On Adoption

After finishing our taxes and arranging all the adoption paperwork for 2010, I was thinking of my girls’ adoption into our family last year and then about my own adoption into God’s family. Saw this quote and thought it was appropriate.

“God redeemed us in his Son so that he might love us and delight in us even as he loves and delights in his eternal Son. Adoption is God’s act of making room within his triune love for prodigals who are without hope, and providing them with homes in this world and the world to come.” — Dan Cruver, Reclaiming Adoption (Adelphi, Md.: Cruciform Press, 2011), 14

On Adoption

I put together this short catechism on the doctrine of adoption when I was co-teaching a study on 1 John.  I hope it encourages you in your faith and in your identity as a child of God.

Question: What is a Christian?

Answer: One who has God as Father.

Question: Is every person who has ever been born a child of God?

Answer: No! Galatians 3:26-29; John 1:12-13

Question: What did the concept of adoption mean to people in the time of the apostles?

Answer: “In Roman law, it was a recognized practice for an adult who wanted an heir, and someone to carry on the family name, to adopt a male as his son – usually at age, rather than in infancy, as is the common way today. The apostles proclaim that God has so loved those whom he redeemed on the cross that he has adopted them all as his heirs, to see and share the glory into which his only begotten Son has already come” (p. 201; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 1:5; 1 Jn. 3:1-2).

Question: The Old Testament saints called God many different names, such as Lord. What do New Testament saints call Him?

Answer: Father

Question: What is the significance of calling God Father?

Answer: “…the stress of the New Testament is not on the difficulty and danger of drawing near to the holy God, but on the boldness and confidence with which believers may approach Him: a boldness that springs directly from faith in Christ, and from the knowledge of his saving work” (cf. Eph. 3:12; Heb. 10:19-22).

Question: How has God revealed this new relationship with God?

Answer: He has revealed it through our Lord Jesus Christ, His own incarnate Son.

Question: What did God’s fatherly relationship mean to Jesus Christ?

Answer: 1) Authority (Jn. 6:38; 17:4; 5:19; 4:34); 2) Affection (Jn. 5:20; 15:9-10); 3) Fellowship (Jn. 16:32; 8:29); 4) Honor (Jn. 17:1; 5:22-23).

Question: What do these four (4) things mean to us?

Answer: “All this extends to God’s adopted children” (p. 205; Authority – 1 Jn. 5:1, 3; Affection – Jn. 16:27; Fellowship – 1 Jn. 1:3; Honor – Jn. 12:26)

Question: With all this in mind, what is adoption then?

Answer: “All those that are justified, God vouchsafed, in and for the sake of his only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption, by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God, have his name put upon them, receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are enabled to cry Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by him as by a Father, yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation” (London Baptist Confession of Faith, 1689).

Question: How does adoption rank with other doctrines, such as justification?

Answer: “…it is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification” (p. 206).

Question: How can adoption be a higher privilege than justification?

Answer: Justification is the primary and fundamental blessing of the Gospel because it meets our primary spiritual need – to be made right with a Holy God. Justification is a forensic idea, conceived in terms of law, and viewing God as judge.  Adoption is the highest privilege of the Gospel because it meets our relational need. Adoption is a family idea, conceived in terms of love, and viewing God as father.

Question: Is our view of the Gospel and the Christian life truncated if adoption is left out of the discussion?

Answer: Absolutely! “We do not fully feel the wonder of the passage from death to life which takes place in the new birth till we see it as a transition, not simply out of condemnation into acceptance, but out of bondage and destitution into the safety, certainty, and enjoyment of the family of God” (p. 208).

Question: How should we view the Christian life in light of adoption?

Answer: The whole of the Christian life must be understood in light of our adoption and status as sons of God.  It is the basis of Christian conduct, prayer, and the life of faith.

Question: What does God show us through the reality of adoption?

Answer: First, our adoption shows us the greatness of God’s love (1 Jn. 3:1). Second, our adoption shows us the glory of Christian hope (Gal. 4:7; Rom. 8:17; 1 Jn. 3:2). Third, our adoption gives us the key to understanding the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). Fourth, our adoption shows us the meaning of Gospel holiness (Eph. 1:4-5; 1 Jn. 3:2; Heb. 12:6-7, 11). Fifth, our adoption gives us the clue we need to see our way through the problem of assurance (Rom. 8:29-30, 38-39).

Question: Is there some way to test the assurance that we truly are sons of God?

Answer: Yes, through the standards of 1 John, which are doctrinal and ethical (see 1 Jn. 2:3, 29; 3:6-10, 14, 18-21; 4:7-8, 15-16; 5:1-4, 18).

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SOURCE: Quotations taken from Packer, J. I. (1993). Knowing God. Downer’s Grove: IVP Press.