Who You Are In Christ, Adoption As Sons
Kurt Katzorke · Mar 9, 2008
Who You Are in Christ, No. 10
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/4926055125286

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Alright, well I have to correct myself because last week I taught on Ephesians 2.10 and I said something that was inaccurate based on the fact of something I was taught in the past at school and I want to correct myself. It's a humbling sort of a thing to have an elder say, hey, you might not want to say that. So my dad had coffee with me yesterday and said, here's the correct theology. So I want to correct something I said.

Ephesians 2.10 says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. And what I had said incorrectly was that we could unavoidably That's not the right word. We couldn't avoid doing those good works. That God's will was that we would do those works, and we couldn't avoid doing them. However, the Greek in this, to correct it, is that the works prepared beforehand, it is aristens, they are there by God for us to do, but the wood-walk in them is subjunctive, which means that our will We need to be abiding in Christ and in fellowship with Christ to do those good works.

I've got a little chart here, which I did up last week. I kind of tried to draw in chalk, but this is a little easier to read, I hope. There's a laser button on here, isn't there? There is. You may be able to see it or not. I don't know. But I wanted to show here, as we're growing, we may choose at some point in time to follow the old nature and walk in sin for a moment, and while we're doing that we're not walking in those good works that God has prepared beforehand. And so I wanted to correct what I said last week, which was that we couldn't avoid doing them, that we would always do those good works, and the correct interpretation of that passage and application is that as we're abiding, which should be the normative, normal part of the Christian life, you should spend a lot more time and I've got arrows down here showing that your will or your focus is on the new nature and is on the Holy Spirit and His direction. We're guided by the Holy Spirit in contrast to looking at the old nature. So hopefully that's a little bit clearer and theologically accurate and everybody... A lot of people weren't here last week to hear and if you didn't listen on the internet you didn't hear me say that but I just wanted to clear that up and correct what I said. I do not.

I can make copies of it and I can put it on the internet and all kinds of other things. Okay. Well, thank you. Actually, there are copies of it. It's being used this morning in the anthropology class, believe it or not. So you can get a copy of it from there. I think that's in the main service. Is that right? Or is it downstairs? Well, either way, it's here this morning, and we should be able to get you a copy of it.

All right, that's all I have to say. It's Kurt's turn. He's got more important things to say this morning. And he also has an impromptu presentation, so we can turn this on. Yeah, this is going to sound good on the recording. These need to have some separation, we're sure. It doesn't matter. Alrighty. How's everybody doing this morning? We're all here.

Okay, so this morning we are going to look at the adoption of sons. Who you are in Christ. You are adopted. And the first thing we'll talk about there is the Greek word. I'm not going to try and butcher it, but it means son and position. It's a compound word of son and position. So we're talking about who you are in Christ. This is your position. You are positioned as a son in Christ. This adoption, under Roman law, what was it? The word Paul uses here was a process put in place under Roman law in order to ensure that Caesar would have an heir.

In order for the adoption to be completed, it had to be voted on by the Roman Senate and witnessed by seven people. Verne taught on Galatians chapter 4 not too long ago, and one of the things that he pointed out there was that This adoption was approved at the highest level. It was approved at the highest level by the Senate. And if we make the comparison, there are adoptions approved at the very highest level.

Augustus Caesar and Tiberius Caesar gained access to the thrones by means of this process. The process was also used by Roman citizens to ensure that they would have an heir to their estates. In the chart below, what we've got going on here, is what was true of this adoption under Roman law, and then just kind of drew some comparisons. I think Paul uses this word very specifically and with good intent.

So how it compares to our adoption into the family of God. So we'll start there at the top. The adopted son lost all rights in his old family and gained more rights than a fully legitimate son in his new family. So when we come to Christ, we cut our ties with our old ways. and we gain access to the family of God under a system of grace rather than a system of law as the nation of Israel was before us. So we have an even better standing as New Testament saints under this system of grace.

