Eleven Essential Marks of Life in Christ from Romans 8
Jay Wegter
INTRODUCTION: The eighth chapter of Romans describes the infinite blessings of being indwelt by Christ‟s Spirit. We may accurately say that the third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, produces the Christian life (the Holy Spirit empowers our faith; our fruits; our service; and our Christian character).
It was Jonathan Edwards who said that the work of the indwelling of the Spirit is so important to our Salvation that we may describe Christ‟s work on Calvary as purchasing the Spirit for the people of God. The Spirit‟s initial work of calling us to Christ involves the impartation of a new life through His work of regeneration. This new life in God we have received is worked out in our lives through the Spirit‟s ongoing ministry of indwelling and enabling the believer to do the will of God.
The Holy Spirit expresses this newly imparted life in a series of new orientations and behaviors which mark out, or contrast, the true Christian from the ‘natural,’ or unsaved man or woman. When we are walking by means of the Spirit and are rightly „adjusted‟ to the Spirit (by not grieving; quenching; or resisting Him); we will manifest the character of Christ. This proper „adjustment‟ to the Spirit is described by Paul in Romans eight as being led by the Spirit. Being led by the Spirit is not some esoteric, subjective experience. The Spirit‟s leading always involves both the enablement and the disposition to do the will of God found in Holy Scripture. Now Romans eight has a particularly large concentration of evidences or marks (behaviors) of those who are led by the Spirit. The marks of salvation found in Romans eight are by no means exhaustive—many additional marks can be found throughout the remainder of Scripture; but the sheer concentration of markers in Romans eight which manifest the mindset, affections, and behaviors of the person who belongs to Christ provide an invaluable portrait of a true believer.
Therefore, it is paramount for us to study this chapter in depth, and to comprehend these marks as evidences of the reality of salvation life. And as those intent on being involved in ministry, in order not to „trifle‟ with souls, we must study to show ourselves approved if we are to be wise, careful, and discerning physicians of the souls of those around us (2 Tim 2:15).
A saved individual is a person who is led by the Holy Spirit. The following eleven marks of salvation are not produced by mere will power or by moral self-reformation—they are evinced in the life of an individual led by the Spirit—they can only be produced supernaturally by the Holy Spirit. Therefore these marks constitute a powerful diagnostic to help determine an individual‟s spiritual condition.
MARK 1. Those led by the Spirit love the way that Christ has saved them. They eagerly confess Christ as Savior and Lord, and they show deep affection for the gospel (vv. 1-3).
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:1-3). To love the way in which God saves (by means of the penal substitution in Christ)—that is to love Christ as He is offered in the gospel—as our suffering Substitute, crushed and raised for us in our place. But the ability to love the gospel is above the power of flesh and blood. The gospel is foolishness to the natural man (1 Cor 2:14). Only a person born of the Spirit rejects all natural, instinctive religion in order to embrace the gospel of Christ crucified for sinners.
Paul‟s victory cry in verse one of Romans eight, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” is his „exit‟ out of Romans seven. For Romans seven contains Paul‟s commiseration with other true believers over the fact that they are dismayed at the reality of indwelling sin. But Romans eight begins with the exultation that the true believer is free from condemnation despite what remains of his indwelling sin.
Therefore, to love the way God saves us through Christ is to rejoice that sin‟s grip has been cancelled. It is to understand that the power of sin is broken only when our guilt and condemnation are broken through Christ‟s work on Calvary. To love the way God saves not only affirms the cross; but repudiates all false refuges from judgment and all false solutions to guilt and condemnation.
Diagnostic: does this person you are discipling demonstrate a love of the gospel, an understanding of the gospel, and an overflowing gratitude for the way in which God saves? Our text says that, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set you free from the law of sin and death. . .” In other words, the truly saved person will be living a life liberated from the dominating principle of sin—that saved person will be rejoicing in the freedom won for them by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And they will treasure the blessed way that God saves through the perfect sacrifice of Christ.
