https://youtu.be/DeNNR0JGQ
In our verse by verse study of Romans last time we finished our Expanded Translation Rom 8:13: "if you live under the authority of the old sin nature, you are destined to die (maximum discipline), but if by means of the Spirit you recognize as dead the deeds of the body (sin, human good and evil from the OSN), you will live."
We saw that this verse describes the believer's options for functioning under the authority of the OSN or God the Holy Spirit. Verses 14-17 go on to describe what happens when the believer chooses to function under the ministry of God.
Rom 8:14; "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God." The conjunctive particle "gar" (for) is used to explain the predicate for this. The nominative plural from the correlative adjective "hosos" (as many) refers to those believers who attain spiritual maturity through the filling of the Spirit and maximum PMA of God's Word of Truth under God's GASP system.
Then the present passive indicative from the verb "ago" (led) so we have "for as many as are led." The present tense is a retroactive progressive present that describes what has begun in the past and continues into the present time.
The mature believer is "led by the Spirit of God." The passive voice: the mature believer receives the action of the verb. The indicative mood is a statement of dogmatic fact that explains that the mature believer is definitely guided by God.
The means is described as the "Spirit." "Pneuma" (spirit) with the descriptive genitive singular of "Theos" (God). So we have "by the Spirit of God."
God's guidance for determining God's will for your life regarding a few specific things and many general principles comes from God's Word of Truth through the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit. God's guidance comes from the information that God's Word of truth reveals.
In the Church Age God's revelation to believers is limited to what is contained in His Word of Truth. The canon of Scripture contains everything that God uses to guide us.
God's discipline and human disaster as a category of God's guidance is mostly limited to general principles especially during the age of no prophesy.
For the reversionists there is general guidance from God because scripture does tell us that there will be warning and intensive discipline before dying discipline. This discipline only informs the believer that he is on the wrong road.
The only specific way to positively know God's will is through direct commands that are in God's Word. These commands include Eph 5:18; Gal 5:16; and similar passages with imperative mood verbs in God's Word.
Believers cannot know the will of God without being filled with God the Holy Spirit and having spirit taught knowledge of God's Word of Truth so we know that only believers who are filled with the Spirit and who know God's Word are being led by God. The rest are just winging it.
Rom 8:14; "These are sons of God" "these are," refers specifically to mature believers who are experientially "sons of God" because they are listening to and complying with God's Word of Truth. The active voice: mature believers produce the action of the verb.
All believers are positionally in God's royal family so all believers are positionally sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus but this verse is describing what is going on experientially.
The indicative mood is declarative for a statement of fact. Plus the predicate nominative plural of "houtos" (these) that is used here in the Greek to describe a "mature son."
As always the Greek is very specific. The absence of the definite article "ho" with "hotos" helps us understand that this is referring exclusively to "mature sons."
Without the definite article "ho" "hutos" is anartharous. In the Greek the absence of the definite article means the highest quality of the noun or adjective involved so it is referring to mature believers because they are the believers who are the "highest quality."
Expanded Translation Rom 8:14; "For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are mature sons of God."
In the dispensation of the Church Age God only guides His children; those who are in His royal family and maximum guidance is only given to the mature believer because guidance requires maximum truth in the heart of the believer's soul for recall under the filling and mentor ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
For the immature believer guidance mostly comes from God's discipline as a warning to get back to learning Bible doctrine and believers who are consistently functioning under OSN control of the soul are guided by the pressure that is created in the stages of divine discipline.
Paul describes this in Acts 26:14;
One of the results of maturity adjustment to God's justice is God's guidance through the filling of the Spirit making application of resident doctrine in the soul. This results in the believer becoming spiritually self-sustaining.
A self sustaining believer is independent and autonomous because he does not need any consulting from other believers so he does not get any misinformation about any given course of action or what decision should be made from other believers.
One of the worst things that can happen to a believer is to be dependant on other believers for guidance or counsel from God's Word.
Only the mature believer has enough doctrine in the heart of their soul to be sufficiently spiritually self-sustaining enough to make his own correct decisions and have complete confidence about God's will in any situation or circumstance of life.
When it comes to knowing and doing the will of God there is no substitute for being a mature believer. The mature believer does not use others as a crutch because he does not depend upon the advice of others.