The second one there, he became an heir to his father's estate even if other sons were born afterwards. The kind of comparison that we can draw here is There's nothing and no one that can take away or change our position as co-heirs with Christ. It is set and there's absolutely nothing that is going to change it. The third one there, the old life of the adopted son was completely wiped out so that the adopted son was regarded as a new person entering into a new life.

Any and all debts were forgiven and any and all criminal records were forgiven. So that's what that son had under the Roman law system and under our grace system. Our old self is wiped out and we are made new in Christ. All of our debts and transgression are placed on Christ and his righteousness is placed upon us. We are completely forgiven. Those things are wiped out as though they never even happened.

And the last point there, the adopted son was literally and absolutely the son of his new father. So that's the same with us. We are literally a son or daughter of God and there's nothing that can change that position. I think that the second point, how they become heirs to the new father's estate, even if other sons were born afterwards, kind of feeds into the fourth point of how it's literally and absolutely the son of his new father.

There's no replacing it. Once this is done, you're not even considered adopted anymore. You're just the son. And that's really cool. It's not just the legal standard. It's the adopted son. This is it. That's my kid. We'll learn a little bit more about the intimacy a little bit further on here and just how amazing that relationship is. The next point here is all grown up. Grown up from what?

I think this is going to spur some conversation. Paul uses the word for this Roman system of adoption for good reason. It conveys and compares well to our adoption into God's family. Another aspect of this adoption to compare is that it is not like adoption in our culture. In our culture, we usually think of adoption being of usually people who are unable to have children.

At least that's where my mind goes. I think of Randy and Jessica. I have some friends who recently adopted. They weren't able to have children, so adoption was a phenomenal way for them to have a child. It is always that case, but we usually think of a young child or a baby being adopted.

But under this Roman system, it was an adult that was being adopted. Often wealthy merchants who were childless and who didn't have a wife or something like that, they were a single man all their life, or they had lost their children or whatever, they would do this to ensure that they had an heir to their estate. And so they were usually adopting an adult male to be an heir to their estate. Or in the case of the emperor, they're childless or they're sonless, and so they're bringing in an adult male for that as well. But Schaefer makes an interesting comparison, and I'll read his quote here.

All childhood and adolescent years, which are normal in human experience, are excluded in spiritual sonship and the newly born believer is at once in possession of freedom from tutors and governors, who symbolize the law principle, and is responsible to live the full-orb spiritual life of an adult son in the father's household. No period of irresponsible childhood is recognized.

There should be no misunderstanding about the babe in Christ mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3.1, who is a babe because of carnality and not because of immaturity and years in the Christian life. So what what shapers talking about here is our amazing position We are positioned in Christ in the heavenlies And we're blessed with every spiritual blessing Conditionally however, which is kind of what he's what he's talking about and and we're not we're not discounting the Christian growth process There's a there's a sanctification process that we all go through where we grow and learn more about our relationship with Christ. And in doing so, our fellowship is strengthened. Can you explain more at the end where it says he was baped because of carnality, not because of the immaturity of the years in Christian life?

Sure, if we go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 there. Pull that up. Would you mind reading that? Just read the first couple of verses there. And I, Brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, Are you not fleshly and are you not walking like we are meant? So this comparison of spiritual milk and solid food is made a couple of different times in the New Testament. More than a couple actually.

And it's talking about our sanctification process. The elementary things in Christ would be learning that we are saved. Learning that Christ is our Savior for our transgressions. And growth in that is learning more about our relationship and the fellowship that we have with God.

So I think the carnality, which is the word that Schaeffer uses, these men were acting in fleshly ways. In basically the entire book of 1 Corinthians is Paul dealing with issues. You know, this is the problem you're having, let's try and fix it. And they were a new group of believers.

And it's not to say that they were children spiritually, because the relationship that Schaeffer brings up here about being an adult in our position spiritually, He talks about the tutors and governors, and how when we place ourselves under a law system, it's childlike. It's childlike spiritually. And when we place ourselves under this grace system, this new system, it's more like a son position.

