For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:15–17)

Today’s big question: what is a great benefit of being in Christ?

As we finish this series on Christian living, we finish at a point of great richness. In Romans 6, Paul explained that we were all slaves to sin, but we are now freed from this bondage through Christ. Here again in Romans 8 we are reminded that bondage to sin is entirely different than serving under the lordship of Christ. The difference is too vast to even measure.

In our sinful condition outside of Christ, we were slaves and captive to our self-serving desires leading to eternal destruction. In Christ, not only are we freed from this terrible bondage, but we are actually adopted into His family. This is one of the most intimate of relationships. Jesus is our Lord, and through Him the Father becomes our Father, too. In Christ we can cry out to our Father, to call to Him, to pray to Him, and He hears us.

Furthermore, we have the Spirit of God bearing witness to our spirit that we are indeed part of the family of God with full privileges. We are adopted into God’s family as full heirs with Christ. We may suffer with Christ but we will also be glorified in Christ.

What an immense and heart-warming consideration. Those in Christ can come in full confidence to the heavenly Father and call Him our very own Father. He listens, cares, loves, provides, chastises, forgives, nurtures, grows character, and is consistently faithful. He is not just like any earthly father; He is the perfect and eternal Father. He will give us an inheritance with His very own beloved Son. This is simply mind-blowing.

So, to finish this series, let us also consider that in our Christian life, we have a certain hope. As the final verses of Romans 8 reveal, the Father’s love can never be taken from us when we are in Christ:

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38–39)