Adopted Debtors & Heirs

July 2, 2024

Notes from Scott Sutton's sermon on Sunday, June 30, 2024.

Sermon text: Romans 8:12-17


God cares how you think. He cares about the content and aim of your thoughts. He has designed us to think, and tells us that we can and should be transformed by the renewal of our minds. This assumes that you need to change... and that you can change. Holy living is preceded by holy thinking. When the Philippian jailer asks Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved, their answer was, "Believe". In John 6, the crowd asks Jesus,"What must we DO, to be DOING the works of God" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you BELIEVE in Him who he has sent." Pastors stand in pulpits week after week throughout the entire world because your thoughts matter. We have community groups that meet every week to discuss what we heard in the sermon, because your thoughts matter. In the previous verses we saw that, as those who live by the Spirit, we are supposed to set our minds on the things of the Spirit. Why? Because setting the mind on the flesh is death. The mind set on the flesh is hostile to God. Where do you set your mind? What is the content of your thoughts? What do you believe?


Paul has gone to great lengths to help us think and believe rightly about our lives, to help us understand how the law relates to us, how life should look in Christ, how we can tell if we are moving in the flesh or according to the Spirit. And in the verse before our focus this morning, we see Paul say this, "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit who dwells in you."


In light of that, Paul focuses in on our identity... who we are... or perhaps more specifically, whose we are... "so then, brothers, we are debtors"


1.) We are debtors.

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

- NOT to the flesh, to live according to the flesh... You don't owe the flesh anything. Part of your new identity in Christ is that when your flesh makes demands, you do not have to pay that demand. [ESAU] You are not a debtor to the flesh. In fact, the grave warning is that, if your life is lived as a debtor to the flesh, you will die. Some of the most graphic and violent language in the Bible is used to describe our response to sin and temptation.Kill it. Murder it.

- TO the Spirit… We are debtors to the Spirit. That is our identity now. If someone was to ask you about your identity in Christ, it would be perfectly fitting to say, “I am a debtor. I am in debt to God. That is who I am.” Now, in this Dave Ramsey world we live in, some of you may hear, “We are debtors” and say “Oh no. Not debtors! We gotta pay that back. We gotta eliminate that debt! What we’ll do is make a list of all of our debts to God and we will start with the smallest ones to get the snowball rolling and then we will move on to paying off our bigger debts to God.” No! No! No!

- The Debtor’s Ethic: “God has done so much for you; now what will you do for Him? He gave you His life, how much will you give to Him?” We are debtors to God. But we are never ever paying God back for anything.

- John Piper: “Every good deed we do in dependence on God does just the opposite of paying Him back; it puts us ever deeper in debt to His grace. And that is exactly where God wants us to be through all eternity… Good deeds do not pay back grace; they borrow more grace.”

Embrace your identity as a debtor. We will be in the most beautiful debt to the most benevolent God for all of eternity. We are debtors. God changes us and calls us to a life of good works in the Spirit, and he gives us His Spirit and all that we need to live a beautiful life that shines brightly for His glory, but it is all for just that… HIS GLORY. We will all one day pass from this world and into the joy or our Master, beautifully saddled with outrageously gracious debt. Now and forever, we are debtors.

Kiddos: You will always need God. God will always meet your needs.


2.) We are adopted.

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of

slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we

cry, “Abba! Father!”

- We become sons and daughters of God through adoption. It is impossible to overemphasize the importance and beauty of this adoption, but I would like to try. In Roman culture, adoption was a common practice, and usually occurred when a wealthy adult had no heir for their estate. Keller describes, “The moment adoption occurred, several things were immediately true of the new son. First, his old debts and legal obligations were paid; second, he got a new name and was instantly heir of all the father had; third, his new father became instantly liable for all of his actions; but fourth, the new son also had new obligations to honor and please his father.” In fact, Augustus, one of Rome’s most notable leaders, was actually adopted by Julius Caesar. Augustus was a sickly child whose father died when he was only 4 years old. Julius Caesar needed an heir to continue his reign and rule into the next generation. Augustus didn’t actually find out about the adoption until he was 19 years old and it was already complete. One day someone said, “Augustus, this is your father now. This is your family now. Your life is completely changed. You have no debts. You have these riches. This is your role now…you have these responsibilities.”

