Proof of Sonship Part One and Part Two

(Romans 8:14, author’s translation)

Romans 8:14 speaks about proving the sonship of the sons of God. About two billion people in the world call themselves Christians. Many do so because they are on the rolls of various Christian denominations or were born in “Christian” countries. Many do so because they frequently attend worship services and are baptized. But does God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ acknowledge them as his sons? Are they true believers in Christ?

On the last day, our mere church certification or self-attestation cannot prove that we are Christians. Jesus warns, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). To enter the kingdom of heaven, we must be a true son or daughter of God, born from above by the Holy Spirit. Proof of our sonship is godliness, being led by the Holy Spirit in accordance with the word of God.

There are some who believe in the universal fatherhood of God and, therefore, in universal salvation. They would assert that even fallen angels and the devil himself will be saved in the end, so there is no need for missions and evangelization. But Romans 8:14 proves such teaching to be false. God is the Creator of all, but he is the Father of only those who have become sons and daughters of God by new birth and saving faith in Jesus Christ. And those who are sons of God will have complete certainty of their final and full salvation.

Earlier in Romans 8, Paul taught that a true believer is justified in Christ and set free from the law of sin and death. Following the Holy Spirit, he is not guided by the principle of the autonomy of sin. He thinks the things of the Spirit, that is, the gospel, and the Holy Spirit dwells in him, teaching and enabling him to do God’s will. God justifies those who are ungodly so that they may not remain ungodly, but live godly lives.

Paul also explained that a Christian is engaged in constant spiritual warfare against sin, always striving to put the sin in his body to death. He believes the motto, “Kill sin, or sin will kill me.” An authentic Christian manifests the power of eternal life by saying “No” to sin and “Yes” to righteousness. A believer who lives in sin is dead in sin. Such a person can have no assurance of final salvation and will not be admitted to the kingdom of God.

Romans 8:14 explains verse 13, which tells us that only the killers of sin shall live the eschatological life, the eternal life. From this verse we want to examine two points: what it means to be led by the Holy Spirit and what it means to be a son of God.

Being Led by the Spirit of God

Paul states, “For those who are being led by the Spirit of God, they and they alone are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:14, author’s translation). The vital evidence of our salvation is not our profession or baptism or being born in a Christian home, but whether or not we are daily being led by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Are we ruled and governed by the Spirit in our thinking, affections, and decisions? Simply put, do we obey God without arguing, murmuring, or complaining? If so, we will be continually putting to death sin in our bodies. We will obey the Holy Spirit and live a holy life. This will indicate that we are children of God and possess eternal life. We can, therefore, be completely assured of our final and entire salvation. Sons of God will live the life of God. They can never die.

If we claim to be Christians but continue to live in sin, then we are not under the government of the Holy Spirit. Rather, we are governed by the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:2). We shall not live that eternal life which Jesus came to give us. Killing sin is the evidence of justification and the manifestation of the life of God in the soul of man.

Children Obey Their Father

“For those who are being led by the Spirit of God. . .” A Christian confesses by the Spirit that Jesus is his covenant Lord. This means that confessing Christians are obedient servants of God in all things. They obey the Holy Spirit, who is Lord and sent to dwell in and govern us. The gospel demands that we obey God.

Paul told us this already in Romans 1:5: “Through him and for his name’s sake we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith” (see also Rom. 16:26). In Romans 6:17 he said, “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.” We are now slaves to Christ. Paul also says, “I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done” (Rom. 15:18). And in Romans 16:19, Paul rejoices in hearing of the obedience of the Roman Christians.

If we are Christians, we will obey God. The apostles were sent out to make disciples, teaching them to obey whatsoever things Jesus had commanded them, meaning the Bible. The Christian life is a life of holiness, a life of obeying the Holy Spirit. When we read the book of Acts, we see that the apostles obeyed the Lord Jesus by obeying the Holy Spirit: “But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God'” (Acts 4:19; also 5:29). Some people misuse this, telling their parents, the civil authorities, or their church leaders, “We must obey God, not you! You are only men.” But we are called to obey God’s delegated authorities. The apostles also declared, “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him” (Acts 5:32). About Jesus, the Hebrews writer says, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb. 5:8-9). We may try hard to remove obedience from the gospel, but we cannot.

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of holiness and he always leads us in righteousness, that is, in sanctification. He will never lead us into wickedness. The Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of truth: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13a).

The Holy Spirit leads his people in the truth of the Bible, of which he is the author. Paul declares, “All Scripture . . . is [profitable] for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly [qualified to do] every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). So those who are being led by the Spirit will delight in reading, hearing, and doing the Scriptures. They agree with everything the Scripture teaches. Therefore they will refuse to believe in evolutionary hypothesis or the medical model that excuses away sin. They will vigorously oppose the killing of babies and will refuse to worship money or put their hope in this world.

