Sonship
Legitimate Sons

Studio Session 65
Sam Soleyn
11/2004

If you are to be raised as a son of God and you're not under law, how do you raise a son of God, how do you discipline him? Is it that suddenly everything goes because you're a son? Of course not, of course not, as Paul would say, "God forbid." I'd like for us to begin by looking at the fact that the law is not designed for sonship; to raise a son, to educate a son, to make a son of God aware of who he or she is.

Let’s begin with that. Let’s go to II Corinthians chapter 3. You know, this information is stunning because it is so directly contradictory to much of what is being taught today on this matter of the relationship between a Christian and the Old Testament law of Moses. Let's begin. II Corinthians chapter 3 verse 7, "Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory." Wait a minute, did you see that? "If the ministry that brought death," so there's a ministry that brings death. Well what ministry is that, why would anybody want to be involved with that? What is that? "If the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory." What in the scriptures was engraved in letters on stone? That's the Ten Commandments, the heart of the Old Testament. He's saying, "This ministry brought death." Why? Because you couldn't keep it and some of the provisions of it required a payment in blood, that if you sinned in a particular way, you would die. There were many specific sins which were spoken to in terms of their punishment, by death. In other words, if you sinned in this way you would surely die, you would be put to death. If you picked up sticks on the Sabbath day, if you picked up or carried a burden on the Sabbath day you would be put to death.

That's a ministry of death, the scripture says, which was engraved in letters on stone came with glory. How did it come with glory? When God descended on Mount Sinai, the glory of God shook the mountain. When God invited Moses to come up, indeed when God invited the children of Israel to come up and they didn't and then Moses went up, that was the time at which the law was given. The original invitation was to come up to be sons, to be royal priests. That was rejected and Moses went up and the law was given. When Moses went into the presence of God and came out of the presence of God, the shekinah glory of God was on Moses' face. And so strong was it, so shining was his face, that Israel could not look at his face. So Moses had to put a veil over his face.

So it came with glory. "If the administration that brought death came with glory so that the Israelites could not look steadfastly at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was," that glory did not remain on Moses face indefinitely, it faded, "will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?" Immediately a comparison; the law versus the Spirit. The law came with glory, but the ministry of the Spirit comes with a surpassing glory.

Secondly, this is verse 9, still in II Corinthians 3, "If the ministry that condemns men is glorious," this same ministry that brought death also brought condemnation because Paul would say, "I did not know sin except by the law." "There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit because the law of the Spirit is that there is life in Christ Jesus,” and it sets us free from the Mosaic Law which specified what sins brought death as a punishment.

So one is the law of sin and death, if you sin you die, "for the wages of sin is death," separation from God but also there were specific infractions, under the law, the penalty for which infractions was that you be killed. This administration brought death and condemnation. The Law of Moses, inclusive of the Ten Commandments, brought condemnation and death. The alternative of course is the Spirit. “How much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness.” Verse 10, “For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if that which was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts.”

He's saying, the law, when it appeared, had glory to it. Because A) it showed the righteousness of God because God was acting on behalf of a people who had just resisted coming up into His presence. The glory of the law is that it showed God's mercy and goodness in spite of the belligerence and the intransigence of the Jews; the fact that they couldn't and wouldn't keep the law but that God would be faithful to keep it, it showed the glory of God in that sense. But it was not the fullness of what God intended; God intended to have a relationship with His children as true sons of God. To that end, God would send the Spirit of His Son.

So the ministry of the Spirit is juxtaposed and compared with the ministry of the law. The law being said to bring death and condemnation, and even that showed the glory of God even though the glory was fading giving place to the glory that surpasses it, which is the administration of the Spirit.

Verse 12, "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read." If you go back to the law, you who were never under the law, if you go back to it, if you go back to the Old Testament and put yourself back under the law; then you have put the veil upon your face, you have veiled between yourself and God. Do you remember the scriptures saying that when Jesus died, the veil of the temple, which barred the holy of holies from the Holy Place, was torn in two from top to bottom.

The significance was that now we could enter boldly to the throne of grace even though we did not belong to the tribe of Levi. Because that veil was torn on the earth in the temple in Jerusalem and it was symbolic, not of that temple as the meeting place between God and man but heaven, where Jesus went behind the curtain according to Hebrews, the end of chapter 6. Jesus didn't go behind the veil of the temple in Jerusalem because He couldn't; only someone of the tribe of Levi could do that, Jesus was of the tribe of Judah. He couldn't go into the temple in Jerusalem, that made the temple in Jerusalem a COPY of the heavenly. The heavenly is the real and Jesus went into the heavens and entered this covenant; God with God, the Father with the Son; and made us the beneficiaries of that covenant. There was a copy of that on the earth, it was the temple in Jerusalem. That copy had a veil to indicate that man was no longer kept from the presence of God, the veil kept people from the presence of God; only the priests could go behind the veil. Because this was a type, the Levitical priesthood was a type of those who could, in type, go around the veil and enter into the presence of God.

So it was a foreshadowing of the Melchizedek priesthood where we would go through the veil into the presence of God. But because only the Levites could go through the veil it was not free access, therefore it was copy of that which would come. When the reality came, the veil was torn in two from top to bottom. So we do not approach God anymore through a veil. But when you go back to the law, the scriptures say, you put the veil up again and you cannot come boldly and plainly into the presence of God.

