Living as a Child of God.

Steve Gentry

[0:01] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. [0:03] Welcome to Village Church. [0:04] If this is your first time here, my name is Steve. [0:06] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:08] As always, I’m glad to see each and every one of you this morning. [0:12] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Romans chapter 8.

[0:15] We’re going to be starting in Romans chapter 8 verse 9 this morning. [0:20] By God’s grace, we’ll make it to verse 17 by the time that we’re done.

[0:26] There are two types of waiting that take place in the Christian life. [0:33] One is healthy, and the other is detrimental or unhealthy, whereas your life in Christ [0:42] is concerned. [0:43] The healthy waiting that’s involved in the Christian life when God is our vision is the [0:53] and takes us home, where we will spend eternity with him, whether that happens at the end [0:58] of our lives or whether that happens during our lives.

[1:02] We anticipate, we live with an expectancy that there’s coming a day because of the resurrection, [1:08] because everything that Jesus said is true, where he will return and we will go to what [1:13] truly is our home to spend eternity with him. [1:17] But then there’s also a detrimental form of waiting, a waiting that’s very unhealthy. [1:21] And it’s really the waiting that often defines many people’s lives. [1:27] And that is the waiting for God to well up in me, an emotional response or an emotional

[1:34] feeling for me to actually pursue him, for me to actually worship, for me to actually [1:43] do things that translate into obedience in living the Christian life. [1:50] What I mean by that is, is if you wake up in the morning and you’re just not feeling [1:56] it, you ever have those days? [1:59] I know I do. [2:01] You don’t really feel like a child of God.

[2:04] You don’t really feel like the Holy Spirit’s moving in you. [2:08] You don’t really feel like there’s anything emotionally invested in your life. [2:13] So you just don’t feel like being in the Word. [2:16] You just don’t feel like pursuing him in prayer. [2:19] You just don’t feel like serving him today or the next day or the day after that. [2:25] And so what you’re doing is you say, well, I mean, I just got to wait, God, because

[2:31] this is only valuable if I’m feeling your joy.

[2:40] That’s detrimental to your Christian life, but I would be willing to bet that that is [2:45] kind of maybe the baseline by how you are actually operating a significant amount of [2:52] the time in your relationship with God. [2:55] Maybe you’re here today because you felt like it. [2:59] You haven’t done that in a while.

[3:03] And what we’ll do when we live like that is we will actually look to God and say, why [3:09] aren’t you making this happen in me? [3:13] And all the while, God says, that’s not how it works. [3:18] Have I not done enough for you to believe that the pursuit of me is better than the [3:24] pursuit of all other things? [3:26] And the reality of why you are not feeling it is not because God has done something wrong.

[3:33] It is not because God is waiting around to actually make a move in your life. [3:38] It is because you are not responding in faith to all that God has laid out and living in [3:47] a relentless pursuit of everything that God has laid out in His Word and said, this is [3:53] what you live for. [3:56] This is what your life is to be defined by. [3:59] And so you will live in pursuit of a hundred other things.

[4:04] And then at the end of the day, after you’re done pursuing everything that makes you feel [4:11] valuable, God doesn’t feel very valuable, does He?

[4:16] All the while, it’s not God that needs to move, it’s you. [4:21] You need to move in a life of repentance. [4:24] And so what I mean to do today is I mean to take us into a section of Scripture in Romans [4:30] 8 where it really begins to transition over into what you’re actually to do and how you [4:38] are to anchor your identity, how you are to anchor into an objective reality that guides [4:49] every day, whether you feel it or whether you don’t feel it.

[4:55] And He addresses that. [4:58] Whether this is a day where you’re just, man, you’re just emotional and it’s just like [5:03] that the notes, that E minor chord is hitting you the right way and the hands are up, the [5:10] eyes are closed, you’re singing probably off key but you’re still belting it out.

[5:19] God doesn’t want you to anchor your faith into those moments. [5:24] Let me tell you, those moments are beautiful. [5:28] I love those moments. [5:30] But the problem with many of your lives is that you’re anchored into those moments and [5:34] those moments are so subjective and we never know when they’re going to come and that’s [5:39] why you’re just all over the radar.

[5:42] Just with every moving tide, it depends on how your faith is and whether you’re in the [5:47] Word and whether you’re actually praying. [5:50] God doesn’t want you doing that. [5:51] God wants you to anchor directly into the objective source of how life is actually to [5:58] be defined. [6:00] It is not that Christians don’t live in reality.