The Holy Spirit does not glorify himself; he always glorifies Christ, in and through us. He testifies to us concerning Christ. Jesus said, “He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you” (John 16:13b-14).

A son honors his father by obeying him. Likewise, we glorify our heavenly Father by obeying his will, which the Holy Spirit reveals to us in the Bible. “Those according to the Spirit think the things of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:5, author’s translation). “The things of the Spirit” is the gospel, the word of God (see 1 Corinthians 2). The Spirit enlightens our minds so that we understand, believe, and obey the gospel. The Spirit leads us in the word that we may bring glory to Christ.

Thus, the Spirit of God will guide us to honor and obey our parents. Our delegated authorities are God’s ordained agents in the world. The Spirit will lead wives to submit to their husbands, husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. The Spirit will instruct us to obey spiritual leaders and the just laws of the state, to love our children and teach them to obey God in everything, and to provide for our families by working six days a week. The same Holy Spirit leads us to love especially the family of God and join a local church of Jesus Christ where the word is preached and Christ is exalted.

The Leading of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit determines the entire direction of our life: “The steps of a [righteous] man are ordered by the Lord” (Ps. 37:23, KJV). He directs whom we should marry and what vocation we should choose. He guides us in all these decisions through our Spirit-renewed reason. He prevents us from doing certain things and permits us to do certain other things. He can put into our mind to take a certain course of action, as he did with Nehemiah, “I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem.” (Neh. 2:12; see also 7:5). We also see the Spirit’s guidance in the early church: “The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it'” (Acts 8:29); and, “While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men are looking for you'” (Acts 10:19).

However, the fundamental way the Spirit leads us is not through extraordinary ways, but through the infallible written word of God. Those who are killers of sin and pursuers of righteousness are great students of God’s word. They hunger and thirst after the Scriptures. God’s word is light to them in dark places. It is food for them, sweeter than honey. It is treasure for them, more precious than fine gold. It is their companion and comfort in affliction. The Spirit leads us by the truth of the Scripture. So we are active in killing sin and pursuing the positive commands of the word.

We are active and passive at the same time. We are active in killing sin, but we are passive in being led by the Holy Spirit. John Murray notes, “The activity of the believer is the evidence of the Spirit’s activity and the activity of the Spirit is the cause of the believer’s activity.”¹ We are led by the Spirit in the word as the Israelites were led by the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud: “Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; whenever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord’s command, the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped” (Num. 7:9).

Jesus himself was led by Holy Spirit all of his life. The Holy Spirit descended on him at his baptism. Later, the Spirit led him to the wilderness to be tempted and helped him to use the sword of the Spirit, the written word of God, to utterly defeat the devil. Christ’s entire ministry was in the power of the Holy Spirit, and he always obeyed his Father by obeying the Holy Spirit. The Spirit led him to Gethsemane and to Calvary. The Hebrews writer explains, “How much more, then, the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God” (Heb. 9:14). This means that through the Holy Spirit, Jesus offered himself to God on Calvary’s cross.

This leading of the Holy Spirit is the mark of all God’s children. They are obeyers who walk after the Spirit, thinking the things of the Spirit. They are like Enoch, who walked with God in the direction of God. They hear the Spirit’s voice in the Scripture: “This is the way, walk ye in it” (Isa. 30:21, KJV). The people of God will walk in that way marked out for us by the Spirit in the Holy Scripture.

The Holy Spirit works in our minds, affections, and wills to think God’s thoughts, love his ways, and will his will. He draws us, and we follow him irresistibly: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:3, KJV). The leading of the Spirit does not often make us rich and famous. But only the leading of the Spirit in the highway of holiness will lead us home to God. It is the narrow way, leading us to life everlasting.

Joseph was led by the Spirit to go to his brothers, who threw him into a pit. Though he cried out for deliverance, they did not listen, but sold him as a slave. He became a slave in the house of Potiphar in Egypt. Even there, he was falsely accused and was thrown into a prison. But every step of Joseph was ordered of the Lord, that the people might be saved: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen. 50:20).

Israel was led by God out of Egypt, though the Egyptians followed them. Then Israel was led through the Red Sea, only to arrive at Marah with no food or water. Then the Amalekites came and opposed them. Yet we are told all along that God was guiding and testing his people to see whether they would behave as sons by their obedience.

Peter was led by Holy Spirit to his crucifixion. Paul led by the Spirit to go to Europe, only to be beaten and put in prison. But as a result of this leading, Lydia was saved and the jailer and his family and others were saved. And finally, Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to be beheaded, so that he could receive the crown of righteousness.

In the life of a true believer, the best things work for the good of the godly, as do also the worst things.² In all things, God works for the good of those who love him. He guides us through the seas, the rivers, and the mountains. We may experience illness, poverty, death, persecution, and even martyrdom; but we are on our way to the city of God our Father.

