4. And the example of St. Paul agrees. In the words of our text, taken from the supreme chapter of St. Paul's classic formula- tion of the meaning of Christianity, we hear the note of real and vital personal experience. From the midst of the clouds and darkness of human existence, the great spirit of St. Paul rose high in faith, and with trust and deep yearning cast itself upon the heart of the unseen Father, and not without response.
Out of the thunder came a human voice, Saying, 0 heart I made, a heart beats here.
By the grace of God in Christ, by the power of the Father manifested in the Son, the spirit of adoption, of filiation, the spirit which can make men sons of God, went forth and transformed the spirit of St. Paul into the likeness of itself, and even in the hour of darkness and anguish he could find rest in the centre of his being by the faith which cried, " Abba, Father ! "
ROMANS viii. 15 459
We have —
I. The spirit of Bondage, that is, the spirit of a slave, which is a spirit of fear.
II. The spirit of Adoption, that is, the spirit of a son, a spirit which expresses itself in the glad cry, " Father."
I.
The Spikit of Bondage.
1. This is another subtle variation in the use of "spirit." From meaning the human spirit under the influence of the Divine Spirit the word comes to mean a particular state, habit, or temper of the human spirit, sometimes in itself, but more often as due to supernatural influence, good or evil. So here it is such a spirit as accompanies a state of slavery, such a servile habit as the human spirit assumes among slaves.
2. The " bondage " or " slavery," which throughout this Epistle is contrasted with the liberty of the sons of God, is the bondage of sin (vi. 6, 16, 17, 20 ; vii. 25), and of corruption or death as the consequence of sin (v. 21). The Apostle's readers, both Jews and Gentiles, had all been once under this bondage (vi. 17) which tends " unto fear" even the fear of death (Heb. ii. 14, 15).
3. What then (to be more particular) is this "spirit of bondage" which St. Paul says the Koman Christians had not received ? That they had received some kind of spirit was to the Christians of that age a fact of experience, which no one doubted. The entrance into the Church was marked, as a general rule, for every believer, by an access of new spiritual emotions prompting him to unwonted utterances. So a Christian defined himself no less as a partaker of a Spirit from above than as a believer in a risen Lord. St. Paul therefore takes the receiving of a spirit for granted ; the question is what kind of a spirit it was. He tells his readers emphatically that it was not one suitable to slaves, generating a habit of fear ; they had not simply exchanged a heathen or a Jewish spirit of bondage for a Christian spirit of bondage ; the Spirit received by the Church was — he does not
46o THE SPIRIT OF A SON
here use the formally opposite phrase, one of freedom, but an equivalent and more instructive term — one of sonship.
4. Bondage means slavery ; and the spirit of bondage means the spirit which makes men look up to God as slaves do to their taskmaster. Now, a slave obeys his master from fear only ; not from love or gratitude. He knows that his master is stronger than he is, and he dreads being beaten and punished by him ; and therefore he obeys him only by compulsion, not of his own good- will. This is the spirit of bondage: the slavish, superstitious spirit in religion, into which all men fall, in proportion as they are mean, and sinful, and carnal, fond of indulging themselves, and bear no love to God or right things. They know that God is stronger than they ; they are afraid that God will take away comforts from them, or even cast them into endless torment, if they offend Him; and, therefore, they are afraid to do wrong. They love what is wrong, and would like to do it; but they dare not, for fear of God's punishment. They do not really fear God; they only fear punishment, misfortune, death, and hell.
Tf If you wish to see how much slavery there may be in religion, you have but to glance at some of the heathen religions. They have not been all equally oppressive; where nature has been bright and free from terrors, there religion has generally had its cheerful and joyous elements. But how frightfully have some races been tormented by their religions ! Having experience of arbitrary rulers and cruel enemies in the visible world, they have peopled the invisible with principalities and powers far more cruel and capricious. Their worship has been devil-worship. Imagine how the fear of their false gods must have harassed the souls of a people, before they would make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, to propitiate them. This seems the last extremity to which the spirit of bondage could drive human beings ; but, short of that, the lives of men have been filled with misery and darkness in various degrees by the malevolent powers which they have placed in their heaven.1