![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/Romans_8_15-16.jpg)
| For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. |
| —Romans 8:15-16 |
In our culture that seems hyper about all different kinds of issues relating to gender, it is important to note that the concepts of Scripture apply to both males and females. In many cases, the word used in New Testament Greek encompasses both genders and could easily be rendered “male-men” and “female-men.” So, it is important that women not be at all put off when Scripture uses words that in our society today seem to favor the male gender.
For example, when the Apostle Paul writes the following words to the new Christians gathered in the house churches in Rome, he uses the Jewish concept of the line of inheritance within a family. Thus, Paul uses the word “sonship.” But, in reality, this concept is not limited to male members of the family. In Jewish Law, if there were no male heirs, the inheritance passes to the oldest daughter of the family (see Numbers 27:1-11). Therefore, women of today should clearly understand that when Paul uses the word “sonship,” he includes both males and females.
Here’s what Paul wrote, as found in Romans 8:15-16:
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
We become God’s “children,” as opposed to merely God’s “creation,” when we acknowledge the gift God has given us of His Son, Jesus. Notice how the Apostle John explains this in John 1:12-13:
Yet to all who did receive him (Jesus), to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Our right and privilege of becoming the “children”—or “sons”—of God derives from God’s mercy, grace, and abiding love toward us through His precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Along with our sonship comes a spirit, the Holy Spirit, who removes fear from our lives and replaces that fear with all of the privileges that accrue to us as sons and daughters of the most high and holy God.
As we begin another new day, I can’t think of a better reason to rejoice and to praise our God than the fact that He has chosen us to belong to Him and given us the inheritance of eternal life. All of our eternal wealth comes to us because we are children of God and joint heirs with Christ. That, dear ones, is such good news that we should take every opportunity to shout it from the housetops.
