Romans 8:15 | Spirit of Adoption
Romans 8:15 ESV says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’”
We can’t live in freedom by our religion alone. We might feel like we are checking all the right boxes, but there is something powerful and sustaining about receiving the Spirit of adoption. God’s spirit protects us from the spirit of slavery and fear by bringing us into his presence, where we find affirmation and wholeness. We see a place where we belong.
I would much rather earn my way forward in life. I want to say that I deserved what I got because I worked hard and pushed myself. That works to some extent with college degrees and work promotions, but when it comes to my identity as a child of God, there is nothing that I could have done to deserve that.
This verse always ties into the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. The son who left his father’s house, stealing away with the inheritance, wasting it on his desires, and losing it all had no right to become a son again. When he returned to the house, he came with a plea to be accepted as a slave.
How often do we mess up and return to God with our request to be a slave? We know that even being a servant in the house of God is better than doing it on our own, but God the Father quickly removes that possibility.
He welcomes us home with open arms. How outrageous is that!? He covers over our offense with his love.
That is what the Spirit of adoption is about: God's love. A good father will unconditionally love his kids; that is how God is to us. It doesn’t matter if you’re a teenager or kid reading this or if you’re a grandma or grandpa. God is your Father.
But it doesn’t end there. We don’t have just to accept this identity as an idea or a fact. We get to receive the Spirit of God that affirms our identity. We begin to call out from the truth of our identity through the Spirit. We will find that our hearts start to say, “Abba! Father!”
What a beautiful and delicate thing this relationship is. I encourage you today to meditate on this truth. Perhaps you will want to read the parable of the prodigal son. Read with an open heart, not trying to figure it all out. Pray with open hands, not trying to tell God what to do. Just listen and receive. Ask. Wait. Listen. Receive.
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