Romans 8:14-15 “The Key to It All”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁴For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God, ¹⁵for you did not receive again a spirit of slavery into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, in which we are crying, “Abba, Father!”

In v. 13, we read, “but if you, by the Spirit, are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” There I asked, what does that really mean – by the Spirit? In 13:14, we’ll be told to simply “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.” In Eph. 4:22-24, we’re told to “Put off the old man and put on the new.” In Col. 3:5-12, we’re told to “Put to death, therefore, your members which are upon the earth…clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, …” I could literally multiply verses where we are exhorted to actually make good choices as Christians, to choose between flesh and spirit, to change our lives, yet there is, in those passages, no mention of the Spirit. As I observed earlier, there is nowhere else in all the Bible where there is this much emphasis on the Spirit.

So why is this “by the Spirit” added here? We could all say, “Well, obviously, it has to be ‘by the Spirit,’” but does anyone really know what it means? I’m thinking we quite easily quote to ourselves, “Put off the old man and put on the new,” without necessarily any thought of the Spirit. We set about to be or do anything we find in the Bible, without necessarily acknowledging the Spirit. Yet, the passage says we must put to death the deeds of our bodies “by the Spirit.”  Why do we so easily leave Him out? And, if we’re being honest exegetes, we could ask the question, “Why does the Bible itself so seldom mention Him while giving us exhortations to change?”

I believe, based on this chapter, I see the answer to these questions. In a sense, it’s complicated (at least to my feeble brain), but I will try to record what I think I’m seeing. In v.15, the Holy Spirit causes us to cry, “Abba, Father!” That is a wonderful thing, but we need to take a step back and realize that in those two simple words is the key to it all. Jesus used those very words (Mk. 14:36). “Father,” of course, He used often. It (the word for “Father”) is recorded in Greek, but then He added “Abba,” which is Aramaic. Aramaic was the language of Babylon and, when the Jews returned to Palestine from the 70 years (two or three generations!) of Babylonian Captivity, Aramaic had become their native tongue, rather than Hebrew. There is a lot of debate about why even Jesus Himself mixed up the Greek and Aramaic here, but what everyone agrees is that the “Abba” is a much more tender, affectionate name, which some would suggest is closer to our “Daddy.”

One writer related something that made sense, even in our present context. He observed that it was almost universally true that people had slaves in their homes, and, just like in the American South, those slaves could often become intimate members of the family and dearly loved. What the writer related, however, was that there was one thing a slave must never do, and that was to refer to the father of the household as “Abba.” That name (our “Daddy”) was reserved for no one else but the children of the family.

With that thought in mind, read again, “for you did not receive again a spirit of slavery into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, in which we are crying, ‘Abba, Father!’” Ours, you see, is the children’s cry! As the text goes on to say, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God.” John exclaims, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God!” (I Jn. 3:1). Here we go again. Real Christianity isn’t just about our little set of rules and traditions. Our Gospel isn’t just our tidy little answer for how to go to heaven. People may have largely made it into those very things, but that is not what God intends. No. Real Christianity is to enter into this intimate, affectionate, intensely personal relationship with the God of the universe, whom we now call, “Abba, Father!” We are children, not slaves. We are dearly loved. It’s that relationship itself that makes all the difference – but it is a spiritual relationship!

Just as Paul explains in Galatians, the miracle of the Cross is not simply that we are forgiven. To be born again isn’t just a matter of keeping a new set of rules. It is all about actually being made children of God. The slaves can’t know Him as “Daddy,” but we can! The Spirit God has placed within us isn’t there just to help us “keep the rules;” He is there as a Spirit of Adoption – to assure us we are in fact God’s children, that we are not groveling slaves, that we are free to enter fully into that loving Father/child relationship.

To miss the warmth of this relationship is, in a sense, to miss everything real salvation is all about. For too many people, I fear Jesus is just their ticket to heaven. “I got saved,” they say, and that’s about the end of it. “I went forward in an invitation,” someone else says, “and I went home and threw away all my alcohol and tobacco products!” And that’s the end of it. “I go to church,” they say. Perhaps they’re heavily involved at their church and everyone else observes “They really serve the Lord!” But in all of that, do any of them really know what it is to look the Lord in the eye and call Him “Abba, Father?” “Daddy?” As Jesus told busy Martha, “Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.” Mary understood exactly what we’re saying here.

So we’re back to Spirit business again! Jesus did not save us so we could make a few external changes, so we could do a better job of keeping the rules, so we could call ourselves “Christians,” as if that is something better than Buddhists or Hindus or Muslims or such. Jesus saved us that we might enter into this intensely personal relationship with God as our “Abba.” The change is in our heart of hearts. Everything is different now precisely because God is our Father and we His dearly loved children. Everything about our Christianity grows out of that relationship. This is precisely why, “They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” It is NOT external. It is Spirit/spirit business.

All the way back to our question from the last chapter, herein is why Paul says, “If you, by the Spirit, do put to death the deeds of the body…” In contrast to the legalistic frustration of Romans chapter 7, we have entered into the “No condemnation” world of Chapter 8. The changes we would make as Christians, the spiritual growth, arises not out of grinding effort, but out of the warmth of this wonderful family relationship we now enjoy. Paul wants to make it clear here that we don’t just determine to “put to death the deeds of the body.” It is by the Spirit. It is first and foremost to be an outgrowth of this intimate relationship that is ours. That is precisely why what God wants us to become, Paul calls “the fruit of the Spirit.” It is the fruit – the external evidence – of something going on inside of us. That is also why our choice is between the “works” of the flesh and the “fruit” of the Spirit. “Works” is the best the flesh can come up with. What we get is something eternally better – we get fruit, the love and joy and peace that well up from the love relationship going on within us.

This too is why He says in v.14, “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God.” How do we know we or someone else is “led by the Spirit of God?” Is it not because we see in their lives the fruit of the Spirit? Is that not the family resemblance of those who are from God’s family? Real born-again people will be changed, will value righteousness, will strive to “put to death the deeds of the body,” but it is all fruit, where the indwelling Spirit is the root.

Once again, this Gospel isn’t leading to license. Yes, it is leading us into righteousness. But it leads us by the hand. It doesn’t drive us with a whip. God would have us look out into life from the warmth of His big fatherly lap, and do what we do because we love Him.

May your life and mine truly be a Spirit/spirit business!