The Spirit of Adoption

The Spirit of Adoption

“Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.” Gal. 4:1-2.

The awareness of being an heir comes only after you have reached a mature age; until that time you do God’s will as a slave. But because you are born a son and possess the Spirit of adoption, you are not content under the guardianship. You have not received the spirit of bondage, therefore you long for something better and greater.

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” Vs. 4-6.

Many believers live their lives in bondage to the elements of this world—or to sin—with only a few longing to be set free from it into liberty, where they can rejoice over being free from the bondage of the law and of sin.

Jesus redeemed us so that we might receive the Spirit of adoption, and in this Spirit of adoption we get a taste of heaven. These heavenly things become dear to us, for we sense that they are ours. The slave does not remain in the house forever, but the son remains there forever. John 8:34-35.

Most believers discover that God’s commandments are burdensome, and that it is impossible for them to bear His burden. They view it that way because they do not love God, comforting themselves with the thought that they can do nothing. Jesus says, “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. Without Me, you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5.

When they say that you cannot keep God’s Word, it is a testimony to the fact that they are not in Christ and that Christ’s Spirit is not allowed to do His work in them. They remain outside of the adoption, and in that position they discover that God is hard and that He demands too much of them, and they preach accordingly.

“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. Therefore you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.” Matt. 25:24-27.

May all of us who have received light and who let it shine, praise God together with the singer in Psalm 118:5: “I called on the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.”