I don't know, does that make sense? Yeah. Am I completely out of it? There's another aspect here too, I think you've already kind of mentioned it, is that the person may be a believer for many years, but he may not have grown very much, and actually he could still be acting fleshly or carnally, and that can happen actually at any time in a believer's life, like you were showing on these pictures. So the fact that a believer acts carnally is not, you know, Schaefer was pointing out, it's not like, well, the first 10 years of your life that you're growing and then you're guaranteed from now on, no, we're susceptible to acting carnally our entire Christian life. And God's desire is that we walk with him by faith. And that carnality can creep in for either lack of understanding, for many different reasons.

Go ahead, Lewis. I think it's also why Jesus was seen to teach with authority, because he taught whereas other rabbis of his day were most likely teaching Torah, how to live, how to eat, how to act on Sunday, that you couldn't walk over a mile, all these things for the flesh, but Christ taught spiritual things. And that's why he was saying to teach with authority, because he was different. And I think that's similar to the carnality, because as long as you walk in the law, Torah and try to live by it, you need a teacher. But if you're walking in spirituality, then the Holy Spirit should be your teacher.

Yeah. Does that make any sense? Yeah, no, I completely agree with you, yeah. One of the things that Mike Doyle has said in the past that kind of has stuck with me for a long time is you need to believe a core set of things to be saved, but those core set of things that you believe are the gospel are not things for growth. That's the starting point, but they're not things that you grow in. What we're seeing in this series is ramifications of the core things that you believe, but you're not growing in those things, you're growing in the ramifications of salvation.

Oh, you're adopted because you were saved. You're a son of God because you were saved. But if every week all you get is the gospel, there's not opportunity for growth. You're not going to discover your position, you're not going to discover a lot of those things because every week you're a sinner and you need salvation.

I think my dad said that in the Jefferson Valley where he grew up there was a church that they used to go to and every week a guy would stand up and say, with prayer requests, I'm just thankful I'm saved. Every week that was his prayer request. He was continually in a position of... I don't want to say messing up. Well, he was continually in a position of sin.

Well, it's at least spiritual infancy because you haven't gotten past the milk. Yes. I've heard examples of people saying that someone may not be saved because they don't see proof in their life. The Lord knows that the Lord knows that Yeah, yeah, I mean if you're maturing and growing in Christ then it shows. It should. Yeah, Christ's life should be evident in you as you grow. What do you do with a person that's stagnant, that's just not maturing? They're just there and refusing to go any further.

When do you know for sure within yourself if you are a believer? When do you know for sure if you are a believer in yourself? No, if you believe in Christ that you have received him. Because if you see someone that's not maturing and refusing the things of God and going their own old ways and continuing those ways even though they know better.

Yeah, that's hard to say. I can't tell you if that person is saved or not. The Lord knows. But if they truly came to Christ at one point in time in a spirit of repentance and faith, they're saved and they're saved forever. And that's not to say that they can't act fleshly. They can act fleshly for a really long time. That's kind of what Randy's talking about, perhaps with that gentleman in Anderson Valley. He was constantly in a fleshly state and always needing forgiveness. Well, not always seeking forgiveness. And so, you know, you can certainly be a person that, you know, and that exists.

I did that for a long time, you know, and I think I remember being six years old and understanding and knowing, without a doubt, that I was saved. I knew that I was saved, but I didn't have an understanding. You know, and for me it was something that happened to come with age, but certainly for everyone it's different. I knew I was saved, but didn't go anywhere beyond that. I certainly wasn't, you know, consciously walking in the Spirit.

That was never something that crossed my mind, because I didn't have an understanding of that. junior high that I started to go, or high school, whatever it was, that I started to go, oh, I can abide. And that's a cool opportunity. But up to that point, was I saved? Absolutely. I just didn't get it.

And I know that I can look and say, you know what, I wasn't very good at that time, but Christ was in my life. Some people may not have the confidence either to go any further. There might be a block there somewhere. That's partially why as believers, as we grow, we look for opportunities to share that truth. Lily, your question, 2 Timothy 2, 24 through 26, and we're off on a bit of a rabbit trail. That's okay.

The Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition. If perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." Here he talks about the correction happening with patience and coming alongside and drawing them and wooing them back into fellowship with the Lord. If they're not believers, then you woo them and patiently come alongside and encourage them towards salvation. And if they are believers, but they're being carnal, And we come alongside, and this is God's truth.

This is what he wants for us. He demands relationship. A lot of people, if they've been grown up in Christian legalism, the idea of going back into Christianity means more slavery. And so they walk away towards the flesh because it feels like freedom, as false as that is. But when we offer the freedom of relationship with Christ, that's radically different. And that is often where I've seen people who wrestle be shocked when you come along and say, hey, this is what grace looks like.

Really? This is what you believe, don't you remember? Oh, yeah. Can you draw me? The person I was making reference to is a niece of mine. She's not in a family situation where she would learn about Christ. any other way than if she came to my house, which it happened one day. She came to help me and was visiting with my daughter, who they're close to the same age. And I was six, and I was laying in bed, and they were attending to me. And at that time, I think she was like 16. And I was reading my Bible, and she came and she sat at the foot of the bed, and so I was reading out loud to her, and I started talking to her about salvation. And she was interested, and she received Christ. had that moment, and I was really excited for that.

I don't have a lot of contact with her, and so I wasn't able to continue discipling her, or encouraging her in her faith. And now, several years later, I'm seeing that she is just, you know, she never was disciplined. She doesn't know, and she doesn't have that opportunity in her whole time to learn and grow, and so she's just out there to make several mistakes that are affecting her life seriously. And I pray for her continuously.

And I know that the Lord completes everything that He begins. But I just was not sure. Well, maybe it wasn't the true salvation. Because, but then how can I say, you know, I'm sure I don't see proof, but what could I expect when she's living amongst heathens, you know? How is she going to grow in faith if she's not exposed to it?

Well, you're on the right idea, though. Just keep praying for her. Pray for her to seek an avenue that she'll learn about her relationship with God. That's the right thing. She may open the Bible because she wants to know more. She may come to that point because she's really anxious. Yeah, just praying that the circumstances that are happening in her life will cause her to falter Mom, sometimes that will happen.

All right, well, let's hop back on the comparison here. It's perfectly fine to talk about that. No problem with that. But let's talk about the comparison here between the adoption of a Roman citizen into a new family and our adoption into the family of God.

A couple of verses at Romans 8, 15, which I'll read. For you have not received the spirit of slavery, leading to fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, by which we cry out, Abba, Father. and Galatians 4, 5, and 6, excuse me, chapter 4, verses 5 and 6, so that he might redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. In both of these verses, Paul is stressing not to place ourselves under law again.

And then he also emphasizes the intimacy we have with God as his children. But to place ourselves under law is like placing ourselves back into a childlike state under which we need a tutor. We shouldn't seek childlike spirituality that the law renders. Rather, we should seek an understanding of the intimate adult relationship that God offers us so that we can live out our position, which is in Christ. I think it's important to, anytime we place ourselves under a law or a principle of law, we're putting ourselves back into a childlike spirituality.

And that's not what God has intended for us. That's not how the comparison works here. The comparison is we've been placed into an adult relationship where we're blessed with every spiritual blessing, where we're positioned in Christ in the heavenlies. That's our position. That's our relationship to God.

So don't place yourself under the law. Seek your relationship with God instead. The reason there's no fear is because of grace. And whenever you talk about law, it needs to be compared to grace. Because law is limiting. Grace is greater than all our sins, as the song says. So the reason there's no fear is because of grace.

And that's why Paul's saying, you know, don't put yourself back under a tutor where you have to learn how to live and if you make a mistake and you lose your salvation. Put yourself under grace where you have salvation and you can't lose it and you're working toward, you know, a better relationship with Christ. Totally, it's two different concepts. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, law and grace are totally different.

