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morning taking a slightly larger passage this morning verses 12-1
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17 going to read that I'd like to ask Tim failer if he pray for the ministry of the word this morning Romans 8 beginning in verse 12 so then brethren we are under obligation not to the flesh to live
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according to the flesh 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
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live for all who are being led by the spirit of God these are sons of God for you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again but you
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have received a spirit of adoption as Sons by which we cry out ABA father the spirit himself Bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and
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if children hirs also hirs of God and joint hirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him in order that we may
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also be glorified with him let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this understanding of our own nature
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your nature your character and your deliverance from sin from the law we thank you that you have offered this
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means by which we can be ple the slavery of the the teacher
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um recognizing our own shortcomings and yet now have the Fuller freedom of the spirit we ask that you grant us the
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renewal of our minds to allow us to walk with the spirit to understand your character
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to hear the spirit crying in US father we recognize this situation ourselves in Jesus name
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amen when most people especially Protestants think of the Reformation of the fif 16th century they tend to think of the theological doctrine of justification by faith and while that was a major theme
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of the Reformation certainly a major theme for Martin Luther there was another one associated with it that was perhaps more dangerous and therefore
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more offensive to Rome than the doctrine of justification by faith that was the doctrine of assurance the doctrine that Believers
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could be fully assured in this life that they were the child of God that they were fully and ultimately
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saved this was as I said very dangerous to the entire Roman Catholic establishment and very offensive to
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Roman Catholic theologians can a Believer be assured of his or her salvation we tend to take that for granted but in the 16th century it was
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not taken for granted at all can hope be firm and firm and enduring or me merely fleeting and ephemeral and can the hopes that can The
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believer's Hope be grounded on something other than good works the doctrine of assurance which really arose mostly from
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Calvin but the doctrine of assurance was a full-on attack against the whole sacramental structure of the Roman Catholic Church from priest to penance
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to Purgatory it was all based on the premise that you could not know surely and completely and infallibly that you were
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ultimately to be saved for Rome it was wholesome and beneficial for the Christian to entertain honest doubts in
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the high matters of justification and salvation such doubts keep him from an overweening confidence in himself minister to True humility of
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character and serve as a more salutary restraint to evil passions than joy and peace in believing ever could in other
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words keep them fearful and they'll remain faithful well that's the essence of all man-made religion because when you dispense of
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fear you dispense of the primary motivating force of most religions throughout history you dispense of the motivation that many people accuse as
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being used by Christianity and sadly even within Evangelical churches fear is the primary motive force of preaching keep the
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people afraid they will remain faithful that's the premise by which the Roman Catholic Church during the what is known as The
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Counter Reformation its response to the Protestant Reformation a little bit like closing the Barn Door after the horse is gone but from 1545 to
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1563 a number of councils meant in the Italian city of test the Council of Trent is what it is known as and Assurance was a major major issue upon
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which the Bishops and Cardinals and whatever that were gathered and one of their pronouncements one of their cannons States let no one herein promise himself anything as certain with an
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absolute certainty though all ought to place and Repose a most firm hope in God's help Hope but don't count on
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it what here again the meaning of God's help that there were to place and Repose a most firm Hope was the priesthood and
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the sacraments the sacraments that's where they were to place their hope and their trust and so long as they were Earnest and
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consistent they might begin to have hope but not confidence here the sanctification by works of Rome's response to Assurance
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this is again from the Council of Trent nevertheless let those and and listen to the way scripture is woven into the pronouncements of Rome including a
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passage that I just read from Romans 8 nevertheless let those who think themselves to stand take heed lest they fall and with fear and trembling work
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out their out their salvation Corinthians Philippians in lab here we go here's walking by the spirit according to Rome in labors in watchings
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in all deeds in prayers and oblations in fastings and fastings and Chastity for knowing that they are born again unto a hope of glory but not as
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yet unto Glory they ought to fear for the combat which yet remains with the flesh with the world with the devil wherein they cannot be victorious unless
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they be with God's grace obedient to the Apostle who says we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh for if you live according to the flesh
