Adopted and Assured: Identity in Christ (Romans 8:12-17)

What does it mean to live with confidence as God’s adopted child? In this message from Romans 8:12–17, Pastor Chris explains how our identity in Christ reshapes how we fight sin, follow the Holy Spirit, and rest in God’s assurance. Discover how a secure foundation in Christ leads to freedom, faithfulness, and hope through every season of life. 

Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/18688050

Key Points: 

1. Break free from the old way of living (Romans 8:12–13)
 Believers are no longer obligated to live according to the flesh. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are called to actively put sin to death and walk in the freedom Christ provides.

2. Walk daily under the Spirit’s leading (Romans 8:14)
 Those who are led by the Spirit are God’s children. A Spirit-led life is marked by surrender, obedience, and trust as God guides us step by step.

3. Live confidently as God’s adopted child (Romans 8:15–17)
 Adoption is both a legal and relational change. Through Christ, we are welcomed into God’s family with full rights, assurance, and an eternal inheritance as co-heirs with Christ.

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris:
 Pastor Chris uses the illustration of the Virginia High Bridge to show how a strong foundation determines long-term stability. Just as unseen supports hold the bridge steady, a secure identity in Christ sustains believers through pressure, temptation, and hardship.

Notable Quotes:
 “Our faith needs a secure foundation, because what we believe shapes how we live.”
 “The flesh offers comfort without cost, but the Spirit offers life with a fight.”
 “God doesn’t accept us because we live right. We live right because God has accepted us.”

Actionable Takeaways:

• Reflect on areas where old habits or sinful patterns may be weakening your spiritual foundation
 • Choose one daily practice that helps you stay sensitive to the Spirit’s leading
 • Confess known sin quickly and receive God’s forgiveness with confidence
 • Live each day from your identity as God’s adopted child, not from fear or performance

Scripture References:
 Romans 8:1, 10–17 – Life in the Spirit and adoption as God’s children
 Romans 6:11–14 – Dead to sin, alive in Christ
 Colossians 3:5–10 – Putting off the old self and putting on the new
 James 1:14–15 – The progression of temptation and sin
 1 John 1:8–9 – Confession and forgiveness
 Galatians 4:4–7 – Adoption and inheritance through Christ
 Proverbs 4:23 – Guarding the heart

Keywords:
Christian identity, Romans 8, adoption in Christ, Holy Spirit, assurance of salvation, freedom from sin, spiritual growth, grace, discipleship

Challenge:
This week, choose to live from your identity as God’s adopted child by surrendering one area of struggle to the Holy Spirit and trusting God’s grace to guide your next step.

