You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. Romans 8:15 (NIV)
God rescues us from slavery to fear and brings us into the joy of his love through adoption. He makes his old enemies his new sons and daughters through Jesus Christ.
What happens in an adoption? First, there is the legal side—all the red tape. Justification involves the shedding of Christ’s blood that makes us his own—legally, securely, permanently, irrevocably.
But that’s not the end. When a son or daughter is adopted, the bonding process begins. Think about how that is going in your own life. The parents who adopt want to make the adopted child feel secure. So they shower love on the adopted son or daughter.
When Paul describes the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of sonship,” he is telling us that the particular work of the Holy Spirit is to make the Father’s love real to you. He’s talking about experience, not just what you know in your head.
In John Owen’s book Communion with God, he writes about what it means to love God and to be loved by God. He says: “Love is a feeling or emotion of union and delight and desire to be near the one who is loved.”
Do you see that, in Christ, he delights in you, has affection for you, and wants to be near you? How about your feelings toward God? Do you delight in him, find joy in him, and want to be near him? This is the Spirit of sonship!
Is that how you think God feels about you?
