In the gospel of John we have found two things; first, the Father revealed in the Person of the Son; and, secondly, the way in which the family is gathered and formed, together with their place and relationship before God. It is also true that under the type of the living water (John 4; 7.) we have instruction, in one aspect, concerning the Holy Spirit; but the evangelist expressly explains, after the gracious invitation which the Lord had given on the great day of the feast—“This spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet [given]; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:3939(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:39)).
Whatever the extent therefore of the declaration of the Father, and the truth of the family, it was not possible for believing souls to take up and enjoy their relationship to the Father until after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. To be born again is one thing—a change wrought by divine power through the action of the word—to know that God is our Father is another thing, and only to be enjoyed through the gift of the indwelling Spirit. This distinction is plainly marked by the Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Galatians. He says, “Ye are all the children” (sons) “of God by faith in Christ Jesus,” a statement which corresponds as to the instrumental means of the new birth with John 1:12-3, as already considered. Then, in the next chapter, he says, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (1 John 4:66We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:6)). So also in another epistle he writes, “Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:1515For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Romans 8:15)).
It is therefore only after we have received in this way the Holy Spirit that we can either know or enjoy the relationship of children; but before we enter upon this it may be for edification, especially as there is much confusion abroad on the subject, to point out clearly the ground on which, according to the Scripture, the Spirit is bestowed. This may be shown in a twofold way—by a reference to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon our blessed Lord Himself, and by the direct statements of the word of God. The scene of the baptism of our Lord is one of surpassing interest, not only on account of the display it gives of His own lowly grace and excellency, and of His love for and identification with His own—the saints on the earth, and the excellent, in whom was all His delight (Psa. 16), but also because it plainly indicates the position into which the believer is now brought as a consequence of redemption. Coming up out of the water after He had been baptized by John, “the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:16-1716And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:16‑17)). Here we have the heavens opened, Christ sealed as Man, and consequent thereon the Father proclaims, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I have found My delight.” And this, as remarked, shows the position of every believer who has received the Holy Spirit. The heavens are open above him, and the believer himself is a child of God and the object of the Father’s heart. There is also an interesting contrast. In the scene before us Christ on the earth is the object of heaven; but the object of the believer is Christ at the right hand of God, seen by the eye of faith through the opened heavens.
We may then inquire, On what ground was Christ sealed with the Holy Spirit? The answer is obvious—He received the Spirit on the ground of His own spotless and absolute purity. And the very contrast to ourselves which this indicates shows the foundation on which God can give the Holy Spirit to His people. We cannot stand before God in ourselves as sinless or undefiled; but we are before Him as whiter than snow through the precious blood of Christ. As soon, then, as we are cleansed from our guilt through the efficacy of the blood, God can and does send the Holy Spirit to dwell within us as the Spirit of adoption, as His seal, as the earnest of the inheritance, and as the anointing. This order is remarkably exemplified in the types. When the priests were consecrated, and when the leper was cleansed (Ex. 29; Lev. 14), the order in both cases was the same. First they were washed with water, significant of the new birth; they were then sprinkled with blood, type of the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin; and lastly, they were anointed with oil, oil being, as ever, an emblem of the Holy Spirit.
If we turn now to other scriptures, we shall find this order illustrated and confirmed. When on the day of Pentecost those who were pricked in their heart said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:3838Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38)). When, moreover, Peter was preaching in the house of Cornelius, we find that the moment he testified to the remission of sins, through faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit (while Peter yet spake these words) fell on all them which heard the word. Both these cases teach, in the most unmistakable manner, that the condition for the reception of the Holy Spirit is the knowledge of the forgiveness of sins. So in the epistle to the Romans, there is no mention of the Holy Spirit until after justification by faith and peace with God. (Romans 5; compare also Ephesians 1:1313In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13).) If this is clearly understood, the difficulty often raised will disappear. It is asked, “Can it be possible that a soul can be born again and not have the Holy Spirit?” The question should be put in another form. It should be thus stated: “Can the Holy Spirit dwell where there is no knowledge of the forgiveness of sins?” Or, “Is it possible for a soul to become the temple of the Holy Spirit before it is cleansed from guilt?” And this question, with the scriptures considered before us, can only be answered in one way. And what intelligent believer doubts that life, divine life, exists in many souls long before, through lack of knowledge or faith, they enjoy the forgiveness of sins?