It's like when my son, Greg, went to college, he said, this is really much harder because now we're studying concepts. When I was in high school, I studied world learning and kind of elementary things. And I think that kind of pertains, pardon my throat, I think that kind of pertains to the Bible as well. Because once you're saved and what you're talking about, these processes, they're concepts.

And so the reason that we go to church is that we need to fellowship with other people so that we can learn, not that we're under a tutor like someone's teaching us, you know, rote learning math, but we still need to learn and learn by seeing the concepts of the Christian life. You know, I don't think you, some people just get them out of the blue, but it's a lot easier when you're in fellowship in a church that you learn these things and you see these things and how other people live.

And so you want to live like that also. Yeah, the church was put in place for a good reason. It's Christ's body. And it works together and it builds each other up and supports each other. You learn these concepts of what this means. It's not simple. It takes time. It does. So we've made some comparisons to this adoption of sons. in the Roman culture. Now, what makes it different? I'll quote Schaeffer again here.

In human experience, legitimate birth and adoption never combine in the same person. There's no occasion for a father to adopt his own child. In the realm of divine adoption, every child born of God is adopted at the moment he is born. He is placed before God as a mature, responsible son. Thus adoption becomes one of the important divine undertakings in salvation of men and is a position of great importance. So we're born again as spiritual adults in the sense that we are not under a tutor and we're adopted all at the same time. Sounds like a pretty busy day. Besides all the other thirty-two. Yeah, besides everything else. We're just talking about one of these.

Further, we are placed in an intimate relationship with God the Father through the death of Christ on the cross and receiving of the Spirit. Because of our relationship, we are able to cry out, Abba, Father, which is similar to Daddy, Daddy, or Papa, Papa. In Gethsemane, Christ uses this phrase, and this is how intimate our relationship is. It is the same. It is the same as Christ with the Father. Because we are in Christ. Our relationship is the same as Christ with the Father. And in Gethsemane, obviously, Christ is going through tons of agony.

He's dealing with his flesh, not wanting to go to the cross. I don't really want to do this, but I do, I guess. And he's saying, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will. It's amazing that we can go to God the Father with the same spirit that Christ went to God the Father. That is how intimate our relationship is. You know, God doesn't see us, He sees Christ. And so it's just this adoption, this being a son is truly amazing. It really is.

Actually, this points out really dramatically the difference between, you know, man likes to call, well, this person has that religion and this religion and that religion, but God says it's a relationship, not a religion. Religion has all kinds of rules, right? But we have a relationship, which is just mind-boggling, a relationship with the God who created us. I mean, it's something that, you know, we'll never fully understand until we get to glory, but it is pretty incredible and so different than what You know, people casually, you know, are you a religious person? You must be religious because you go to church. Now I have a relationship with the God who made all this. Yeah, and I go to church to strengthen and further deepen that relationship, not to be a religious person because I feel like I need to do something to make me better.

And I was going to say, I think it was not only the going to the cross, that he was concerned about it here, but it was the breaking of that relationship with the Father. Yeah, that's a great point, yes. That Christ and the Holy Spirit and God were forever in eternity one. Yes. So now he's facing the terrible death of the cross, which I'm sure was agonizing. Agonizing, yes. But other men had gone through that, and so he knew that he could as well. But it was, you know, the sins and broke this relationship. Broke his fellowship with his father, yeah.

And I think literally died. So that in itself would be... How can you even grasp that? Something eternal actually dying. Yeah. The words don't even make sense. Yeah. Yeah. concept is that if you have grown up in legalism like I did, somebody might say that you can say Abba Father, but you're like, yeah, right. I'm sorry.

I have a whole long list of sins I did today, and I don't feel like it's appropriate for me to say Abba Father. I need to come on knees crawling across the floor, you know, millions of miles away from God. And yet that's not the relationship we're called to have. The attitude that says we do anything but call him our father is one that is not based on the biblical truths of who we are in Christ as adopted sons and daughters. And so all of the guilt and shame and things that I used to do having a flesh were not things that were from the Holy Spirit, were not things that were from that wasn't there.

