The Spirit of Adoption
A Sermon on Romans 8:15
Originally preached Dec. 2, 1960
Scripture
15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Sermon Description
Is assurance essential for salvation? Can one doubt their salvation and still be truly saved? In this sermon on Romans 8:15 titled “The Spirit of Adoption,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones answers that assurance is not essential for salvation. It is possible for those who have truly been born again and who trust in the Gospel to doubt if they have been saved. This is because they are saved by the work of Christ, not our act of believing. It is not as if faith is a great work that earns the Christian favor with God. Scripture tells that faith itself is a gift from God in order that the Christian might be saved. Salvation is received by God enabling them to believe in the gospel. This is a great hope to all who are plagued by doubts of God’s love for them. Salvation is a gift of God, but not all who are saved are assured of their salvation. As Christians grow in love of God and neighbor and to understand God more and more, all Christians can have a stronger assurance of salvation. All believers can know that Christ has died for them and loves them.
Sermon Breakdown
- The spirit of adoption is not essential for salvation. One can be a Christian without experiencing the spirit of adoption.
- The Protestant reformers taught that assurance of salvation was necessary for salvation but they were mistaken. There is a difference between believing in Christ for salvation and believing you have salvation.
- The apostle Paul is not saying every Christian has the spirit of adoption in Romans 8:15. He is writing to Christians experiencing revival and the outpouring of the Spirit. Not all Christians share this experience.
- How the spirit of adoption is received is a source of confusion. Some teach it is received by faith alone, but this is incorrect.
- The spirit of adoption is a person - the Holy Spirit. We cannot take the Spirit whenever we want. We must submit to Him.
- The word 'receive' is used to translate multiple Greek words. Most denote an active sense but the word in Romans 8:15 denotes either an active or passive sense.
- Examples of the active sense of the word 'receive' used in Romans 8:15 include: Matthew 26:26, Luke 20:28-31, John 1:12. In these verses, 'receive' means to take or accept.
- Examples of the passive sense of the word 'receive' used in Romans 8:15 include: Matthew 7:8, Matthew 20:9, John 1:16, Acts 10:43, 1 Corinthians 2:12. In these verses, 'receive' means to be given something or gain something.
- The context of Romans 8:15 suggests the passive sense of 'receive' is meant. We are given the spirit of adoption, we do not take it.
Sermon Q&A
What Did Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Teach About the Spirit of Adoption?
Is the spirit of adoption essential for salvation according to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?
According to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the spirit of adoption whereby we cry "Abba, Father" is not essential to salvation. He states clearly: "to have the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father, I am saying, is not essential to salvation. You can be a Christian and know nothing about the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Lloyd-Jones notes that many Protestant Reformers, including Luther and Calvin, would have disagreed with him, as they tended to teach that assurance of salvation was necessary for salvation itself.
How does Lloyd-Jones distinguish between salvation and assurance of salvation?
Lloyd-Jones makes an important distinction between being saved and knowing that you're saved. He references the Westminster Confession of Faith, which recognized that "you can be saved and yet lack assurance." He explains that justification by faith means "that you believe you're resting on that whatever your feelings may chance to be." There is an "essential difference between believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and trusting to him for salvation, and believing that you have it in him and having this inward assurance of it."
What confusion does Lloyd-Jones identify regarding "receiving" the spirit of adoption?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies significant confusion in evangelical thinking regarding how one "receives" the spirit of adoption. He criticizes the teaching that says we should "take it by faith" in the same way we take justification by faith. He states this is "one of the greatest causes of confusion in much of our evangelical thinking" and "nothing robs so many people of this great New Testament experience so much as that particular teaching."
How does Lloyd-Jones explain the meaning of "receive" in Romans 8:15?
Lloyd-Jones conducts a detailed word study of different Greek words translated as "receive" in the New Testament. He demonstrates that the specific word used in Romans 8:15 often carries a passive meaning rather than an active one. While some words for "receive" emphasize our active taking, the word in this text often means "to receive what is given, to gain, to get, to obtain." The emphasis is not on our taking but on God's giving. He provides numerous examples where this word is used in a passive sense, such as "Everyone that asketh receiveth" (Matthew 7:8) and "of his fullness have all we received" (John 1:16).
Why were early Christians more likely to experience the spirit of adoption?
Lloyd-Jones explains that most early Christians likely had full assurance because "the New Testament times were times when the Holy Spirit had been poured forth in unusual profusion." He describes this as "a kind of exceptional revival" where "the majority of people are in the happy state and condition of enjoying a great assurance of salvation." This explains why New Testament epistles often assume all Christians had experienced the spirit of adoption, a "condition which has not persisted, alas, in the subsequent history of the Christian church, but which... you see from time to time during an awakening or a period of revival."
The Book of Romans
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.