MARK 2. Those led by the Spirit walk according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh. Their thought life is characterized by thinking the things suggested by the Spirit; not the things suggested by the flesh (vv. 4-8).
“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Rom 8:6). The Spirit‟s quickening and indwelling work produces both the ability and the inclination to obey the moral law of God—this is an obedience which begins in the thought life. By contrast, those who think the thoughts suggested by the flesh are hostile to God, are not in submission to God, and cannot please God (8:7).
The true believer is a person who is “according to the Spirit.” The Spirit is the believer‟s „sphere of operation‟ and source of divine enablement (v. 5). Paul is setting up an antithesis (contrast) between those who are of the flesh and those who are of the Spirit. It is all a matter of orientation which centers in the thought life (vv. 4-5). God‟s people have God‟s Spirit living inside of them; therefore they are willing and desirous of being ruled by God‟s Word. It is therefore natural for them to always be thinking, “What does the Lord require and expect of me? How may I please Him today?”
Diagnostic: does this person have a „runaway thought life‟ that is characterized by listening to the suggestions and thoughts proposed by the flesh? Is a „flesh-suggested‟ thought life the general direction in their life? The person led by the Spirit, welcomes and cultivates the kind of thoughts suggested by the Spirit (he practices occupying his mind on “things above”—Col 3:1-3). The Spirit-led person has the truths of Scripture dominating exceptionally in their thought life; therefore they walk “according to the Spirit” (that is according to the dictates of the Spirit—see 8:4).
MARK 3. Those led by the Spirit do not let the flesh set the standard for their
behavior (vv. 7-8).
The person led by the Spirit is the person who is “according to the Spirit”—that is a person whose life is characterized by the Spirit‟s constant influence. In other words a true believer allows the Spirit through the Word to set the standard for their behavior. By contrast, the person who is “according to the flesh” is a man or woman who is NOT in the habitual frame of mind of saying “no” to the flesh. Therefore when they consult what they want; or how they may solve a problem—they permit the flesh to set the standard for their behavior. Paul tells us that the man or woman who is “according to the flesh” is hostile to God and is unable to please God (8:7-8).
To live according to the Spirit is a fight. The day we are born again we realize we have a „bottle‟ in one hand (the milk of the Word), and a „sword‟ in the other hand (the Word our spiritual weapon). Needless to say, the true believer feels the constant battle between flesh and Spirit. For the standard of behavior set by the Spirit runs across the grain of the standard set by our flesh. It says in Galatians 5:7 that “the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh for these are in opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you please.” To do what you please is to allow our natural fleshly desires to set the standard for our behavior as opposed to doing what God commands.
The true believer gains victory over the desires of the flesh by the approach approved by Scripture. This means that the believer conducts his or her life by dependency upon the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. The biblical way to gain victory over the flesh is described by Paul, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (Gal 5:16).
Diagnostic: we are not preaching sinless perfection here. What our text is telling us is “life direction.” In other words, what is the normal direction, the path, or course that a person is following? The individual who is led by the Spirit will NOT habitually allow the flesh to set the standard for their behavior. They don‟t live by their emotions or by their natural desires. The person who is “according to the Spirit” makes it a habit to submit to the Spirit—thus, the Spirit has His way with this person—the saved man or woman submits to the Spirit by allowing our heaven-sent Comforter to the set the standard for behavior through the Word of God.
MARK 4. Those led by the Spirit are always putting to death what remains of indwelling sin by means of the Spirit. They practice mortification of sin as a daily habit, and life direction (vv. 12-13).
Our text says that the true believer is “under obligation, not to the flesh.” (8:12). Now regarding the Christian‟s responsibility to daily put sin to death—it is not a burdensome task to a genuine believer. Those who love God do not find His commandments “burdensome” (1 Jn 5:3). They fully embrace their obligation to put indwelling sin to death by the Spirit‟s power. To shoulder that responsibility of obedience „willingly‟ is what characterizes a true believer. It is the “easy yoke” Christ spoke of (Matt 11:30). This of course means that a true believer will not be living in détente with sin (not living in a „peace treaty‟ with sin).
