Series: Saints
Message: Adoption
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Reflection: Japhet De Oliveira
Live Wonder: Jessyka Albert
Live Adventure: Jessyka Albert
Live Purpose: Kyle Smith
Editor: Becky De Oliveira
Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.
Read: Romans 8:12-17 in The Message (MSG). Note 1–3 insights or questions.
Reflect: Today’s paraphrase of this passage is really exciting. Eugene Peterson seems to want to convey a level of energy that will call us off our seats and into action—which reflects what Paul was saying both to the Romans and to us today. Following Jesus is life. That life comes from the Holy Spirit. We are part of the most amazing family as a result. This is true even through difficulties. In fact, we embrace those difficulties with and through Jesus who gives us strength and vitality.
So the first response, at least to this section, is to address sin in the flesh and to “give it a decent burial and get on with your new life.”
The idea of putting to an end to the “life in the flesh” is one Paul repeats more than once in other letters, such as Colossians 3:5-11. John Stott, in his commentary on Romans, highlights this process which was commonly called “mortification.” Several theologians started to refer to it this way because of the King James Version translation of Verse 13: “If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” John Stott defines mortification like this:
Mortification is neither masochism (taking pleasure in self-inflicted pain), nor asceticism (resenting and rejecting the fact that we have bodies and natural bodily appetites). It is rather a clear-sighted recognition of evil as evil, leading to such a decisive and radical repudiation of it that no imagery can do it justice except “putting to death.”
The pragmatic side of dealing with temptation and sin causes us to become conflicted at times. Do we see sin as a cancer in our lives or as butter on our popcorn? For Paul, there was no middle ground. You were either in or out. You were either with Jesus or not. It was a choice between the Spirit or the Flesh. Of course he was hoping that you would decide to accept the gift and become fully indebted to the Holy Spirit for your new life.
Recalibrate: When was the last time you threw your all into something? Do you do that with any area of your relationship with God?
Respond: Pray for the courage to experience more of Jesus today.
Research: What do you understand the process of “mortification” to look like for your tribe?
Remember: “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” Romans 8:16 (NIV).
Japhet is senior pastor at Boulder Adventist Church in Boulder, Colorado, and was co-founder of the One project. Originally from southeast London, he served in the South England Conference for nine years—as a pastor and later as conference youth director—before moving to the United States in 2006. He is married to Becky and they have two sons, Joshua (18) and Jonah (14).
When you’re grocery shopping for strawberries, how do you choose them? You probably pick up a container of berries and examine it from all angles, looking for any gross or moldy strawberries. If you were to pick up a container and see just one little strawberry that had a tiny piece of fuzz on it, would you take it home? Most likely not. Why is that? Because one moldy strawberry can ruin the entire bunch. Read Galatians 5:16-26. What fruits are you modeling to your child as they grow? Each day this week, choose a Fruit of the Spirit to exemplify.
Paul tells us that when we live by the Spirit, we have life and the Spirit puts all those bad things we do in a timeout that lasts forever! Think of some ways that demonstrate living by the Spirit. If you would like a hint, have your parents help you look up Galatians 5:22-24. The book of Galatians is another letter Paul wrote. He talks a lot about the same things in this letter. Like throwing out all those bad fruits that are rotten and living all the good Fruits of the Spirit. Which Fruit of the Spirit is your favorite? Choose one Fruit of the Spirit and have someone else from your family choose another of the Fruits of the Spirit, and try to live those two things out in your actions today! If you choose “kindness,” try extra hard to be kind even when you might want to yell at someone!
Paul says, ”For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” There are many profound things I could say to illustrate this verse, but I want one thing to be extremely clear: If you allow Jesus to lead in your life, you are a child of God. This world speaks so many things into us and it has led so many to believe they are defined by their actions, failures, and successes. Last week, I saw a homeless man standing on a corner and holding a sign that said, “Broke, homeless, ugly, worthless, need money.” It was shocking to me that the man had defined himself by his failures and shortcomings. I want you to know that you are not defined by your failures but by Jesus. And Jesus declares to each of us that we are children of God. That is who you are. That is your identity. Today as you look at your life in light of being God’s child, what do you sense the Spirit leading you to do?