God’s Ordinary Guidance

God sometimes leads us in extraordinary ways. Professor William Hendriksen tells a story that happened in the Netherlands in 1834 when the true church was being persecuted. A godly pastor was asked to call on a poor widow on the other side of a deep forest. Though it was late in the day, he went right away, ministered to her, and came back. After several years, two people came to know Christ through his ministry. One day they asked him, “On a Friday afternoon a few years ago, you went to visit a widow on the other side of the woods. We would like to know who were those two men in white shining armor on either side of you.” The pastor replied, “I was alone.” The men asserted, “No, there were two men. We were going to kill you, but we were afraid when we saw them and we ran.”³

So God can also guide us through visions and dreams. Angels are ministering spirits to us. But the normal way of the Spirit’s leading is the way of the word of God and the way of suffering, the way of the cross. Jesus said, “Deny yourself and take up the cross daily and follow me.” Through his leading, he enables us to mortify sin and conform ourselves to our Savior, that we may walk as he walked. Peter tells us, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. . . . He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet. 2:21, 24).

The Holy Spirit’s leading is not sporadic but constant. Because he dwells in us, he enables us to walk in his ways. He protects, corrects, directs, and controls us. (PGM) When we see the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, we know the Holy Spirit is leading us. He guides us in ways that glorify Christ and helps us take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Yield to Holy Spirit as he speaks to you in the word. Do not argue, murmur, or complain. Do not insult the Holy Spirit; rather, obey him. The Hebrews writer says, “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10:29).

Do not quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19). Do not put out Spirit’s fire by saying no to him or doing the opposite of he wants you to do. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30). Do not rebel against the Holy Spirit: “Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them” (Is. 63:10). Instead, be being filled with the Holy Spirit, that you might worship and serve him. The Spirit of God is working in us, both to will and to do his good pleasure.

Sons of God

The second point we want to examine is who are the sons of God. Paul says, “For those who are being led by the Spirit of God, they and they alone are the sons of God.” Who are these sons? They are those who kill sin, not those who commit sin. They are dead to sin and alive in Christ. They are led by the Holy Spirit and taught in the word of God. They alone are the sons of God. They are sons by new birth and by adoption. They have the life of God in them. They have full assurance of eternal life. Neither death nor life nor anything else in all creation can separate them from the life and love of God.

Only holy and obedient people are the sons and daughters of God. Sons of God honor their Father by doing his will. They are similar to their heavenly Father in character and nature because God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and we participate in the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:3-4).

The unbelieving Jews claimed to be the children of Abraham, but Jesus said, “Your father is the devil. You behave like the devil, so you are his children.” Abraham believed God; therefore, Abraham’s children should believe God by believing in his Son. These people hated Jesus Christ and killed him. But Paul says, “Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7). If we are like God and like his Son, we are sons of God. Preachers should preach this truth with all clarity. They should take away false assurance that many people have and give full assurance to the true people of God.

Today we have accurate genetic tests that can determine who the father of a child is. There are also spiritual tests we can apply to determine if we are truly Christians. If we claim to be sons and daughters of God, we must apply these tests to ourselves: Are we holy? Are we like Jesus Christ, who always pleased God and so God was well-pleased with him?

Objects of Father’s Affection

Sons of God are objects of God’s peculiar affections. God’s children enjoy not just common grace, but also special grace: “Those who once were not God’s people shall be called sons of the living God” (Rom. 9:26). The Father did not spare his one and only Son, so that we might be made his sons. His love for us is beyond measure. “‘Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty'” (2 Cor. 6:17-18). Holiness is the hallmark of a true child of God.

Only holy people are sons and daughters of the holy God. As sons of God, we have always access to God. And all repenting prodigals will be received as sons by the Father with great celebration in heaven. Repent, return, and he will receive us.

As sons of God, we have always access to our heavenly Father. He is eager to see us, bless us, embrace us, and answer our prayers. “For through Jesus Christ we, both Jew and Gentile, have access to the Father by the Holy Spirit” (Eph. 2:18). Draw near to God and he will draw near to us.

Sometimes when my grandchildren come over, I go to my room and lie down. As I am resting, I can see the door handle moving as someone tries to open the door. What should I do? I must get up and open the door, allowing these little ones in to see me. How much more does our heavenly Father want to see us! The Father always has time for his sons. And we are not afraid of him who loved us from all eternity! He saved us in time by the sacrifice of his Son and will love us through all eternity. So we read, “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

Jesus said his grace is sufficient, and he gives grace to his children, always planning and caring for them. How many parents plan for their children, determining when to play, when to go to school, when to eat, when to do chores, when to go to bed, and when to worship God? They provide for them and protect them from all harm, including all wicked, worldly ideas. In the same way, our heavenly Father cares for us. He hears our prayers, for he knows what we need before we ask him (Matt. 6:8). He knows we need food, clothing, shelter, medicine, and he provides for us, specifically by giving us work in which we excel by working as unto the Lord with all our might. And as God’s sons, our heavenly Father shows compassion on us. When all forsake us, and even if our own father and mother disown us, the Lord will receive us (Psalm 27).