[6:03] It is that we base reality on the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. [6:09] And when you base your life there, that’s base camp, that’s the anchor, that’s where [6:15] you are, then everything else finds its definition through that lens. [6:21] And God wants you to be found there. [6:24] And here’s where there is. [6:25] Look in verse 9.

[6:28] The apostle Paul writes and he says, you, and you can read there, me. [6:34] Because Paul is talking to you. [6:37] You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. [6:42] If, in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you. [6:46] Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. [6:51] But, if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life

[6:57] because of righteousness. [6:59] If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus [7:05] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells [7:15] in you. [7:16] See, what you have there is the healthy waiting.

[7:20] He says, here’s reality. [7:22] Here’s how you live. [7:24] And you’re going to live that as you wait for the day where you’ll be resurrected from [7:32] the dead. [7:33] He says, that’s waiting. [7:36] That’s healthy.

[7:37] But everything that you do in life needs to be based on what it is that you are waiting [7:46] for. [7:48] And what you’re waiting for needs to be anchored in the objective reality of who Jesus is [7:55] and what Jesus has done and who Jesus says you are. [8:01] But He deals with some very basic truths in this passage as to why that is a day in and [8:11] day out struggle in your life.

[8:16] And He gives us His number one reality this morning, which is point number one, that the [8:20] power of indwelling sin is combated by the power of the indwelling Spirit. [8:27] The power of indwelling sin is to be combated by the power of the indwelling Spirit. [8:33] He gives you two realities, two things that are going on inside of you. [8:38] You have the flesh in you, you have the Spirit in you, and I love how He qualifies it. [8:43] He says, if you are actually in Christ.

[8:48] This is one of my favorite terms in Scripture, is therefore. [8:52] I love it. [8:53] It’s a term that we don’t use in life because we like to stop before the therefore. [8:59] You are alive in Christ. [9:02] Fantastic. [9:04] That’s it.

[9:05] No, that’s not it. [9:08] You’re alive in Christ. [9:09] Therefore, live for Him.

[9:14] And so we have an objective reality. [9:17] We anchor there. [9:19] We sit there. [9:20] We dwell on it. [9:21] We gaze at it. [9:23] We believe it’s true.

[9:25] And therefore, it changes the way that you live every single day. [9:31] I want to pause. [9:32] Points in this is if it doesn’t change the way that you live, if it doesn’t change the [9:36] way that you look at your life, then are you actually anchored in anything? [9:42] Or are you just drifting? [9:44] Are you just floating?

[9:47] God desires for you to be anchored in the rock solid reality of who Jesus is and who [9:54] then Jesus declares you to be. [9:57] Note that this is all jumping off of the reality of how the gospel works into your life. [10:04] He says, at the very beginning, there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [10:09] You’re free if you’re in Christ Jesus. [10:13] You owe God a debt that you can never hope to repay.

[10:17] So Jesus came and Jesus paid that debt for you because you were in debt to God. [10:23] Why? [10:24] Because of your sin. [10:25] Because you disobeyed Him. [10:26] Jesus came, took that debt onto Himself, paid it off, filled your account with an [10:32] unending supply of righteousness, and now you can walk through life with this great

[10:37] reality, I have no condemnation. [10:40] You can level any charge against me that you desire and I can still look back and [10:47] say, no condemnation where God is concerned.

[10:54] All of those charges are probably going to be true.

[10:58] But guess what? [10:59] No condemnation. [11:00] Why? [11:01] Jesus.

[11:03] I will never stand before God for my sins. [11:09] Why? [11:09] Because Jesus paid the price.

[11:14] But what kind of effect does that have on a child of God? [11:17] So he jumps off of that and he says that that rewires the way that you think. [11:24] That rewires the way that you look at this world. [11:28] That rewires the way that you look at your purpose. [11:30] It returns you to the life that God actually created for you to live in relationship with [11:39] Him, where you are actually filled with a love for a life in which God makes demands

[11:46] and you seek to actually live for them.

[11:50] And it starts in your mind. [11:52] It starts in your values. [11:54] It starts in your desires. [11:56] It starts in your passions. [11:58] And it starts in the actual gut, passionate worship of God in which you do not just come [12:07] before Him because you have to.

[12:11] You come before Him because you want to. [12:16] There’s a marked difference between those two. [12:19] Some of you are here because you feel like you have to. [12:23] And so you’re just not feeling it.

