A Spirit of Adoption

The Spirit is God’s silent partner in God’s relationship with us. The Spirit actively works to make God’s salvation — the transformation of our hearts and minds, conforming us to the image of Jesus — a reality in our lives.

One of the foundational things the Spirit does in our lives is to change how we view and relate to God. The Spirit cultivates a spirit of adoption in our hearts. Paul spoke of this change of spirit in his letter to the Romans: “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba, Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:15—17).

The spirit of adoption is the spirit of a small child who, living with an unquestioned confidence in her parent’s love, confidently calls out “Daddy! Momma!”  The spirit of adoption is a spirit of deep, unquestioning trust. It creates freedom and boldness in our relationship with God. See Hebrews 4:14—16. There is no hesitancy or fear in it. It is an inner attitude that leads us to run quickly to God for help, confident in God’s love for us. Living out of a spirit of adoption, we naturally turn to God with all that life brings us. The spirit of adoption is a spirit of glad dependency. Like a child, we know God will provide and guide … and we trust that provision and guidance. Such a spirit allows us to live as God’s partners in what God is doing in the world. It transforms our relationship with God to one of mutual inter-dependency: God relying on us as God’s partners doing God’s work while we rely on God for all we need to do that work.

But there is more to the spirit of adoption. It is a spirit filled with love for God. It is our love responding to God’s love for us. It is the love of a child for his father and mother.

Deep, unquestioning trust — freedom and boldness — glad dependency — mutual inter-dependency — reciprocal love — such is the spirit of adoption … and so much more!

The opposite of the spirit of adoption is a spirit of fear (Romans 8:15). Living out of fear, we hide from God as the man and the woman hid from the LORD God in the story of the garden (Genesis 3:8). Fearing judgment and condemnation, we don’t want to be known or to be found out. We don’t want to face how we fail to measure up. Fearing rejection and abandonment, we strive to do what we think is pleasing to God so God will accept us. Paul called this a spirit of slavery (Romans 8:15). If we were honest with ourselves, we would recognize that, deep within, we fear God. We are afraid to be known by God. We are afraid to trust God. We don’t want to be dependent on God. We naturally rely upon our own wisdom and understanding. Such is the story of the garden in Genesis 3 … as well as the story of our lives. 

A spirit of fear is based in merit-based thinking. It functions out of an earning-deserving mentality. Deep down, we believe we get what we deserve. A spirit of fear is tied to a deep awareness that we fail to measure up. No matter how good we are or what we accomplish, we know deep inside that we still fall short of expectations. We fail to measure up to what is expected. We expect to be judged, condemned, and punished for not being good enough.

In contrast to the spirit of fear, the spirit of adoption is grounded in grace. It is the settled assurance that God’s love for us is unconditional. It flows out of who God is — God’s character — rather than in response to who we are or what we do. The Spirit cultivates the spirit of adoption in our hearts by teaching us to rest in God’s grace. We live by faith in the unconditional nature of God’s love. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love” (1 John 4:18).

The Spirit cultivates within us a spirit of adoption. Everything else flows out of this foundational way of viewing and relating to God.

Christ Lives in Me

 Through the indwelling Spirit, Christ lives in me.

As I understand it, these two concepts in Paul’s thought—Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20) and live by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16)—speak of the same reality. In the first reference, Paul was speaking of his own personal experience. In the second, he applied his experience to all who are followers of Christ—to us.

When we are led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:18, 25), the Spirit leads us to live the kind of life Christ lived. Thus, as we keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25 NIV), we participate in Christ’s life. As we live by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), Christ lives in us and through us. 

Paul’s argument (Galatians 2:15—21) and instructions (Galatians 5:13—26) in his letter to the Galatians help us understand this Spirit-based way of living.

This Spirit-based way of living is the flip side of being crucified with Christ. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:19b—20). It is the resurrection side of Christ’s pattern of death and resurrection (Philippians 3:10—11). We, like Christ, die to our ego-based self with its self-serving nature (Matthew 16:24—26). The Spirit leads us to make this choice to follow Jesus and them empowers us to live out of it. Through the power of the Spirit, we choose—over and over again—to not live out of our default what’s-in-it-for-me spirit. We die to this self-centered, self-serving nature in order that we might live to God (Galatians 2:19a).

This Spirit-based way of living moves us beyond the black-and-white, right-or-wrong thinking of the law (Galatians 2:19). The Spirit, not a set of rules or cultural-religious standard of expectations, guides our life. We live out of a servant spirit, following the path of love (Galatians 5:13—14) and discerning the Spirit’s guidance. Humility, grace, and forgiveness shape how we view and relate to others.