We put sin to death by saying “no” to its overtures. We put sin to death by refusing to give in to its invitations—this involves denying it an opportunity or an occasion to express itself. It can help us to think through this issue if we remember that sin behaves like a parasite which needs a willing host in order to operate. It is important to think of killing sin not only as abstaining from evil; but also as replacing disobedience with its opposite—put off falsehood; put on truth speaking (Eph 4:25).
As we consider the Spirit‟s assistance in this effort to mortify sin let us remember that the Spirit does more than simply help us to grit our teeth and say “no” to sin. He leads us into obedience by assisting our efforts to put off fleshly behaviors and put on Spirit-enabled behaviors (see Ephesians 4:20-32 and Colossians 3:12-25). This is sanctification by putting on replacement behaviors.
Putting sin to death is not instinctive, it has to be learned. The battle is for the mind. Our success in killing sin will improve as we learn to use our thought life to build a case for obedience (with actual reasoned arguments of the benefits of obedience), and by building a case against disobedience with a riveting set of the consequences of disobedience. These must be consistently presented to the mind.
Now our text indicates that those who are of the Spirit put sin to death by the power of Christ‟s Spirit. In other words, the Spirit‟s „sphere‟ is Christ and His finished work. Thus, to put sin to death by the Spirit is to reckon that through „co-crucifixion‟ with Christ, we are dead to sin and alive to God (Rom 6:11). Christ‟s work as the focus of the Spirit‟s ministry is underscored by the words of Christ concerning the Spirit in John 16:14, “He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you.”
Diagnostic: the true child of God will have a holy fear of offending His heavenly Father by willful sin. The genuine believer will be cautious about falling into sin. Those led by the Spirit are always killing sin—they labor to maintain with care the preciousness of unbroken fellowship with the Lord. By contrast, the false believer will be reckless, apathetic, and presumptuous about sin—and the false believer will be half-hearted about putting sin to death.
MARK 5. Those led by the Spirit manifest the pervading consciousness of sonship
as the controlling factor in their Christian walk (vv. 14-15).
Our faith plays an immense role in our willingness and ability to fulfill the will of God in mortification of sin and in holistic obedience. Our faith is joined to the reality of sonship. Concerning the spiritual reality of sonship; we can‟t manufacture or „gin up‟ a sense of sonship. The source of consciousness of our sonship is solely the domain of the Holy Spirit. However, the Spirit incorporates the Word of God in granting us the conviction that we are sons of God indeed. We cooperate with the Spirit of sonship as we feed our faith on the sonship truths of Scripture. These truths constitute a deep goldmine which leads us to awe and loyalty at the thought that Christ, through our adoption, has given us His own right-relatedness the Holy Trinity.
Through adoption in Christ Jesus, true believers have become „sons of God.‟ When the Spirit of Christ comes to live in a true believer at the moment of salvation, there is a pervasive consciousness that God has become our Heavenly Father who loves and accepts us. According to 1 John 3:1, the reality of this adoption by God the Father indicates the measureless privilege of being the object of His paternal love (adoption to sonship by the Father is an exotic, other-worldly love that excels any earthly natural love).
Now as to why this is a “mark,” or evidence of salvation: it is the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit who produces the mindset and consciousness of a son in us. We do not produce that confidence. It is the Spirit‟s doing to constantly manifest the relational reality that the true believer is God‟s child (Gal 4:5-7). The Spirit enables our prayers to rise above dry, stiff, formalism so that we are enabled to honestly habitually cry to God as our beloved Father. The Aramaic here (“Abba”) suggests an intimate heart cry of, “papa, daddy.” “Now shall not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?” (Luke 18:7).
