Gospel of John [Joh 16:8]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 11. Rom 8:12-17; 1Jo 5:9-12; Joh 2:23-25.

Title: Gospel of John [JOH 16:8]. The Doctrine of the HS, part 11. ROM 8:12-17; 1JO 5:9-12; JOH 2:23-25.

 

The Spirit of Adoption (ROM 8:15) has reference to His revelation of our adoption as mature sons.

 

ROM 8:12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — 

 

ROM 8:13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

 

ROM 8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

 

ROM 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

 

So often in the history of the Church, after a boom of grace doctrine in the beginning of a client nation that there is a tendency to draw back to the law and bondage and therefore fear.

 

GAL 1:6

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;

 

As slaves of Christ we belong to Him and He rules us. As sons of God we give the service of a son and not the service of a slave that is afraid of his Master.

 

Reverence and fearfulness have different effects though they are in some respects similar. When a master is benevolent and gracious fearfulness is unwarranted and ignorant. When a master is a tyrant then fearfulness is common. When your Master or Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ fearfulness is ignorance of Him, while reverence and awe of Him is necessary gain true knowledge of Him.

 

God's wrath has been stilled forever in the sacrifice of Christ for all who have believed in Him. There should be no fear or anxiety for the son of God. To live as a mature son is to live such.

 

1PE 5:6-7

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

 

God the Holy Spirit is not a Spirit of bondage in which fear would be inspired as it was at Mt. Sinai at the giving of the Law, but He is a Spirit of adoption in that His ministry is to afford us complete assurance in our new relationship. We could then say that the first instance of spirit is the spirit of a man since the Jews did not receive the HS at Sinai and that spirit was a spirit of fear since they were so weak in faith. The second "spirit" in the verse refers to God the Holy Spirit which every believer received at salvation.

 

One of the ministries of GHS is to afford a complete assurance in the heart of the believer of his new relationship to God.

 

In the contrast of the fear felt by Israel at the giving of the Law the Spirit is given to set the child of God free from all fears and to reveal his magnificent standing as a mature and responsible son. As sons we have the duty or obligation as sons. It would be silly to be given a Spirit to free us from fear and also impart to our souls an obligation that would give us fear. There is no better life than living as a son of God, a child of light, one called to the same inheritance as the one pure born Son of God. Freedom and peace never means the absence of obligation. We are all under authority, not being God, and so we have to be in obligation to someone.

 

It is through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit that the believer enjoys by grace the experiential possession of all Christ's inheritance.

 

As with all things divine, God gives it in grace and then in grace reveals to us how to live in it and experience it in time. What more could a soul possibly need?

 

Abba - our tender relationship with our Father.

Father - our reverence and obedience to our Father.

 

Know that you are a son of God through the revelation of the Holy Spirit to your heart. Let Him show you the obedience and reverence of a mature son. Let Him show you the obligation of a mature son so that you may live the life of Christ in this time, a time when people so desperately need it themselves and need to see it in others.

 

ROM 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

 

First we must note that it is disastrous to build theology on experience alone. This has been done to great detriment to doctrine in what is called existentialism. Any experience can be counterfeited. Any experience that is correct and a response to a divine truth must be based on divine truth. Emotion without thought is empty.

 

Our witness of our relationship to God must be based on truth alone and then it can be enjoyed.

 

The word of God never says a child of God always feels a certain way or never feels a certain way. It is presented as a reality in the word of God for all who believe in the Church age and our experience of this stupendous reality must be based solely on that truth.

 

This witness of being a child of God could never come from man. It can only come from God. If not, it would never be believed.

 

1JO 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for the witness of God is this, that He has borne witness concerning His Son.

 

He has borne witness is referring to the outward, objective, biblical witness that must not remain on the page but must allowed to speak to our hearts.

 

1JO 5:10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son.

 

1JO 5:11 And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

 

1JO 5:12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

 

How many people live their lives based on the witness of men. They live and react according to the opinions of others. People believe teachers of progressivism. People believe the news, history books, the internet, social media, rumors, gossip, etc. and they make adjustments in their lives accordingly. Funny enough, they haven't met and don't know most of the people who give this information. 

 

ROM 3:13-14

"Their throat is an open grave,

With their tongues they keep deceiving,"

"The poison of asps is under their lips";

"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness";