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Today's Pathway: Romans 8:15 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.

We started looking yesterday at some benefits that the child of God has received. The first one we saw in verse 14 was that the believer is led by the Spirit of God. In verse 15 we see three additional blessings. First the believer is no longer functioning under a spirit of bondage. The word translated "bondage" comes from the root word that means "slave". Paul has written previously about the liberty that the Christian has in Christ. We are no longer in bondage to the law of sin and death, nor are we in bondage to the old man. It is true that we are now servants or slaves of God, but that is based upon a totally different relationship. As a child I "served" my parents, but it was a service based upon love. It was completely different than serving an employer or serving the law of the land. In all three cases I should want to do my best, but the motivation is going to be different. A good son does not serve his parents because he feels like he is in bondage to them. In the same fashion a child of God does not serve his heavenly Father out of a spirit of slavery.

Second, in verse 15 Paul states that we do not need to be afraid. There are numerous passages in the Bible that teach our responsibility to "fear God". Yet this is also similar to the relationship between an earthly father and son. I knew that my dad loved me. He provided for me, and he also encouraged me and spent time with me. However, I also knew that if I chose to disobey him there would be a price to pay for my sin. So on some level I "feared" him, but I always knew that he wanted the best for me, and I never had to be afraid of him. For the believer, all things still work together for good (Romans 8:28), and everything that happens in our lives is the will of God for us (I Thessalonians 5:18). I do not need to fear my heavenly Father, nor my circumstance, now anything else. He has not given me a spirit of fear (II Tim 1:7), and as my love for him increases this will cast out my fear (I John 4:18).

The third blessing in verse 15 is that we have been adopted into God's family. When a person is adopted into a family he now has all the rights and privileges of sonship in that family just as if he were naturally born into it. In addition, any obligations that he had in his birth family are now terminated. What a picture of the person who has been adopted into God's family! He now has all the rights and privileges that go with being a child of God, and his old father, the Devil (John 8:44) now has no rights or claim to him. Paul then concludes verse 15 by saying that we can call God "Abba, Father". The term "Abba" indicates a very close relationship. It expresses the tenderness, familiarity, and confidence of the love between parent and child. Some have said that the closest word we have to it in English is "daddy". What a blessing it is that my relationship to my heavenly Father is not simply a formal one. He's my 'Daddy", and He loves me and cares for me.

Pastor Mark J Montgomery