Really Yours?Romans 1:1-6; 8:12-15
"And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ."
(ROMANS 1:6)
"Is she really yours?" and "Do you have any children of your own?" are familiar questions to adoptive parents. Sometimes I have wondered if the inquiries are implying that ours is not really a family.
"Am I really in the family?" is an age-old question. Paul often reminded the believers in Rome, Ephesus and Galatia that they were brothers, adopted, and children of God. He told them that the family extended beyond Israel and into the whole Gentile world. They needed to know just as much then as we do now what our identity is in Jesus. We really do belong to Him.
At times I've been defensive about the "really yours?" question, probably because I have thought that somehow "naturally born" was better than adopted. Does any of us want to admit that in our adoption by Christ we all once were lost, abandoned and enslaved? Yet even Israel was adopted (Romans 9:4), Paul says, and was an abandoned baby (Ezekiel 16:4-6) before the Lord "adopted" her. So are we really His? Yes, and more welcomed than we will ever know!
INSIGHT
"THE SPIRIT HIMSELF TESTIFIES WITH OUR SPIRIT THAT WE ARE GOD'S CHILDREN."
(ROMANS 8:16)
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Ezekiel 31-32
Psalm 146
1 Timothy 1-2
Romans 1:1-6
New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a] was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[c] faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Footnotes:
a. Romans 1:3 Or who according to the flesh
b. Romans 1:4 Or was declared with power to be the Son of God
c. Romans 1:5 Or that is
Romans 8:12-15
Common English Bible (CEB)
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it isn’t an obligation to ourselves to live our lives on the basis of selfishness. 13 If you live on the basis of selfishness, you are going to die. But if you put to death the actions of the body with the Spirit, you will live. 14 All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father.”
STRING CHRISTMAS [PART 1]
with Gerard Le Feuvre
Gerard Le Feuvre is a world-class cellist, the founder of The Kings Chamber Orchestra, and a young father. Several months ago he received devastating news and knew his only hope was Jesus.
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