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you shall die but if by the spirit you mortify the Deeds of the flesh you shall live and live and therefore since we are no longer under obligation to the fa flesh we should
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work out our Salvation through labors and watchings and alms deeds and prayers and oblations and in other words The Works of the
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they conclude the cannon on Assurance by saying if anyone saith that he will for certain of an absolute infallible certainty have that great gift of perseverance to the end let him be
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anathema let him be a cursed it's a steady refrain through the Cannons of Cannons of Trent pretty much cursing every
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Protestant ever since fear is the operative motive of Roman Catholicism at least it was in the 16th century one doubts that people fear much
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of anything of anything anymore which is one of the reason why most churches are actually losing membership fear will eventually lose its hold on human nature born created in the
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image of God born therefore to be free man does not reside long in fear before he insists on
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throwing out the source of that fear but this is not the fear of God this is the fear of death and condemnation we can think of Rome as the
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Death Star fear will keep the local systems in order well that didn't work it didn't work in the 16th
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century because fear is the force of slavery as we see here Paul speaks that we have not been given a spirit of slavery leading again to
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fear fear and slavery go hand inand the slave does what he does not out of love for his master but fear of the Lash fear
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of punishment fear of death I would submit to you that the faithful Roman Catholic does not do what he does or what she does out of Devotion to God but fear of condemnation and
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wrath fear of losing that that Grace and that faith that the priest so arduously convinces them is
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fleeting dangerously and tenuously held what Rome and all moralistic religions focus
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religions focus upon is fear and what Rome and all moralistic religions fear because they do fear do fear they fear a people set
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free that was the visceral fear of the pope of the Roman Catholic curia of the Bishops throughout Europe when Luther nailed that thesis to the door in
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vitberg when zwingley started his preaching in Matthew in Zurich when Calvin rose up Boer in Strasburg Knox in Scotland the fear was
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a people set free from the bond of the sacraments and of the priesthood set free from purgatory have you ever been to a Roman Catholic funeral and
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afterwards heard someone say well he's in a better place no he ain't I'd rather go to New Jersey than where he is I mean seriously I remember I we were actually
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in that conversation with one of my remember my family was Catholic Italian and I remember a person saying that and my brother-in-law very quickly said you
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think so because they think that when they die they go to heaven no when they die they go to Purgatory for tens of thousands of years of p pration with fire and those who understand then live
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their lives of Devotion to Rome and its rituals not from the love of God but from the fear of fire fear indeed will keep the local
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systems in order but Paul presents to us the Gospel of Jesus Christ the power of
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God into God into salvation and the Victory the ultimate and present victory over fear we have been set free from the
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power that Rome tried but could not control the Holy Spirit at its Essence Rome is a usurpation of the place of the Holy
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Spirit In Jesus Christ's Church the pope is called the Vicor of Christ on Earth sorry that role is taken by the
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Holy Spirit it is the Pope's prerogative to free people from purgatory and to canonize them as Saints sorry that's already been done by the Regeneration
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and indwelling of the Holy Spirit Rome is one huge blasphemy now don't get me wrong there are Roman Catholic Believers or
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should I say there are believers who are Roman Catholic of that I have no doubt because God has his witness everywhere don't know any but I have no doubt that there must be
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some but the Roman Catholic system the Roman Catholic Doctrine the Roman Catholic institution of priesthood and of penance and of purgatory is founded on the basis
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of fear fear of death fear of condemnation the very fear that God has delivered us from through the Holy
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Spirit Aron read this passage from Hebrews this morning and I I always am blessed by the confirmation of the spirit when our minds are brought together but in Hebrews chapter 2 we
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read since then the children share in Flesh and Blood he himself likewise also part partook of the same that through death he might render powerless him who
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had the power of death that is the devil and might deliver those who through the fear of death were were subject to slavery all their lives
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we have not been given a spirit of slavery leading again to fear but rather we have been
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given a spirit of adoption by which we cry out ABA father
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the Holy Spirit was not given to help us out to help us working out God's will according to the flesh he's not a life coach he's not a he's not a therapist he's the power of God unto The
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Obedience of Obedience of faith and this is something that even Luther in the midst of the Reformation struggled with Luther and
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ISM sadly did not move far enough away from Rome especially in their doctrine of sanctification speaking of the believer Anders nigran who is a Lutheran Theologian writes and though he still
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lives in the flesh and therefore finds himself in the old Aon the old era he battles for the spirit and
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against the flesh Paul didn't write for the spirit he didn't say if you live for the spirit you will live no if you walk for