26.0215de Living from a Secure Identity

The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

Chris T 0:16

All right. Just curious, how many of you drove over the Google calls it the Virginia High Bridge? So you can call it whatever you want. But how many of you drove over the big bridge to get here today or to go home? All right. Alright, you drive over that bridge all the time. Do you think much of the bridge? It's been around for what, like nine years, eight years now? It's been around for quite a while. Have you ever, you've driven over it, but have you ever walked it? Have you ever gotten out and walked along the ATV slash pedestrian trail where you can look over and you actually see how far it is to the ground? All 200 feet. 200 feet to the ground, pretty crazy. Now we go over the bridge because we trust that it's gonna hold us up. I don't know if many of you looked up the specs to figure out how well supported the bridge is, maybe, but some of the piles that they put in to keep that bridge up, to put those supports in the ground, go 170 feet, 175 feet down. That is a long way to go down. Because you got to think about it, it's got to withstand the cold weather and the freezing and the mine blast and 22,000 cars and trucks and everything going over it every day. And so you think about that. You're like, wow, this is an amazing bridge. And it's actually some pretty good scenery, too, but it's kind of dangerous actually. If you're trying to catch the scenery while you're driving, you're like, wow, what are they doing over there? And so yeah, maybe it's better to get out and walk it or bike it or whatever sometime on a warmer day. But when I think about that bridge, I also remember the I-35 Mississippi River Bridge collapsed and the cars went tumbling down. And I guess that had a bunch of reasons. One, it was designed poorly, so the gusset plates that were supposed to hold it together weren't big enough to hold it together, and then some people piled some stuff on it that wasn't supposed to be there that added to the weight, and it wasn't just one thing, caused the bridge to collapse. They didn't have inspectors that could go see and oh, look, oh, the steel is crumbling or the concrete's falling apart. It was a bunch of things added up together, and then one day it collapsed. And the reason that I bring that up is in the picture for the sermon, we've got a bridge. And the title is Living from a Secure Identity. And when we want to have a bridge to life, when we want to think about our faith, it needs to have a secure foundation. Because as I mentioned last week, a lot of what we will do living out our faith is based on what we think, what is in our mind. If we have the Holy Spirit in us and the scripture in our mind, and we have the right input, we should get the right results. If we think about a bridge and the foundation that holds us up, Scripture is that and teaches us how to live, teaches us how we are supposed to go through life. And sometimes we get really comfortable with sin. And the Bible talks a lot about sin. And sometimes people don't want a church that talks about sin. They just want to talk about blessing and God loves me, but don't get in my business. Don't we don't need to talk about sin. Let's just talk about all the good stuff that there is. But the problem is that if you pile a bunch of sin up, it can cause your bridge to collapse. It can cause your faith to collapse. Now, your faith and what you think about it is secure in Christ. If you're truly saved, I think that you're if you're truly saved, I think that you're always saved. But if you just think you're saved and you're not truly saved, then you have a big problem. And that's one thing that we want to talk to you about and share with others is to not only help you think that through, but help you to have ways and resources and thoughts to help have discussions with other people, to help talk to other people about their faith, to equip you. According to Ephesians 4.11, pastors are supposed to equip God's people for works of service. So I want to be an equipper. Now, but I just thought just take Romans chapter 8, because there's a ton of good things in Romans chapter 8. And I mentioned when we started this that one of my favorite verses follows Romans chapter 7, where Paul talks about his struggle to live the Christian life and how he does the things he doesn't want to do, and the things he doesn't want to do he does, and what a wretched man he is who will save him from this life of sin. And then Romans 8 says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Last week we talked about who is in Christ Jesus. Are we in Christ Jesus? What does that mean? And you can listen to that or watch that. And then it's we finally actually that was two weeks ago, and then last week we talked about how we have the Holy Spirit and how we're supposed to live. And Romans 8.10 is where we finished off there. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your immortal bodies because of his spirit who lives in you. So that was a guarantee that if Christ, if we have Christ, and we have the Holy Spirit, and everybody that has Christ has the Holy Spirit, then there's a guarantee that when we come to the end of our days, when we park this tent of the body, that we are secure in Christ. We will be raised from the dead. So we actually will go to be straight into the presence of Jesus because we have the Spirit who lives in us. And so this is a continuation of that now, because now we're going to go to Romans chapter 8, verse 12. Number one, break free from the old way of living. So it really is a continuation of last week, but to break free of the old way of living. So now, when Paul wrote this, he was trying to tell the Jews that Jesus wants us to make a transition here. The Father wants us to change things up. The Holy Spirit is going to help us as we say, we are going to now live life by the Spirit, and