[12:26] But some of you are here because you want to. [12:29] And you’re like, give me the Word of God because I live by it. [12:33] And that’s where God wants you to be. [12:36] So how do you get there? [12:38] That’s what he starts talking about in verse 9. [12:40] Because at the end of verses 7 and 8, he started giving you this reality.

[12:44] He says that when you are not in Christ, you will be hostile to the things of God. [12:51] Inventory check. [12:52] Take a check of the reality. [12:53] But when God makes a demand or when you are confronted with how you are living wrong in this life, [12:59] do you reply with repentance or do you respond with, no, I’m going to do whatever I want to do. [13:07] Because this is a life that I’m building and nobody can tell me otherwise.

[13:12] Well, one is the response that God wants to get you to. [13:15] In the New Testament, the Old Testament is filled with it. [13:16] It’s called repentance. [13:17] It’s a change of mind. [13:19] It’s a change of desire. [13:20] It’s a change of course.

[13:22] The second though, reveals a fruit that Paul wants to combat today.

[13:31] Because if you are hostile to the things of God, you need to take a look inside of your life [13:35] and ask yourself a very important question. [13:38] It’s where everything is going to lead us today. [13:41] Are you actually in Christ? [13:44] Because if you are in Christ, God gives you the power to obey.

[13:53] Many of your spiritual lives are hinging on this important truth this morning. [14:00] That you want to be in Christ. [14:02] You look at the value that God gives us in the Gospel and you say, no condemnation. [14:08] That’s beautiful. [14:09] Heaven. [14:10] That’s beautiful.

[14:10] Standing before God authentically clean. [14:15] Where he sees you and he sees the life of Christ. [14:18] And you say, I want that. [14:20] And then he says, well if you have that, here’s the life it gives you. [14:23] Oh, I don’t know about that.

[14:26] And so the therefore is very important. [14:30] And you look in the text and what is he telling you to do? [14:34] Well, he’s telling you to believe what he’s already said about the Gospel. [14:37] In Romans chapter 6, let me remind you of something that he’s already said. [14:40] In Romans chapter 6, starting in verse 10, here’s what the apostle Paul said. [14:44] He said, talking about Jesus, he said, for the death that Christ died, he died to sin.

[14:50] Once for all. [14:53] It’s over. [14:54] It’s finished. [14:56] It’s dealt with. [14:58] But the life he lives, he lives to God. [15:04] So there’s something that comes after the death of your sin.

[15:08] Because there’s something that came after the death of Christ. [15:12] If we’re to live as Christ, we are not to live simply in the death of our sin. [15:18] We’re to live towards something else, which is where Christ lives toward. [15:22] What is that? [15:24] Life to God. [15:26] So you also, put the word I there, I also must consider yourselves dead to sin.

[15:38] And alive to God in Christ Jesus. [15:40] A key term in that text is consider.

[15:45] That is the role of faith in your life. [15:49] When you come to faith in Christ, let me tell you, it’s not plastic surgery. [15:55] Your face will probably look exactly the same. [16:00] That’s not going to change. [16:03] But your spirit is transformed. [16:06] What’s going on inside of you changes.

[16:10] Affections are awakened that weren’t there before. [16:15] Desires begin to kindle that haven’t been there before. [16:19] And your life now is spent trying to stoke those flames into actual lifestyles, [16:26] into actual actions, into actual abilities, and into actual movements where you’re going towards God. [16:33] But the only way that you can actually begin to do that is if you consider yourself in Christ.

[16:45] Faith says, I believe this, therefore I exist for this. [16:52] Therefore I will live for this. [16:56] And that is the role of the Holy Spirit and the life of a believer. [17:05] Because those realities are not just coming from inside of your spirit. [17:10] You’ve been given a brand new spirit in Christ. [17:15] Here’s what I want you to understand.

[17:16] When you sit around waiting for an emotional roller coaster to hit you, [17:21] to actually do something for Christ, you are misappropriating the role of the Holy Spirit. [17:28] Yes, the Spirit does need to have command of your emotions. [17:32] But he will not have command of your emotions until he has command of your choices.

[17:39] The Holy Spirit will not revolutionize your emotions until he has command of your decisions. [17:47] Until he has command of your actions. [17:50] Until he has command of where you willfully decide to set your path in every single day living. [18:01] Until then, you’re just going to be up and down all over the place and constantly looking for holy antidepressants.

[18:10] And that becomes the role of how you begin to look at your Christian life. [18:15] You go to scripture and you say, man, I’m struggling in my faith today. [18:18] I hope God gives me a word. [18:19] Blow a trumpet in Zion.

