Ep. 11 - Adoption
Episode Description
What does it actually mean to be adopted by God? How would a first-century reader in the Greco-Roman world have understood the word? And how is adoption different from justification or forgiveness — things Paul has already taught earlier in his epistles? The doctrine of adoption is one of the most pastorally weighty truths in all of Scripture, and it changes how a believer relates to God altogether.
In this episode, Pastor Josh walks through Ephesians 1, Romans 8, and Galatians 4 to unfold the believer’s adoption into the family of God. He explains the Roman legal background — adoption as the granting of full sonship with inheritance rights, the leaving of a former family, and the coming under a new father — and shows how Paul applies that picture to every believer in Christ. He draws out the crucial distinction between being in God’s sight now and being before Him in the day to come, and shows why Paul can say in Romans 8 both that we have received the Spirit of adoption and that we are still waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. The believer is not a servant trying to earn his place. He is a son, an heir, a joint-heir with Christ — secure, near, and dearly loved.
Key Scriptures
Ephesians 1:4–5 — Predestinated unto the Adoption of Children
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
Ephesians 2:10 — His Workmanship, Created in Christ Jesus
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 4:24 — Created in Righteousness and True Holiness
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Romans 8:14–15 — The Spirit of Adoption
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Romans 8:16–17 — Heirs of God, Joint-Heirs with Christ
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Romans 8:23 — Waiting for the Adoption
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Romans 8:32 — Freely Give Us All Things
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Galatians 4:4–7 — No More a Servant, but a Son
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Romans 9:4 — To Israel Pertaineth the Adoption
Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.
1 John 3:1 — What Manner of Love
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Episode Outline
Adoption Belongs with Union and Assurance — Part of the cluster of things God does the moment one believes the gospel
Chosen in Christ Before the Foundation of the World — Ephesians 1:4–5 and God’s purpose for the believer in His Son
In His Sight and Before Him — The crucial distinction between present standing and future experience
The Roman Legal Background — Adoption as the granting of full sonship — status, inheritance, and a new father
Leaving the Former Family — Out of Adam, into the household of God under a new authority
The Spirit of Adoption — Romans 8 — the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are the children of God
Heirs of God, Joint-Heirs with Christ — Sonship carries full inheritance rights in the family of God
Waiting for the Adoption — The redemption of the body — the still-future portion of our sonship
Israel, the Law, and the Adoption — Galatians 4 — heirs treated as servants under tutors and governors until the appointed time
No More a Servant, but a Son — The pastoral application — a familial fear, not the terror of the Lord
Questions Discussed
What does the Bible actually mean by adoption?
How would a first-century reader in the Greco-Roman world have understood the word?
How is adoption different from justification or forgiveness?
What are the present blessings of being a son or daughter of God?
What is still future about our adoption, and why does Paul say we are waiting for it?
How does the distinction between being in God’s sight and being before Him shape the believer’s life now?
What does Galatians 4 teach about Israel’s relationship to the law, and how does it apply to the believer today?
How should adoption answer the believer who keeps relating to God as a servant trying to earn his place?
