The Spirit of Adoption: Living as Children of God

Pastor Derek Evans | Until The Whole World Knows Ministry

Main Scripture: Romans 8:14–17 (KJV)

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Introduction — Receive the Relationship Christ Has Provided

The Holy Spirit does more than empower believers for ministry. He brings the reality of our relationship with the Father into the life we actually live. Through Jesus Christ, we are received into God's family. We are called to approach Him with reverence, confidence, and obedient love.

Yet a believer can speak confidently about spiritual power while approaching God as though every prayer were an attempt to persuade Him to care. We may measure our standing by the strength of yesterday's service, the approval of a leader, or how spiritual we feel this morning. When those things change, our confidence collapses.

Paul gives the Church a stronger foundation. Adoption rests upon what God has done through His Son. The Spirit teaches us to live from that relationship. This truth does not excuse sin or remove the need for repentance. It establishes why we can come honestly to the Father and receive His correction without fleeing from Him.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PERFORM YOUR WAY INTO THE FAMILY CHRIST HAS OPENED TO YOU.

1. Adoption Begins With Redemption, Not Religious Achievement

Galatians 4:4–5 (KJV):

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Notice who acts first. God sends His Son. Christ redeems. We receive. Paul is addressing people tempted to make their standing with God depend upon returning to the law. His answer directs them to the saving work of Christ, rather than to a religious system through which they might earn belonging.

The language of sons and heirs describes the standing believers receive; this promise embraces women and men in Christ. It does not establish a privileged spiritual class within the congregation. The newly converted believer and the seasoned minister both depend upon the same Redeemer.

This changes how we serve. Prayer, giving, fasting, and ministry are meaningful expressions of faith, but they cannot purchase adoption. If we treat them as payments, we will either become proud of our record or terrified by our shortcomings. Grace brings us to a different posture: gratitude that produces willing obedience.

Before you ask how much you have accomplished for God, remember what Christ has accomplished for you. Let your service grow from thanksgiving.

Redemption must remain at the center of this teaching because the cost of our welcome reveals the depth of God's mercy. The Father did not overlook sin and call it unimportant. He sent His Son to redeem those who could not free themselves. When we speak about belonging to God, we are speaking about a relationship made possible through Jesus Christ. Our confidence has a foundation outside our own fluctuating record of achievement.

Consider what happens when a believer forgets that foundation. A fruitful season in ministry may produce the feeling that God must now be especially pleased to receive them. A quiet season may produce the opposite conclusion. Soon prayer becomes an evaluation of personal usefulness. The believer comes before the Father carrying a report of accomplishments instead of trusting the Redeemer. This burden can become exhausting even while outward ministry continues to appear successful.

Church, we must allow the gospel to correct that pattern. The blood of Jesus Christ has greater authority than the applause of a congregation. A ministry title cannot add to the sufficiency of His saving work. A crowded schedule cannot establish a relationship that only Christ can provide. The person serving behind the scenes and the person preaching publicly both come through the same Lord. There is no separate entrance for those whose names appear on the program.

This also changes the way we receive new believers. We should teach them to obey the Lord, but we must not imply that acceptance into God's family waits until they have mastered every church custom. They need sound doctrine, patient discipleship, and room to ask sincere questions. We should help them distinguish the commands of Christ from the preferences of people. The goal is maturity in Him, with gratitude for the grace that brought them near.

Grace does not make obedience unnecessary. It gives obedience its proper source and direction. Because we have been redeemed, our bodies and choices belong to the One who redeemed us. We turn from sin because it contradicts His character and damages the relationships He calls us to honor. We serve because His mercy has reached us. Gratitude becomes practical when it produces honest work, faithful commitments, generous service, and willing repentance.

Examine the motive behind your service this week. Are you trying to secure a place Christ has already opened through redemption? Bring that striving before the Lord. Thank Him for His finished work, receive His correction, and offer today's obedience with a grateful heart. The family of God is gathered around the Redeemer, and He must remain the center of its life.

2. The Spirit Teaches Us to Approach the Father

Galatians 4:6–7 (KJV):

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Paul connects the Spirit's presence with the believer's cry to the Father. The relationship is personal. We are not merely learning facts about a distant ruler. Through Christ, we are welcomed to address the living God as Father.

That welcome does not make Him casual or controllable. A child does not become the authority over the household by being loved. We approach with trust while submitting our desires to His wisdom. Prayer becomes honest communion, including requests, confession, worship, and patient listening through His Word.

