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JANUARY: New Life in the Spirit



January 26

THE RESULTS OF ADOPTION

I…will be your God, and you shall be my people.
Leviticus 26:12

The first result of our adoption I shall mention is that if we have the spirit of adoption, we have lost “the spirit of bondage again to fear” (Romans 8:15). Positively, in the second place, we have been given a spirit of liberty. In other words, we are no longer afraid of the law and its condemnation; we are no longer afraid of death; we are enjoying something of the glorious liberty of the children of God. Third, we receive this spirit of adoption through the indwelling Spirit.

But then in addition there are these results: Because we have been adopted into God’s family, we are entitled to bear His name. We can say that we are the children of God. We are members of the household of God. We belong to God’s family. God’s name is upon us. He has said, “I . . . will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:12). We are His people. Peter applies to Christians what God said to the nation of Israel of old: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy”
(1 Peter 2:9-10).

What else? Well, the fifth benefit is that we enjoy the present protection and consolation that God alone can give, and the provision that He makes for His children. “Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Luke 12:7); nothing can happen to us apart from Him. The next benefit, at first, is not so pleasurable—fatherly chastisements. That is the whole argument of the first half of Hebrews 12: “For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives” (verse 6). He chastises His children, but not those who are not His children.

A Thought to Ponder
We are members of the household of God. We belong to God’s family.

From God the Holy Spirit, pp. 187-188.




Today’s devo is taken from Walking with God Day by Day © 2003 by Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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Walking with God Archive

January
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