TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD (Romans 8:9-14)

Are you a born again, regenerated, adopted child of God?

Romans 8:9

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

KJV

That is the real test.  Paul states very clearly if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  The true mark of a born again believer and a genuine Christian is that he is indwelt by the Spirit of God.  A believer is a new creation.  Paul is telling us that if you are truly saved you will answer yes to these questions.  Do you love God?  Do you want to serve Him?  Are these things uppermost in your mind and heart?  

If you are a true believer then you will have the indwelling Spirit of God empowering you to want the things of God. A believer has been granted a new law which liberates him from sin. He has been granted a new Lord who is none other than the third Person of the Triune Godhead.

It is a basic truth of the gospel that a person must be born again before he can be viewed as a child of God.  

John 1:11-13

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

KJV

Paul tells us that it is the Holy Spirit that places the believer as an adult son, with all of the privileges of an adult son, into the family of God.  

Romans 8:14

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

KJV

One evidence of the believer’s sonship in the divine family of God is the cooperation of the believer with the guiding and leading ministry of the Spirit of God.  Those that are led by God’s Spirit are the sons of God.  The phrase, sons of God, appears in the New Testament as a name for people who are in a covenant relationship with God.  The process is described as one of adoption, by which the believer becomes a child of God, and thus an heir of God, a joint-heir with Christ.  Listen to this podcast to learn what it means to know that you are a child of God.