[18:24] I don’t have a trumpet.

[18:28] It’s over. I’m not a Christian.

[18:32] You see, when you only look at the work of the Spirit in your life through an emotional standard, [18:40] that’s as far as you get. [18:43] You must understand that not only does the Holy Spirit tap into your emotional being, [18:48] the Holy Spirit taps into everything in your being. [18:54] He does not just make up your feelings. [18:56] He makes up your everything and that translates into your feelings.

[19:03] When you are living for God in a Monday through Saturday reality, your Sunday morning is transformed.

[19:10] Because no longer do you just come for the fill up. [19:13] You come to fill others up and therefore you are filled up. [19:18] Because the life that you need from God in the work of the Spirit is one in which you believe you are who God says you are [19:28] because of the way that the resurrection transforms your life. [19:31] Therefore you begin to simply live in the reality that God has determined.

[19:39] Not in the one that you determine. [19:41] And you walk every single day through that. [19:44] If in fact.

[19:49] Note that phrase. [19:51] If in fact. [19:54] You see, Paul is always going to give us the truth of who we are in Christ and then challenge us with a very important question. [20:01] Are you in Christ? [20:04] Faith really is trusting that these verses are true and then living like they are true. [20:12] Don’t over complicate it to the extent that you can’t live it.

[20:18] Some of you are so over complicating your spiritual life that you are paralyzed to doing anything.

[20:27] You say, well I mean I don’t understand a lot of the scriptures. [20:30] Therefore I am totally incapable of doing anything for God. [20:35] I better go get this degree or this degree or that degree or this degree or that degree. [20:39] And then maybe once I understand it totally in the original languages and I buy all of the versions of Logos and I can read a Greek New Testament. [20:47] I don’t need all these English translations. [20:48] I got to go back to the original language and once I can go back to the original language and understand it.

[20:53] Once I learn to play the keyboard so that I can sing praises. [20:56] Once I know how to blow a trumpet in Zion. [20:59] Then maybe then God can use me. [21:02] Maybe then I’ll understand the work of God in my life. [21:05] Maybe then I can actually tell someone about Christ. [21:07] Maybe then I can begin to live the mission of Jesus.

[21:11] And God simply says, my son died for your sins, rose from the dead. [21:16] I’ve given my life into you. [21:18] Live for me.

[21:23] Live as if the fact that Jesus rose from the dead is true.

[21:33] You will begin to grow in ways that you never thought possible.

[21:40] You will begin to give your life over to God in ways that you never thought possible.

[21:47] Because you are simply saying, God, yes, you are actually God. [21:53] And I will give as much as I know of who I am. [22:00] To as much as I know of who you are. [22:06] And as I grow in both of those realities, I will continue to give more and more and more. [22:14] Friend, you are only responsible to obeying as much of God as you know right here and right now.

[22:26] You are not responsible for obeying what you don’t know. [22:31] The key is, is that you’re so worried about what you don’t know, [22:35] that you’re paralyzed with what you do know, and you’re doing nothing with it. [22:40] That is not the victorious life that God has for you. [22:47] That’s also not grace.

[22:51] Do you think a gracious God would throw a standard so far away from you, [22:57] that you can’t in any way grasp it, and then when you die, [23:01] never having seen that standard, be held accountable for that? [23:05] Does that sound like grace? [23:06] No, of course not. [23:10] In grace, God says, I know all the commands.

[23:15] Therefore, I’m going to send the one who knows all the commands. [23:18] And he’s going to pay the price for all the commands, for all the ones you never knew about.

[23:25] So just live in the reality that God has you, and as you grow, [23:29] you will give more and more of yourself over to Him. [23:32] If the power of Christ is in you, even though your body in this life will be weak, [23:42] will have struggles, will ultimately die,

[23:49] you will still be free to trust, follow, and obey [23:56] when everything’s falling apart, inside of you and outside of you. [24:01] Look at the reality that He gives us in verse 11. [24:03] Look at the beauty that He gives us. [24:05] He says, if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, [24:10] He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies

[24:16] through His Spirit who dwells in you. [24:18] That sounds like a God who’s very acquainted with the fact that you’re weak.

[24:25] That sounds like a God who’s very acquainted with the reality [24:29] that you’re going to have struggles in this life. [24:32] That sounds like a God who knows what’s going on in you, [24:37] who knows what’s going on outside of you, [24:39] and a God who looks at that reality and He says, [24:43] you should probably follow Me, because when it’s all said and done,

[24:48] I’m going to resurrect you to the immortal from what is actually mortal about you.

