What does the Christian have that others don't?
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Introduction
Introduction
I would like us to begin with a question. What does the Christian have that others do not?
Many today cannot understand why anyone would want to be a Christian. They seem to think that you miss out on so much.
But the fact is the Christian has more than the unbeliever could ever imagine.
So, What does the Christian have that others don’t?
From our reading in , we learn that there are three things that the Christian has. Three things that before they came to Jesus they never had but now in Christ they do.
If you are a Christian, then these are what you have by the free grace of God.
We see the Christian has a new Master, a new Father and a new inheritence.
Firsrly then we see that the Christian has a new Master.
I. A New Master
I. A New Master
In verse 12 we read these words.
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—"
Paul speaking about what has already been mentioned, that there is no condemnation for the Christian and that the Christian is now in the Spirit and has a hope of the resurrection. He says “Therefore” in light of these truths we are debtors.
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
We are still debtors.
However, the one we are debtors to has changed.
Paul goes on “we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.”
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.”
The Christian is no longer a debtor to the flesh.
The flesh is referring to the sinful nature, the evil passions and desires that we were once slaves to and indebted to. This flesh no longer has any say over us.
We owe nothing to the flesh.
Illustration: Freed slave ignores his old master.
In Paul uses the metaphor of death to show our freedom from the bondage of the flesh, he says that we as Christians are dead to sin. Meaning that the flesh no longer has unhindered sway in our lives.
Here he is repeating what he has already said just in different words. The Chrisrian is dead to sin, the Christian is no longer a debtor to the flesh.
People who do not believe in Jesus Christ think that they are free because they can do as they please, they can do what they like. Get drunk. swear, blaspheme, tell lies.
But the reality is they are not free, they are slaves. Slaves to the flesh, they are debtors to their sinful nature and whatever it commands them to do they do it.
But the Christian is no longer a debtor of the flesh and do they must not live according to the flesh. They must not live in obedience to sin.
Then Paul tells us why “For if you live according to the flesh you will die...”
Those who live according to the flesh, according to their sinful desires without repentance, without turning to the Saviour, they will die.
The death spoken of here isnt just the physical death that we all must face unless the Lord returns before. The death spoken of here is what the Bible calls the second death. Its eternal death, its an eternity in hell.
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
So Paul says thats why the Christian isn’t to live according to the flesh because in Jesus Christ they have been forgiven for their sin, they have been saved from hell. They will not face the second death, instead they have eternal life.
Yes, the Christian is still a debtor but not to the flesh. In verse 13 God’s word tells us who we are debtors to.
“but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Here Paul tells us who the Christian is a debtor to. The Christian is a debtor to the Spirit. His new master is the Holy Spirit.
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
It is the Spirit of God that we owe our obedience to, to him and him alone.
Paul tells us that through the work of the Holy Spirit, the Christian can now kill the deads of the body.
Allo fo the sin that used to plague the life of the Christian before they were converted, now through the Holy Spirit, he can put them to death. To put it simply now he can stop doing them.
But Paul tells us not only that the Christian can kill the sinful deeds of the body but that they must.
This is because if you are a Christian you are a debtor to the Holy Spirit. He has say over your actions and desires. So you must obey him. You must kill the deeds of the body, repent of them, stop doing them.
Then Paul gives another reason.
If you do these things “ You will live.”
The New King James Version Chapter 8
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Thats what the Christian has to look forward to. They will live.
The life spoken of here is in contrast to the death spoken of in the same verse. Just as that death is eternal so this is eternal life. Life that begins now and goes on forever in heaven.
The Christian has a new Master. They now have the Holy Spirit who has set them free from the bondage of the flesh that was bringing them into death and now they are heading for life enabled by the Holy Spirit to kill the sinful deeds of the body and to live holy lives.
Illustration:
A picture of this is found in the OT. God’s people the Israelites were in bondage to the Egyptians for 400 years, they were slaves of the Egyptian people for all this time.
Then God sent Moses to Pharoah in order to set his people free. Moses led the Israelite people out of Egypt into the wilderness towards the promised land.
The Israelites were set free from their slave masters in Egypt. But yet they still had a Master and that was the LORD God who had set them free.
God set them free from bondage and then gave them a new way to live, a way that was in obedience to him.
App-
That’s a picture of what God has done for us who are Christians. He has delivered us from the bondage of the sinful flesh and now enables us by His Holy Spirit to live holy lives that are pleasing to him.
The question we must ask ourselves is; Are we living lives that are pleasing to God? Are you putting to death the sinful deeds of the body?
So, what does the Christian have that others do not?
The Christian has a new Master.
Next we see that the Christian has a new Father.
II. A New Father v.14-15
II. A New Father v.14-15
In verse 14 The Apostle Paul says “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
To be led by the Spirit of God simply means to have God’s Holy Spirit living inside of you. This phrase is not speaking about a special group of super spiritual Christians who alone are led by the Spirit, but instead it is speaking of every genuine Christian who has been born-again.
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
What does it about those who are led by the SPirit of God?
“They are the sons of God”
Now it must be made clear that this verse is saying that those who are born-again, those have been made alive spiritually by God’s Spirit who dwells in them, these people are the children of God.
But, the opposite of that is those are not born-again are not children of God.
Some people like to think that everyone is a child of God but the Scriptures teach otherwise, only those who have repented and believed in Christ, those who have been born-again by God’s Spirit, they are the Chidren of God and those who haven’t are not.