This Spirit-based way of living is living by faith. It is patterned after the kind of faith that Jesus had. “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20, alternate reading). The idea is not so much that we have faith in Christ as the Son of God—“by faith in the Son of God” (Galatians 2:20). Rather, it is that we trust God the way Jesus trusted God. We build our lives on the settled belief that God is who Jesus revealed God to be—a God of self-giving love who relates to us out of who God is, not who we are; a compassionate and merciful God who relates to us with grace and forgiveness rather than with judgment and condemnation. We trust God to accept us as we are (justification, Galatians 2:21). We trust God to walk with us through whatever life brings our way, working in it to conform us to the image of the Son (Romans 8:28—29). We trust God is committed to growing us up into emotional-relational-spiritual maturity that reflects the likeness of Christ. We trust God’s steadfast love will never waiver or falter. We trust God’s faithful love will never give up on us or abandon us. The Spirit nurtures this kind of faith in us so that we live with the confidence of a child of God who relates to God as “Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6).

This Spirit-based way of living produces a transformed life. The Spirit leads us on a spiritual journey of inner transformation. As we keep in step with the Spirit’s guidance, the Spirit grows us up emotionally-relationally-spiritually, ingraining the character of Christ in the core of our being—the mystery the writer of Colossians identified as “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

This Spirit-based way of living is like a divine dance. The Spirit leads; we follow. We keep in step with the Spirit’s guidance (Galatians 5:25). Thus, this Spirit-based way of living calls for intentionality from us. It calls us to cultivate the mind of Christ within us (1 Corinthians 2:16b). It calls us to cultivate a discernment of the Spirit in our lives. It calls us to cultivate self-awareness and self-management (Galatians 5:23) so that we can choose to follow the Spirit’s lead. It involves the conscious choice to rely upon the Spirit’s power as we seek to follow the Spirit’s lead.  

As we live by the Spirit, following the Spirit’s lead and trusting the Spirit’s power, Christ lives in us and through us.  And!!! the character of Christ is ingrained within us! The kind of life Christ lived becomes our life! Christ lives in us and through us!  

Thanks be to God!

Led by the Spirit

 In two of his letters, Paul spoke of life in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16—26, Romans 8:1—1:17). In both letters, he spoke of being led by the Spirit. Writing to the Romans, Paul wrote “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Romans 8:14). Writing to the Galatians, Paul said, “if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law” (Galatians 5:18). He also spoke of being guided by the Spirit (Galatians 5: 25).

What does it mean to be led by the Spirit?

In last week’s blog (Keep in Step with the Spirit, June 6, 2021), I suggested four things that are involved in being led by the Spirit. (1) The Spirit teaches us spiritual truth—the nature of God along with the ways of God that Jesus taught. (2) The Spirit nudges us with that spiritual truth, leading us to live God’s ways of grace and forgiveness in specific situations and relationships. (3) The Spirit confronts those things within our hearts—attitudes, harbored hurt and anger, the lack of a teachable spirit that manifests as rigid thinking, fear, our default what’s-in-it-for-me self-serving nature, etc. — that block our ability to live God’s ways. The Spirit leads us to deal with these heart issues so that we might experience healing and spiritual growth. (4) The Spirit empowers us to do what we cannot do in our own strength.

Notice the destination to which the Spirit leads us. The Spirit leads us to live the ways of God that Jesus taught. The Spirit leads us to love as Jesus loved. The Spirit leads us to love those whom Jesus loved. To get us there, the Spirit leads us to God. The Spirit leads us on a journey of discovery, healing, and personal transformation.

The Spirit’s leading is evident in three primary areas of our lives: in our personal lives, in our relationships, and in our involvement in the world.

In our personal lives, the Spirit’s leading is evident in how we think. Paul spoke of the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2). The writer of Ephesians spoke of being made new in the spirit of the mind (Ephesians 4:23; also see Colossians 3:10). Paul also spoke of putting on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5—11) and of having the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) because we are taught by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:13). In this new way of thinking, the character of God and the ways of the kingdom begin to shape how we think. We set aside the ways of thinking we learned from the world—merit-based, if-then thinking, either-or, black-and-white thinking, us-them thinking, better than-less than thinking—and the old attitudes those ways of thinking produced.

This renewing of the mind leads to a transformed life (Romans 12:2). We learn a new way to live—God’s way of grace and forgiveness. We live with freedom (Galatians 5:1, 13). We move beyond the should’s and ought’s of rules and laws. We move beyond guilt and shame as we claim and rest in God’s grace and forgiveness (Romans 5:1—2). Peace and joy, coupled with a spirit of thanksgiving, become the inner disposition out of which we live (Galatians 5:22; Colossians 3:15). Old hurts and emotional wounds, along with the old shame-based messages that fueled them, are cleansed and healed. We begin to grow up emotionally-relationally-spiritually. We learn to deal with and manage the anxiety that so often drives our lives. We become less emotionally reactive as we live with self-awareness and self-control (Galatians 5:23). We live as the children of God (Romans 8:14).  

This personal, spiritual transformation changes how we relate to others. As we grow and change, our relationships change. As we grow up emotionally-relationally-spiritually, our relationships become healthier.

Whatever is in our hearts—anxiety and fear or peace, anger and negativity or joy, harbored hurt and bitterness or thanksgiving—is expressed in how we relate to others. Whatever pain we have not dealt with gets dumped on others in the form of anger, blame, criticalness, and judgment (Matthew 7:1—5). Paul said unaddressed and unresolved issues resulting in broken relationships is the normal pattern of our human condition (Galatians 5:19—20).

