02/12/F – Led from Slavery to Sonship

NT: “So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs — heirs of God and coheirs with Christ — if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” (‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:12-17‬ ‭CSB)

Warren Wiersbe, in his commentary on the New Testament, wrote, “It is not enough for us to have the Spirit; the Spirit must have us!” The operative phrase in this passage is “led by God’s Spirit.” The word for led has to do with us willingly allowing God’s Spirit to lay hold of us and direct us – much like a parent will take his child’s hand to lead the child through danger to safety. According to this passage, we can “have” the Holy Spirit but not be a child of God. Jesus said in Matthew 12:50, “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” The way that we are able to do the will of the Father is as we are led by God’s Spirit. It is also important to know that God’s Spirit does not force us to do things unwillingly, for in Christ we are not forced into slavery. We are adopted as son’s and daughters – so for us to experience all the rights and privileges of sons and daughters of God, we must willingly submit ourselves to the Spirit and allow Him to lead us into obedience. The Spirit doesn’t grab our hand and drag us. We have to take the Spirit’s hand and willingly go where the Spirit directs us. In Christ, we are no longer obligated to obey our flesh – but we are obligated (not forced) to obey God by grace through faith with the Holy Spirit. It is as we are willingly led by the Spirit into obedience that we become sons and daughters of God and joint-heirs with Jesus.

Psalms: “I pursue my enemies and overtake them; I do not turn back until they are wiped out. I crush them, and they cannot get up; they fall beneath my feet. You have clothed me with strength for battle; you subdue my adversaries beneath me… You have freed me from the feuds among the people; you have appointed me the head of nations; a people I had not known serve me.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭18:37-39, 43‬ ‭CSB)

The reason King David was able to be victorious over all his enemies was because he allowed the Lord God to lead him into battle. If you read through 1 and 2 Samuel, you will notice that David never engaged his enemies in battle without first seeking the Lord and getting His marching orders. David gained victory over his enemies by willingly submitting to the Lord’s leadership. In the same way, we are able to experience victory over our enemies (the world, the flesh, and the devil) by willingly submitting to the leadership of God by His Spirit. By submitting to the Spirit, we no longer have to be subdued by our enemies, but can instead bring our enemies into submission to the authority of Christ. As we are filled with the Holy Spirit and submit to the Holy Spirit, we are filled with strength for the battle and can, by the authority of Christ, see feuding voices silenced and the enemies of God in our life brought to submission.