Privilege, Responsibility, and Identity

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. -Romans 8:16-17

Chapter 8 of Romans is my favorite chapter in all of Scripture. In the first half of the chapter Paul will talk about the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit, one of the ways God loves us (the other is Jesus Christ). In the second half of the chapter, Paul will show us why that matters (or, at least, why it should matter). This second half of chapter 8 will take up two posts, one on verses 12-17 and the other on verses 18-39 (especially 18-25).

The first discussion Paul will have on the Holy Spirit's impact on us is the Spirit making us children of God. This is familiar to all of those that prayed a prayer to receive Christ. You have received the Spirit of Christ. In Paul's view, this makes you an adopted son of the promise. If you are a son of the promise then you are an heir.

Not all sons are heirs to a king. If a king had 15 sons then only one would be the heir. That heir would not have done anything in particular to make himself an heir. He was just born first. Therefore, it is a privilege to be an heir. The same is true for me. I did nothing (and I mean nothing) to deserve to be called a son of God, much less to be called an heir. It is that I am in Christ (see post below) that makes me an heir. I am met with grace and that makes me feel a deep sense of privilege.

However, privilege only lasts so long. If an heir to the king only feels privilege then he becomes spoiled and lazy (sound like any church you know). If we remain here then we miss the responsibility that we have to the king's people. Part of being an heir is privilege but that privilege should lead us to see and feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people of the one we are privileged to be adopted by. This responsibility would mean clothing, feeding, and caring for the people (sound familiar).

The more and more we meet the responsibility that follows a deep sense of privilege, the more and more we will look and act like a king. The more we see ourselves behaving like the king we are adopted by the more we care for the people he cares for. We soon begin to identify with the king we serve and the people begin to identify us with the king. Christ is already identified with the Father and we aim to identify with the one that makes us an heir, God's Son, Jesus Christ.

One day he will return to claim his kingdom as the king of kings (get it?) and we will be completely privileged, completely responsible, and completely identified.

This is good stuff!