so we are going to love God and love others. That is going to be the primary thing that we do. And that we're not going to focus on trying to keep every little minuscule thing of the Old Testament law. Now, there's a bunch of things in the Old Testament law that make a lot of sense, the law of Moses, make a lot of sense, but there's other things that don't really apply to our time or our day. And so many of those things are filtered out by when you look at the Old Testament law, think about, okay, is that loving God? And is that loving others to do that? Or is that just something for their time, for their culture in that time? And so I don't want to spend too much time on that. But Romans 8.12 says, Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it's not to the flesh to live according to it. So again, if you read in Romans chapter 6 and Romans, actually Romans, from Romans chapter 3 on, Paul gives great arguments. Like I said before, it almost reads like a legal document, like a life insurance document. As you read through it, you would see how Paul develops these arguments. But we have an obligation. We have a debt to pay, but it's not to our sinful nature. It is not to that inner part of us that wants to sin, wants to do wrong that way, that by nature we are. Without Christ, we do things that don't honor God, things that don't lead to a blessed life, things that don't get us in the place that we need to go, that we want to be. But so Paul addresses it, brothers and sisters. So he's really going from this big wide argument to everybody to breaking it down, to saying, hey family, hey, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Those this is for those of you who are in Jesus who are, as he mentioned, who are saved, who have the Holy Spirit, who are in Christ. This is for you. That we have an obligation, and it's not to the flesh to live according to it. So it is easy to give in, to live according to the flesh, to do things that lust wants to do, that greed wants to do, to just do those things, because by default, that's what most people do. So they are self-centered, self-focused instead of Christ-centered and Christ-focused. They don't have the Holy Spirit in them helping them to do the right thing. And if you try to do all of these works in your own strength, you'll get frustrated. You'll never measure up. But we have the Holy Spirit to help us to be successful in this. And that is such a great promise. So the flesh, when it says flesh, it's not just the physical body, it's the old way of living apart from God. The self-directed life, the self-directed life driven by sin, fear, pride, control, and self-rule. So Paul's saying, don't live this way, don't do this thing. If we were to look at Paul's argument or Paul's declarations in Romans chapter 6, it would make a lot of sense. You could read all of Romans chapter 6. For the sake of time, won't read all of chapter 6. But Romans 6, 11 says, in the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. And so then it says, Don't let sin control the way you live. Don't give in to sinful desire. Don't let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have a new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace. And so you should read Romans chapter six. It's really good, it's really helpful when you think it through, when you pray it through, when you put it into practice. But to count yourself dead to sin. So I said before that the people that are captive to sin are like puppets on a string, and they just are captive to do sinful things. But when we come to Christ, we are no longer tied up to those strings. We have the choice to choose to say yes or no to temptation. We have the choice to say yes or no to sin. We have the choice to choose to do what's right. And if we fall, then we ask forgiveness. We get back up and we try to do it right the next time. But we don't live out of this fear that if I'm going to be a Christian and if God's going to adopt me into my into his family, I have to do everything perfect. And then if I'm perfect in every way, then God will accept me. No, everything's flipped around too. God is accepting you because of what Jesus did. And the Holy Spirit's helping you to live that life. So God loves you, God cares for you, God is 100% on your side, and he wants you to do the right thing. So you are already in, you are already on the team. And that is such a good thing. But it says, again, we have an obligation not to the flesh to live according to it. So if we continue to live the way the world thinks we should live, or the way the TV or movies or people that sing songs about really perverted things, we will be disappointed. Our lives will not have the results we hope. We'll look back on our days and wish that we hadn't done that. We will look back on our days and wish that we had chosen a different path, and God gives us a different path. It's really easy to fall into sin. It's really easy to do those things, but the Holy Spirit can help us. And Paul doesn't say, just be better, just do a little better. Paul says that God wants us to struggle, God wants us to fight sin. Romans 8:13, if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if you live, but if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. This is like a trajectory thing. So if you keep living according to the flesh, you are going to end up separated from God, eternal death. Really sad. But if by the spirit, so it didn't say if by you, it didn't say if you could just get it together and try harder. It says, but if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. And so when you think about the destiny, when you think about your life, when you think about what you truly want, I know that you want to live the way that Christ wants you to. That everything about it will bring you joy, will bring you blessing. It might bring you persecution and it might bring hardship, but you'll still have joy and