Living as a Son of God
by Dustin Miller
“That world outside there is not waiting for a new definition of
Christianity, it's waiting for a new demonstration of Christianity.” (Leonard Ravenhill)
After reading the above quote from Leonard Ravenhill, the Holy Spirit brought Romans 8:14-17 to my mind: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 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. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ"
It should be that when you see a man's son, you should see in that son the same character and nature of his father. Hebrews 1:1-3 tells us, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" Jesus Christ, the Son of God, radiates His Father's glory and is the living expression of His Father's character.
Romans 8:14 teaches that as Christians we are to consistently or constantly follow the Holy Spirit's leading. The Holy Spirit will always lead you into Truth. If we are following Him into Truth, then we will abide in Truth. According to context of the eighth chapter of Romans, if we have been born again, it is a fact that we are sons or children of God. If we have been born again, then we have received the Spirit of adoption (vs 15) and now able to call God, our Father. This passage, furthermore, states that the Holy Spirit confirms our adoption by bearing witness with our spirit that we are in fact children of God - heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. If this is true (and it is), when people see us they ought to see our Father's character and nature. When the world looks at us they ought to see in us what they saw in Jesus. Question is: Do they? Do they see us doing the works that Jesus did? Do they see us truly living as the children of God? Do they see God's character and nature being reflected in our lives?
It should be that when you see a man's son, you should see in that son the same character and nature of his father. Hebrews 1:1-3 tells us, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by Whom also He made the worlds; Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" Jesus Christ, the Son of God, radiates His Father's glory and is the living expression of His Father's character.
Romans 8:14 teaches that as Christians we are to consistently or constantly follow the Holy Spirit's leading. The Holy Spirit will always lead you into Truth. If we are following Him into Truth, then we will abide in Truth. According to context of the eighth chapter of Romans, if we have been born again, it is a fact that we are sons or children of God. If we have been born again, then we have received the Spirit of adoption (vs 15) and now able to call God, our Father. This passage, furthermore, states that the Holy Spirit confirms our adoption by bearing witness with our spirit that we are in fact children of God - heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. If this is true (and it is), when people see us they ought to see our Father's character and nature. When the world looks at us they ought to see in us what they saw in Jesus. Question is: Do they? Do they see us doing the works that Jesus did? Do they see us truly living as the children of God? Do they see God's character and nature being reflected in our lives?
The Bible is clear on this - we are to live as sons of God, reflecting the character and nature of God; doing the works of God. This world needs to see us living up to this stature; it needs to see a demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of power operating through us. So let us not be intimidated by this world or by the devil. We are new creatures, created in Christ Jesus - created to do the works of God. Living as a son of God is not something that is impossible for us to do. God has given us everything we will ever need in order to live such a life the moment we were born of His Spirit.
How do we live as a sons of God? Consider this: We were not saved because of what we did or didn't do; we were saved because we believed and evidenced faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Likewise we don't make ourselves more righteous or more holy by doing something or by not doing something. Our holiness; our sanctification; our righteousness is imputed unto us by virtue of our faith being in what God has accomplished for us through Jesus and His death on the Cross. We simply continue to trust in the very thing that brought us salvation - Christ and Him Crucified. By maintaining faith (trust, dependance - being fully persuaded or confident) in the Gospel of Christ, we give the Holy Spirit liberty to reign in our heart and life. And what does He do there? He leads us into all Truth. He works in us to will and do His good pleasure. He will dethrone the sin nature from the throne of our life and will enthrone Himself and reign in us - resulting in His fruit being evidenced in our life. This is walking and living in the Spirit. This is living as a son of God.