- A few things to consider…

o The only way in is through adoption.

o God initiates our adoption. We simply receive it.

o You can’t lose your adoption.

o We did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear

o We are sons and daughters who cry “Abba, Father.”


In a sense, we are born as spiritual orphans in need of a spiritual father to save us from an inevitable life of hardship caused by our condition. The only way into the family of God is through adoption. Not through works. Not through affiliation… meaning you can’t say that you are a Christian simply because your parents are Christians or you have some friends who are Christians.

What does it mean to CRY, “Abba! Father!”

2 Stories:

- Ruthie barging into my office during sermon prep

- Haddie’s morning greeting while eating cereal

Kiddos: You can always cry out to God. In Jesus, we all have a good Father.


3.) We are heirs.

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 

- While I have 4 biological children and 1 adopted child, God only had one biological Son, and the rest of us are all adopted. We are heirs through adoption. Next week we will consider the glory that awaits the heirs of God. But this morning we will close with this question…

- Why is suffering mentioned here? I think it is because many people believe that if we are suffering, God must not be there for us.

- Romans 5:3-5 “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

- John 15:18-21 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

o Christ suffered and we are united to Him through suffering.

o Sometimes we sin to avoid suffering.

- The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. So rather than sinning to avoid suffering, we suffer in anticipation of eternal glory that has been secured for us by Christ.


Parents: Some of you have the mentality that you are ok if suffering comes upon you, as long as your children don’t have to suffer. But if you are leading them in faith, you are leading them to suffer.


Kiddos: Jesus suffered for you. Suffering is real, but very short compared to eternity. Remember, you will always need God. And you can always cry out to God.


Discipleship Questions:


1.) In what ways are we in debt to God?

2.) What are some ways we might try to wrongly "pay back" God for his grace?

3.) What are some ways that we can rightly celebrate and embrace our identity as debtors?

4.) Why do we need to be reminded that we are not debtors to the flesh?

5.) What are some demands that our flesh makes? How can we use the truth about our identity to fight against those temptations? 

6.) Why is it important to understand that we only enter the family of God through adoption?

7.) How would you explain to your children, friends, neighbors, and co-workers what it means to be adopted into the family of God? 

8.) What are the blessings and benefits of being adopted by God?

9.) What happens if we are not adopted by God? 

10.) How are we united to Christ through suffering?

11.) What are some ways that we try to escape suffering through sinning? 

12.) In those moments, how should we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

Arm Yourselves

June 11, 2025
Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, June 8, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 4:1-6 Prepare to suffer Is. 50:6-8a I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. 7 But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. The martial language indicates that discipline and grit are needed to live the Christian life, particularly in view of the suffering believers encounter. -Thomas R. Schreiner Some people won’t like you if you follow Jesus When a culture abandons biblical standards, when extramarital sex, cohabitation, and birth outside of marriage become normal, people attack the church for its moral snobbery and judgmentalism. Peter warns us that if we do take a stand, we need to expect slander, not applause. -Daniel M. Dorian This is one of the hardest things a new Christian has to face. Your friends liked you because you shared in “the same flood of debauchery.” It seemed great fun at times, but then you came to embrace Christ… But your friends have not… They will be surprised when you say “No.” -Juan Sanchez. Keep an eternal perspective Our outcome is glorious Suffering is good for us Let’s remember that suffering accomplishes God’s purposes. It exposes what or whom we are trusting (1 Peter 1:6–7). - Juan Sanchez Ecc. 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Discipleship Questions: Verse 1 tell us to arm ourselves by thinking as Christ did about suffering. How did Christ arm himself for and against sufferings? What does it look like for us to do that? Have you ever lost friendships (or had them change) because you were following Jesus? Do you fear that we (or our kids) will experience greater persecution in the future? If yes, how should we handle that fear?

