If We are Both Saved, Why the difference?
Romans 8:15-17 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. (v.16) The
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God: (v.17) And
if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be
that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Some discussions have a way of
being repeated ad infinitum through the years. Topics which seems to have no
real resolution. Each person in a given discussion is some how able to support
his view as well as we support our view which appears to be diametrically
opposed to the other. Salvation is very much like that.
Myriad times, over the decades of
my life as a Christian, I have engaged fellow believers in discussions about
salvation. That is very common. And I am sure most of us have done the same.
The road becomes a bit rocky though when we attempt to define ‘Christian’ in
any concrete manner. Do Christians lie? Do Christians steal? Are Christians
ever hateful? Parameters. We all want to set parameters. Because parameters
help us to make concrete statements and definitions. We can define a Christian
if we can decide on each of the defining parameters that make up the perfect
Christian. Sadly, there is no such thing.
In many of the discussions I have
been engaged in I have found it necessary to destroy parameters. The Law was a
mega parameter. It was never intended to be one but religious society grabbed
onto it almost as soon as it came down from the mountain with Moses. We want
concrete barriers, laws, dictates that work like street signs for us, a list of
all the daily mandates so that we can know, at the close of our day, we
measured up.
Read the passage above again. We have not received that old spirit which bound
us by laws. When we got saved, when we realized our need of salvation and our
utter incapability of acquiring salvation without Christ, he saved us by grace.
He did not hand us a new law, no list of requirements to meet before salvation
could be earned. Instead (v.15) we were given the Holy Spirit which placed us
in the family of God by adoption. Did you ever see a baby earn adoption? Have
you ever known a baby (properly adopted) who was given a list of things he must
do in order to earn a true place in the family?
Our adoption goes one step further.
Our Heavenly Father, by His Holy Spirit actually indwells us, He lives in us.
We are His immediately and eternally. The Holy Spirit is our very proof of
salvation (v.16) if we ever do doubt. This is what defines the Christian in that
“concrete manner” we so often need. When doubt arises, we do not count our ‘good
deeds’ and hope they are enough. We have the Holy Spirit of God within us
reminding us that we are God’s family.
I believe this is what Paul had in
mind when he said in 2Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be
in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that
Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” Examine yourselves to
see if “Christ is in you.” In our passage above (v.16) the Spirit of God
reassures the believer he is God’s child. God did not leave it up to a list of
our good deeds. He placed His Spirit within us to give us daily assurance in a
fallen world.
But look how far that assurance
goes. Not only does He remind us of our status as children of God, but (v.17)
we are assured that we are joint heirs with Christ as well. When Christ is glorified,
we will be glorified with him. This is what stops us from sinning. This is our
parameter. This is our concrete barrier against sin. When a true child of God
sins (and we all do) we are brought back by the Holy Spirit’s reminder of whose
we are. He reminds us who our father is. He makes real to us the offence our
sin is to our Holy Father, the shame it brings to Him and the violence it does to
our witness in this fallen world. We do not keep a new law of do’s and don’ts. We
live in a new relationship with God where our behavior affects our relationship
with God. We are His children (Hebrew 12:5-12). When children sin they still
belong to their parents, but the relationship is strained and often the parent
must punish the child. But they always remain family.
This is what I believe to be the
difference discussed in our opening paragraphs; those times when I have engaged
fellow believers in discussions about salvation and how one person could sin so
much easier than another. And how we just could not agree on why so many
professing believers could seem to live in sin and others, though they did sin,
abhorred it and repented more quickly. I think the difference was this. In a
false profession the Holy Spirit of God never indwells the unrepented heart.
That individual is left to follow the law and live in bondage (v.15) and fear
and never truly become a child of God. They are religious but lost.
God truly wants to bring us into His
family, to make us His children and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And when we
truly do become His children His Holy Spirit is an ever-present reality in our
daily lives. It is no longer a matter of keeping stringent rules and laws. We
are brought into a loving family. It is our daily existence. It is our new
life. Why do I serve God? Because serving God is the natural course of my new life.
Does your life belong to God?
