Therefore brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 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.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 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. Romans 8:12-17
When we placed our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we were born again. We were made new in Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). It was prophesied from the Old Testament: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27) We received a new spiritual heart as this promise to Israel is proclaimed. We have been chosen by God to live as His redeemed people, in the newness of life. Now, how does a new creature in Christ grow in a life of obedience? Our natural thinking might assume that a Christian could grow in obedience by simply doing his best to walk in the will of God. But then, how would you interpret Ezekiel’s prophecy: “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.” It is through the help of the Holy Spirit that we put to death the deeds of the body or that they become subservient and the spirit becomes dominant. The Holy Spirit is to be the heavenly dynamic in developing a life of obedience.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God—Is my life being led by the Spirit of God? One of the ways I can tell is when the Spirit is leading me sometimes through fiery trials, there is given illumination divinely clarifying Scripture to make it understandable for me that enables me to withstand the ground I’m on. Meaning God has given us a life that is to remain steadfast in the places for which He has placed us in, To be still, and know He is God (Psalm 46:10). He is delivering me, and He is entrusting me with these circumstances I’m in, so that I will remain faithfully strong in dependence on Him. Divinely enabling us to obey Scripture. As you look at you life, can you honestly say, “Yes, my life is being led by the Spirit?” The Scripture does warn us not to be deceived, The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. We ought not to deceive ourselves into thinking more highly ourselves than we ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.
For you have not received the spirit of bondage—That is, the bondage to our flesh (old life) any longer. A disobedient life would include attitudes and actions that our fallen sinful physical bodies would naturally crave. These are to be taken the cross, to be rendered as crucified with Christ. Paul, in his epistle to the Colossians wrote: Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them (Colossians 3:5-6). The Holy Spirit dwelling in every believer wants us to respond properly by His enabling us concerning such matters. They are overcome through our yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).
But you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”— The work of the Holy Spirit is not automatic nor robotic. Rather, it is a relational matter. God is a superior trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit. Man is an inferior trinity: spirit, soul, and body. And man meets God in the area of the spirit, and it is there realized in our lives through humble dependence on His power that we now can and will overcome this flesh by faith in believing in Him and His Word. When the Samaritan woman asked Jesus “Where do we worship God?” Jesus answered her, “Woman, the day is coming, and now is, when they that worship God neither worship in this mountain nor in Jerusalem. For God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). God is a Spirit, so the place I meet God is the place of the spirit. Now if I am living for self, then I am a living body, soul, and spirit. Yet, I cannot have then no fellowship with God, as long as I’m being dominated by my body appetites and natural lusts. This is our problem. Our old nature still wants to rule! I have no fellowship with God, because God will not deal directly with my flesh, my body. If I’m ruled by my body I have the mind of the flesh, which is spiritual death, and separation from God.
Beloved friend, It is when we depend upon the Holy Spirit to lead us in the path of obedience that we truly live as obedient children of God. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14) Thus I am united with God, and I have fellowship with God. He speaks to me through the Holy Spirit by revealing His Word to me. I have all the assurances the Bible promises to those who are born again. And so do you, if you have surrenderd your life to Him. Being led by the Spirit is truly the only way to live this earthly life. You will be a great blessing to your families, neighbors in your community, and also to your co-workers and friends. I am now a child of God, and heir of God, and co-heir with Christ. Indeed, I will suffer in this life, but God will always be with me. A true independence day, is when someone gives their life to Christ, for he is then set free from condemnation of sin, and is born again of the Spirit of God. And therefore have been enabled to enter His rest and become His righteous children. Praise the Lord! And Happy Independence Day!
May the Lord bless your walk with Him today!
