Justified & Adopted
Romans 8 — It's sometimes called the greatest chapter, or certainly the greatest epistle. But even this chapter is probably the high point of Romans, the greatest chapter in the world. It begins on a blessed negative, you could say, and ends on a blessed negative. And in terms of our identity, there are two great doctrines that are highlighted here in Romans chapter 8. The doctrine of our justification, Romans 8:1, “There's now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” That's one great doctrine that helps us understand who we are in Christ. Then there's the doctrine of adoption. If you drop down to verse 14, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
Most of you probably have read a book by Dr. John MacArthur or have several books of his on your bookshelf. The first time I got exposed to him was when I was in Canada, and the first book I bought was I'm Not Ashamed of the Gospel. In that book, he captures Spurgeon's own dealings with the gospel and what was called the ‘downgrade controversy’, and he was fighting against major denominations that were denying the core truths of the gospel. And Spurgeon said at one point that,
Most of you probably have read a book by Dr. John MacArthur or have several books of his on your bookshelf. The first time I got exposed to him was when I was in Canada, and the first book I bought was I'm Not Ashamed of the Gospel. In that book, he captures Spurgeon's own dealings with the gospel and what was called the ‘downgrade controversy’, and he was fighting against major denominations that were denying the core truths of the gospel. And Spurgeon said at one point that,
"I fought this fight so hard, that it's killing me."
And so Spurgeon, I think he died maybe 3 or 4 years after what was called the downgrade controversy, was censured by the Baptist Union. But he was always fighting for the gospel, and so did Dr. MacArthur all of his life. And he says in that book, I'm Not Ashamed of the Gospel, that the strongest words of condemnation in our Bibles are against false teachers who corrupt the gospel. You think of Galatians 1, He says, “Let him be accursed anathema,” that's the strongest language you could use to anyone who preaches another gospel. And we can always be sure of this, the devil is always seeking to subvert, manipulate or disguise the gospel in any which way he can or undermine it. And you've probably heard of the identity thieves. Well, he's the greatest of identity thieves and no greater stealer, Jesus called him a thief. And he's constantly employing two great weapons, accusation and condemnation to forget who we are.
Justification protects our legal identity. Justification tells us that we are forgiven of all our sins, past, present and future. And justification should produce a tremendous sense of joy, gratitude, and also should impact our prayer lives. It encourages peace with God, we are at peace with God because of our justification. That should encourage honesty and transparency before God. Hebrews 4 says, “We come boldly to the throne of grace.” That's in light of our justification. Not only that, certainly our adoption, but we come boldly to the throne of grace, not an arrogant boldness, but our boldness and our justified security.
But there's another doctrine that gets emphasized here in Romans 8, and that's the doctrine of what has been called our relational security and freedom, our relational security and freedom. We are the beloved children of God, 1 John 3:1, “Behold what manner of love that we should be called the sons of God.”
And these might be the two greatest doctrines that we should keep in mind when we come to pray, who we are in Christ. We are the justified ones and we are the adopted ones, dressed in the perfect righteousness of Christ, but also welcomed as beloved children of God. I thought of those two parables that were discussed or mentioned last Sunday morning in Luke 18. That parable addresses our justification. Like the tax collector, we come home justified. And then, like that prodigal son, Luke 15, we came home to the Father who accepts us as His sons, and we enjoy the privileges of sonship. Those things that the Father does once the son comes home are really gifts of sonship. Think of what they are, the best robe, the ring of authority, sandals, (slaves went around in sandals; sons had sandals). So another manifestation of a privilege of being a son of God.
Those are the two great realities that we must keep in mind probably every day of our life. Who are we? We are no longer guilty criminals running and hiding from God, but sons who now draw near to God and talk to Him as our Heavenly Father. So as we go to prayer, let's just keep that in mind, brethren, who we are, justified and adopted.
Justification protects our legal identity. Justification tells us that we are forgiven of all our sins, past, present and future. And justification should produce a tremendous sense of joy, gratitude, and also should impact our prayer lives. It encourages peace with God, we are at peace with God because of our justification. That should encourage honesty and transparency before God. Hebrews 4 says, “We come boldly to the throne of grace.” That's in light of our justification. Not only that, certainly our adoption, but we come boldly to the throne of grace, not an arrogant boldness, but our boldness and our justified security.
But there's another doctrine that gets emphasized here in Romans 8, and that's the doctrine of what has been called our relational security and freedom, our relational security and freedom. We are the beloved children of God, 1 John 3:1, “Behold what manner of love that we should be called the sons of God.”
And these might be the two greatest doctrines that we should keep in mind when we come to pray, who we are in Christ. We are the justified ones and we are the adopted ones, dressed in the perfect righteousness of Christ, but also welcomed as beloved children of God. I thought of those two parables that were discussed or mentioned last Sunday morning in Luke 18. That parable addresses our justification. Like the tax collector, we come home justified. And then, like that prodigal son, Luke 15, we came home to the Father who accepts us as His sons, and we enjoy the privileges of sonship. Those things that the Father does once the son comes home are really gifts of sonship. Think of what they are, the best robe, the ring of authority, sandals, (slaves went around in sandals; sons had sandals). So another manifestation of a privilege of being a son of God.
Those are the two great realities that we must keep in mind probably every day of our life. Who are we? We are no longer guilty criminals running and hiding from God, but sons who now draw near to God and talk to Him as our Heavenly Father. So as we go to prayer, let's just keep that in mind, brethren, who we are, justified and adopted.
Posted in Pastor Devotional