Because sonship is at the heart of our relationship with the Lord, we could say along with Lewis Sperry Chafer, “Sonship is the motive and meaning of gospel holiness.” So fully does the reality of sonship permeate the life of the true believer that the promises of sonship are indeed a source of eternal wealth to the believer. The saint treasures the sonship promises, many of which are found in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. God promises in this passage to dwell with us; to walk among us; to be our God and us His people; and to be a Father to us. But, the enjoyment of these promises is stipulated our willingness to separate ourselves from evil (2 Cor 6:14-17).
The exhortation to holiness which springs from the privilege of sonship is as follows: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1). The fear of God in this context includes the concept of filial fear— that is the reverential respect a son or daughter has for their father. Thus we would ask, “Does the person you are discipling or counseling find great preciousness in their sonship; OR, are they able to live under the displeasure of God for a lengthy period of time? The issue then is this: are the sonship promises regarded as exceedingly valuable—so much so that the individual lives with an active principle of separating from sin? The child of God with filial fear values sonship so deeply that he or she turns away from behaviors which would incur the displeasure of their Heavenly Father.
Diagnostic: does the person you are equipping enjoy the Father‟s presence? Do they talk to God intimately? Do they have a mindset of sonship—wanting to share their thought life with God and desiring to always be pleasing to their Father above? Are they troubled when God hides His face? Do they stir themselves to restore fellowship as soon as they are aware that they have offended their Heavenly Father?
MARK 6. Those who are led by the Spirit enjoy assurance of salvation and
confidence of the Father’s favor in Christ (v. 16).
No person ever manufactured genuine assurance of salvation and confidence of God‟s favor. Many men have boasted of assurance when it was not in their actual possession—they never went beyond mere presumption (or assumption of salvation when nothing was there). Genuine assurance is a gift of the Spirit which He is desirous of granting to His true child. The Spirit gives to the genuine child of God a blessed awareness of forgiveness of sins. The Spirit testifies to the true believer‟s heart that a work of saving grace has passed upon the soul. Thus the Spirit allows the child of God a grace-given vantage point to “see” that all things have become new: God is reconciled—His wrath propitiated—the child held now in the bosom of God‟s love and favor. As a consequence of the Spirit testifying to the reality of adoption by the Father, the child of God is done with craven fear, religious superstition, and endless doubts—for the “Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God” (8:16).
One of the great glories of Romans chapter eight is its ability to function as a mirror of the true believer‟s heart experience in Christ. We look into this chapter with overflowing gratitude as we find that the Apostle Paul has found words to describe our Christian experience and spiritual affections. As a result we find deep consolation; for we are reassured that the comforts, longings, hopes, and affections we experience are produced in us by God‟s Spirit. This chapter is a picture of how we flourish in Christ by the power of the Spirit. Every genuine believer is overjoyed to find that this chapter is autobiographical (it portrays his own life in the Lord).
Diagnostic: false assurance makes men reckless about sin. True assurance makes men careful to please the Heavenly Father. Which “kind” of assurance does the person have whom you are counseling? In order to be established in the faith—to grow to maturity—to succeed in the fight against sin; the child of God must enjoy his or her sonship. Those led by the Spirit manifest a pervasive consciousness of the reality that they belong to God as His precious child.
MARK 7. Those who are led by the Spirit see the reality of being a co-heir with
Christ, and are therefore are willing to suffer with Christ (vv. 17-18).
The reality of our destiny wrapped up in Christ‟s destiny needs to make a profound impact upon us; for it is the very goal of the universe that the glory of Christ should fill eternity and that the church should “gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 2:14). The awe-inspiring promise to believers is that they will enter a glorified state in which they will share in the very glory of Christ and will thereby reflect His glory.
In earthly relationships, a wife normally assumes the station in life of her husband. If he is a bush pilot, she may live in a primitive dwelling and will often accompany him in many heart-pounding take-offs and landings on short airstrips. If he is a corporate president, then his wife may live in a mansion and will entertain clients at formal gatherings.
As the body of Christ, we are joined to our heavenly Bridegroom, and His station in life is majestic Lord of the cosmos. This means that our station in life is inseparable from our status as the Church, the Bride of Christ. Our station in life (and eternity) is bound up with who Christ is; what He is doing; and what He will do next in human history.