[24:55] So that’s a God that says, obey Me in light of what’s actually going to happen in the future, [25:01] because My promises are so beautiful. [25:04] I’ve heard it said by so many foolish people that you should do what is right simply because it is right. [25:10] If you’ve ever said that before, that’s okay, but it’s wrong. [25:14] Stop saying it. Now you know.

[25:19] You don’t do what’s right because it’s right. [25:23] That’s defeatist. That’s meaningless. [25:27] That says that My morality terminates on itself. [25:31] You do what is right because God promises through what is right, [25:38] goodness will come straight from His hand into My life in the resurrection. [25:43] So why do I obey God?

[25:44] Because God tells me that at the end of My obedience is a resurrected body [25:49] that will have eternal pleasure in His presence forevermore, [25:54] and I will deal with no weakness, but instead I’ll worship Jesus with My everything. [25:58] That’s something that I can hang My obedience on.

[26:03] That’s something that has meaning. [26:05] That’s something that goes past the actual act of obedience towards a beautiful reality of worship. [26:13] When you do right simply because you have determined that is right, the only person that gets worship is you.

[26:21] But when you do right in light of what God has promised in the gospel, who gets the worship? [26:28] God. [26:29] He gets the glory. [26:31] And that is exactly what God is after. [26:34] Though we will be weak and die, we will live by resurrection power. [26:42] Hope over death gives strength to do hard things and make hard decisions for the glory of God.

[26:57] See, God wants us to have a hopeful reality rather than a hopeless reality. [27:03] That hope is the promise that we base every decision on life in. [27:09] Why? [27:11] Why do we do that? [27:13] That’s what Paul explains to the rest of the passage. [27:16] Look in verse 12.

[27:17] In verse 12, the apostle Paul says, [27:20] So then, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. [27:26] For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. [27:30] But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the bodies, you will live. [27:36] For all who are led by the Spirit are sons of God. [27:41] For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,

[27:45] but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. [27:53] So number two this morning, find your identity in being a debtor to God. [28:01] And you say, that doesn’t sound very good. [28:04] I don’t want to be in debt to anyone. [28:07] Here’s the reality. [28:09] Alright, everyone’s in debt to God.

[28:12] You could be in here this morning and tell me there is no God, [28:14] and that’s why you’re in a debt to God. [28:17] You’re either in debt to God because you’ve sinned against Him, and judgment is coming. [28:24] Wrath is going to fall directly on your head at some point, [28:28] and you’re living under the reality of that debt that you owe to God. [28:32] Or you live under the reality that God has freed you from the debt of sin,

[28:39] and given you over into His glorious life, [28:44] and you’re in debt to Him because of that salvation. [28:47] Now which kind of debt would you rather have? [28:49] One ends in heaven, the other ends in hell. [28:52] I like the heaven part. [28:54] So that’s the kind of reality that I want to live in,

[28:57] and that’s the kind of reality that I do live in, but the fact is that’s still debt. [29:02] But sometimes it’s helpful to understand what you aren’t, [29:05] so that you can understand what you are. [29:07] And that’s why the Apostle Paul begins this section by saying, [29:12] you are not a debtor to the flesh. [29:14] But what does he say first?

[29:17] He says, we are debtors.

[29:20] It doesn’t take a great exegetical mindset to put those three words together and say, [29:25] hmm, I’m a debtor. [29:27] But he qualifies it first by saying what you’re not a debtor to. [29:30] You are not a debtor to the flesh, if you’re in Christ. [29:34] Why? What did Romans 8.1 say? [29:36] No condemnation.

[29:38] I have no debt to the flesh. [29:40] But Paul wants you to give over into the reality of what that means. [29:45] Now in the culture that this was originally written in, [29:48] in the New Testament, being a debtor was synonymous with being a slave or a bond servant. [29:55] You had a debt to someone, therefore you had to work that debt off. [30:02] And so that’s the mindset that Paul is riding towards.

[30:05] So it would have made perfect sense in that culture what he’s saying there. [30:08] But when you are in Christ, understand that your debt to this world is over. [30:13] You are not bound by the restrictions of a person who is dead in his sin. [30:18] You are free, therefore live like it. [30:21] But if you measure your life by the same standards as someone without the life of Christ, [30:29] then you measure it with the rule of death.