By contrast, the Spirit’s leading is evident in our relationships, specifically in unity and oneness (Ephesians 4:1—3). Such unity comes through the ability to work through issues (Ephesians 4:15; Matthew 18:15—20) coupled with the willingness to put up with and forgive (Matthew 18:21—35; Ephesians 4:31—32; Colossians 3:13). A spirit of compassion, rooted in humility that comes from doing our own inner work, governs how we treat others (Colossians 3:12). We become more patient and kind, understanding and forgiving. Only a Spirit-transformed heart and mind makes such things possible.

The third dimension in which the Spirit’s leading is evident is in how we live in the world. We invest ourselves in the lives of others to make a difference in Jesus’s name. We use our Spirit-given gifts in an area of passion (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11) as our contribution to the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12—13) that is doing the work of Christ in the world. We live out of a spirit of generosity, giving freely of who we are and what we have for the good of others (2 Corinthians 9:6—12). We live out of a servant spirit, using our power in its many forms to address the needs of others (Mark 10:42—45; Philippians 2:5—11). We love as Jesus loved (Galatians 5:22; Colossians 3:14). We work to bring the kingdom into reality on earth (Matthew 6:10).

The Spirit is leading us and guiding us—on a journey of personal transformation and growth that results in our being able to love as Jesus loved.

As many as are led by the Spirit will love as Jesus loved. They will loved those Jesus loved.

Keep in Step with the Spirit

As I grow older, I am aware that I struggle to keep up. Children often struggle to keep up with their parents as they walk hurriedly along. Their short legs have to work twice as fast to keep up with their parents’ longer strides. As I grow older, I struggle to keep up with the work pace of others. My stamina is not what it once was.

It seems to me that those of us who are the followers of Jesus struggle to keep up with the Spirit.

The Apostle Paul began his great text on life in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16—26) with the admonition “live by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16). He ended it with the admonition “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25 NIV).

His admonition “live by the Spirit” was a call to embrace a new way of living.

We naturally live out of our anxiety driven, self-indulgent default nature—what Paul called “the flesh.” We seek to manage the inclinations of this default nature by adopting and conforming to some religious or societal standard of expectations—what Paul called “the law.” Neither of these two approaches empowers us to “love your neighbor as yourself”—what Paul identified as the whole law in a nutshell (Galatians 5:14). In fact, both of these approaches to life end up in conflicted, broken relationships. This reality runs throughout Paul’s thoughts on life in the Spirit. He began with it: “If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another” (Galatians 5:15). And he ended with it: “Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:26). Conflicted, broken relationships dominate the works of the flesh he identified (Galatians 5:19—20).

Living by the Spirit, on the other hand, leads us to love as Jesus loved. “By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love” (Galatians 5:22). Love is the first of the nine traits Paul identified as the fruit of the Spirit. To be able to love as Jesus loved is the goal of the Spirit’s work within us. The Spirit leads us and empowers us to be patient, kind, generous, faithful, and gentle—that is, to love as Jesus loved.

The Spirit teaches us the ways of God Jesus taught (John 14:25—26; 16:12—15). The Spirit teaches us the ways of grace and forgiveness, of seeing and embracing every person as a beloved child of God, of using power to serve. We cannot live God’s ways until we know them. The Spirit teaches us God’s ways.

The Spirit also guides us in living God’s ways. The Spirit nudges us with the truth we know. The Spirit leads us beyond merit-based thinking that deals in deserving, calling us to relate out of grace and forgiveness. The Spirit confronts our us-them thinking that sees those who are different as “other,” calling us to see and embrace them as a brother or sister (Acts 10:28, 34—35, 44—48). The Spirit challenges the what’s-in-it-for-me orientation of our default nature, calling us to use our power to respond to the needs of others (Galatians 5:17).

The Spirit confronts those things within us that keep us from living the ways of God (Acts 10:9—16). The truth of God we know exposes what is in our hearts—our attitudes toward others, harbored anger and resentment, rigid, judgmental thinking, fear, etc. The Spirit works to cleanse our hearts, ingraining the character of God within.

The Spirit empowers us to live the ways of God. The Spirit’s work of teaching, guiding, and cleansing us culminates in the Spirit empowering us to do what we cannot do in our own strength. The Spirit empowers us to love as Jesus loved, to love those whom Jesus loved.

Which brings us to Paul’s closing admonition: “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25 NIV). His admonition highlights our role in this divine dance. We consciously choose to follow the Spirit’s lead. We keep up with what the Spirit is teaching us. We keep up with where the Spirit is nudging us to put that truth into practice. We keep up as the Spirit shines the light of God’s truth on what is in our hearts. We keep up as the Spirit calls us to offer to God what is in our hearts so that God can cleanse and heal it. As we keep up with the Spirit, the Spirit empowers us to do what we cannot do in our own strength.

If we keep up with the Spirit, we will love as Jesus loved. We will love those whom Jesus loved.