Paul in verse 9 of this same chapter says this very clearly v.9 “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His”
App:
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
It isn’t attending church on a Sunday that makes a person a Christian. Its being born again of the Holy Spirit that makes a person a Christian.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
Jesus Himself said “Unless a person is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The question that must be asked is; are you born again? Are you a child of God? Have you repented of your sin and turned to Christ? Have you been made alive in Christ?
So, we are told that those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God and then in the next verse we are told why.
Look with me at verse 15;
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Here Paul gives two reasons.
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
One tells Christians what they have not received and the other tells Christians what they have received.
Firstly, For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,
The Spirit that God gives the believer is not one that brings some one again into the bondage and slavery of sin, which would lead to fear, being afraid of God’s judgment.
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
This is not the Spirit that the Christian receives from God but rather they recieve the Spirit of adoption.
The New King James Version Chapter 8
but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
“but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
This is why Christians are the children of God.
As Christians we have been adopted by God into his family. We who were once the enemies of God. This took place when we repented of our sin and put our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. God’s made us alive by his Spirit and we were made part of his family. This was all because of God’s free grace given to us in Christ Jesus.
“But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
Christ died for us to pray for our sin and rose again the third day, so that all who believe can be forgiven by God and adopted into the family of God.
If you are a Christian this even then this is true of you. This is what you are, an adopted child of God.
A particular commentary gives a helpful explaination of the word adoption used in v.15.
The word “signifies being granted the full rights and priveleges of sonship in a family to which one does not belong.”
We have been granted full rights and priveleges in the family of God.
Illustration:
How can we illustrate what has happened to us?
It is a little bit like this… Just imagine that you were in prison for treason, and the Queen of England decides to see you free from prison, to let you go. However, she doesn’t just set you free but she legally adopts you into the royal family and makes you one of the heirs to the throne.
This is what God in heaven has done for us. The great difference being that he is King of kings and Lord of lords. The earth is his and the fullness there of.
But the Christian hasn’t just been adopted into God’s family in order to receive the blessings of the inheritance of a child of God, but they have been brought into a close and loving relationship with God.
The end of v.15 says “but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Now we can cry out Abba, Father. The word Abba pictures a close and loving relationship with God who has become our Father. The word Abba is the word that Hebrew infants would have cried out, similar to our english word daddy.
As Christians we are children of God, we know him and he knows us.
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
He cares as a Father cares
He loves as a Father loves
We are his children and he is our Father.
So, What does the Christian have that others do not?
They have a new Master
They have a new Father
Thirdly and finally. they have a new inheritence.
III. A new inheritence v.16-17
III. A new inheritence v.16-17
Look with me at v.16
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Here Paul tells us that the Christian has the witness of the Spirit inside of them, telling them that they are the children of God.
Do you have this witness?
The Apostle Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit tells us and makes us sure that we are born again, that we have passed from death to life.
Then in verse 17 he goes on to explain what the blessings are of being a child of God.
The Christian has a new inheritence.
Look at v.17
“and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,”
What an amazing sentence that is.
Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
What this inheritence will be exactly we cannot be 100% sure.
It will be greater than we can understand or describe with our limited minds and earthly language.
We read in “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son”
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
In the Lord Jesus says “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
In God’s word says “But as it is written:“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man, The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
We cannot be sure of all the specific details of this inheritence that the saints have in Christ but no doubt it will be glorious.
Nor have entered into the heart of man
We do not deserve this but it is by the free grace of God. We have this inheritence in Christ all because of what he has done for us. Becuase Christ died in our place and rose again the third day, because he took our sin and he gives us his righteousness.
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
The Lord Jesus became poor so that we might become rich.
If you are a Christian then you are richer than you can imagine.
You are an heir of God and joint heir with Christ.
After telling us these wonderful truths Paul finishes in v.17 by reminding us that although we have a great inheritence to look forward to, life will not be easy in the mean time.
At the end of v.17 he says “if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
Yes in the Christian life there is suffering. But we look forward to the glory.
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Conlcusion
Conlcusion
So, what does the Christian have that others do not?
They have a new Master- The Holy Spirit now lives in the believer and enables them to put to death sin in their lives and live lives pleasing to God. They are no longer under the bondage of sin.
They have a new Father- The Christian has been adopted into God’s family they have become a child of Almighty God. Now they can called God “Abba, Father”
They have a new inheritence- The Christian is an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ.
We have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to, we must be reminded that we enjoy all of these benefits not because of anything good in us but simply by the free grace of God, that we have in Christ. Its because of what Christ has done for us not because of what we have done or can do.
For by grace you have been saved.
What should our response be?
As Christians we should live lives of gratitude towards God.
How might that look?
We should be seeking to live lives that are holy and pleasing to God. The Lord Jesus Christ should be Lord of our lives, he should be first and our obedience to him should shape the way we live, the way we spend our time, the way we spend our money.
In light of all we have because of all that Christ has done for us we should willingly take up our cross and follow him.
But, maybe you are here this evening and you know that what we have learnt from these verses are not true about you.
You have not been born again, you have never bowed the knee to Christ, you have never repented of your sin and believed in Jesus Christ.
If thats the case then I want to remind you of the words of v.9 “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
These great blessings are not yours, you have no say or part in them as long as you remain outside of the kingdom of God.
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
But if you turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in true repentance, true sorrow for your sin and change your mind about living in sin and if you believe in him with a tru faith, trusting in Jesus Christ alone as your only hope of salvation, then you too will have a new Master, a new Father and a new inheritence.
Let us pray
Sticklepath, Cookstown, Gunnislake, Windley, Newqauy, Tavistock, Strete, Totnes
The New King James Version. (1982). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.