[30:33] You are measuring it by a standard of something that you are no longer in debt to. [30:38] Imagine paying a credit card off. [30:40] I mean that day finally came. [30:42] I mean you called Dave Ramsey, yelled at him that you’re debt free and all this stuff. [30:47] And you’re just like, wow, this is great. [30:50] You whip out that Amex and you’re like, you know what, it’s got a zero balance.

[30:54] But I really like those guys. [30:57] I want to make sure that company is okay. [30:59] So I’m going to continue to mail $100 a month to Amex.

[31:07] Foolishness. [31:09] You go tell your friends, they’re going to look at you and say, are you crazy? [31:13] You’ve got to keep giving them money. [31:15] Well, absolutely.

[31:18] See, that’s the analogy that Paul wants you to get in your mind right here.

[31:23] God says you are living bound to a world where the best that you’ll ever have is what you’ve got right now. [31:33] Because in the end, it’s going to get worse.

[31:39] And Jesus frees you from that. [31:41] Jesus, this is as bad as it’s ever going to get. [31:45] And God’s right hand are pleasures forevermore. [31:48] And that’s what you’ve got waiting for you. [31:49] I free you from being bound to the rule structure and the vision and the dreams that people who don’t have faith in Jesus Christ are limited by. [32:01] I free you with that.

[32:03] But you are so stuck in a worldly mindset that you keep making payments on bills that are already paid off.

[32:15] God says you need to live by faith. [32:19] Here’s how 1 John 3, 9 puts it. [32:22] The Apostle John writes, he says,

[32:31] Friends, before you start saying what does that have to do with this, understand he is not solely speaking of what you consider a moral act. [32:41] He is speaking of that. [32:43] But that’s not all he’s speaking of. [32:45] See, we read that verse and we’re like, well, you know, don’t drink, don’t cuss, don’t smoke, don’t do drugs, don’t run with those who do. [32:52] Okay, I’m not going to keep on sinning.

[32:56] That’s not doing that. [32:57] See, we love to throw out the sins that we’ve never struggled with, don’t we?

[33:03] Like, well, I’ve never struggled with that before I even came to faith in Christ, so I’ll just keep not struggling with that. [33:08] Fantastic.

[33:12] No, he’s not solely speaking of those acts. [33:15] Couple that with the reality of what he talks about in Romans 8, 13. [33:20] Look at there again. [33:21] He says, [33:22] For if you live according to the flesh, you’ll die, but if you live by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. [33:32] What do you think it is when you refuse to live by the faith that God says you should define your life by?

[33:43] You are making a practice of sinning. [33:47] We need to understand that a continuous life of finding your identity and investing all of your value in the things of this world is a pattern of sin that denies the Gospel. [34:02] You see, 1 John 3, 9 speaks of God’s seed abiding in us. [34:08] That is the power of the Spirit that transforms us, that brings us to life. [34:13] But he also is painting a word picture. [34:16] He’s saying that God’s seed, which is synonymous with his Spirit, has been sown in you by God.

[34:23] What happens to seeds, though, when you water them and feed them? [34:28] They grow. [34:30] And so when you couple these two texts side by side, the Holy Spirit will grow in you to develop a new life under new standards with new values, new affections, new desires, and new avenues of obedience to God, the older you get and the longer you follow Jesus. [34:56] When was the last time you obeyed God in a new way?

[35:06] You see, we struggle with that when we equate our lives in Christ under those terms. [35:14] But that is how God wants us to look at our life with him. [35:18] He wants it to be a vibrant relationship where God feeds us with the power of his Spirit. [35:24] He feeds us with the power of his Word. [35:26] He feeds us with the power of prayer. [35:29] And we grow and we grow and we give ourselves over.

[35:33] We begin to sacrifice in ways that we never thought possible, but with joy so that we can have more of God than we ever had before, so we can worship him greater than we did yesterday, today. [35:47] Friends, when you misunderstand the Gospel to mean simply, I live for what I want now and in the end, heaven.

[36:04] You misconstrue everything that the Scriptures tell us that the Gospel is about right now. [36:12] You see, in Romans chapter 8, Paul deals with your life now. [36:19] And the effects that the Gospel will have on it now.

[36:24] Because he wants us to understand the reality of what verse 15 is talking about. [36:28] He says, 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.

[36:46] See, when we live in the slave standards of this world and this life in the same way that everybody without Christ lives, what kind of seeds are we sowing in our life?

[37:00] Spirit of slavery of sin. [37:04] Friends, when you do that, you are making statements about your identity. [37:09] You are making statements about what you treasure. [37:12] You are making statements about who you worship. [37:15] And what he tells us in verses 12, 13, and 14 is that if you live by the flesh, you will die according to the flesh. [37:25] With no hope of resurrection.

