September 11, 2013

Romans 8:15 — For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

I thought I would be writing about something else today, but two separate news items caught my ear and came together into this theme.
The first story, not surprisingly perhaps, was the anniversary of the terrible events on September 11, 2001. Do you remember the atmosphere after that day? Some fear, certainly, but also a renewed patriotism and a seeking after The Lord.
The second story was about school supplies. Armored school supplies! How terrible a world we live in when there is a sense that our children need to be armor-protected to go to school.
When Paul talks about “a spirit” there is a conscious bringing together of two distinct ideas. There is the notion of “a spirit” that is a characteristic — such as “bondage to fear” — that conditions our behavior. Then there is “The Spirit”, the Holy Spirit inspiring us with more positive characteristics — such as a sense of adoption — that displace the negatives.
Why is there a spirit of fear abroad in our nation? It is surely because there is not the Spirit of adoption! I feel a need to pray for a revival to sweep through — a flood of people to accept Jesus as their Lord and Master and, at the same time, to join every other Christian as co-heirs with Him.
This is what is accomplished at the moment of salvation by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit enters a life and into the new believer, that new believer receives the Spirit of adoption. It is the Gift of God.
The gift carries more weight than might be obvious today. It might seems difficult to adopt a child today, but so it was under Roman law. More significantly for us, once it was done it could not be undone. An adopted son could not be disinherited. The truth Paul is communicating is that the Christian, once claiming Jesus as Lord, can never be rejected.
We are adopted. We can approach boldly to the throne of grace, climb up into Abba’s lap, and enjoy the intimacy we have as our inheritance!
Christians have no right to embrace a spirit of fear. But what if there aren’t many Christians?
It is said that the Greek philosopher Aristotle was first to assert that “Nature abhors a vacuum” Aristotle based his assertion on the observation that nature fills everything with something, even if that something is invisible fresh air! Now the physics may not be strictly accurate but the corresponding spiritual truth is. There is a spirit of fear, or a Spirit of adoption.
We have driven God out of schools and are increasingly isolating Him in our lives and our society. There is no Spirit of adoption and a spirit of fear has entered to fill the vacuum.
The answer is not armor-plated school supplies, but the whole armor of God.The Christian response — our task — is to introduce people to their Savior and open up a path for the Spirit of adoption.