Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,524
“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:14-18 NASB’95)
When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him, which is not of our own doing, but which comes from God, and which is directed by God, we die with Christ to sin so that we can now live to God and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to his commands, in holy living. Our old self is put to death with Christ in order that we will no longer live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For when we are enslaved to sin, we are under the wrath of God, and we will die in our sins.
And how can we be sure whether or not we are, indeed, the children of God? Romans 6 and Romans 8 give us many instructions on that subject so that we can know if we are truly God’s children, or not. And they tell us the true signs that we are the children of God are that we have died with Christ to sin and we are now walking (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and that sin no longer is our practice. By the Spirit we should be putting sin to death daily and walking in obedience to our Lord.
Therefore we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies so that we obey its lusts, for if sin is what we obey, it will result in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in righteousness and sanctification, and its end is eternal life with Christ, our Lord. So then, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh – for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live (see Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14).
So, when this says here that the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him, this is not independent of Romans 6 and Romans 8, in whole. It is not independent of the New Testament teachings under the New Covenant, as a whole, too. We cannot just claim we are in Christ or that we believe in Jesus and then declare ourselves to be the children of God.
We are children of God if we have died with Christ to sin and we are walking in obedience to his commands, in lifestyle, in practice. And this is not saying that we will be absolutely perfect in every way or that we will never sin again. It is not even saying that we could not have a short time when we wandered from our pure devotion to the Lord and needed to be brought back to repentance and to renewed faith in the Lord. But if sin is our practice, and not walks of obedience to God, in lifestyle, we will not inherit eternal life.
For “the suffering” which this talks about begins with us dying with Christ to sin and us putting sin to death in our lives and us now walking in obedience to our Lord. And as we do that, we will also suffer unjust treatment at the hands of those who oppose us and what we stand for and for what we do in obedience to our Lord. For we will have enemies, and they could be anyone, even others who profess faith in Jesus but who are living a lie and not the truth of God’s word, for the lie allows them to keep walking in their sins.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
Caution: This link may contain ads
If We Suffer With Him
An Original Work / April 10, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him, which is not of our own doing, but which comes from God, and which is directed by God, we die with Christ to sin so that we can now live to God and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to his commands, in holy living. Our old self is put to death with Christ in order that we will no longer live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For when we are enslaved to sin, we are under the wrath of God, and we will die in our sins.
And how can we be sure whether or not we are, indeed, the children of God? Romans 6 and Romans 8 give us many instructions on that subject so that we can know if we are truly God’s children, or not. And they tell us the true signs that we are the children of God are that we have died with Christ to sin and we are now walking (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and that sin no longer is our practice. By the Spirit we should be putting sin to death daily and walking in obedience to our Lord.
Therefore we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies so that we obey its lusts, for if sin is what we obey, it will result in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in righteousness and sanctification, and its end is eternal life with Christ, our Lord. So then, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh – for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live (see Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14).
So, when this says here that the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him, this is not independent of Romans 6 and Romans 8, in whole. It is not independent of the New Testament teachings under the New Covenant, as a whole, too. We cannot just claim we are in Christ or that we believe in Jesus and then declare ourselves to be the children of God.
We are children of God if we have died with Christ to sin and we are walking in obedience to his commands, in lifestyle, in practice. And this is not saying that we will be absolutely perfect in every way or that we will never sin again. It is not even saying that we could not have a short time when we wandered from our pure devotion to the Lord and needed to be brought back to repentance and to renewed faith in the Lord. But if sin is our practice, and not walks of obedience to God, in lifestyle, we will not inherit eternal life.
For “the suffering” which this talks about begins with us dying with Christ to sin and us putting sin to death in our lives and us now walking in obedience to our Lord. And as we do that, we will also suffer unjust treatment at the hands of those who oppose us and what we stand for and for what we do in obedience to our Lord. For we will have enemies, and they could be anyone, even others who profess faith in Jesus but who are living a lie and not the truth of God’s word, for the lie allows them to keep walking in their sins.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.
O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.
O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.
Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.
Caution: This link may contain ads
If We Suffer With Him
An Original Work / April 10, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
