Children of God, Part 2: Being Adopted into God's Family

This series of posts was developed as a Sunday School lesson that I taught on November 6, 2011.

As we have seen, belief, that is faith, in Jesus is the only means by which we become children of God. There are some verses that go into more detail as to the process, if you will, by which that happens.

Romans 8:12-17; Galatians 4:1-7; and Ephesians 1:3-6

In Romans 8, verse 14, we’re told that those that the Spirit leads are sons of God, and that the Spirit testifies that we are children of God, and thus heirs with Christ, and will be glorified with Him.

It is by the spirit that we are adopted into God’s family. Adoption here has the idea of “being placed as an adult son.” As soon as we are born into God’s family by the Spirit, we are also made “adult sons,” and as such we can draw on the spiritual wealth of God because we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.

In Galatians, we see a similar passage. In verse 5 of chapter 4 we see that Jesus came, became God in the flesh, in order that He might redeem us from under the Law, so that we could receive adoption as sons. And we see again that the Spirit testifies, cries out in our hearts, “Abba! Father!” We are no longer slaves but sons and heirs.  As Wiersbe note’s “we enter God’s family by regeneration [being born again], but we enjoy God’s family by adoption.”[1]

In Ephesians, we see that our adoption as sons comes through Jesus Christ and our adoption is to Him as well, and it was done this way according to God’s good pleasure.

Before we move on, I think that it is important to understand what we mean when we use the word “adoption.” In the Roman world, there were two types of adoption. One was where a man and those under his authority (his family and household) were adopted into another family, and ceased to be considered a separate entity, but rather part of their adopted family. The second type was where a man or a boy was adopted by another. He no longer belonged to his biological father’s household and he legally became the child of his adopter. A will was often drawn up as part of this adoption ceremony. Adoption was connected with not just the legal and familial status of the adoptee, but also with inheritance rights. In applying this system to us, God is the authority over His adopted children and we find our identity in Him. [2]

Notes:
[1] Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament Volumes 1. Colorado Spring: Cook Communications Ministries, 2001. p 705

[2] "Adoption in the Roman World." Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005. p.1849.

Books Consulted:
Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Holman Reference, 2003.

McGee, J. Vernon. Ephesians. Through the Bible Commentary Series: The Epistles. Vol. 47. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991.

McGee, J. Vernon. Galatians. Through the Bible Commentary Series: The Epistles. Vol. 46. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991.

McGee, J. Vernon. Thru the Bible: Volume IV: Matthew through Romans. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983.

Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary: New Testament Volumes 1 and 2. Colorado Spring: Cook Communications Ministries, 2001.