The divine order then is, born again through the Word by the power of the Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, and then the Spirit’s indwelling. But let it be clearly stated that there is no necessity for the interval which is often found between the new birth and the sealing; and if a full gospel were more commonly proclaimed, and the nature of grace explained, it would seldom exist. It should at the same time be remembered, that the new birth must be prior to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is “because we are sons that God sends forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
We may now point out the effect in us of the reception of the Spirit of adoption. The first is that we cry, as we have seen, “Abba, Father.” In Galatians the apostle says, “God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts” (Gal. 4:66And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6)). This is as instructive as it is remarkable. When our blessed Lord was in the garden of Gethsemane, assailed by Satan in the prospect of His death on the cross, He cried, in the agony of that hour, “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from Me: nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt” (Mark 14:3636And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. (Mark 14:36)). This shows what the “Spirit of His Son” is, as well as that the Lord was at this moment in the conscious enjoyment of His relationship to the Father, whatever the agony through which He was passing. The same Spirit therefore, in the power of which Christ, as the Son, thus addressed the Father, dwells in us—in all who have been cleansed by the precious blood of Christ. And dwelling in us He teaches, yea, leads, our hearts to cry, “Abba, Father.” This cry is, so to speak, the necessary consequence of possessing the Spirit of sonship (υἱοθεσία). We may have addressed God in other terms before; but as soon as the relationship has been formed, and God has sealed it by the gift of the Holy Spirit, we shall be constrained to call God our Father. If we did not it would be as unreasonable as if the child of an earthly parent were to persist in naming him “master” instead of giving to him the endearing name of “father.” Indeed, and it must not be overlooked, “Abba, Father” is the cry of the Spirit Himself in our hearts.
Having then the Spirit we cannot but thus address God; but if any have not the Spirit of God it will be impossible for them to call upon God from the heart as Father, because they have not entered upon the enjoyment of the relationship. Very recently a well-taught Christian told the writer, that after he was first awakened he tried for two years to call God Father, but in vain. He could not utter the word before God; but immediately on being brought to the knowledge of the forgiveness of sins, it became the natural mode of address, because now he had become indwelt with the Holy Spirit. And this experience accords with the teaching of the word of God. If we are real before God the truth of our souls must come out; and thus our state and relationship are immediately discovered when we pray, especially if in private, when we are not affected by the presence of others. What a solemn consideration is it then that the Spirit of God actually makes these bodies of ours His temples, that the very title of Father which we utter before God is really the Spirit’s own cry! And what grace on the part of God to make us thus know, even now, that He has put us among His children, and given us to know that He has formed a relationship with us that will endure throughout eternity! To be in the power of this blessed truth would make our prayers far more real and blessed, as well as fill us with unspeakable gratitude to Him who, in His condescending grace and love, has gathered us around Himself as His beloved children (Eph. 5:11Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; (Ephesians 5:1)).
There is, however, another thing. The apostle proceeds, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:1616The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:16)). The possibility of all self-deception is thus obviated. There might be the imitation of others in calling God Father, but there is also produced by the Spirit the inward consciousness of the relationship. It is important to remark that it does not say, bear witness to our spirit. If this were the language employed, we might be waiting for some distinct testimony at a given moment to assure us that we were now God’s children. The apostle says, “with our spirit,” that is, the fruit of the indwelling Spirit is to beget in us feelings and affections suited to, and to lead us into the enjoyment of, the relationship into which we are brought. The child of God now knows the Father, and does not doubt that he is a child, for he has within himself the assured consciousness of his relationship, and is able therefore to repose, in measure at least, in the enjoyment of the Father’s love and care. In other words, the filial spirit is the product of this testimony of the Holy Spirit.
