Present Tense Assurance In Christ

 

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
— Romans 8:14

 

Do not rush past that little word “are.”

 

Paul does not say believers might become sons of God. He does not say we are hoping to become sons of God if we perform well enough, obey consistently enough, endure faithfully enough, or prove ourselves worthy enough.

 

He says, “these are sons of God.”

 

That is present tense. That is current possession. That is the standing of every person who is in Christ.

 

The believer is not waiting to find out whether God will accept him someday. The believer has already been accepted in the Beloved. We are not trying to earn sonship. We are not trying to climb into the family of God through religious effort, law-keeping, ordinances, performance, or personal merit.

 

We are sons of God because we are in Christ.

 

And how does a person get in Christ?

 

Not by works. Not by baptism. Not by joining a church. Not by turning over a new leaf. Not by promising God we will do better.

 

A person is placed in Christ the moment they believe the gospel: that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

 

‘Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, ‘

I Corinthians 15:1-4

 

Faith in the gospel plus nothing.

 

That is why Romans 8:14 is such a comfort to the believer. Our identity before God is not hanging by the thread of our daily performance. Our sonship rests upon the finished work of Christ and the present reality of who we are in Him.

 

So today, rest in the word “are.”

 

You are not hoping to become accepted.

You are not hoping to become His.

You are not hoping to become a son of God.

 

If you have believed the gospel, you are in Christ.

And if you are in Christ, you are a son of God.