The only reason that anyone would want to go back to the law, is the reason that Paul stated, its self righteousness; its people who think of themselves more highly than they should. Paul said, "Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law," this is from the book of Philippians. Paul in Philippians speaks of self righteousness; the practice of the law is self righteousness because you hope to bargain with God for concessions that are less than what you have as a son. And the attitude then is the attitude of a slave; you've converted from a son to a slave, that being because of the condition of your heart. Your heart is stubborn and rebellious, and in you is a desire to be able to hold God a hostage. That's why the law appeals to you, if you will be justified by the law. What you've done is you've put the veil back and now you deal with God through the veil.

So it goes on to say, "Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lords glory, are being transformed into His likeness," now that's what it means to be a son, that you look like your Father, not the law that has a veil upon your face. But face to face people see God's goodness in your face, people see God's character in your person, people see God's righteousness clothing you. That's what it means.

"All reflect the Lords glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory," I like the way King James says that when he speaks of "from glory to glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." What happens to us then is, in the presence of the Lord, the sons of God are disciplined to share in the glory of God. The law puts a veil back upon your face and would have you bargain through the veil for concessions. The major failure of someone under the law is the failure to realize: (A) You are a son and (B) You are an heir.

How did you get to be a son? We previously discussed this in terms of adoption. When you are given the Spirit of sonship, you're adopted into the family of God. Now to be adopted, you must either have the relinquishment of your natural parents, of their rights to you; or you must die, so that your parents have no rights to you. Well Adam is not about to give up his rights, is he? So God requires that you die. And because you die, and when you are dead, the Spirit of God comes into you and, “He who gave Christ life from the dead (Romans 8:9-11) also gives life to your mortal bodies by His Spirit who dwells within you.” So He gives you His Spirit and the Spirit of God now comes and animates your spirit; Spirit to spirit, and you're suddenly alive. Your spirit, though it existed, did not have the empowerment that comes only from the Holy Spirit; so you lived by your soul. If a person lives by his or her soul, bargaining for your existence is normal. And so the law applies to someone who lives by his soul, and you'll be judged by the law because the soul rules.

When you're born again, however, God gives the Spirit of His Son into your spirit; His Spirit to your spirit. And it's the Spirit who testifies with your spirit that you are a son of God. Now if you're a son, God's given you the Spirit of sonship and He’s made you by that an heir of God; one of God's heirs. As an heir of God your inheritance includes particular things; if you are son of God, you automatically are God's heir. Now as an heir God trains you to take on all that goes with being a son. Some of what He trains you with is discipline, but He also gives you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that you might understand the extent to which you have been made an heir and what it means to have such an inheritance.

So the first thing that you begin to understand is, as a son of God you DO NOT need the law to discipline you; you DO need the Spirit, and the Spirit knows how to discipline you. Whomever God receives as a son, the scripture tells us, He disciplines. Here, this is from the book of Hebrews the 12th chapter, verse 5, "And you have forgotten the word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lords discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes anyone He accepts as a son.’” Now I'll come back to that word 'punishment'. “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? And if you're not disciplined--and everyone undergoes discipline--then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.” So in order to be a legitimate child of God, you're meant to be disciplined. Verse 9, “Moreover, we all have had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live? Our fathers (our earthly fathers that is) disciplined us as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness."

Because you see, if you're a son of God you're a royal priesthood, you’re a holy nation. You walk in that holiness through God's discipline. "Now no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees, and make level paths for your feet, so the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”

Now I want to go back to that verse that says, "He punishes everyone He accepts as a son," that's Hebrews 12:6. You will hear strong objections to that, especially in the faith circles. And the reason is there is no belief that God punishes His children. But the word punishment here requires a little bit of a looking into. Because 'punishment' here is not that God whips you when you mess up. No. This is an athletic term; this is a term associated with being an athlete. When you are in training, you will push your body, you will punish your body, to go to the limits of what you are capable of going to. The way you build muscle is to tear it down, so that it may be rebuilt stronger. The way that you extend your distance and your speed is to press yourself to the limits of what you can do. This is the concept in scripture that says, "God punishes His sons." It means He is your personal trainer, He knows what your future holds, He knows what your gifts are, He knows what your destiny is, and He knows how to prepare you for it. If you're not prepared to take up your destiny, God will not entrust your destiny to you. Or if you are ever entrusted that destiny, it will be at the lower levels of your functionality. Because if you have not been disciplined, as an athlete would be disciplined, there is no possibility that you may successfully engage your destiny. But God who knows what your destiny is, and knows what it will take to carry it out, will be your personal trainer.

Our problem is, as Christians, we do not often consider the training of God to be a useful purpose because we do not understand what the purpose of it is for. And we've had those who've taught us that the favor of God is only to be seen and understood in terms of pleasant things and the absence of hardship, and the like. That is not true. That's false. You're being deceived by that point of view. God punishes the sons that He receives. 'Punishment' there is not 'whipping you for sinning', "If you'll confess your sins He'll forgive you." He doesn’t let bad things fall on you because of mistakes that you have made. No. That's not the punishment that scripture speaks of. It's putting you in the weight room to work out; it's taking you out on the track to run and to push you to run harder, to punish your lungs, to punish your muscles so that you develop strength. Now who does that? The Holy Spirit. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, that's the exact teaching of Matthew chapter 4 verse 1.

And so the Holy Spirit will often take you into adversity to build your spiritual stamina. The law could never do that; all the law is concerned with is your comfort. And people who are under the law bargain in such a way that they may keep their comforts. You may end up keeping your comfort, gaining the whole world as it were, and losing your soul. Losing your soul being, you lose your destiny; you lose your right to accomplish that which God has given you as a son. Now I want to speak of the purposes of the Holy Spirits discipline at greater length in the future, so I hope you'll join me as we consider that subject. I'm Sam Soleyn, God bless you, I'll see you again. Bye bye.