From Slaves to Sons

John Belt
John Belt

Once we were enslaved to sin and the depravity of the sinful nature, now we have been made sons of God in Christ.? Jesus, the firstborn among many brethren, has qualified us to the inheritance as saints of light. The spirit of condemnation has no home in the heart of a son that is drinking from the well of the Father’s inheritance.? Now is the time to wake up to who we are in Christ being guarded from deception that is cloaked in religious garments.
John

Worthy to Be Called Sons

Galatians 4:4-7
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

God has made us sons. He has made us worthy by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross. We are not slaves. We do not live in a prison. We live in a family. People who view themselves as slaves are caught up in the rigid system of religiosity. They have not found true life in Christ but rather a form of godliness that has no real power.

The slave system operates through condemnation and views God as the great Judge. He is the Judge of all, but to the Church He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 1:7, 15:6, 1 Cor. 1:3, 2 Cor. 1:2, Gal. 1:3 & others) This language was very much in the heart of Paul.? The revelation that God is Father was foundational to him and needs to be captured into the heart of His people.? We are sons and if sons then heirs of God. We have been given a much higher place than the sinner.? We are saints living from a new creation view. For all things have become new to us. However, the religious church still operates under guilt and condemnation instead of intimacy with the Father through the Holy Spirit.

The Judgment seat of Christ will be very simple. Those works that were not accomplished in Christ will be destroyed as by fire and only those that remain will be those that were established in Him. The blood of Christ washes us from all sin. We are continually washed by His blood as we remain in fellowship with Him.

1 John 1:7
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

We are not judged like the world. Do you not know that we will judge angels? (1 Cor. 6:3)

Those in the world are appointed to wrath, but we have not been appointed to wrath but salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
(1 Thess. 5:9)
God Our Father

Hebrews 2:10-11
“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”

Those who view themselves as being in relationship with Christ but do not understand they are sons are still operating in the religious system of the world as slaves. There is an intimacy with God that only comes as you view Him as your Father as opposed to a Judge.? The Pharisees did not know God as Father therefore they were not able to recognize Jesus as the Christ when He came. They had a discernment problem because of their religiosity. Those who have an Old Testament grid for their interpretation have not come into the light of the glorious gospel that is revealed in the New Testament. They are still looking at God from an Old Testament perspective and mindset. In Christ everything is better. All of the promises of God are yes and amen to the glory of God the Father.

It is not about keeping the law. The law is for sinners, not for saints. We are saints because of the blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit is now our means of fulfilling the law in Christ. The Holy Spirit within us sanctifies us through our communion with Him. He quickens the living word of God making it effective in our lives. His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. We don’t keep the letter of the law, but believe the promises of God.

2 Peter 1:2-4
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

The Well of Sonship

2 Corinthians 3:8-9
“How will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.”

What well are you drinking from? A well of slavery or a well of sonship? Do you view God as only your God? Or do you see Him as your Father, your Abba or your Daddy? For us to cross over into newness of life there has to be a change from viewing God with a slave mentality to viewing Him from the perspective of a son. Jesus is the Son of God, the firstborn among many “brethren”. We are the brothers of Jesus. We are the sons of God.

Don’t drink from a well of judgment that comes from an inferior ministry of condemnation, but rather drink from the well of the Holy Spirit, from the Father of Lights where every good and perfect gift flows. There is a huge difference. Don’t live in the religious prison system of spiritual performance and condemnation, but find freedom in the grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Many things can sound right until the real truth comes along. Don’t be deceived by someone who has a spiritual encounter, but has not grid for God as their Father. If a person only makes reference to God from an Old Testament view as a Judge, does not make reference to God as their Father, mention the Lord Jesus Christ or have any reference to the life of the Holy Spirit he is already in question.

Many in history have had spiritual encounters that have led people astray. Such a person can be sincere and be sincerely wrong. We must know who we are in Christ and not be looking for the next “big wow” word that comes along from any Joe on the planet. All this reveals is that someone has not found their contentment in Christ and is still seeking someone to lead them in some kind of direction because of their own disconnectedness.

Don’t be easily flattered or enamored by someone’s encounter that they want to share with the whole world. It could be that there is still the leaven of performance in their lives and they are still looking for an outlet to feed self-importance and personal fulfillment.

His Riches are Unfathomable!

John

1 thought on “From Slaves to Sons”

  1. John, just from reading a few of your encounters I feel led to attend your service this friday may 25th at Fellowship of praise in morrow, Ohio. I do believe that you have a heart for God. thank you for sharing all that He is. Carla

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