The Gift Of Sonship Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Many Christians may not know that they've been adopted into the family of God. This adoption confers the rights of sonship on all who believe, meaning they will take part in an eternal inheritance. Today, more on what this adoption means.

Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, can a believer voluntarily relinquish his or her adoption by God? Or is it a done deal once someone believes? Well, Dave, to answer you directly, I think we should say that it is a done deal. It's my understanding that when it comes to adoption, it's not the child to decide whether or not he is going to leave his parents.

That would be a parental decision. And God has chosen not only to save people, to save sons and daughters, but that they might be his forever. And I know that life oftentimes has great difficulties, but en route to heaven, the good news is that all believers shall arrive. You know, I've written a book entitled The Inheritance of the Redeemed, claiming the spiritual treasures that are yours in Christ. I wrote it because I wanted people to understand that receiving Christ means that we receive many blessings.

For a gift of any amount, this book can be yours. And at the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you the contact info. You may feel today that you are in pain, that everybody else is running past you to the finish line.

You've been sidelined for a hundred different reasons. You have a Father in heaven who is willing to come alongside of you, help pick you up and take you all the way to the finish line. I love the last words of Jesus before he died. The last words were Father into thy hands. I commit my spirit. I don't know what my death will be like.

I hope it's still a long way off, but if I'm conscious enough, those would be my last words on my lips. Into thy hands, I commit my spirit. So the Father is involved. He is welcoming you. He is loving you and caring for you. The Spirit is involved. The assurance of the Spirit, the welcome of the Father, the assurance of the Spirit.

Your Bibles are open. We have the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Now, in Roman adoption, not only were there a number of judges that were present, but also there were witnesses.

There were witnesses there at the adoption that said, we are here to be sure to witness to this, and if anybody ever doubts that this child was adopted, we're here to prove that he was. That's the role of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God gives the assurance to the human heart, and that is the only religion in all of the world that offers personal assurance, and the personal assurance comes because of the Spirit of God witnessing Spirit of God witnessing within our spirit that we are the children of God and granting us that assurance. No other religion has that.

Oh, you say, but other religions believe that they're right too. Yeah, I know. Could I take the liberty of telling you that on Friday I caught a cab to the Union League Club because our Moody Luncheon was there, and along the way I engaged the driver. I could see that he was very religious, and I didn't know exactly what to say. I was just throwing out a couple of questions. I said, do you have the right religion?

Oh, yeah. No question about the fact that we have the right religion. I said to him, do you have the assurance that when you die you're going to be in heaven? Yeah, that's what our religion teaches. Oh, okay.

So he went along a little more, and I asked him a couple of other questions, and he said, of course, I don't have any assurance. He said, Allah can do whatever he likes. Nobody can have assurance.

Do you see this? It's a very important principle. It's not just true about Islam. It's true about the other religions of the world. They say we have the right religion, and they're convinced that they have.

What they do not have is personal assurance because only the Holy Spirit of God ministers to our spirit, and through the peace that he gives and the assurance that he births in our hearts, we know that we belong to God. I love to use the example of my mother. My mother died at 103.

If you think that's a long life, my father died at 106. Many of you have heard this, but many of you haven't. I always say that my parents lived so long that I'm sure until my father died, all of their friends in heaven thought that they just didn't make it.

They said no, but they made it. One day when she was probably 95, 96, I don't know, I used to call her every Saturday night, and she'd always ask me what I was preaching on and assuring me that she was praying for me. What a godly woman. But one day I just said to her, mother, are you sure that when you die you're going to go to heaven? And she said, I am as sure as if I were already there.

Now, where did that assurance come from? Is it because she studied books on apologetics she read? No, she never read those books. She never even read all the books that her son wrote. No, she always read her Bible.

It's a better deal, by the way, I guess. It's because, walking with God for 75 or 80 years, she had the deep down settled assurance that is really given to a new baby in Christ. I belong to God. Why, the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Do you have that witness? If you don't have that witness, you probably have never been born again. Oh, you say, I prayed the prayer, I walked the aisle, you know, when I was a baby, I was baptized.

Doesn't matter. Have you the witness of the Spirit that you belong to God? So, first of all, the Father welcomes us.

What does the Spirit do? He gives us assurance. Third and now, I don't know if I can go on here. This is so amazing. Thank you, brother. I heard, please do. For you I will, and the others can listen in.

Look at this. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. What does the Son do? The Son shares with us his inheritance. Do you realize, my friend, that there is nothing that belongs to Jesus that he does not share with all of us because we are joint heirs with him? What happened is he wrote us into the will, and then what he did is he died on the cross and shed his blood to ratify the agreement and to seal the deal. And today he tells us this cup is the cup of the new covenant, the new covenant in my blood, and we become a part of that new covenant. And after he instituted that, he went to heaven to probate the will. Probation means that what he's doing is he's making sure that all of the legal requirements, which have been already won on earth, will be eventually applied to all of us so that when the last will and testament is read, our names are there and we are joint heirs with him in whatever it is that he does and whatever it is that he has. Are you not yet amazed?