Scripture tells us that He will usher in the Kingdom of God on earth. He will consummate the ages, and He will bring the elect to glory. Our clarity of perception concerning this glory to come undergirds our willingness to bear His reproach and suffer with Him now; for our text states that, “the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (v. 18). This means that the maturing Christian is always weighing, pondering, and considering the value of eternal over against the temporal (as Paul exemplifies in Philippians 3:7-ff.).
Speaking of our title as „co-heirs‟ our text states, “heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may be glorified with Him” (8:17). As those radically identified with Christ, the true children of God are willing to “bear the reproach of Christ” in the process of serving Christ (Heb 11:26; 13:13; Jn 15:18-16:3). This willingness to suffer ridicule, mockery, or actual physical suffering for the sake of Christ is evidence that we are truly heirs with Him (8:17).
As we saw in our introduction to this lesson, the Spirit has radically identified the believer with Christ—placing the believing sinner into union with Christ so that all of the benefits of Christ‟s life; death; resurrection; and priesthood become the property of the saint to be utilized and enjoyed by the saint. Now this promise of being ultimately glorified with Christ (8:18, 21, 23) is precious to the believer. He gladly identifies himself with Christ‟s present purposes in the world (evangelism; discipleship; the building up of the body of Christ; etc.). And, he has understood (as Christ‟s own words state), “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (Jn 15:18).
This willingness to suffer ridicule, mockery, or actual physical suffering for the sake of Christ is evidence that we are truly heirs with Him (8:17). Those willing to suffer with Christ have seen by faith the infinite privilege of knowing Christ (Phil 3:8ff.). They have assessed the priceless weight of the glory to come. This is because salvation imparts both spiritual sight (vision), and spiritual savor (taste). Those who know the Lord can see past the world‟s temporal values to the eternal wealth of the Kingdom of God (8:18ff.). This infinite treasure to come informs their present values and resolve.
Diagnostic: those who are led by the Spirit do so much more than maintain a set of high ethical standards; they see the eternal value of reigning with Christ; they have counted all things as loss compared to the privilege of knowing Christ. But, those who are “according to the flesh” and not the Spirit, will ultimately show themselves to be enemies of the cross of Christ because their core values are temporal and not eternal (Phil 3:18-19). By contrast, those who are led by the Spirit have consolidated their hope in the their heavenly citizenship in Christ (1 Pet 1:13; Phil 3:20ff.; 1 Jn 3:1-3). The true believer has „made his peace‟ with the privilege of suffering with Christ. The saint can say along with Paul that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12).
MARK 8. Those who are led by the Spirit are eagerly awaiting Christ’s return
(vv.23-25).
The true child of God is intimately aware of his daily battle with indwelling corruption. Therefore he longs to be rid of sin and to be with Christ in glory. “With perseverance we wait eagerly” for our final redemption (8:25)—for our resurrection bodies! Now in the mean time the genuine believer „groans‟ in his present state of imperfect sanctification, and his present state of weakness and decay and corruption. That means that the child of God has fixed his hope completely on the grace to be revealed at the coming of Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:13).
The genuine believer is not trying to make a heaven out of this present life!—the child of God has his hope fixed upon Christ, and, because the believer is so aware of daily warfare with his own flesh—he looks eagerly for the day when he may put his weapons down and enjoy his Savior in perfect holiness.
The Apostle describes the entire creation as „groaning‟ under the curse. But let us remember that this bondage of decay was the judicial act of God in judging the creation because of Adam‟s sin. Paul‟s use of personification here (the inanimate portion of creation „groaning‟) alludes to the condition of a deteriorating universe as well as nature red in tooth and claw groaning under the bondage of suffering and decay. The creation, says Paul, was subjected to futility. In other words, the wearying cycles of death, disease, decay, and corruption seem to be futile and pointless.