And we may be permitted to ask whether this filial spirit is sufficiently cultivated and exhibited? There is nothing more beautiful in the Christian life, and nothing which gives a greater sense of dependence upon God, or more confidence in prayer. The apostle Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, addresses them as “the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father” (1 Thess. 1:11Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:1); 2 Thess. 1:11Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: (2 Thessalonians 1:1)). No other assembly is thus described. The reason would seem to be that the Christian life of these young believers, in the freshness and fervor of their first love, was especially developed and manifested in the enjoyment of their filial relationship. We shall also be characterized by the same thing just in proportion as the Spirit of adoption, ungrieved within us, is permitted to guide our hearts into the apprehension of the Father and His love, and to form within us all those filial affections which the knowledge of His love will alone produce. The knowledge of the Father and of our true relationship is the first thing, and then the Spirit will be free to lead us on—it may be gradually, but ever increasingly—into the enjoyment of all the blessings associated with our position. We cannot have the feelings of children before we know that we are such. Knowledge of the relationship enjoyed, filial affections, filial gratitude, reverence, will soon follow. His witness with our spirit—the distinctness and intensity of it—must and will ever depend upon the character of our walk. As for example, “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” So, if the believer in anywise walks loosely or carelessly the Spirit is grieved, if not silenced; and there will be, in such a case, but feeble, if any, testimony with his spirit that he is a child of God. But no one should be satisfied with anything short of the blessed and conscious enjoyment of the relationship which God has been pleased in His grace to form with us as His children.
The children of God are also led by the Holy Spirit. It is indeed on the statement of this fact that the apostle proceeds to unfold the character of the Spirit that now dwells in believers. Previously he had contrasted those that are after the flesh with those that are after the Spirit. All men are included in these two classes. Believers are not in the flesh, as to standing before God, but in the Spirit; this now characterizes them as to their existence in God’s presence, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in them (Rom. 8:99But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9)). There is no middle place between these two extremes; for he adds, “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His”—he is not of Him. Every Christian therefore, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, has a new standing before God. He is in Christ and not in Adam, for through death with Christ he has been dissociated from the first man (Adam), and by the resurrection of Christ he has been brought on to new ground, and into a new standing before God—a ground beyond sin, condemnation, and death, because it is in resurrection. He is now in Christ risen, and the Holy Spirit dwells within him as the power of the new life which he has in Christ, and therefore as the power for conflict with, and victory over, the flesh. Having then shown that we are brought out from under the law of sin and death, with all the blessed consequences of that deliverance, and pointed out the character of our new place, the apostle says, “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 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. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” This brings us face to face with some very solemn truths.
We may call attention, first to the fact that “led of the Spirit” is regarded in this scripture as that which characterizes every child of God. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,” that is, all believers are so led, and in this way are manifestly sons of God. No account is taken here of the humbling fact that sometimes believers are governed by the flesh, and not by the Spirit. This, alas! is often true; but the apostle is describing rather what attaches to believers as a class. They are led of the Spirit, and not of flesh. But having stated this distinctly, we may now profitably remind ourselves that we are always led either by the Spirit or the flesh. True there is nature, and the natural affections as God created them, and which the believer must ever maintain according to God; but we speak now of the entire and absolute contrast which the scriptures so continually exhibit between the flesh and the Spirit. As he says in another epistle, “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary— the one to the other: so that ye cannot” (rather, “so that ye should not”) “do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:1717For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:17)). The flesh and the Spirit are always in antagonism, so that whenever we are not in the power of the Spirit, not under His governance and guidance, we are sure to be controlled by the flesh. How watchful therefore we need to be! Alas! that we are so often off our guard; and be it but for a moment, the flesh, acted upon as it ever is also by Satan, will take the advantage and opportunity to have its own way, to decoy us into sin, and thereby to grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
The third thing to be remembered is, that the Holy Spirit is our only power. We have no other, whether it be for walk, conflict, service, or worship. Hence, indeed, what distinguishes the sons of God is, that they are led of the Spirit of God. How beautifully this was seen in the life of our blessed Lord! After His baptism, He was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil; in the power of the Spirit He preached, wrought miracles, cast out devils, healed all that were oppressed, and went about doing good (Matt. 4, 12; Luke 4; Acts 10). Yea, in every step of His path, in every act He did, in every word He spoke throughout the whole of His life on earth, He was led of the Holy Spirit. And He is our example, and it is our blessed privilege to be also led of the Spirit of God; and in proportion as we are thus led, will it be manifested that we are the sons of God.
