The Spirit of Adoption, Part 2

In the second part of "The Spirit of Adoption" (Romans 8:12-17, with the weight on verse 15), Pastor Robert McNutt argues that the spirit of slavery always precedes the spirit of adoption: no one cries "Abba, Father" who has not first been brought under conviction, the law serving as guardian to drive us to the Savior. Because the adversary readily persuades people they are secure when they are not, this contrast becomes a test of the spirits, separating true adoption from a counterfeit. Two cautions guard the argument: the intensity of conviction varies widely, and no single conversion experience may be made the standard. From Luke 7:36-50 McNutt corrects a common misreading of the sinful woman and Simon the Pharisee. What matters is not the quantity of sin committed but the realization of one's sinfulness, and the forgiveness that answers it; the gospel is never an incitement to sin, and easy believism, merely saying a prayer or affirming facts about the Savior, is no substitute for the Spirit's work. Drawing on John 16:8-11 and 2 Corinthians 13:5, he shows that the Spirit reveals God's holiness and the law's spirituality, and so reveals us to ourselves. The nearer we come to the light, the more darkness we see; growing saints feel their sin more deeply, not less. Isaiah's vision in Isaiah 6 illustrates the pattern, "Woe is me" preceding "Here am I, send me," as do the great revivals, where settled church members become newly horrified at sin and newly astonished at the blood of Christ. He closes by pressing self-examination, urging any who lack it to cry out for the Spirit of adoption, and asking whether the congregation itself needs revival.