The good news is that the creation was subjected in hope, states Paul—that is with a view to the ultimate deliverance of the universe from bondage and decay. The creation‟s bondage to decay and corruption will someday be lifted. Pain, corruption, suffering, and entropy itself will be removed when Christ makes all things new. But what is thrilling is that the creation‟s coming liberation from slavery to corruption is linked to the public presentation of the sons of God.
Paul continues using personification describing the entire creation as „longing for‟ the revealing of the sons of God (v. 19). Wonder of wonders, in the plan of God, the liberation of the creation from corruption is synchronized with the glorification of the saints and their revelation to the watching universe (the holy angels). This means that the creation cannot be set free until we are glorified and revealed publicly with Christ. Our revealing as the glorified sons of God, freed from corruption, indwelling sin, death, and decay is the event which signals the deliverance of the whole creation.
Notice our text says that those led by the Spirit are eagerly awaiting Christ‟s return with “perseverance” (8:25). This is an important part of the mark of salvation—the reason why centers upon the content of Christ‟s parable of the soils; for Christ indicates that every false believer is a „temporary‟ believer (Matt 13:18-23). False believers initially hear the gospel with gladness—but when persecution, suffering, and the cares and desires of this life press in upon them they fall away from their profession of faith— proving that they were never born again. By contrast, the child of God perseveres and keeps renewing his hope by fresh acts of faith in God‟s promises (1 Jn 3:3).
Diagnostic: those who are led by the Spirit manifest Spirit-engendered perseverance. They do not fall away; they do not „cool off‟ to the point of caring little for Christ‟s return. Instead they are controlled by hope in Christ‟s return and the promise of the liberty of the sons of God (8:21). Therefore they are diligent to abide in Christ (1 Jn 2:28). By contrast, the false believer has only a bare statistical hope, “I hope things work out spiritually at the end of my life.” This is not a Spirit-produced hope—for the hope produced by the Spirit takes our emotions; affections; and spiritual disciplines „captive‟ so that we demonstrate stamina, endurance, and perseverance in our loyalty to Christ and our following Him in love and obedience.
MARK 9. Those who are led by the Spirit are those who pray ‘in the Spirit’—that is, they manifest dependency upon the Spirit—they are ever aware that the Spirit’s ministry is needed by them to assist them in their petitions to their Heavenly Father (vv. 26-30).
This awareness of the Spirit‟s assistance in our prayers is something the true saint experiences. Our prayers are not conducted from the perspective of a „shopping list‟ which we read off in prayer, hoping that the Lord honors. No, our prayers are touched with a deep transparency—they reflect our weaknesses and ignorance of what we really need from God and they show our continual need for wisdom and guidance (8:26).
Therefore the true child of God does NOT pray in order to spend his request on his pleasures (James 4:3)—no, instead he „prays in the Spirit‟ (Jude 20). The person led by the Spirit is thus aware of both his own weakness and ignorance; but also the Spirit‟s enablement. The Spirit knows the mind of God and therefore the Spirit “intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (8:27).
This of course is connected to the fact that the overarching will of God for every child of God is ultimate conformity to the Son of God (8:29). Someday the true child of God will share Christ‟s moral perfection in glory. It is toward this end that the Father is working. This is needed to place Romans 8:28 into its proper context. So often Romans 8:28 is quoted out of context—as if the “all things working together for good” are no more than what we would designate our personal welfare in this life. But, Romans 8:29 defines the „good‟ toward which all things are working. The „good‟ is God‟s purpose to ultimately conform us to Christ (8:28-29). “Working all things together for good” refers to the infinite ability of God to weave every blessing, failure, loss, and cross His child experiences into the fulfillment of His plan to make the elect like Christ. This is all in order that in glory the Son “might be the First-born among many brethren” (8:29).
Puritan pastors were always exhorting their parishioners to „improve their situation‟ spiritually. By utilizing the term „improve‟ the pastors intended that their hearers would understand that God has boundless power and wisdom enabling Him to lose none of the benefit of any situation. Thus, to „improve‟ means to think and act biblically; for every cross, loss, blessings, honor, dishonor, humbling, or promotion can be used by God to advance the believer‟s sanctification.
