The word "adoption"
(huiothesias) means the placement of a son to one to
whom it does not naturally belong. By law the
adopted person has the same privileges, benefits,
position, responsibilities and obligations as a
natural born son.
The word is found in Romans
8:15, 23; 9:4; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5).
Believers in Jesus Christ are adopted sons (Gal.
4:5; Eph. 1:5), not slaves of fear (Gal. 4:7).
"You have received a spirit of
adoption" (Romans 8:15). Jesus Christ has redeemed
us "that we might receive the adoption as sons"
(Galatians 4:5). It is part of the blessings of
salvation, the now and the yet to be, because we
have received our adoption, yet "even we ourselves
groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our
adoption as sons, the redemption of our body"
(Romans 8:23). It is part of "our blessed hope"
(Rom. 8:24-25). God the Father "in love . . .
predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus
Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention
(lit. good pleasure) of His will" (Ephesians 1:5).
This is not the same doctrine as regeneration or
being born spiritually.
The apostle Paul drew an
illustration from the Roman law of adoption. The
modern laws of adoption are based on this very
serious legal act before the principal Roman
magistrates which enabled a person to take into his
own family a child not his own with the intent of
treating the child as his own with all the
privileges and responsibilities of that new family.
This is a very important law because the adopted
child had all the rights of a legitimate son in his
new family and at the same time absolutely lost all
rights and responsibilities in his old family. He
was treated like a new person. All of his old debts
and obligations connected with the old family were
abolished as if they never existed. On the other
hand, he now by right of the law stood as an heir to
all of the inheritance of his new father. It was
carried out in the presence of seven witnesses to
make it official.
The adopted sons enjoyed the
same privileges as natural born sons. According to
the Roman law the adopted person lost all rights in
his old family and gained all the rights of a
legitimate son in his new family. He got a new
father and he became the heir of his new father's
estate. He was inalienably co-heir with the other
sons in the family. In law, the old life was
completely wiped out. All debts were cancelled, and
he was absolutely the son of his new father.
The apostle Paul tells us that
this is what God has done for us. This is now how He
treats the believer in Jesus Christ. We were members
of old Adam’s family with all of the effects of the
power of sin and guilt. We were held responsible as
members of that family. God took us out of that
family and adopted us into His new family. We have
been completely released of all responsibility and
debts of sin because Jesus paid the debt in full. We
have a new position before God with all the legal
rights. (cf. Romans 5:12-21)
As children of the heavenly
Father we have been given full legal status and
inheritance rights (1 John 3:1; Romans 8:23, 14-15;
Revelation 21:7). We have been raised to the status
of adult sons. We as believers are the absolute
possession of the Father. He has absolute right over
us.
The apostle Paul uses this well
known custom in the Roman Empire to state the great
gospel truth that the LORD God has given the
believing sinner, who is not His natural child, an
unchanging eternal position as His adult child in
His family. This is now our new legal position
before God the Father.
The Holy Spirit places
believing sinners in the family of God as adult sons
(Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5). Even
though we are already adult members, by adoption, in
the family, it is only when our mortal bodies have
been glorified at the coming of Christ that we will
take full possession of all that our sonship
involves (Rom. 8:23).
The apostle Paul uses the same
word "adoption" in Rom. 8:15, 23, but with a
different emphasis. In v.15 he is referring to the
present life of the believer, whereas in v. 23 he is
eschatological, looking forward to our final full
acceptance into the family of God.
When we put our faith in Christ
we received a "spirit of adoption" that set us free
from a servile fear of God. We do not have to shrink
in fear from God, but now have "access" into His
holy presence. The Holy Spirit places believers as
adult sons in a legal standing before God. M. R.
Vincent says our adoption should serve to impress
upon us "the assurance that the adopted son of God
becomes in a peculiar and intimate sense, one with
the heavenly Father." The Holy Spirit enables the
believer to call God, "Father" (Romans 8:15). No
Jewish person would ever have done that before
Jesus, the Son of God, taught His disciples this
truth. The Holy Spirit bears testimony to our human
spirit that we are children of God. Our own spirit,
prompted by the Holy Spirit, tells us we are God's
children.
The Spirit that God has given
the believer does not make you a slave, but one of
His children. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the
means through which believers become conscious of
their sonship (Romans 8:15). There is a close
relation between our adoption and the gift of the
Holy Spirit.
Before becoming God's children
we were slaves living in fear of a righteous God,
but now God's Spirit has released us from that fear
so we can enjoy our new relationship with Him. We do
not have a heart like a slave living in fear of a
tyrant, but the heart of a son responding to a
loving Father. What a privilege to call God our
Father.
Galatians 4:4-5 reads, "But
when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth
His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so
that He might redeem those who were under the Law,
that we might receive the adoption as sons." The
Holy Spirit is sent into "our hearts," i.e., the
center of our intellect, moral, and spiritual life.
It is from the heart that the Spirit cries out,
"Father, my Father." It is a loud earnest cry, even
a public cry. Paul says it is an intense cry from
the Spirit within the believer. The Spirit cries
from within the believer's heart giving witness of
saving faith.
1. Since
believers are adopted and placed as full grown adult
children (sons) into God's family
we are no longer slaves to sin (Gal. 4:7). We can
now approach the Father in an intimate way calling
Him, "Abba, Father" (Rom. 8:15).
2. We are
God's children in two ways: (a) As adopted sons of
our heavenly Father we are full heirs and co-heirs
along with His own unique Son, Jesus Christ (John
17:24; 1 Cor. 3:21-23; Gal. 4:7). (b) We are also
His children as "born ones" by the new birth (John
1:1; 3:5; 1 John 3:1-3). Both actions are the result
of the Holy Spirit.
3. As
children of our heavenly Father we are the
recipients of all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3) in
this life, and we will "share in His glory" in the
future (2 Tim. 2:12; 1 Peter 4:13; 5:10).
4. As
co-heirs with Christ we also "share in His
sufferings" (John 15:20; Col. 1:24; 2 Tim. 3:12; 1
Pet. 4:12).
5. The Holy
Spirit can empower us to obey Christ, therefore
enabling us to be more like Christ.
Romans 8:15, 23; 9:4; Galatians
4:5; Ephesians 1:5
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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