He was waiting for me to come and say, Abba, Father. That's what he wrote. So we're going to, I'm going to take, let's take a look. There are three other places where this word for the adoptions of son is used in the New Testament. We're going to take a look at what their importance is.

The first one is here in Romans 8.23.

And not only this, but we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for the adoption of sons, the redemption of our bodies. So here this adoption of sons, it's the whole package. It's not just an earthly adoption, but it's a heavenly adoption. It's divine. And the redemption of our bodies is part of the adoption process. And just like it hasn't happened yet for the process that we're thinking right here now on this earth, it hasn't happened yet in this adoption process either. Our bodies will be redeemed. They're just not yet. Certainly. He's hoping it's going to happen. Come on. Get back here. And Paul, of all people, had lots of hope for his body to be redeemed because Paul was, some New Testament scholars say that he was often hideous to look at.

The next instance where this phrase is used is in Romans 9.4 and it says, Israelites to whom belongs the adoptions of sons, and the glory of covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises." So here Paul uses this phrase to identify God's chosen people, the Israelites, as being an adopted nation. They're the only nation to be declared a son, and there's a bunch of references there. I don't think it's necessarily important to get into that today, but if you wanted to look at it, you certainly could.

And then Ephesians 1.5, he predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to his kind intention of his will.

We've talked about predestination earlier in this series. And it just means to be predetermined or decided beforehand. And it's interesting, the word that is translated kind intention has an idea, or it literally means to think good. And so it's kind of like when God was creating everything, he created it and he said, that looks good, that's pleasing to me, I delight in that.

So God delights in the idea that we're going to be his sons. It's very pleasing to him. And Kurt, just going back to man's religion and what scripture says, Much of the world views God as somebody who's there out, he's after you, he's just waiting for you to mess up. Whereas scripture has, this verse particularly, has exactly the opposite view. God is desiring, he wants a relationship with you, and he's ruling you, and he, please come and fellowship with me.

I've taken care of every barrier between us. It's totally different, I mean, it's just, and you know, that's what's so, you know, maddening when we talk with people, they're off on, Well, I'm a little bit better today and maybe God will accept me if I'm a little bit better, or I've done something bad and maybe he won't accept me. And they're all wrapped up in what they're doing and how they're feeling. And God's saying, no, I've taken care of it. Just trust me. Just trust what I've done for you.

The misunderstanding there is that they're thinking that God hates them. But God doesn't hate them. He hates sin. And He's dealt with sin. And He loves us. The God of Scripture is not a spiteful God. He can't be around sin. His character can't deal with that. It's just not okay. But he loves us. And he sees us in Christ. If he hadn't done that, you're absolutely right.

He's taking care of the sin issue. What's amazing is the sin issue is settled for all time, right now. You kind of say, wait a minute, tomorrow is still anew. I have more opportunities to sin. And you do. But amazingly, God has settled that. for all future time as well. That's another one of our riches is forgiving all trespasses past, present, and future. They're all taken care of. It is pretty astounding, these blessings. It kind of shakes you to your foundation. How can this be true? How can there be a God that operates this way? Man doesn't. We don't operate this way at all. We operate totally the opposite. You cross me and you're in trouble. Yeah, we are spiteful.

And that's a lot of where that false religion comes from. We're making a God after our own. You know, we're made after God's image, but we want to make God after our fleshly thought patterns. Yeah. The difference is that we look at ourselves from ourselves. God looks at this world from his vantage point, which is outside of this world. Satan, the source of our sin, has been judged. And if you are in Christ, then the source of your sin is no longer there and God doesn't see it because he knows that he's already judged Satan and the old man so he's looking at you from a different perspective which we can't do because we're looking from within ourselves but we see the source of this as being us but that's not the case because the Bible says that the source is Satan who's been judged and God knows that so that's why grace works because he doesn't have to look at the source of the sin is the judge and so then you're given this grace and that's why it's greater than what he said earlier before when you grow up in a legalistic church which I also did and I think probably most people did it's really hard to get beyond that it's hard to understand that concept of grace when I went through Mike Doyle's class that was the most difficult thing I think I did in ages to try to understand how great grace really is and the fact that it does cover What's cool, Stan, is we have God's perspective.