Feeling the need to seek guidance from others is an indication of weakness from a lack of personal spiritual growth from the inculcation of doctrine by God the Holy Spirit under God's GASP system.
The mature believer does not seek guidance or counsel, however he is often asked by others to provide it.
Rom 8:15; "For you have not received the spirit of slavery again to fear." This begins with the explanatory use of the conjunctive particle "gar" (for) with the negative 'ou" (not).
Then we have the aorist active indicative of the verb "lambano" (receive). The constantive aorist tense gathers into one entirety all of the negative action. The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood describes action from the perspective of existing reality.
Then we have the accusative singular direct object from "pneuma" (spirit). Pneuma can refer to the Holy Spirit, the human spirit, breath, and is also used for a state of mind or attitude toward life and that is its meaning here: "you have not received an attitude."
Next is the descriptive genitive singular from "douleia" (slavery). This is slavery to the old sin nature. The adverb "palin" (again) is used here to describe reverting to a previous state again or reverting back to a former manner of life again. "
The previous activity is a mental attitude of slavery or dependence. Then the prepositional phrase "eis" (for) plus the accusative of "phobos" (fear) so we have "for you have not received again a life of slavery for the purpose of fear."
God did not design the believer's new life in Jesus Christ to be a life of slavery to fear. God has provided all of these things to for us so that we can be confident not fearful, nor does He want us to be afraid of anything that comes at us from satan's world.
Assurance and confidence are characteristics of the normal Christian way of life. However, it isn't self-confidence. It is confidence in God's integrity and it is assurance based on absolute confidence from God's immutable Word of Truth that resident in the thinking of the heart of our soul.
The life of the unbeliever is going to be unstable. The more unstable the historical situation the more unstable the unbeliever will be because the unbeliever is dependant on circumstances.
The life of slavery that is being described here is the marriage to the old sin nature at biological birth, but believers are divorced from the old sin nature through retroactive positional truth by being born again so believers are free from the life of slavery to circumstances.
In addition, the purpose of our life has changed. The purpose of our life as members of God's royal family is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. This can only be accomplished by receiving the real imputation of maximum blessing directly from God's justice to the judicial righteousness that God imputed to us at salvation.
Fear is incompatible with this purpose so it is not the attitude of members of God's royal family. Fear and instability in a believer in Jesus Christ indicates a lack of the filling of the Spirit and failure to consistently assimilate God's Word of Truth for the renovation of the thinking.
"But ye have received the spirit of adoption" the adversative conjunction "alla" (but) is a very strong adversative that sets up a mutually exclusive division between the two clauses that refer to the first and the second marriage.
The first marriage to the old sin nature is characterized by fear but the second marriage to Christ is characterized by the Spirit of adoption. "But you have received" "received" is translated from the same aorist active indicative of the verb "lambano" (receive).
It is a constantive aorist tense that describes the instantaneous action that occurred instantly at salvation through the baptism of the Spirit and current positional truth that entered the believer into union with Christ.
The active voice: the believer produces the action of the verb. The indicative mood describes the situation from the viewpoint of absolute reality.
This is followed by the accusative singular direct object from "pneuma" (Spirit) that refers to God the Holy Spirit who is the source of the baptism of the Spirit at salvation.
Plus a descriptive genitive "huiothesia" (huio = from, thesia = to place as an adult son) that is translated "adoption" following the Roman custom of adoption at the time the NT was written.
The Romans had a custom of legally adopting their own children or even someone else as their legal heir at the point of maturity.
This adoption does not refer to the adoption of a baby that was born to other parents like we do today. It refers to the Roman custom of adoption of mature adults to be legal heirs.
The "spirit of adoption" means that the believer recognizes that he is an heir of God the Father just like Jesus is.
In Scripture adoption means to be positionally and legally be recognized by God the Father as an adult son at salvation. The Latin word "adoptia" that is transliterated into the English adopt is the exact equivalent of the Greek "huiothesia," that refers to the adoption an adult son.
The Imputations at salvation explain to us that God the Father has a specific plan and purpose for the life of every believer in Jesus Christ. Every Church Age believer is adopted as adult son at the moment of salvation.
Every Church Age believer is united with Christ and is a joint-heir with Christ, and we were all adopted into that union at the moment of salvation. Gal 3:26-29; This adoption by God the Father is irrevocable.