Some people find father-language painful because of what they experienced in their own homes. We should never use this passage to dismiss that pain or demand instant emotional recovery. God's character is revealed in Jesus Christ; the failures of an earthly parent do not define Him. Patient pastoral care and appropriate professional support can accompany growth in trust.

Begin simply. Bring the actual burden before Him. You do not need an impressive voice to be heard by your Father.

The cry to the Father is one of the most practical expressions of spiritual life. We often associate the ministry of the Holy Ghost with preaching, spiritual gifts, and public demonstrations of power. Those matters deserve serious attention. Yet Paul also directs us toward the intimate work of the Spirit within the heart. He teaches redeemed people to bring their lives before the Father with the confidence of belonging to Him.

That confidence makes room for honesty. We can confess that we are afraid, ask for wisdom, admit that we have sinned, and acknowledge that we do not understand the season we are walking through. Religious performance pressures us to sound stronger than we are. Communion with the Father allows us to tell the truth while seeking the strength He provides. Reverence does not require pretending that we have no needs.

Prayer should therefore become a regular place of surrender. Bring a request before Him, and also bring the desire beneath the request. We may ask for an opportunity while needing the Lord to examine our hunger for recognition. We may ask for relief from conflict while needing to confess our own harsh words. The Father receives our petitions, and His Word searches the motives we might otherwise leave unexamined. A growing relationship makes us increasingly willing to receive that searching.

We must also learn patience when an answer takes time. The delay of a desired outcome does not give us enough information to conclude that the Father has stopped caring. We continue asking, listening to Scripture, seeking wise counsel, and fulfilling the responsibilities already before us. Trust develops as we place our requests beneath His wisdom. We do not have to turn every unanswered question into a verdict against His character.

For the person whose understanding of fatherhood has been shaped by rejection or abuse, this may be a slow and tender process. The Church must exercise care. We should listen without demanding a testimony of instant recovery. We should never require someone to return to danger as proof of forgiveness or trust. The character of God must be taught faithfully, and wise support should help the person grow in safety, truth, and confidence.

Begin with the prayer you can pray sincerely today. Set aside the need to impress anyone. Open the Scriptures, acknowledge who the Father has revealed Himself to be through Christ, and bring one real concern before Him. Then ask for grace to follow the truth you already understand. The Spirit of adoption teaches us to live in fellowship with God through ordinary days as well as extraordinary services. Let your heart learn to turn toward the Father before anxiety has written the whole story of your day.

3. Being Led by the Spirit Includes Putting Sin to Death

Romans 8:13 (KJV):

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

This verse immediately precedes Paul's statement about being led by the Spirit. The context matters. Spiritual leading includes the Spirit's work of turning us away from sinful conduct. It cannot be reduced to receiving directions about a job, a journey, or a ministry opportunity.

The same Spirit who assures us that we belong to God confronts what contradicts His character. Adoption does not make dishonesty harmless. It does not turn cruelty into strong leadership or jealousy into discernment. The Father is forming a people whose conduct reflects His holiness.

Paul says this happens through the Spirit. Human determination alone cannot accomplish the transformation God requires. Yet dependence does not mean passivity. When Scripture exposes a practice, we confess it, refuse to nourish it, seek trustworthy accountability, and take concrete steps of obedience.

For those receiving deliverance ministry, this is essential discipleship. Prayer for freedom should lead into a growing life with Christ. We must help people know the Father, understand Scripture, and practice obedience, rather than teach them to interpret every difficult feeling as another spiritual emergency.

The word mortify carries the seriousness of putting sinful deeds to death. Paul does not describe a casual negotiation in which the believer permits a favorite compromise to remain in charge. He calls for decisive resistance through the Spirit. This does not mean harming the body. It means refusing the sinful uses of our bodies and capacities, while yielding them to the service of God.

We need this clarity because spiritual language can sometimes conceal ordinary disobedience. A person may say that they are being led to confront someone when their conduct is actually driven by resentment. Another may describe an impulsive decision as faith while refusing counsel or neglecting a clear responsibility. We must allow Scripture to test our claims. The Holy Spirit's leading will never make the character of Jesus Christ irrelevant to our behavior.

