Romans 8:12-17
by:
Dan Hill, PhD
Pastor, Southwood Bible Church
7655 South Sheridan Avenue
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74113
E-Mail: hill918@aol.com
ROMANS 8:12-17 THE APPLICATION OF OUR POSITION:
In these verses Paul lifts the believer out of the muck and mire of sin
and death and places him in his new position as a child of the King, a Son
of God, an Heir of the Father, and a joint heir with Christ.
Romans 8:12
So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live
according to the flesh . . .
The "So then" sets up an immediate conclusion to the previous
context which dealt with our position and potential.
"Brethren", Paul is addressing believers.
"We are under obligation."
The word "obligation" is OFELIETJS and means when it is followed
by an infinitive to be morally bound to perform a duty.
Galatians 5:3, "And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision,
that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law."
Receiving circumcision for spiritual advancement makes the person morally
bound to the whole law. So what Paul does grammatically is makes the living
in the flesh and according to the flesh the infinitive phrase.
Hence, we are not morally bound to the flesh or to live according to the
flesh.
Romans 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.
Our obligation is to live by the Spirit but this is not an infinitive so
we are not morally bound to do this.
We have freedom, we have liberty, we chose by faith to live by the Spirit.
The obligation we face is a response to what God has done for us. We should
view it as a debt, as an obligation, but it is an obligation in the midst
of the freedom God gives us.
Paul had good reason to believe that these believers in Rome where walking
in the Spirit.
A result of being lead by the Spirit or walking in the Spirit is given here:
"You are putting to death the deeds of the body."
This is not a condition this is a result!
Romans 8:14
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Here Paul equates being led by the Spirit with our sonship.
Notice that here and in the next verse Paul uses the word SONS while in
verse 16 he uses the word CHILDREN:
The use of these terms help us understand the work of the Spirit in us:
1. When we were saved God gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
From the moment of faith alone in Christ alone we have the indwelling Holy
Spirit.
2. God the Holy Spirit ministers inside of us, to the human Spirit giving
us an assurance of faith.
3. This assurance of faith looks back with confidence at salvation, to the
present as we have faith dependence in all that God provides, and into the
future as we look ahead to eternity with Christ.
Romans 1:17, "For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith to faith; as it is written, But the righteous man shall live
by faith."
4. We are taught by the Word of God through the ministries of the Spirit
that we can live by faith.
Romans 10:17, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word
of Christ."
5. There is no condemnation for sin (Romans 8:1) so sin is taken care of
by confession, restoring fellowship with God.
Sin is not the problem, the flesh is the problem as it tries to live the
spiritual life according to some system of human merit or some ridged system.
6. If we are led of the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, having been filled
with the Spirit, we are SONS of God.
7. In Galatians 4:5-7 [Christ came] in order that He [God] might redeem
those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into
our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! Therefore you are no longer a slave,
but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
What Paul does in these four verses (vv 14-17) is relate the indwelling
Spirit to every believer in Rome who would be reading this epistle: Jews,
Greeks, Romans . . .
1. The Jewish Christians would relate to the idea of being a
Son of God, v 14.
To be a SON meant that you had the characteristics of your FATHER, as we
say a chip off the old block. To be led by the Spirit as one walks in the
Spirit would see the believer conformed to the image of Christ who is the
image of the Father.
2. The Greeks understood slavery and the phrase Abba, Father, while a Syrian
term was also used by the Greeks to express the idea on one's own father,
or dear father. So instead of a spirit of slavery, many of the Greeks had
be forced into Roman slavery, there is a spirit of adoption (understood
by the Romans) that draws the believer near to God as his dear Father, in
his walk in the Spirit.
3. The Romans understood the practice of adoption of one's own child as
a Son with full rights as a legal heir.
In v 17 they are told that what the Spirit does makes them not only heirs
of God but joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
Galatians 5:18 also speaks of being led by the Spirit: "But if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law."
We know that believers try to live according to the works-law principle
but the Holy Spirit will always lead the believer to greater liberty and
in that liberty there will be a reflection of God's divine nature.
READ 2 Peter 1:4 through 11.
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!
We could take this all the way back to Genesis 3 and the fall when Adam
and the woman hide from God in fear.
The human spirit is not designed to fear God but to draw near to God as
our dear Father.
The term ABBA, FATHER is used here and in two other places in the NT:
Mark 14:36 "And He [Jesus in the Garden] was saying, Abba! Father!
All things are possible for Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what
I will, but what Thou wilt."
By the Holy Spirit, who was leading Jesus to the Cross, our Lord could put
his faith and trust in the Father to do what was not only necessary but
best for Him.
Galatians 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of
His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father!
As in Romans 8:15 it is the Holy Spirit who does this in us as we are led
of the Spirit, walking in the Spirit.
Romans 8:16
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children
of God.
Remember that the human spirit in us is that new disposition that allow
us to will to do the will of God.
It is the Holy Spirit in us that ministers and testifies to the human spirit.
Romans 7:22, "For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner
man."
Yet his joyful concurrence was not followed by obedience to the desire he
had to do the law.
The ministry of the Spirit to the human spirit will not only give the desire
but as we walk in the spirit will provide the power by which we can draw
near to God seeing him as our dear, Abba, Father.
So what we have in this work of the Spirit in us is the Spirit giving us
assurance of faith and production from His power as we walk in the Spirit.
I John 5:7, "And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit
is the truth."
READ 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 The Holy Spirit bears witness through the Word
of God.
Romans 8:17
And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with
Him.
Our double heirship: First, as heirs of God because we are children of
God.
Secondly, we are heirs because we are in Christ and we share with Him all
He is and all He has.
And it is from this that Paul makes a specific application. We will share
in the sufferings of Christ.
Philippians 1:29, "For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake,
not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."
Romans 8:18-25 details being sustained in suffering by the Spirit:
There is perhaps no greater time in our lives that faith is sharpened, concentrated,
clearly realized than under suffering.
When you can do nothing about the pressure, persecution, and problems you
are under the only thing you have to hold to in faith in God and what He
is doing.
1. Not all problems in life are designed to be solved
2. God gives mankind freewill and we suffer as a result of that freewill
3. God allows sin to continue in the world and we suffer the results of
sin
4. We live outside the Garden of Eden and in an imperfect world full of
disasters and disease and we suffer as a result
5. God allows us to suffer as He allowed His Son to suffer
6. In the suffering we face we are drawn not to solutions but to faith
7. In the sufferings we face we are drawn not to a system or a mechanic
or often not even a promise, but a Person.
We know that God is God and when we place faith in Him we are giving a living
testimony that He is who He is, the sovereign God of the universe.
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