DISTINCTIVELY CHRISTIAN
Opening Prayer
King Jesus, this day is Yours and I am Yours. I praise You for Your gifts, commands, and grace.
Read ROMANS 8:9–17
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[a] because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[b] his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
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.[c] And by him we cry, “Abba,[d] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Footnotes
- Romans 8:10 Or you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive
- Romans 8:11 Some manuscripts bodies through
- Romans 8:15 The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture; also in verse 23.
- Romans 8:15 Aramaic for father
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘… no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.’1
Think Further
It is the Spirit who makes us Christians (v 9). By the Spirit we are enabled to say ‘Jesus is Lord’, which we might call ‘witnessing confession’. By the same Spirit we can say ‘Abba, Father’ (v 15), which we might call ‘worshipping confession’. We worship the Father through the Son and by the Spirit. The Spirit bonds us through Christ to the Father so that we speak of ‘adoption to sonship’ (v 15). We are God’s children now (vs 14,16). To call God ‘Father’ means an intimacy of relationship like Christ’s own knowledge of the Father.2 If Jesus, the Son of God incarnate, shares this relationship with the Father uniquely and from eternity,3 we share in it by adoption. God chooses us to be his children. Christ the Son has made it possible and it becomes real for us by the Spirit.
We are close to the heart of the Christian revelation and to what makes it different from any other religious or spiritual path. We are part of the expanding circle of those who are being gathered into the divine fellowship that we call ‘the Spirit’.
By adoption as children we become heirs of God. Everything that is God’s potentially becomes ours. This is wealth beyond imagination. However, we may in the present be called to share in Christ’s suffering before we share in his future glory (v 17). We continue in our present bodily existence and are mortal, subject to death. By sharing in Christ we can be confident that as his mortal body was raised into immortality and glory so in the fullness of time will ours be (v 11). This leads to the resolve to live according to the new realm (v 9) into which we have been called. We no longer live according to the flesh but by the Spirit (vs 12,13).
Apply
Taste and see that the Lord is good’.4
Closing prayer
Lord, I pray for insight and sustenance, courage and strength to persist in growing towards Christ. I want to live with integrity and the sacrificial spirit that honors You.
1 1 Cor 12:3 2 Luke 10:21 3 John 17:5 4 Ps 34:8
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