Greetings in the Lord, friend; I’m eager to get to this study with you. I hope you are too.
You know, when we view the cross in the pages of Scripture, we see how much Jesus loved us and how much He suffered for us because of that love. Rightly understood and applied, we then want to follow Jesus in His suffering by warring against our flesh. We deny our flesh; we put to death whatever belongs to our earthly nature; we crucify the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24). This is warring, and this brings suffering!
The good news is that we find life in dying to our old self, we find joy in suffering, and we find pleasure and freedom from sin in dying! “because anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (Romans 6:7 NIV). This is proof that Christ is living in us (Galatians 2:20).
Let’s continue our study in Romans 8:
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (14) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (15) 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!” (16) The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:13-16).
Question 1. How does Romans 8:14 assure you that if the Spirit is leading you, you are in God’s family?
Romans 8:14 says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” In the context of Romans 8, this means that all who are led by the Spirit of God to put to death the misdeeds of the body (Romans 8:13) are children of God. If you are putting to death gluttony and laziness and all forms of gratifying your flesh, you are being led by the Spirit of God to do it so that you will enjoy a deeper experience of God’s love and the powerful assurance that you are His child.
Assurance comes to us in two ways:
The Son died to sin once for all, and the Spirit enables us to crucify sin ongoingly all our lives. So what the Son did for us, the Spirit does in us. The Spirit in you is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
As we, by the Spirit, put to death the misdeeds of the body, the Spirit testifies to us that we are children of God. We are being led by the Spirit to crucify our sins, and “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (verse 14).
Let’s look together at the next verse of Romans 8:
“and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17 ESV).
Question 2. Romans 8:17 speaks of suffering with Jesus. In the context of this passage, to what is this suffering referring?