God wastes nothing. He does not waste a single tear that is shed, or sigh, or moment of grief in His beloved children, but causes all things to work together for good. Now the growing saint has learned to think in this manner—he understands that God is relentless in His purpose to make us like Christ. For we see in our text that the good toward which all things are working (for those who love God) is the likeness of Christ (v. 29). The end goal is as follows, in glory God will have formed a new humanity around His eternal Son— a new humanity which reflects His own moral perfections. Then, Christ will be with „His brethren‟ in a kind of fellowship which produces overflowing endless joy and glory to God.
Diagnostic: again this mark of salvation is addressing spiritual sight. The true believer is able to see past temporal issues of personal welfare to the ultimate goal and purpose of the Father—which is to make the elect like Christ. As a consequence, the true believer prays with a radical dependency on the Spirit— acknowledging that he needs the Spirit‟s intercession because he does not know how to pray as he ought to pray. Eternal values are in view here. The Spirit-led person knows that the Spirit works through our groaning, longing, and yearning and always chooses for us what is best in light of eternity—the Father‟s will to make us like Christ. These eternal values are made manifest in the true child of God. By contrast the false believer prays for personal welfare for himself and for others—but never with a view to producing ultimate conformity to Christ in holiness.
MARK 10. Those who are led by the Spirit depend upon Christ, their Advocate, to
silence any charge of condemnation against them (vv. 31-34).
One of the most telling marks of the true child of God is how he or she does the „book keeping‟ of conscience. The true child of God sees by faith (through the Word) that his heavenly High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father interceding on behalf of the saints (8:33-34). Christ silences the charge of legal guilt against His people— and He does so by pleading the merits of His own blood which satisfied the trampled justice of divine law. Christ ever lives to make intercession for His people—thus is able to save them to the uttermost (Heb 7:25).
Christ brings the charges of the accuser to nothing—for no charge can „stick‟ to God‟s people because Christ, by His work, has nailed that accusatory document to His own cross and paid for those charges with His own life blood (Col 2:13-14). The people of God are set in contrast to those who do not know God in the following way: true believers take refuge in God and in doing so they reject all false places of refuge (Ps 118:6-9). We honor God when we freely admit that nothing is able to bring the accusations of conscience to a full stop except that which ultimately satisfies God‟s unbending justice. And Christ‟s death alone has satisfied the just wrath of God against our transgressions.
The saint speaks to his own heart about the matchless benefits of Christ‟s atoning work. He brings the work of Christ to his recriminating conscience and reasons with himself saying, “At Calvary, real objective justice has been accomplished in the case of my sins. Therefore, I will rest in my Savior‟s promise of complete pardon for God Almighty is satisfied with Christ‟s death for me.”
Now, unlike the true Christian, the false believer sees conscience as a kind of two-sided scale in which good deeds and religious exercises are weighed against misdeeds and transgressions. The unbeliever attempts to bring peace to the conscience by carnal means and not by the atonement. Unlike the unbeliever, the Christian keeps exercising gospel faith—perceiving that his heavenly Advocate is successfully pleading the merits of His blood on the believer‟s behalf.
Diagnostic: we have seen that the false believer looks to some other method to balance his conscience. He may plead his giving; church attendance; moral life; or personal reformation. He assumes that these activities, along with his sincerity, will offset any guilt and thus „balance the books‟ of conscience. But since he is actually a stranger to the blood of Christ, he does not have the gospel on the throne of conscience. His arguments against guilt do not flow from the sufficiency of Christ‟s work and the constancy of Christ‟s advocacy as High Priest. By contrast, the true child of God applies gospel „logic‟ to the rumblings of conscience. The true child of God finds that the indwelling Spirit never tires of pointing to the blood of Christ as the foundation for freedom from guilt. Therefore, because he is led by the Spirit, the true child of God „runs‟ to the atonement yet again every time he fails (1 Jn 1:9).