I Believe That We Will Win

June 3, 2025
Notes from Lance Shumake's sermon on Sunday, June 1, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 3:18-22 Jesus suffered and died in order to bring us to God Jesus conquered death by his resurrection “A wonderful text is this, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for a certainty just what Peter means.” —Martin Luther Problem #1 - he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison —Jesus preached through Noah to those who lived at that time (1 Peter 1:10–12) —Jesus proclaimed His victory to evil angels (see Genesis 6:1-4) Problem #2 - baptism now saves you —Scripture is clear - we are saved by grace not works —baptism pictures our salvation from God’s judgment through the resurrection of Christ “The waters of baptism, like the waters of the flood, demonstrate that destruction is at hand, but believers are rescued from these waters in that they are baptized with Christ, who has also emerged from the waters of death through his resurrection. Just as Noah was delivered through the stormy waters of the flood, believers have been saved through the stormy waters of baptism by virtue of Christ’s triumph over death.” —Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude —in baptism we are appealing to God for a good conscience "This appeal is an act of the heart looking away from itself and from all human instruments and calling on God, appealing to God, for grace to save.” —John Piper —in baptism we are pledging to God to live in a manner worthy of the gospel Jesus ascended to heaven and now reigns over everything “We can face suffering as Christians with confidence rather than panic, and hope rather than despair, because the road marked with Christian suffering is, no matter what its twists and turns are, the road to vindication and glory. The God who vindicated Jesus will vindicate you, and he will sustain your faith until that day.” –Juan R. Sanchez, 1 Peter For You Discipleship Questions: How does Jesus’ death and resurrection encourage us when we suffer? Why did we need Jesus to suffer and die to bring us to God? How does Jesus’ victory over death give us eternal hope? What are your thoughts regarding some of the problems in this passage? How does what Peter says about baptism elevate the importance of baptism? When were you baptized and how does this passage inform your understanding of baptism? How does knowing our victory is secured help us with all the things this life throws at us?

Who Can Be Against Us?

May 27, 2025
Notes from Ky Martin's sermon on Sunday, May 25, 2025. Sermon text: 1 Peter 3:13-17 Nobody can (truly) hurt Christians Psalm 118:6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? Rom. 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? The train of thought is as follows: “No one will be able to harm believers on the future day if they are zealous for good” (v. 13). Indeed, even present suffering is not a sign of punishment but of blessing both now and especially in the future, on the day when God rewards his people with eternal life. -Thomas R. Schreiner Honoring Christ Erases Fear Share your faith with strength and gentleness Embrace balance Be prepared to share The truth of the gospel is a public truth that can be defended in the public arena. This does not mean, of course, that every Christian is to be a highly skilled apologist for the faith. It does mean that every believer should grasp the essentials of the faith and should have the ability to explain to others why they think the Christian faith is true. -Thomas R. Schreiner Be prepared to suffer “I’ve spent a number of years in India and Africa where I found much righteous endeavor undertaken by Christians of all denominations; but I never, as it happens, came across a hospital or orphanage run by the Fabian Society [a British socialist organization], or a humanist leper colony.” -Malcolm Muggeridge Be bold! We will likely suffer as Christians in this world, but that suffering is slight and temporary compared to the eternal inheritance that awaits us. The worst thing that can happen to us is that we die and receive our promised inheritance. Can you imagine how emboldened Christians would be if we only believed what Peter is saying? -Juan R. Sanchez Discipleship Questions: Does the fact that nobody can (truly) harm us comfort you? What would change if we lived like we really believe that? Are you a more confident person as someone who knows Christ? Does your security in Christ embolden you to take some risks in life, knowing that the worst that could happen is death? How equipped / prepared are you to give a reason for the hope that you have? What would grow your confidence and competence in that? Have you considered joining Michael Clark one day for evangelism at the harbor? Well….you should….
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