Take anger as a practical example. A believer may pray sincerely for freedom and then continue rehearsing the insult, imagining revenge, and speaking contemptuously about the other person. Dependence upon the Spirit includes yielding that rehearsal to Him. We can stop feeding the grievance, choose truthful and measured speech, seek reconciliation where appropriate, and establish wise boundaries where harm continues. Obedience reaches the habits through which anger has been nourished.

The same principle applies to dishonesty, sexual sin, greed, and the desire to control others. We should identify the actual practice, confess it plainly, and remove the opportunities we have been deliberately protecting. A person struggling with a secret habit may need accountability and changes in access or routine. A leader who has misused authority may need correction and meaningful oversight. Spiritual sincerity should become visible through a willingness to take responsibility.

This work requires continuing dependence. We cannot replace the Holy Spirit with determination, but neither should we use dependence as a reason to remain inactive. Pray for strength and take the next obedient step. When you fail, come into the light promptly. Confess the sin, receive appropriate correction, and return to the path of faithfulness. Hiding a failure allows it to grow in secrecy; honest repentance brings it before the Lord and those who can help.

Deliverance workers must keep this larger purpose before them. People need to understand the gospel, become established in a local church, and learn how to follow Christ in daily life. We should help them recognize temptation without teaching them to fear every passing thought. We should encourage prayer while also explaining practical obedience. Freedom is served by truth, humility, and patient discipleship.

Being led by the Spirit reaches the kitchen table, the workplace, the private conversation, and the moment of temptation. Let us welcome His direction there with the same expectation we bring to a worship service.

4. Assurance Must Rest Deeper Than a Momentary Feeling

Romans 8:16 says the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are God's children. This is precious assurance, but we should not turn it into a demand that every believer experience the same intensity of emotion.

Paul's argument is grounded in Christ's work and the Spirit's presence. Joyful worship can accompany assurance. So can a quiet return to God's promises during a difficult week. Emotional exhaustion does not, by itself, establish that a person has been abandoned by God.

As Pentecostal believers, we welcome the gifts and empowering ministry of the Holy Ghost. We must also honor His work in strengthening faith when there is no dramatic manifestation. A public experience is not a substitute for trusting Christ, and the absence of spectacle is not proof that the Spirit is absent.

When doubts arise, return to the gospel. Speak honestly with a mature believer. Examine your conduct without inventing accusations against yourself. Where there is actual sin, repent. Where there is weariness or distress, receive care. Let the Word govern your understanding instead of allowing every change in mood to issue a verdict upon your relationship with God.

We must be careful about the evidence we teach people to seek. If assurance is built entirely upon the memory of a powerful service, every ordinary day may begin to feel spiritually deficient. If it depends upon the approval of a leader, correction may seem like rejection by God. If it depends upon the absence of every troubling thought, a tired mind may become the setting for endless self-accusation. The gospel supplies a firmer foundation.

Paul does not ask believers to manufacture a sensation and then use it as proof of adoption. He describes the witness of the Spirit within a life grounded in Christ. We should receive that witness gratefully while allowing the whole teaching of Scripture to govern our understanding. Our hope rests upon the Lord who redeems, calls, and sustains His people. The strength of that hope exceeds the strength of our ability to describe an experience.

This does not mean that examination has no place. The same passage that speaks of assurance also calls us away from the deeds of the flesh. If we are knowingly defending sin, the right response is honest repentance. We should not use the language of belonging to silence conviction. But conviction addresses what needs to be brought into the light. It leads us toward confession, correction, and obedience. Endless accusations that leave us circling in despair should be tested carefully rather than accepted without question.

Pastoral care should help a believer distinguish those situations. Ask what the actual concern is. Is there a specific wrongdoing that needs to be confessed and corrected? Is the person exhausted, grieving, isolated, or overwhelmed? What truths about Christ have they forgotten? Listening carefully prevents us from answering every struggle with the same instruction. A person who needs rest and compassionate support should not be burdened with an invented spiritual charge.

We must also avoid comparing the outward expressions of different believers. One may weep freely during worship; another may respond quietly with deep sincerity. Neither expression grants us complete knowledge of the heart. We can encourage freedom in worship while refusing to make personality or emotional intensity the measure of God's nearness. The fruit of the Spirit and a continuing response to truth deserve our attention over time.