As sons of our heavenly Father, we necessarily and naturally love all those who are born of the same Father. A man from another country recently came to see me. I was blessed as he described how God by divine mercy led him to come to this church. As I sat listening to him quote scripture after scripture, I said, “You are my brother.” We love all the children of the same heavenly Father. We love the household of faith. We love the church of Jesus Christ, not only in words, but in self-sacrificial deeds.

Children of God live in holy communion with the Father and the Son. They are not worried about anything. They are sure about their final salvation because they are fellowshipping with the Father daily. There is conversation. God speaks to us from the word and assures us that everything is going to be all right.

We are eternally loved and chosen by the Father. We are predestinated and effectually called in time. We are born of God, justified forever by faith, and adopted into the family of God. We are being led by the Spirit in sanctification and we shall be glorified in soul and body to live with God forever. Our being led by the Spirit ministers to us full assurance of our final salvation, even though we may experience tribulations here and now.

As God’s sons and daughters, we are given greater dignity than any other creatures. Consider what we were when God called us: We were not influential or of noble birth; we were foolish, lowly things, and despised things; we were nothings, zeroes (1 Cor. 1:26-28). We were the publicans and prostitutes. We were blind, lost, dead wretches. We were in the slimy pit of mud and mire. But the Father sent his own Son into our pit, and he lifted us up out of the miry pit and made us stand on firm ground. He put a new song of praise to God in our mouth and seated with Christ in heavenly places. He took us from the pit and placed us in God’s family.

We are children of God, so let us behave as God’s children. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). Noble people should behave nobly. Growing up, I was told. “Behave yourself.” We were to never bring shame to our family’s noble name. Likewise, as children of God, may we do good works so that people will see them and glorify our Father in heaven.

As God’s children, we are also disciplined by the Father so that we will be conformed to the image of Christ. This discipline comes especially when we refuse to be led by the Spirit. So we read, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son” (Heb. 12:5-6). Only true sons, not illegitimate children, are loved and disciplined. God disciplines us so that we may share in his holiness, for without holiness, no one shall see God.

In this discipline, some may experience weakness and sickness, and some may even be called home by God so that they may sin no more. But our salvation is assured. He who leads his children by his Spirit will not abandon them on the way. Every true son and daughter of God will arrive in God’s presence, one way or another. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Rom. 8:32). This means we will be glorified.

Application

Let us then apply the test to ourselves. Do we kill sin daily? Then we are living the life eternal, the abundant life. Then we are being daily led by the Holy Spirit. Everyone is led by something; no one is autonomous in this world. The unbeliever is a child of the devil, led by evil spirit, “in which [we] used to live when [we] followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in [the sons of disobedience]” (Eph. 2:1-3). An unbeliever strictly obeys the evil spirit, without complaining or arguing, because the devil will not tolerate opposition. The unbeliever is deceived by the momentary pleasures of sin.

But a believer is led by the Holy Spirit. He is a child of God, like God. He is godly. He does not enjoy the momentary pleasures of sin but seeks after the eternal pleasures of being in God’s presence.

Children of God are filled with the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God controls our thinking, our willing, and our affections. Therefore, we do not fight against being led by the Holy Spirit. And as we said earlier, the Holy Spirit always leads us in the way of the word of God. So a child of God will love God’s word and meditate on it. The word of Christ will dwell in his heart richly. He will agree wholeheartedly with the word and walk in its ways. He will hope not in this world but in the God of the word.

As sons and daughters of God, we love God triune and all God’s legitimate children everywhere. What peace and joy we will have if we obey the Holy Spirit! We do so as individuals, and we do so in our marriages. When husbands and wives are led by the Spirit, what peace and joy they will have, for quarrels come from self-centeredness and unholy selfish desires. In our families, if the husband and wife and children are obedient to the word of God, what blessings we will experience! And in the church, if every believer is led by the Spirit, what joy, what peace, what unity, what revival we will enjoy!

John exhorts us, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). When you visit a church, test the spirits there. Test the preacher and see whether he preaches the Bible. See if the people practice holiness. And if you find such a church, enjoy great fellowship with them, because they are the people of God.

It is not difficult to test our paternity. We cannot say God is our father and behave like the devil. Test the spirits. The Holy Spirit always glorifies Christ, leads us into the Scripture, and makes us holy. I pray all of us will be led by the Holy Spirit and prove that we are sons of God.

¹ John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 295.

² Summary from Thomas Watson, All Things for Good (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1998).

³ From William Hendriksen, Exposition of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, New Testament Commentary series (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990), 255-256.