Yeah. That's a great point. But you can't have his viewpoint and his heart and all the things that he's done and the purpose that he created this world and all the other things that he's done. And I agree with you, Roger. And this is a window into God. I mean, the scripture is a window into how he thinks.

What he's about. Well, and, you know, Paul talks about Now we see things dimly, but we will see them in their full glory. Just not yet. And I've got some final thoughts here. And one of the things we've been talking about throughout our conversation today is the relationship with God.

And as believers, we don't study the Word and who we are in Christ so that we have a lot of facts. We don't want to pack our heads with facts and, oh, I can rattle them off and, yeah, I got that. We study because it deepens our fellowship with our Papa.

Our relationship to God the Father is as a son, as an heir with Christ, and is eternally positioned in Christ. So the difference that I'm trying to, that I want to bring out here is the difference between relationship and fellowship. And our relationship, which we've said this a couple of times already, is our position. We are in relationship, we are in relationship to God in a position and in possession of mature adult relationship. And we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. Our fellowship is our moment by moment, day by day enjoyment of that relationship.

And it's really amazing how intimate it is to, you know, some of the things we've talked about, to be able to say Papa, to God, to this, to God that a lot of people fear, but, you know, we don't fear him. We come to him as though he's our dad. Does anybody have anything they'd like to add?

I think, we looked at Romans 8.15 earlier, but it's one of those into fear again, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, by which you are crowned out of the Father." That concept of slavery and fear is something that is so common in the Church that as believers we need to encourage all the Christians outside of Holly Hills, and even inside of Holly Hills, to abandon... I mean, that's part of the reckoning that we're called to in Romans 6-11.

Reckon. Reckon yourself as an adopted son. That's part of the 34 things as we go through this list. Part of it is we're called to reckon these things as true in our lives. Not just say, okay, yeah, this is true and walk away, but it's part of our reckoning. It's part of our mindset and how we look at who we are in Christ. Reckoning ourselves as not slaves, but instead reckoning ourselves as adopted sons. Yeah, and it really should change our lifestyle, our view of things. Kurt, you know, another aspect of this is we learn these wonderful truths about who we are in Christ.

It kind of changes how we pray, because if we don't grasp this, we think, well, we need more. God, give me more of this or more of that. We read these wonderful truths and we say, I've already got it. Yeah. So we're praying based upon the truths rather than not asking for these things. Please God, give me, you know, give me this or give me that. No, I have all these.

Thank you Lord that I have these. and help me to walk in the light of what I have and not to be foolish and walk contrary to what I have. It's like realizing that your father's a millionaire and you're living as a pauper. You realize the riches you have and you base your life upon those riches and not upon something you don't have. It should be life changing. Our life with the Lord should change as we grasp these truths.

How many times You may go through these lists one time. When you come back a year later, you go through them again. As you go through them, year after year, it's not a one-time thing. I got through that 33. You go back, and we forget. You forget what you have. We have so much, but we're forgetful people. I think that's part of the maturing process that we were talking about. These things become more and more relevant in your walk. You reckon them more often.

I have an example of that reckoning recently with the car accident that I was recently in. When I would share, you know, the accident that happened to me with my neighbors, they would just, you know, be overwhelmed with it. Just saying, oh, you poor thing, how can you deal with it? Oh, geez, you know, I mean, it was just overwhelming to them. But it gave me an opportunity to share how, the Lord was working in my life and how I saw him every step of the way and opportunities that I had to talk about him through this process. So instead of feeling like a victim, I was looking ahead and seeing that I was actually on a very personal adventure with my Lord. through this whole thing, and it was just exciting to me.

And you just happened to get in a car accident with her that day. Yeah. So they, you know, a lot of people don't understand it, but I really, you know, I've even said, you know, that I wouldn't trade it for anything. You know, not that I want to be in a car accident, but I want that fellowship with my Lord. And if it meant going through that, then so be it.