[37:28] With no hope of pleasures forevermore. [37:32] Friends, being in debt to God is freeing rather than enslaving. [37:39] In the book of Acts, Christians were often referred to as the people of the way. [37:47] Because Jesus had told his disciples in John 14, 6, he says, I’m the way.

[37:53] No one comes to the Father but by me. [37:56] They were referred to this way because of the way that they lived their lives focused on Jesus. [38:03] Riveted by who he is. [38:05] Riveted by the fact that he rose from the dead. [38:11] Those are our ancestors. [38:13] That is the line that we come from.

[38:18] What you need to understand is that your life is a testimony of what you believe.

[38:27] Your life adds validity to the preaching of the good news. [38:34] Is it true about you? [38:38] You see Pastor John Piper put it this way, he puts it so well. [38:43] Everyone is looking for real freedom.

[38:46] But real freedom is found in doing whatever you want to and not regretting it in a thousand years.

[38:58] You see, that is real freedom.

[39:04] This is reminiscent of the obligation that Paul spoke about in Romans chapter 1 when he wrote this. [39:11] He says, I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to the barbarians. [39:17] Both to the wise and to the foolish. [39:20] So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. [39:25] Look at this, we don’t like this obligation. [39:28] We don’t like to feel like we have to do something.

[39:30] We don’t like to feel like we are responsible for anything. [39:33] Why? Because it limits us. [39:37] It limits what we can do. [39:39] It limits where we can invest our time. [39:41] It limits where we can invest our money. [39:44] It limits where we can invest every gift that God has given into our lives.

[39:49] But look at the way Paul wrote it. [39:50] He says, I am obligated to take the gospel to people who don’t have it.

[39:56] Then look at what he says about that obligation. [39:59] He says, I am eager to fulfill it.

[40:10] You see, the limiting aspect of the gospel in your life is not to keep you from joy.

[40:17] The limiting aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ are so that you can actually have real joy. [40:26] Your commitment to the gospel needs to limit what you can do in relation to the things of this world. [40:37] But many of us live with such a commitment to the things of this world that it limits what we can actually do for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[40:51] Thirdly, this morning I want you to understand that if you are a child of God, you will live for God. [40:59] Note, in verse 12, he says, we are debtors. [41:06] And then he goes on in this long tirade of what you are not a debtor to.

[41:11] But then he never pauses and says, okay, here is what you are a debtor to. [41:16] But he reveals what we are a debtor to if we are careful to read it and not miss it. [41:21] Here is what Paul wants you to understand that you are a debtor to. [41:25] When he starts talking in verse 15, he says it this way. [41:28] He says, you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. [41:33] He says, you are not in debt to this world. You are not a slave to this world.

[41:40] Here is what you are a debtor to. [41:43] He says, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba, Father. [41:53] The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God if children heirs, [42:01] heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. [42:12] Speaking of our debt, he gives us this long chain of realities of the benefit of knowing Jesus Christ. [42:21] He says, you go from being an outcast to where God finds you so lovely because of what his Son has done.

[42:29] He sees you through the same lens that he sees his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. [42:34] The one who when he was baptized was lifted up into the air and the Father sends a dove on him. [42:39] He says, this is my Son in whom I am well pleased. [42:43] The same Son who says, not my will be done, but Father, your will be done. [42:49] The same Son who goes to the cross, dies because Hebrews 12 says, of the joy that laid on the other side of that terrible death, [42:59] the joy of bringing glory to God the Father.

[43:04] God sees you through that lens when you are his child.

[43:09] He adopts you. [43:11] Adoption is such a beautiful metaphor of what the Gospel is.

[43:17] In those times, adoption was a big deal.

[43:22] Families would spend huge sums of money in Rome to adopt sons [43:30] because they wanted their family line to go forward, specifically if they were nobility.

[43:38] But in Rome, the laws were written in such a way that an adopted child had more rights to the family name than even a biological child had.

[43:50] Adoption laws were written in such a way that if you adopted a child, [43:55] you had to leave that adopted child the same portion of inheritance that you left your biological children. [44:03] Adoption laws were written in such a way that if you adopted a child, that adoption could never be voided for any reason. [44:13] You were an heir to that family. [44:17] You lived under the identity to that family. [44:21] Your name was changed to reflect that family.

[44:27] And you could never be kicked out of that family.