The apostle shows us still greater things. The Spirit we have received is the Spirit of adoption, and we therefore are children. Now he tells us, “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.” For the present we may confine ourselves to the position we occupy as children, as we hope in another chapter to deal with our future condition in the Father’s house. All the children then are heirs—heirs of God. It is not only that He has been pleased, in His love and mercy, to bring us into blessed relationship with Himself, but also He has made us His heirs, and, as if even this wondrous unfolding of His grace were not sufficient to satisfy His heart, it is added, “and joint-heirs with Christ.” This last clause indeed contains the key to the whole of our blessing. God has associated us with His own beloved Son. He is the firstborn from the dead, and we compose the church of the firstborn through association with Him, and thus are also associated with Him in heirship to all that He Himself, as man, will inherit in virtue of His redemptive work. Every child of God is therefore put into the rank and position of the Firstborn, saving always His own preeminency and His own personal and essential dignity. Still as children we rank with Him joint-heirs with Christ. What words could so adequately express the wealth of God’s grace, or of the blessedness into which we are brought? For it is not only that He has saved us, brought us to Himself, and bestowed upon us privileges and blessing, but He must, in order fully to satisfy His own heart, put us into the same rank with His beloved Son. Let these words then, “joint-heirs with Christ,” have an abiding place in our souls, that we may, by constant meditation upon them, learn ever increasingly what God is in His grace, and what He has done for us through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour; and surely the more we ponder them, the more we shall be led out to investigate and explore the boundless treasure of that inheritance of which we are the heirs, because heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.
But it is added, “If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” This “if” by no means implies a doubt; it merely indicates the necessary condition of sonship, and the pathway to being glorified together with Christ; that is, if we are children, our pathway here must be one of suffering with Christ. If we are born again, and have the Spirit of adoption, we cannot escape it. The new nature in us, born of God as we are, must feel, in measure, as Christ felt in the presence of sin, Satan, sorrow, and death. The Spirit of God, who dwells within us, must lead us, in proportion as we are subject to His guidance, in the same path as that in which Christ walked, and to feel and act as He felt and acted in similar circumstances. We cannot therefore be children of God without suffering with Christ. But the measure of our suffering with Him will entirely depend upon the degree in which we are under the governance and power of the Holy Spirit. A child of God who is walking faithfully before God with an ungrieved Spirit will thus suffer with Christ much more than one who is walking carelessly. But it is the necessary path, and, it may be said, an unspeakable privilege. What greater privilege indeed (unless it be that of suffering for Christ) could we enjoy than that of passing through this world in company, as to feeling, with our blessed Lord—to sorrow and to suffer as He sorrowed and suffered in this wilderness of sin and death? And the more we suffer with Him the more we shall learn the depths of His heart of love, that never wearied in His ministry of tenderness and grace, though He had daily to endure the contradiction of sinners against Himself. The encouragement to such a path is not lacking; “for,” says the apostle, “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in” (or to, in respect of) “us.” The joy set before Him sustained our blessed Lord Himself in enduring the cross and in despising the shame; and here the prospect of the glory, being glorified together with Christ, is adduced that it may have the same effect on us. Nothing indeed raises us above suffering like the contemplation of the future glory, and, measuring the former by the latter, it dwindles away into utter insignificance. As the apostle writes in another place, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:1717For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (2 Corinthians 4:17)). But it should never be forgotten that the suffering as well as the glory is with Christ. This blessed companionship is never wanting. We suffer with Him, and we are glorified with Him. It is identification with a rejected Christ now, and identification with a glorified Christ in the future. What more could we desire, or the God of all grace bestow?