MARK 11. Those who are led by the Spirit are controlled by Christ’s love—
Christ’s love is the animating principle in their lives (vv. 35-39).
Those led by the Spirit are convinced, along with the Apostle Paul, that nothing can separate them from the love of Christ. In every hostile circumstance, the child of God has the assurance that he possesses Christ‟s victory. We
“overwhelming conquer through Him who loved us” (8:37). At the moment of salvation, the Spirit places the believer into real, living, abiding, organic union with Christ. This means that all that Christ has won by His perfect life, cross-work, and resurrection has become ours—we literally are now participants in His victory. We face every trial from the safety of the blood-bought privileges of the new covenant. We have the assurance that Christ‟s love will not let us go—the work He began in; He will complete (Phil 1:6). Now this cognizance of the love of Christ is not merely for our unbroken peace, joy, hope, and comfort. Christ‟s love to us puts in us a backbone of steel. His love controls and animates us (2 Cor 5:14-15). His love makes us willing to take up our cross daily—denying ourselves. His love moves and enables us to practice sacrificial service to our Lord.
Christ‟s love is a determinate resolute love which made Him willing to lose all well-being for the sake of His own. Christ‟s love is active—He assumed our mortal form in order to export His love to us and to bring us from polluted dust to sinless glory. The Lord will bring the redeemed, the objects of His eternal love, to God their true home. Now our attempts to comprehend Christ‟s particular love for His own will not rise above remote abstraction and bare sentimentalism apart from the work of God‟s Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the great Testifier convincing us of the undeniable truth of spiritual realities. He makes this „other worldly‟ love of Christ real to us (1 Cor 2:12-13; 15-16)—shedding it abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5).
Diagnostic: the saint‟s trials and deprivations are not the compass by which he navigates. Instead he navigates by the love of Christ—no matter how deep the waters are through which he is sailing. The love of Christ, by means of the cross has produced real changes in the child of God. Those changes are massive and immense. The cross of Christ has caused the child of God to no longer live for self; but for Him who died and rose on his behalf (2 Cor 5:15). This animating love in Christ which caused our Savior to be betrayed for us is the object of our faith. Paul said that his daily faith was fixed upon Christ‟s „Gethsemane‟ love for him (Gal 2:20). This animating love controls the child of God—making him willing live as Christ‟s „slave‟ and disciple (2 Cor 5:14-15). Now, by contrast, the false believer‟s concept of Christ‟s love never rises above bare sentimentalism. The false believer‟s concept of Christ‟s love is a bare benevolent wish. But, the love of Christ, as apprehended by the saint, is able to „see‟ a love so vast that it controls his life— and through the cross of Christ makes the child of God a willing disciple who denies himself and follows Christ.
CONCLUSION:
The eleven marks of being led by the Spirit which are described above are produced by the Spirit of God. A person without evidence of these marks has no reason to believe that he is led by the Spirit. These marks give a multi-dimensional portrait of the believer‟s faith in day to day action. If these marks sound too idealistic for us, perhaps it is symptomatic of the fact that Evangelicalism today has set the bar quite low. Is the behavior of the average church member set by the standard of the Word of God? How far can we drift from the scriptural description of a true Christian and still be safe and secure? These marks are NORMATIVE for the Christian life. A true believer is one who is led by the Spirit—and these eleven marks describe how the Spirit leads the true believer in his daily walk. Now our sanctification is imperfect— but we ought to know what it is that the Spirit seeks to produce in our lives as a direction and course. The better acquainted we are with the Spirit‟s direction for us (as outlined in Romans 8); the better able we will be to take personal inventory and then submit to his will, aligning ourselves with His perfect purposes for us. These eleven marks provide an incredibly useful tool for us to exhort, admonish („nouthetically‟ counsel one another) and instruct one another, and thereby stimulate one another to maturity and to love and good deeds (Col 1:28-29; Heb 10:22-25).