[44:32] So do not take it lightly when Romans 8 says, you want to talk about debt? [44:37] How about the debt where God pays all of the bills and then looks at you and says, you are my baby.

[44:47] You don’t have to come before me in fear. [44:51] You don’t have to come before me in trepidation. [44:54] You don’t have to come before me like I’m not your father. [44:57] You don’t even have to come and give me this reverent, oh, Holy Father, eternal one who created all that is. [45:06] You’re the king of all holiness. [45:08] Let me go through all of your attributes before I ever feel comfortable actually having a real conversation with you.

[45:13] No, in the original language, that term, Abba, father is the same term that my son says in the middle of the night [45:20] when he has the audacity to wake me up for no reason. [45:23] And he just comes in my bedroom and he says, daddy, why does my son feel the freedom to do that?

[45:35] Because he knows that when all hell is breaking loose, when life is falling apart, [45:44] when there’s nothing he can depend on, he can come to daddy and daddy will care.

[45:54] Daddy will be there. [45:56] Daddy will help.

[46:00] God says, that’s how I see you.

[46:06] You can come to me whenever you want to. [46:09] I’ll always be here. [46:11] I’m not going anywhere. [46:12] I can’t kick you out of my family. [46:15] I wouldn’t want to kick you out of my family. [46:17] I see you the exact same way.

[46:20] I see the one who died for your sins. [46:25] Your identity is rewritten before God.

[46:30] He sees you the same way he sees his only begotten son. [46:36] How do I know that? [46:37] Because what does the text say? [46:39] He says, if we’re children, if we’re children, then we are heirs. [46:49] Heirs of God. [46:51] Fellow heirs with Christ.

[46:57] You see, God would not have us confused about our standing with him in the future. [47:07] He says, you want to know what the future holds?

[47:11] Look to Jesus.

[47:15] Resurrection.

[47:19] Ascension.

[47:21] We’re going to be in the throne room. [47:25] We’re going to belong there. [47:28] We’re going to find our identity there. [47:31] Nothing will ever take that away. [47:38] And then God says to the Apostle Paul, he says, live like it.

[47:46] Do not limit what you can do for this world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[47:58] Don’t limit the effects of the gospel because you feel like you have to live a certain way to get all that you can out of this life. [48:09] You live with reckless abandon for the gospel because when everything else falls apart, there’s only going to be one thing that’s still true. [48:16] And that is that Jesus rose from the dead so that you will never have to pay a single penalty for your sins. [48:24] I’m a debtor to God and I am so thankful for that reality.

[48:32] Because the kingdom is mine. [48:35] And friends, if you’re in Christ, I want you to understand something very important right now.

[48:43] It’s yours.

[48:47] I’m going to close a little bit differently this morning.

[48:53] I want to close by taking a time of inventory with you.

[49:00] As days go by, as we endure through this life, there can be times where faith is hard to hold on to. [49:11] Where our identity in Christ is tough to believe sometimes. [49:17] Sometimes it’s because of personal sin. [49:21] And sometimes it’s because of someone else’s sin. [49:24] Sometimes it’s just because sin affects this world in such amazing ways.

[49:32] The kingdom seems so far off. [49:36] When that happens, what I want you to understand is that texts like this [49:42] so that you will hold on to what God says about you before you ever believe what anything else in this world has to say about you. [49:57] Let God be true, though everyone else were a liar.

[50:03] So where you’re seated this morning, every hip bowed, every eye closed.

[50:15] Take some moments of inventory.

[50:21] The scriptures say that we are heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Christ.

[50:30] How did Christ suffer?

[50:36] He made the greatest sacrifice for you that’s ever been made. [50:43] And so God necessarily does call us into lives of sacrifice.

[50:51] Sometimes it’s emotional, sometimes it’s physical. [50:54] Sometimes it’s material. [50:57] Sometimes it’s relational.

[51:02] But what God wants you to know is that those moments of sacrifice are not signs that you don’t belong to God.

[51:11] Those moments of sacrifice are beautiful pictures that you do belong to God.

[51:20] If the Spirit is in you saying, I will endure this for the glory of my King so that the Gospel can move forward through me.

[51:35] For just a moment, how has God moved in your life recently?

[51:45] How have you obeyed him in ways that you never knew you could before?

[51:51] What are you sacrificing right now for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to go into your life and into the lives of others?

[52:01] How’s the Spirit moving in you?

[52:07] And then finally, if you’re struggling right now, how does he need to move?

[52:17] Let’s worship Jesus.