When uncertainty troubles you, return to the main passage of this article. Read it slowly. Consider the Redeemer upon whom your relationship depends, the Father to whom you are invited to cry, and the Spirit who leads you in obedience. Pray honestly and speak with a trustworthy mature believer. Receive help where it is needed. Let your confidence be nourished by the truth of God's Word and the faithful care of His people. Assurance grows as we learn to trust the Lord through both joyful and difficult days.

5. Children and Heirs Still Walk Through Suffering

Paul joins inheritance with sharing Christ's sufferings in Romans 8:17. He does not promise that adoption will remove every painful circumstance. He points believers toward the glory that will be revealed with Christ.

Romans 8:18 (KJV):

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

This is hope for suffering people, not permission to minimize their pain. Paul acknowledges suffering while declaring that it will not have the final word. Belonging to God does not mean every illness, loss, or rejection disappears immediately. Neither does hardship prove that His love has failed.

This protects ministry from cruel conclusions. We must not tell a grieving believer that sorrow demonstrates deficient faith. We must not measure adoption by financial success or physical health. We pray boldly, offer practical help, encourage appropriate care, and stand beside people while they wait.

Our inheritance is inseparable from Christ. The final horizon is resurrection and life with Him. That hope enables faithful living today without pretending that today contains the fullness of everything promised.

This part of Paul's teaching deserves a full place in our preaching. We can become so eager to speak about inheritance that we hurry past the words about suffering with Christ. Yet the passage holds both before us. Believers are called to follow the crucified and risen Savior. Our future glory is certain in Him, and the present journey still requires endurance, costly obedience, and dependence upon God.

Suffering with Christ includes the cost of remaining faithful to Him. A believer may lose approval because they refuse dishonesty. A family may experience opposition because they follow Jesus. A servant of God may continue loving and speaking truth while facing rejection. These experiences should not surprise a Church that follows the Lord who was rejected. Faithfulness may bring a cost that cannot be measured by public success or immediate comfort.

At the same time, we must be precise about the way we apply this truth. Not every painful consequence is persecution. If someone suffers because they have been dishonest or cruel, repentance and accountability are necessary. We should not protect wrongdoing by describing every correction as an attack upon the anointing. Adoption gives us reason to receive the Father's correction and pursue a conduct that honors His name.

Other hardships belong to the brokenness of the world: illness, grief, disappointment, and the losses that touch human life. We should meet those experiences with prayer and compassionate presence. A grieving person may need meals, help with responsibilities, someone to listen, and steady companionship after the funeral has passed. A person facing illness may need practical assistance and encouragement to receive appropriate medical care. The love of God's family should become tangible in those moments.

We believe the Lord heals, and we should pray with faith. We must also remain faithful when healing does not arrive according to our preferred timetable. The person waiting for an answer still deserves dignity, fellowship, and care. No one should be made to feel that ongoing suffering has removed their place among God's people. Our ministry must keep pointing toward Christ while standing patiently beside those who hurt.

Paul's comparison between present suffering and coming glory gives us a future large enough to sustain hope. Resurrection and life with Christ place the final outcome beyond the reach of the losses we experience now. That promise does not require us to deny pain. It allows us to lament honestly while trusting that pain will not possess the final word.

Church, let us live as heirs whose hope is anchored in the risen Lord. Continue serving when obedience is costly. Continue caring when another person's burden lasts longer than expected. Continue praying when you do not yet understand. The Father who has received us through His Son has given us a hope that reaches beyond the present season.

Conclusion — Live Before God as His Child

Church, let this truth reach beyond our vocabulary. Receive the gospel's foundation. Bring your needs to the Father. Yield your conduct to the Spirit. Let assurance grow through truth, and face suffering with the hope Christ provides.

We serve a holy Father whose mercy welcomes honest repentance. We belong to a Saviour whose work is sufficient for our redemption. We depend upon the Holy Spirit who teaches us to live in that relationship.

LET YOUR OBEDIENCE GROW FROM BELONGING TO CHRIST.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for sending Your Son to redeem us. Teach us to receive Your grace with humble faith. Holy Spirit, strengthen our confidence in Christ, expose the sins we must forsake, and help us obey. Heal wounded hearts with truth and patient care. Keep us faithful through suffering, and establish our hope in the glory to come. Let our homes and churches reflect the love of Your family. In Jesus' mighty name, Amen.

Pastor Derek Evans
Until The Whole World Knows Ministry

“Deliverance is the children's bread, all are welcomed.”

Scripture: Romans 8 and Galatians 4:4–7, King James Version.