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ADOPTED AND FEARLESS

Dawn Duryea

Jul 20, 2026

 

Romans 8:14-17

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

 

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John Wesley writes that people are in one of three states with regard to their salvation: natural, fearful or adopted. He preached many times on Romans 8:15: “For thou hast not been given a spirit of bondage to fear, but a spirit of adoption.” If we have been adopted into the kingdom of God by acknowledging God as our spiritual father, then we are legitimate children of God and joint heirs with Christ. Indeed, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him (vs. 17).

There are a few in the world who love God and a few more who fear him, but the majority of people on this earth neither have the fear of God before their eyes or the love of God in their hearts. These are those that Wesley terms ‘natural’ men. A ‘natural’ man is one who is sinful but blissfully unaware that his soul is sick. He lives in a state of ignorance of spiritual things, he does not discern good nor evil – in fact, he will tell you that morality is relative and defined by the dominant culture. He denies the existence of absolute good. Remember that Christians see the absolute Good as God and so the ‘natural’ man denies the existence of God or anything that transcends this earthly plane.

Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14, NKJV). The ‘natural’ man does not understand spiritual things because his spiritual senses are shut to the workings of the Holy Spirit. He is asleep, he is blind, and therefore, he is ignorant. And because he has no spiritual sense, he claims it is all foolishness. Religion doesn’t make any sense to him; it’s just made-up stories. Why does anyone need God when we are like gods unto ourselves? He concludes only fools believe in God.

He tells himself that he is a good person and perhaps even believes that if there is a God since God is merciful and loving that he will be forgiven without even admitting his faults! Such a one as this is unaware of his soul’s condition…we would say he is asleep. How does he awake to the Truth of God? I have talked before about God’s prevenient grace. God is continually sending grace out to those who have lost their way in this world. The Spirit is constantly seeking to connect with that spark of divinity within each of us to reveal the Way with the light of Christ. Each person carries that divine spark in their soul and if they are open to the working of the Spirit of God then they may be awakened to the love and mercy that God has to offer. But if they refuse to listen and only hear the message of the world which tells them that they do not need God….they will remain in slumber.

So, it’s time for the sleepers to wake up. Remember the Proverb that says the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). Yes, it is the BEGINNING - but not the END. If you have the fear of the Lord in you, it means that you know what the Lord requires. You are also aware that you do not measure up. You are found wanting and you know it. When you wake up to the insufficiency of yourself you become fearful. What will happen to me when I stand before the throne of judgement? Will the Lord say he never knew me? (Matthew 7:23). You begin to think like that rich man who asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life? (Mark 10:17).”

You know that you are not worthy to be loved by God – you are hardly worthy to be loved by another human! You know this not by an intellectual understanding, but by some deep-seated feeling in your soul. This is also by the grace of God. The same grace that called you out of slumber has now brought your soul into the shining light of Christ to be examined in every detail. Once you open your eyes to the reality of God, the ultimate goodness, a morality in the universe not made by any human society but which has existed since the dawn of time, you know you cannot measure up to this standard…you will never be called good…but only found wanting. This is the time for confession...to open your heart up for examination by God.

You are so very aware that you cannot be good every second of every day, taking captive every thought, word and deed so that no evil lives in your mind, escapes your lips or informs your actions and so you live in fear. Our world is so steeped in the evil which I like to name selfishness. Perhaps other ages have had other evils - but this one is ever present. I believe it is the original evil – the one Adam encountered in the garden of Eden. It was there that the first humans decided to trust in their own reasoning and not in the Truth of God.

The last and most desirable state of a soul would be to possess the spirit of adoption that Paul writes about in our reading from Romans. He tells us that we should not possess a spirit of fear but spirit of adoption, believing that we are legitimate Children of God and joint heirs with Christ. This is what makes our suffering bearable – we believe that as we suffer with Christ then we will also share in his glory.

I think this idea that we are Children of God is full of truth on multiple levels. First of all, God is the Creator and in that way like a parent to every person as the Author of Life. Also, in the way that adults possess more knowledge and experience than children by virtue of their age, so God possesses more wisdom than any human by virtue of being eternal. And as a parent is the ruler of the child because the child is not able to make sound decisions for life at such an inexperienced age so too God should be our ruler because we do not possess the wisdom of God.

But God is not a tyrant - instead the ultimate grantor of freedom. Even though we owe our very life and being to the action and will of our Creator we are given the freedom to choose whether we hearken to his voice or not, whether we follow his will or not. We can continue to sleep like so many of our brethren or we can awake and accept his invitation to adoption.

Most parents have experienced the disappointment of your children not following your wise advice and ending up in trouble. You want to say: “I told you so.” But you don’t. You help them pick up the pieces and move forward. Imagine how God feels when you harden your heart and choose your own way. God has all the answers and knows you inside and out - yet you still choose to follow your own way.

The Psalmist writes: “For it was you, God, who formed my inward parts, you knit me together in my mother’s womb…You know me very well; my frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance; in your book were written the days that were formed for me, every day, before they came into being.”

When we choose to accept our adoption into the family of God and live into that role - that is when we accept the forgiveness of our wayward ways and accept the justifying grace of God – that grace that washes us clean and seeks to conform us to the image of Christ. A few verses later in Romans, Paul states: “For those whom God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (vs. 29-30).

If you have accepted your adoption into the family of God with Jesus Christ as your oldest brother and all of humanity your kin, the signs, according to Wesley, will be these:

1. You will see God as loving and merciful and accept his forgiveness and love.

2. You will be utterly convinced that Jesus has taken away your sin, leaving you with a peace that cannot be explained.

3. You will no longer experience the guilt of sin nor fear of God because you are a legitimate heir of the kingdom.

4. You will experience true freedom from sin. You will no longer obey your own selfish desires, but instead become a servant of righteousness.

5. You will become purified of heart by the action of the Spirt of God working in you. This is termed sanctification, when you are transformed in the image of Christ.

To sum up I will quote Wesley: “The natural man neither fears nor loves God; one under the law fears, one under grace loves him. The first has no light in the things of God, but walks in utter darkness. The second sees the painful light of hell; the third, the joyous light of heaven. He that sleeps in death has a false peace. He that is awakened has no peace at all. He that believes has true peace, the peace of God, filling and ruling his heart.” [from The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption]

So, have you accepted your adoption as a Child of God? Do you behold all other people as your brothers and sisters even if they are still asleep and behave in unseemly ways? Have you let go of the spirit of fear that pervades one under the law? Does the peace of God fill your heart?

It should be easy to remember that you are child of God – we sure talk a lot about it. Easy to say but hard to live. The same with Christians being under grace instead of the law. There sure is a lot of talk about God’s grace, but does anyone really understand it? Why did Christ die but to deliver us to freedom from the law? Easy to talk about God’s grace but hard to live it – hard to stop judging and start loving.

If you only remember one thing – remember that you are a beloved child of God – and so is everyone else.

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Prayer

Merciful and Loving God, you created us and know us better than we know ourselves. Forgive us for our selfish ways, our hardened hearts, our judgmental eyes. We only think of ourselves and forget that others are just as important as we are, that they are our brothers and sisters in your very large family. You have called us to love instead of judgement - to experience peace instead of fear. We still don’t understand. It is so much easier to keep track of our transgressions and those of our neighbors. Help us to let go of the fear of your wrath and instead to know your love for our imperfect selves. As a parent loves a child, so your love is for all of your children who choose to accept your spirit of adoption.

AMEN