blessing and the assurance of eternal life and rewards, eternal rewards. So many great things. But to put to death the misdeeds of the body. John Owens wrote a book a long time ago that wrote on and on about all the ways to put to death the misdeeds of the body. It's kind of a hard read, but it's a good thing to think about. James made it pretty easy that you can't just say, oh, the devil made me do it. It's not my fault. You know, I'm just you got the little cartoon characters, the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, Satan on the other. And I just I couldn't help myself. But James 1.14 says, temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions, and when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. So temptation. Temptation are those little things that you give into and that just kind of keeps snowballing, and it gets bigger and bigger and greater and greater, and then pretty soon your temptation has turned into some kind of sin that Satan can accuse you of, and then he tries to get you to sit down, be quiet, not live for Jesus, and just don't even go to church because God knows what you did. No, come to this church, because this church is full of grace. Colossians, Paul talks about it also to the church of Colossa. He says, in Colossians 3, 5, so put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your creator and become like him. What a great way to live. And what a great thing to think as you learn to know your creator and become like him. So because that's your new nature, because that's the way that you'll want to live with Christ in you and the Spirit in you. When the Holy Spirit is in you, you can yield to the Spirit's leading. You can yield to the Spirit's guidance. And as you do, and the Spirit's conviction, you will be blessed. You will enjoy life more. You will be more useful for the kingdom of God. You will be able to look back on those days as good days where maybe everything wasn't easy. Maybe you still struggled with temptation. Maybe you still struggled with finances. Maybe you still struggled with all sorts of difficulties in life. Sometimes difficulties in life are our own fault because the choices we made are the things that we do or don't do. Other times, the problems in our life are caused by the other people in our life, whether they're co-workers or family members or neighbors or political leaders or who knows. There's so many people that can influence us and make our lives difficult. But yet, God helps us through. The spirit helps us through. And we need then to know that we have an obligation not to live the old life, but to live the new, to live a new life in Christ. And that is a good thing. So the flesh offers comfort without cost. The spirit offers life with a fight. One path feels easier at first, but leads to decay. The other requires surrender, but leads to freedom. You see that list, and it's like, that's all those things. That's just a big list of things that I'm not supposed to do. That's all that religion is just a list of things that you're not supposed to do. But it's not a list of things that you're just not supposed to do. It's guidance to help you to live right, to help you to live a bold life that makes a difference in the world, to use your days wisely, because you know that in Christ, it's not just about your life now, it's your eternal life that comes after that. And that is way longer than your temporary life today. So we need to guard our hearts. Proverbs 423. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. So you guard your heart when you also guard your ears, and you guard your eyes, and you fill up your mind with the right information, and you spend time in God's Word. And so, Romans 12, being transformed by the renewing of our mind. And it is such a good thing. Sometimes Christians read Romans and they're like, Well, praise God. According to this, I have no sin. And positionally, you are set free from sin because of what Jesus did. But they say, in practicality, I don't sin. I never sin. There's no way that I could sin now because Jesus made it, so all my sins are taken care of, so therefore I can no longer sin. Another way people live is I have lots of sin, but I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing because Jesus loves me and grace covers it, and it's all good. And it reminds me that in 1 John it talks about sin. And so I believe in confessing sin, even though that we're saved and that our sins of the past are forgiven, that there's the sins of today, that when the Holy Spirit brings it to mind, we should acknowledge it and say, that was sin. That was sinful. I shouldn't have thought that, shouldn't have said that, shouldn't have done that, shouldn't have taken that, shouldn't have, whatever. And I'm sorry. And help me not to do that again. I don't want to live like that. And maybe we would need to go to somebody and say, I'm sorry. It's been brought to my attention that I shouldn't have said that or done that or whatever and asked forgiveness. But in 1 John 1, 8, if we claim we have no sin, we're only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. And when I was a kid, somebody taught me, I don't remember who I was. I went to church a lot when I was a kid. I went to a Christian school for a little bit too. But anyway, the pipeline of God's blessing to your life can get clogged up like a sewer pipe when there is unconfessed sin in your life. And we heard from Hebrews that God disciplines those whom he loves. And therefore, if you want to avoid God's discipline, we should be quick to confess any known sin as we fall into it. So to confess it is a good thing. It's interesting in 1 John 3 6 it says, anyone who continues to live in him will not sin, but anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. That's kind of a problem for somebody that does realize that they sin. And actually, the more time you spend in God's Word, and the more time you