Because it draws me closer to Him. Only people that know the Lord can understand that. And those that don't are just like looking at me like I'm out of my mind. And that's okay for them to think that because it's going to make them wonder a lot. You know, through the journey of seeing so many different people, answering so many questions about my accident, seeing new doctors, new faces that were tending to me, etc, etc. You know, all I could do is just focus on the Lord and it was just pouring out of me.

Through that, I know that other believers were strengthened. You know, the lady that was the tech with the x-rays. You know, we got to talking about the Lord, and next thing you knew, we were praising Him. But we were completely turned. You know, and then other people were in awe, and how could you have that kind of faith with what's going on with you?

I mean, it's beautiful. You have to look for all those witnesses, opportunities, because the Lord gives you. I mean, even the paramedic, you know, he's putting me in the ambulance, he's patting my hand, and he says, oh, he says, you're from Albuquerque. He says, I guess God sent me to comfort you because I'm from Albuquerque.

And that just lifted my spirit. Thank you, Father, you know. I mean, I don't know where he was spiritually. It didn't matter. I mean, he mentioned, you know, my father's name, and I just, I was lifted. It was exciting, and that's all I could say the whole time. He was strapping me in before we even started talking. It was father, father. Well, and I guess that's another thing we didn't really talk about today, but we're all adopted sons, and so we're all family.

And that family, that relationship, you know, he mentioned your father's name, and you immediately felt comforted by a brother. Yeah. Just meeting people through conversation is so exciting, because you're uniting the church. When I meet someone that knows the Lord, even yesterday, a couple came to my door.

And they didn't say very much. I can't remember what they said, but I know they were inviting me to something concerning Easter. And they gave me a little pamphlet with Jesus' face on it, you know. And that's all they said, and they walked away. I said, thank you very much for sharing God's love. I said, I love the Lord, too.

They just turned and looked at me and smiled. They could have said more. I was ready for conversation, but they didn't. They left. I just felt lifted, you know, that I had the courage to go door to door. Stan, you were going to add something? I was just going to say that I once tried to talk to my sister about going back to church.

And her answer was that she didn't want to be put on that guilt trip again. But the thing is, that's what the churches that she grew up in made her feel, just like he was saying earlier, that's the result of a legalistic church. Because they don't teach grace, they teach law. And so she's seeking, in so many different ways, to relieve that guilt through counseling, and through to-do books, and New Age, and all kinds of different things.

Because we all harbor a certain amount of guilt. And it's because we put it there ourselves, like I said earlier. We look at ourselves through ourselves, and so we end up feeling guilty. But the one who created us tells us through grace that guilt is forgiven. And that's a concept. And that's what I was saying earlier. That's why it's so difficult to believe these things sometimes. Because it's a totally new concept that you have to be able to wrap your mind around.

And if she could just see that the greatest relief of guilt His grace from the person, from the thing, or the entity that made her, that's the answer. It's not all this other stuff that the world teaches us, and all these different religions, and all these different methods that they give us. I was a psychology major. How can you witness to someone when you know that it's still a bigger process that's going to take care of it in the end?

I don't know if that makes sense, but it's that concept that I just wish the church would be out there so that people could see it as a place, as a sanctuary. Well, I think we can thank the Lord that we're here at Holly Hills because I think, you know, it's not perfect. No church is perfect, but I would say that we relay those concepts real well through the Lord's Word.

And hopefully folks go out and reckon them in their lives. I can honestly say that I haven't been here that long, but I have heard more of those concepts, sir, than I have in the 50 years previous to this. All right. Well, we'll pray here and go listen to Bernie's message.

Heavenly Father, we thank you that we are your children. You have made us your children. You have adopted us. You have given us all the rights and rewards that come with being part of your family. You've positioned us in Christ, in the heavenlies, eternally.

And I just pray that in our lives we would fellowship with you more and more, more moment by moment than before by abiding in your spirit, which you've poured out in our hearts. Thank you for our time together this morning and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.