Now let's think of it a little bit. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, when Jesus Christ comes for his church, the Bible says that the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and Jesus is going to come. And who does he bring with us?

It says, with him are all of the saints who have died, those who have slept in Jesus. So to be very direct and practical, let's suppose now that Jesus were to rapture us today. In coming in the air to receive us would be my parents, would be your parents if they were believers, friends and relatives, and all those who have gone on. And their spirits, and their spirit, by the way, would be able to have all of the many attributes of the body, that's why they can communicate in heaven today, would then connect with their bodies because their bodies are going to be then raised, and the dead in Christ are going to be raised, and those who are alive are going to be instantly transformed.

The Bible says, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Jesus doesn't go anywhere unless he brings his people along with him. And then you have the 19th chapter of Revelation, which seems to clearly indicate a different event at the glorious returning, because many of us believe that the return of Christ comes in two stages.

You can read those passages and they are radically different. Jesus is coming from heaven on a white horse to execute judgment and to set up his kingdom. And who in the world does he bring with him?

It says he comes with his holy ones, those whom he has made holy. That's you and that's me, by the way, coming to the Mount of Olives. And you have never been to Jerusalem because you can't afford it and it doesn't fit your schedule.

Don't be too worried about it. You're going to get the tour of your life when you descend on the Mount of Olives with Jesus. But then you say, yeah, but what about ruling with Jesus?

What about that? Oh, listen. He who overcomes to him, I shall grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I overcame and sat with my Father on his throne. You say, Pastor Luther, you're making that up.

No, I'm not. You just ought to read your Bible a little better. I see it there. Revelation chapter 3, verse 21. He who overcomes, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, even as I overcame and sat with my Father on his throne, sitting on the throne of God. You are. Turn to the believer next to you, sitting next to you and saying, someday you're going to sit on the throne of Jesus.

Do that right now. Watch who you say it to. I mean, it's incredible. You say, well, how big is the throne? Well, I don't know how big it is, but apparently it has room for all the saints. Jesus says, you are a joint heir with me, so you get to rule with me forever and ever. And you participate in my suffering when you receive me as Savior. It doesn't say that we have to suffer for him. We suffer with him in his suffering, in receiving Christ and in living for him. But the fact is that whatever Jesus inherits, you get.

Do you understand now? I mean, no wonder we're going to be trophies of God's grace forever. I mean, he's going to be trophies of God's grace forever. I mean, he's going to put it up there and say, look at that sinner. The guy who was in the depths of sin and I elevated him, he was in the mud. And now I've put him up here with me on the marble, ruling with Christ. We're going to say, wow, throughout all of eternity and more formal things also, I'm sure.

Now, we need to nail this down. We need to understand its relationship to life here on earth while we're waiting for the final inheritance. First of all, let me say that some Christians are sons and daughters, but they live like slaves. Some Christians are sons and daughters, but they live like slaves. What's the difference?

Let me analyze this very quickly. The difference is this, that a son belongs to the family, a slave doesn't. Not only that, but the son has the nature of the father, the slave doesn't.

It says that when we trust Christ, we are partakers of the divine nature. There's the nature of God. There is family resemblance, sons and fathers. Not only that, the slave serves because of fear. You know, I'm going to get in trouble with my master.

We serve because of love. Dr. Wiersbe, who preceded me in this pulpit many, many years ago, said that two boys maybe, and this is the way I remember it, they want to do some mischief in the neighborhood. One boy says, no, if I don't, I'm going to be hurt by my father. The Christian boy says, no, I won't, because I don't want to hurt my father, whom I love. You see, we are sons and daughters, and that's the way we serve him. But there's some Christians who are in the far country, like the prodigal, the prodigal who is in the far country and eating there with pigs, and then he comes back to his father when he gains his senses.

And I am always amazed at all that God has to do to bring prodigals back. I mean, he has to drag them through all kinds of grief, some of them. But he comes back, and what does he say? He says, I am unworthy to be called thy son. Make me as thy hired servant. And the father says, oh, yeah? You think you're going to be a hired servant?

You're not a son in order to be a hired servant. Uh-uh. No, no, no way.

No, no, no way. Bring hither the robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf and kill him. For this my son was dead and is alive and is lost and is found. When you come back to God after your wandering and after your time in the pigsty, he welcomes you as a son and a daughter of the Most High. Jesus didn't die so that we become hired hands.

So come back. You're living in the world. You're living in sin.