spend time for asking in the Spirit to reveal to you any known sin, the more you realize that you sin. And here it says, anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. And so what does that mean? And then in 1 John 3 9, it says, those who have been born into God's family do not make a practice of sinning because God's life is in them. So they can't keep on sinning because they are children of God. So what does this mean? Does this mean that if anybody, if any we find anybody that's sinning, therefore they must not be saved? I think it's, like it said, make a practice of sin. If you can see somebody that continues to sin, they don't think anything of it, I would wonder if they're truly saved. But if they're somebody who keeps falling into the same sin and struggles with the sin and confesses the sin, tries not to do the sin and tries to avoid the sin and tries to find somebody to be accountable to so they don't keep falling into the sin. But if it's not that sin, it's another sin and they just keep stumbling through life, sinful, like many people do. And if you're honest with yourself, probably every one of us we're on the path to trying not to sin. And sin bothers us, and we're quick to confess it. And I think that is not only a sign that we're in Christ's. But that's one of the assurances that the Spirit is in us, that we're moving forward. And that is such a good thing. That bridge. They're going to do everything they can to protect that bridge, to make sure that nothing crazy happens on that bridge. They're going to do everything they can to keep the snowbanks off the side, to make sure that some car isn't going to slide over and hit that snowbank and go right over the side, which has actually happened before in other places. That's going to be terrible for church growth, actually, if I make people afraid to go over the bridge. Yeah, I should stop that. All right, it's a safe bridge. But anyway, they're not going to allow things to pile up on it. And we shouldn't allow sin to pile up in our life. We should be quick to ask forgiveness, quick to move forward, and quick to know that if we've received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that we've received the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit testifies. Actually, I'm getting ahead of myself, but to break free from the old way of living because of our identity in Christ, because of what Christ has done for us, because he knows that's the way he created us to live. Because when we choose to do the right thing, when we choose to say no to temptation and choose to do that right thing, it glorifies God. And as we glorify God, there is joy, there is blessing. It is a great thing when we love God and love others. Number two. Number two, walk daily under the Spirit's leading. Walk daily under the Spirit's leading. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. So again, I already got ahead of myself. But just really think about as the Spirit is guiding you and directing you, as you're trusting in the things of the Lord, as you're paying attention to God's direction in your life. You know, so many times you'll be praying for, we'll be praying for God's will, and then people will come along and they'll have ideas and suggestions, and the Spirit will use them to help you. Hang on one second. We'll help you to know which direction to go, which opportunity to take, and how God wants to lead you, and it will be a great thing. And in my own experience, I don't want to share too much about my own experience. I'm going to focus on your experience. That sometimes when I thought I was supposed to be going in a certain place, doing a certain thing, that it seemed like I was like stuck waiting, but in the waiting time, God had a different plan to teach me something else I would need for the journey. So sometimes God doesn't give you the whole story of what you're supposed to do with your life or what comes next or whatever. He just, you know, gives you a little bit at a time, and as you're faithful to follow that, he keeps revealing the thing that you're supposed to do next. So stay teachable and stay obedient. But just know that God has every one of us in a process, it doesn't matter how young or old you are, that every day matters. And as you're faithful to serve God, as you're faithful to yield to the Spirit, as you're faithful to move forward, that God can direct you, guide you, prepare you, and use you to do great things. So keep moving forward. Sometimes in Isaiah 30, 21. Sometimes you just know the Holy Spirit's working in your life. He's guiding and directing. Isaiah 30, 21, whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it. Now I can't say I've ever heard a voice, but I definitely know when the Spirit's been leading. But the problem is for the people who think that God is against them or that they're trying to measure up so that God will love them and care for them. It's almost like when you're working for your employer and you're just trying to do everything right so that you can keep your job and not get fired. But it's not that kind of pressure. It is grace, it is the spirit-led living that can make a difference in your life. And this is the best part. This is the best part. So we can live confidently as God's adopted child. Why are we adopted children? Aren't we all God's children? No, actually we're not. We're all God's creation. So Jesus actually said, is it in John 8, I think, that you are children of the devil, your father, the liar. But we can be adopted into God's family. And that is an exciting thing. Verse 15 the spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again. Rather, the spirit you received brought you up brought about your adoption to sonship. By him we cry, Abba Father. So it was God's plan that he would adopt us into God's family. And that is so exciting. And I just want to read from a couple of commentaries that I read from, so that you can