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the spirit no he says if by the spirit you are putting to death the Deeds of the body you will live there's a huge difference there I'm not doing anything for the
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for the spirit in my flesh I have nothing to offer the spirit in the ways of my own sanctification it is the spirit that is working in me Rome loves to to quote
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from Philippians work out your salvation with fear and trembling and leave the next verse completely off for it is God who is at work within you both to Will and to work according to his pleasure
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how am I supposed to work out my salvation if God is not working it out in Me by the Flesh and how does that work out well
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according to Paul and according to all of human history it don't work at all and so to say that we are battling for the spirit against the flesh is to give
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ourselves far too much credit and ability so Paul writes by the spirit and we somehow read for the spirit and we turn according to the spirit back into
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according to the flesh Believers are told of God's grace and mercy to save and then of the good works they must do in order to earn that
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salvation or at least feel more certain of it maybe that's what it boils down to our certainty our
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Assurance why else would we try to work out our work out our Salvation through the flesh unless we had some doubt of
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possession many have the fear of losing their salvation many more have the lack of any assurance that they possess salvation but they're trying they're going to church they're reading their Bible they're praying
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they're trying to be good maybe it'll all work out on the in the end God is love again from the Council of Trent for
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even as no Pious person ought to doubt the mercy of God or the merits of Christ and of The Virtue and efficacy of the sacraments got to throw them in there
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even so each one when he regards himself and his own weakness and indisposition may have fear and apprehension touching his own Grace seeing that no one can
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know with a certainty of Faith which cannot be subject to error that he has obtain the grace of God Rome offers continual fear and
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apprehension Paul speaks of receiving a Spirit by whom we cry out ABA father can you see the difference
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we have a spirit who testifies to our spirit that we have three more hail mares to say and half a dozen patter osters and then walk on our knees up the
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steps of the Vatican and maybe then we might have little Assurance no we have been given a spirit that testifies to our spirit that we are the children of
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God that's assurance not from our good works but from God who is faithful ABA father this is really the
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strength of the reformed faith and you know that I have often picked on the reformed Faith but from from within the family I family I hope but the firm
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assurance that the reformed understanding of scripture presents because of the gospel because of the work of Jesus Christ is grounded not in
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our good works but in God's election by his God by his gracious and merciful choosing of us not by anything we did or anything we do Calvin put it
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very simply he said in a word God himself is the Assurance of the elect Adolf Schlatter a 19 century
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Swedish or a Swiss I can get those two right Sweden Switzerland there I know a Swiss reformed Theologian says God's communion with the individual does not
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have to be earned first and is not predicated upon preconditions yet to be met it is reality for the spirit is
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present this is communion that God establishes with humans life imparted to them by God that's what Paul's
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saying that is everything that Paul is saying in Romans summed up in one little paragraph it is God who has given us life through the Holy Spirit and now that Spirit testifies to our spirit that
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we are the children of God God's Gift of grace through faith is not just salvation it is adoption the word here that The New
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American Standard somewhat redundantly says adoption as Sons is actually one word and it has that word Sons built into it it's a legal technical term of that era it basically means
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sunship and you could be adopted into a family and you would gain through that adoption that sunship all the rights and benefits of a naturally born child in
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that family there was no distinction in the law between one who was adopted and one who was born into that family and that
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is the spirit we have received he says adoption as sons and elsewhere he talks about the sons of God and
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modern Evangelical modern Evangelical feminists and and I I do use that term loosely very Loosely have attacked this whole concept as
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misogynistic that it proves that Christianity is bigoted against women that why why should we adop be adopted as sons and not as daughters and that
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this is the patriarchal language of the Bible that we must in the 21st century reject that's reject that's whoie because Paul in verse
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16 says the spirit himself Bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and unless you think that's a modern manipulation of the text it is
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the word children in the Greek they did actually have a word for daughter and a word for son and a word for children and he says and if children then Heirs of God but the reason that he
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speaks of adoption first as Sons is first of all that's the legal term and term and secondly those are the ones who
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inherited for most of human history the son inherited and that's what Paul's talking about here now he expands that the terminology all
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referred to the sun because the sun inherited in rare occasions one of which in numbers at the end of the chapter at the end of the book rare exceptions were the women
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allowed to inherit but Paul is taking a technical term that everyone who read him would understand to mean the sons but he says not the