You're neglecting everything, and you're a believer. Come to the father, and he'll come to you and honor you as a son or daughter. Next, it's very important for us to realize that one of the marks of sonship is discipline. One of the marks of sonship is discipline. It says in Hebrews chapter 12, what son is there whom the father doesn't discipline? He says, if you aren't disciplined, you might not be a son.

If you can live in sin freely and manage your conscience in such a way that you're at peace, you're probably not redeemed. Sons of God can't do that. They can do terrible things. They can insult their father in heaven.

They can give him a bad name. They can live in the world and for the pleasures of the world without restraint, but when they do, they are so miserable because they're being disciplined by God. People need to understand that discipline is part of the Christian life, and discipline is part of your life and mine too. God shows us a lot of things, and sometimes we suffer and we have no cause-effect relationship. It may not be because of specific sins, but God is purifying us. He's saying, I want that son to look like Jesus, and Jesus suffered. He is going to suffer too, or she. Finally, what we must understand is the blessings, of course, are limited to those who trust Christ.

Now, let me be clear. The way you become adopted, you're not adopted directly as such, though the minute you receive Christ as Savior, you are. But to put it clearly, we enter this blessing through what is called in the Bible regeneration. It's called in other places the new birth.

What happens is this. Two parents get together and they regenerate you. Without the two parents, you can't be regenerated. Not one parent, not single parent, two. Two parents bring about regeneration. The Word of God combines with the Spirit of God to create within you the life of God. That's the way conversion happens. The Word of God, combining with the Spirit of God, creating in you the life of God. If you don't know Christ as Savior, but you say, I sure would like to receive Him, listen to that voice and respond to it and receive Him as your Savior.

And if you have no assurance that you belong to God, probably you are not converted at all. And you say, well, I'm not sure. Well, then nail it down. Make it sure. Don't live the rest of your life on the precipice of doubt. Receive Christ.

Claim His promises. And I believe that the Spirit of God births within us the knowledge that you are the Son of God, the daughter of God. And when you pray, the first words out of your mouth will be, Father. And the second word out of your mouth, birthed in our hearts by God, is, I love you.

I only wished I loved you more. Father, who are we to try to convey this truth so that it is believed and acted on? We thank you, Father, for your indescribable grace. We thank you, God, for your grace. We thank you, God, for your indescribable grace. We thank you that Jesus died, not that we might be hired hands, but that we might be sons and daughters of the Most High. Help us to worship better, to contribute better, to sacrifice better by your example and your love. In Jesus' name. Amen.

My friend, I want to ask you a question. Have you savingly believed on Christ? That is our desire. That is our prayer.

Running to win exists to help people to understand the gospel, to believe the gospel, to live the gospel. I've written a book entitled The Inheritance of the Redeemed, claiming the spiritual treasures that are yours in Christ. And for a gift of any amount, we are making this book available. Now, I need to emphasize that we have these resources because we are concerned about putting in your hands resources that will be of help, resources that you can also pass along to others to encourage them in their Christian walk.

The title of the book is The Inheritance of the Redeemed, the subtitle, Claiming the Spiritual Treasures that are Yours in Christ. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy because here's the contact info. You can go to rtwoffer.com.

I'll be saying that again. Or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. Right now, you can go to rtwoffer.com. Of course, rtwoffer is all one word. rtwoffer.com. Or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337.

And thanks in advance for helping us. Thank you so much for your prayers. Thank you for holding our hands as we get the gospel to millions. It's time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Finding the right church might mean leaving the wrong one. An anonymous Running to Win listener is asking this, For several reasons, I just left my church and have many feelings of guilt, even though I believe it was the right step in my faith journey. How do I get over the guilt?

Well, very simply, I'd say this. If you left your church for the right reasons, then I'd say, indeed, get over your guilt. If you did the right thing, then I don't think that you should be in any way harassed by the guilt. Now, what might happen is, because you have friends in the other church, that might aggravate your guilt or your sense of loss.

I think that that needs to be dealt with. At some point, maybe you have to be able to sit down with these people and explain to them why you left. If it's appropriate, you don't want to be the person spreading rumors or in any way dividing the church, but at the same time, your close friends might need an explanation. But if you did the right thing, then get over the guilt. And I hope that you find a church that you do agree with, where the word of God is preached, where there is still discipline among those who are disobedient that the leadership of the church takes the lead. And in these ways, I think that you will grow as a Christian. But it comes down to this, a question that only you can answer.

Did you leave for the right reasons? If so, move beyond it and continue to follow the Lord. Some wise counsel, as always, from Dr. Erwin Lutzer. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer, or call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. One blessing God has for believers is the church, where we find mutual encouragement and help. Next time, why the local church is so vital for every Christian. Thanks for listening. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.