You Received the Spirit of Sonship

Hallelujah! Last Sunday, we learned about being born again. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus: “…no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” This “water” is the living water—the spoken, Rhema word that becomes spirit within us.

Often, the phrase “born again” causes resistance. We think, “I’m not a terrible person. Can’t I just try harder to live righteously?” We say this because we fail to realize how deeply corrupt our souls are. If a loaf of bread is completely rotten with mold, you throw it away without a second thought. Similarly, it is only when we feel the agony of our desperate reality—failing no matter how hard we try to be good—that we genuinely desire to be born again. Pride and self-righteousness are useless.

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” Human beings cannot realize their own corruption because our very conscience is deceitful. Only when we understand the Word of life can we see how God truly views us. True repentance is not merely regretting past actions; it is when our entire self-centered, unfaithful life becomes deeply painful, leading us to yearn for a reborn soul.

Today, let us look at the practical changes that occur when we are born again.

First, Jesus completed our redemption on the cross. When we thoroughly repent and receive Him, He grants us complete legal salvation—justification. Romans 8:15 says, “but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” Our relationship with God is restored. Within the Holy Spirit, who legally grants us the identity of adopted children, our inner self is born again.

However, if we stop at legal salvation, the cross becomes a distant memory with little influence on our daily lives. Therefore, the Holy Spirit daily leads us back to the cross so we can live as true children of God. Like Paul’s confession, “I die daily,” our old self must be crucified with Jesus every single day. The Holy Spirit inside us rules our lives, transforming us into the glorious image of the Lord through a new life where “I die, and Christ lives.”

How then should we live? Colossians 3:3 states, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Our physical life (psyche) died on the cross, and our true soul-life (zoe = eternal life) is hidden with Christ. Believers no longer live by the psyche life, but by zoe—the resurrection life of Christ.

Practically, how do we live by His life? Galatians 2:20 declares, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…” The KJV translates the next phrase as, “I live by the faith of the Son of God.” Spiritually, this means all the faculties of my soul are governed by the faith of Christ within me. This “faith of the Lord” becomes ours when we listen to the Holy Spirit through scripture and prayer, surrendering every area of our thoughts, emotions, and actions to Him.

Our corrupt old self will always fail, no matter how many resolutions it makes. Our old self must completely die so that the Spirit of Christ can rule. Only then can we enjoy heavenly peace and bear the fruit of His character. This is the salvation of our souls—the completion of redemption.

I pray and bless you all that, as born-again children, you will allow Christ Himself to rule over you day by day, overcoming the world and bearing the fruit of the Lord’s holy character. Amen.