Let’s Play Blankety Blank

All who [blankety blank] are children of God.   Romans 8:14

For many years, one of the popular game shows on British television was called Blankety Blank. In this game, contestants had to fill in missing words from a sentence. It’s a good game to play with familiar phrases from the Bible, because it helps us see great truths we might otherwise miss.

If you’d never seen Romans 8:14, how would you fill in the blanks? You might say, “All who [receive Christ] are children of God.” You have good biblical basis for that answer. The apostle John wrote that “to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

But Paul is not dealing with the question of how to enter God’s family; he’s talking about how to become a person who reflects the likeness of God. That’s what being a child of God is all about. Will this happen by saying a prayer or making a decision? No. Being led by the Spirit is how you will reflect the image and likeness of God.

The Spirit will lead you into battle against the sins that have dug themselves into your life. He will lead you to fight them, and through his overwhelming power, you have the ability to put them to death.

Paul is talking about a marvelous possibility in your life. Those who are led by the Spirit of God into an intentional onslaught against the sins that hide within us will be marked by an increasing likeness to God himself; they will be children of God.

God created Adam in his own image and likeness. That likeness was defaced and the resemblance distorted when sin entered the world. But God has determined to restore that likeness in his people.

Imagine watching the restoration of a defaced painting. Gradually you see the original image appearing. Slowly the shades of original color become visible, and what was once an ugly mess begins to look like a masterpiece. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. That is where he is leading you.

For further reading, see John 1