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men but the children of God are then WHAS the sons of God he's going to go on to say that creation is waiting for the
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revelation of the sons of God because that revelation will mean The Inheritance has been dispersed not only to God's people but to God's creation it doesn't mean it's just the
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men it's all the children of God are inherited are hires of God and Joint hes of Christ Paul will not have us rely on our
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own good works or on the Judgment of a pope as to whether we may have Assurance of our of our Salvation he will not ground our
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Assurance on our own sanctification and even the concept of sanctification as it has been taught for the last several hundred years focuses
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too much on what we must do and not enough on what Jesus has already
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done the response of our spirit to God in crying out ABA father is perhaps the most poignant part
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of this entire section because that is exactly the Cry of Jesus in Gethsemane there have been those especially in the modern Evangelical
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Church that have somehow mutated the word ABA into Daddy
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God is not our daddy and ABA was not a was not a term of such trivialized intimacy ABA is essentially the Aramaic
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of the word father and ABA in the Aramaic ABA in the near East in the Middle East is not Daddy it is a term of intimacy but it's
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a term of in intimacy that is grounded on respect and adoration it it is it is true filial fear the fear of God not of death and
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condemnation but of one who is Holy and is to be honored as father and it is the Cry of Jesus in Gethsemane in Mark 14 we read him crying
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out ABA out ABA father and I think that is the reference that Paul Paul intends no doubt he was aware through Revelation he was aware of
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Jesus's passion and of his time in the Garden of Gethsemane he says here in a verse that may bring doubt
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back verse 17 those of us who might be prone to doubting our Salvation we read we're we're Hees join hires with Christ if oh my word we hate that little word
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if if he says indeed we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him and we I'm not suffering enough and this has been throughout the church to the point in the early church
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where suffering was something that men pursued that they sought out persecution and even and even martyrdom because that would secure for them their entry into heaven no that was
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Secure be secured for them by Christ's entry into Heaven There is nothing that we can do even being persecuted even
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being abused even being killed does not add one add one bit to our justification to our
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Salvation to our glory and I think to understand verse 17 you have to recognize that at the end of verse 15 that cry that the spirit puts within us is the very same cry that was
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in Jesus in Gethsemane there in lies the suffering that is in context with everything he has been saying Paul has been saying not that we need to run out
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and get ourselves persecuted but rather that we are to walk according to the spirit and not according to the flesh there is the
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suffering that every Christian experiences we may experience persecution we might
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experience physical abuse we may even experience martyrdom but none of those matter none of those Elevate our
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spirituality relative to any other believer who does not experience those outward signs of the world's hatred we may simply experience ridicule
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or marginalization but that doesn't matter either none of these things add to our Glory none of things none of these things amount to Merit the fundamental suffering of every
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single believer is the suffering of the flesh against the spirit and the spirit against the against the flesh every single believer will not go to golgatha but will go to Gethsemane
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and fact live there because that's what we read in Mark 14 ABA father all things are possible for possible for you remove this cup from me yet not what
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I will but what you will will we suffer according to that
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suffering I'm reading church history and reading the the the the arrogance of some Believers as they approach physical suffering and physical
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martyrdom they died in Pride some of them did that add to their Glory but living in humility and walking according to the
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spirit and by the spirit putting to death the Deeds of the flesh that is true suffering and the True Believer
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has if not continually at least consistently cried out with Jesus all things are possible for you
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take this cup from me take this sin take this attitude take this resentment take this flesh from me who Paul says will
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deliver me from the body of this death yeah yet not my will but thine be done let us
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pray father we do ask that by your spirit you would strengthen us to both cry out ABA father and then thy will be done not
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mine as we by the spirit strive to put to death the Deeds of the
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flesh May our eyes be fixed on the one who has defeated sin in the flesh the one who is the author and finisher of our faith the one who has
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gone before and sits at your right hand ever living to make intercession on our behalf the one whose Merit overflows to every one of your
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children fix our eyes on Jesus and by the spirit may we be transformed into His Image through faith and The Obedience of faith for we ask in his
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name amen please stand for the benediction from the letter of Jude now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in
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the presence of his glory blameless with great joy to the only God our savior through Jesus Christ Our Lord be glory Majesty Dominion and Authority before