be helped by it too, so that I don't mess it up with my own words or miss anything. So the Cole commentary says there's two ways that the New Testament speaks about our becoming sons of God, through the new birth and through adoption. Adoption is relatively rare, occurring only three other times with reference to Christians. Romans 8 23, Galatians 4 5, and Ephesians 1 5. The last reference attributes our adoption to God's predestining us according to the kind intention of his will, like justification. Adoption refers to a legal transaction that results in a change of status. So Leon Morris in his commentary says it signifies being granted the full rights and privileges of sonship in a family to which one does not belong by nature. Barclay's commentary says that the consequences of adoption in Roman society from which Paul borrowed this concept are when the adopted person lost all rights in his old family and gained all the rights of a legitimate son in his new family. In the most binding legal way he got a new father. It followed that he became heir to his new father's estate. Even if other sons were afterwards born, it did not affect his rights. He was inalienable co-heir with them. In law, the old life of the adopted person was completely wiped out. For instance, all debts were canceled. He was regarded as a new person, entering into a new life with which the past had nothing to do. In the eyes of the law, he was absolutely the son of his new father. When the Holy Spirit enables us to believe in Christ and to understand our new standing as adopted sons of God, all of these privileges apply to us and result in a great change in us. We have a new legal status before God, but also we have a new relationship with God as Father. Paul says that the result of our adoption is that by the Spirit we cry out, Abba Father, and continues on a little more, but it's about that relationship. When Paul applies Abba Father to us as God's adopted children, it means that we can draw near to God in our distress or time of need with the same sense of intimacy and assurance of being heard that Jesus had. So Paul says in Galatians 4, 4, he reaffirms what he says here. He says, When the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba Father, so you are no longer a slave, but God's child. And since you are his child, God has also made you an heir, made you an heir. And to know that we have that inheritance, to know that we have that promise. Romans 8 16, the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. And now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. So this doesn't mean that everything in life is going to be easy, but it does mean that we have an eternal inheritance, that we have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. And the Holy Spirit is going to help us, a deposit on our salvation. He's going to help us to live that out, help us to stay connected. So we have Jesus at work in our life to be able to have a personal relationship with Jesus. The whole Trinity is at work to help us to live this Christian life today. And to know that we are in, if we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and if you have no idea what that means, then I'd like you to let me know. Talk to me. Let's have a conversation. We have the How to Find God New Testaments out there, and in the very front, it talks about how you can begin a relationship with Christ and why you should. But I don't have time and two minutes to lead you down that path. But I'd love to talk to you afterwards, or my number's on the bulletin. You can give me a call. But for those of you who are in Christ, to know that you are adopted into God's family, that He cares for you, that He's going to get you through this life, He's going to keep you forever, that you have this eternal assurance that you will always be with Christ. That we together, brothers and sisters in Christ, are on a great journey together. That God has a plan, that God is working it out. And again, it's not us trying to be better. It's not us just trying to work harder, trying to do the right things so that God will accept us. It's that God has accepted us and God loves us so much that we want to do the right things. And the Holy Spirit will help us to do the right things. Satan wants to do everything he can to distract us, to try to get us to think it doesn't matter, to try to get us caught up in some kind of sin that causes embarrassment and all of these things. But we don't have to live that way. And when we have the scripture to look back to, it's our confidence, it's our foundation. Like I said, it's kind of like a legal document or a life insurance document that we can go back to and say, nope, nope, wait. According to this passage here, I am God's child. According to this passage, Satan's got no hold on me. The old life has got no hold on me. I don't have to give into the sinful ways. I can do the things that God wants in God's ways with God's help all of my days. So next week, I want to talk about more of what this means as we live with hope through the hard seasons, which actually will be very encouraging. Let me pray, Jesus, I thank you so much that you've given us your word and that you have given us your spirit so that we can understand it. Lord, help us to apply ourselves. Help us to show up more and just ask. Is there anything in my life that's keeping me from being effective? Is there any sin in my life that I need to confess? Is there anything that I should start doing to be more useful in your hands? How can I glorify you because of the life you've given me and the position you've given me as your child? Lord, I pray that we would just even meditate on Romans 6 and Romans 8, and that as we think it through and apply it to our lives, that it would give us a strong foundation so that we can speak into the lives of the other people you bring across our paths. So we thank you for this time in Jesus' name. Amen.