ow-tos’) beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Before we go deep into this verse, I want to clear up a textual translation error. In verse 16 we are told:

The Spirit ITSELF beareth witness with our spirit

Word Study: The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit is not a “IT”, but a “HIM”. The Greek word autós (pronounced ow-tos’) should have been translated “HIMSELF”, and this is the translation found in the NKJV, NIV, ESV, CSB, NASB, Legacy Standard Bible, ASV, and Young’s Literal Translation – in short, the bulk of the translations in use today.

Further, we previously saw where, in John 14:15-18 & verse 26 our Lord Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as “HIM” and “HE” and not “it”. Later on Jesus told His disciples:

John 15:26 (NKJV) … when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

John 16:13-14 (ESV) When the Spirit of truth comes, HE will guide you into all the truth, for HE will not speak on HIS own authority, but whatever HE hears HE will speak, and HE will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for HE will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Masculine pronouns are repeatedly used by our Lord in describing the Holy Spirit. When Jesus told us to baptize, He said:

Matthew 28:19 (ESV) … baptizing them in the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity of God, and is a Person, the Third Person of the Godhead. We are told to:

Not GRIEVE the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30)
Not SIN AGAINST the Spirit (Isaiah 63:10)
Not LIE TO the Spirit (Acts 5:3), and
To OBEY the Spirit (Acts 10:19-21)
as He leads and guides us as God’s Children.

My commentary notes:

“The person-hood of the Holy Spirit is also affirmed by His many works. He was personally involved in creation (Genesis 1:2), empowers God’s people (Zechariah 4:6), guides (Romans 8:14), comforts (John 14:26), convicts (John 16:8), teaches (John 16:13), restrains sin (Isaiah 59:19), and gives commands (Acts 8:29). Each of these works requires the involvement of a person rather than a mere force, thing, or idea.

The Holy Spirit’s attributes also point to His personality. The Holy Spirit has life (Romans 8:2), has a will (1 Corinthians 12:11), is omniscient (1 Corinthians 2:10–11), is eternal (Hebrews 9:14), and is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7). A mere force could not possess all of these attributes, but the Holy Spirit does”

The Holy Spirit brings us into a personal relationship with God our Father.

ye have received the Spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father

Word Study: The phrase “Abba, Father” shows the Christian’s intimacy with God. When our Lord Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane, just before He was nailed to the Cross for our sins, Jesus used these words in praying:

Mark 14:36 {Jesus prayed} … Abba, Father, all things [are] possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

These are the words that the very Son of God used when addressing the Father in that dark garden. There …

Hebrews 2:9 … we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

As Jesus prepared to “taste death for every man”, to bear the full burden of our sins on His precious Body, He prayed.

“Abba – Father. Abba – Pater. There is nothing that You cannot do. Will You not take this cup of death from Me? Yet Abba – Pater, it matters not. I will do as You will, Blessed Father. I will drink of this cup if You so bid!”

Three times Jesus prayed “ABBA, FATHER”. And each time the Father told the Son, “No – though I love You with an infinite love, You must bear this burden. Only through You can salvation to mankind come.” Jesus knew this in His Godness, but in His humanity prayed as we pray when facing horror. The Bible says:

Galatians 4:4-7 (KJV) But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (5) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (6) And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (7) Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

The Son of God gave His life for you, dear Christian, so that you could be taken from the family of Adam and adopted into
the Family of God.

Every Christian has equal value to God. Every Christian is a child of God, a son or daughter. In the world people qualify and quantify people, but in the Kingdom of God:

Galatians 3:28-29 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (29) And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

You, dear Christian, are united in Christ. You are “heirs according to the promise”. This heirship was purchased at a terrible price. The hymn “I Gave My Life For Thee” says it best:

“I suffered much for thee,
More than thy tongue can tell,
Of bitterest agony,
To rescue thee from hell;
I’ve borne it, borne it all for thee,
What hast thou borne for Me?
I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee,
What hast thou brought to Me?”

When we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Did Jesus do this just to save us from hell?

Jesus Died And Rose Again To
Make Us HEIRS

Romans 8:16-17 The Spirit (Himself) beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

The Christian is a “JOINT HEIR WITH CHRIST”. The word translated “JOINT HEIR” is the Greek , sugkleronomos (pronounced soong-klay-ron-om’-os), which means “to be partnered with or bound together in a united state”.

Our interests are bound together now,
and into eternity.

What a joyous statement this is. We ARE joint heirs with Christ. This is the current state of the Christian. It is not we will be joint heirs, but WE ARE – but only with Christ. The Christian is covered by the righteousness of Christ. You are joint-heirs with Christ. As the Scripture says:

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (31) That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Someone asks, “How do you know after death that you will go to Heaven?” My answer is, “I am a JOINT HEIR WITH CHRIST”. When Jesus died, He rose again. He ascended into Heaven. I am bound to Him as a JOINT HEIR. Where He is, there I will be.

Someone asks, “As you go through the trials of life, are you not frightened as the lost are?” My answer is, “I am a JOINT HEIR WITH CHRIST”. Jesus and I are tied together as Sons of God. If I go through trials, Jesus goes with me. He has said,

Hebrews 13:5-6 (NKJV) He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

How can He leave me? We are JOINT HEIRS. He cannot, or God is a liar. And God is no liar!

When God looks at you, dear Christian, He sees a JOINT HEIR. As Jesus is, we shall be. Trials will come, but Jesus has promised:

John 16:33 (KJV) These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

The devil tempted Jesus, he will tempt you. This world will hate you, just as it hates Jesus. Why? Because you are are not of this world – you are of the next. You will be tried, but we are told:

James 1:2-3 (HCSB) Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, (3) knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

Jesus is with you. His Spirit indwells you. You are JOINT HEIRS. The great preacher and Pastor C.H. Spurgeon wrote:

“Would you take Job’s jewels but not his dung hill? Would you have David’s crown, but not his caves of Adullam and the rocks of the wild goats? Would you have your Master’s Throne, but not His temptation in the wilderness? … when you refuse the one, you relinquish all claim to the other. The co-heir is heir to the entire estate. … The joint heirship reaches from the gloomy patina of deep affliction up to the bright ineffable splendor of the throne of bliss.”

Romans 8:17 … And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

The Christian way of life is Christ’s way of life. We do not bind with the spirits of this world, but are bound to the Spirit of God. We are joint heirs with Christ. We suffer with Him, He suffers with us. We inherit with Him, He inherits with us.

Romans 8:18 (KJV) For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Yes, Beloved, we do suffer in this world. You will be maligned by the spirit of Satan, the spirit of bondage, the spirit of fear. But this suffering is nothing compared to the glory that shall be revealed or uncovered in us. One day we shall be with Jesus, joint heirs with Christ. We are joint heirs NOW, and will be joint heirs THEN.

The best is yet to come for the Christian. But every day is GLORIOUS because – dear Christians – we are bound to Jesus as JOINT HEIRS. And the indwelling Holy Spirit reminds us of our deep and intimate relationship with the Father.

I pray that you have given your life to Christ. May God the Holy Spirit speak to your hearts through this His Word. Amen.