Spiritual Gifts part 55: The Doctrine of Adoption.

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Sunday,
November 28, 2010

Spiritual Gifts part 55: The Doctrine of Adoption.

The believer is said to be born of God (John 1:13) and born of the Spirit (John 3:5,6,8). That is regeneration.

The Bible also says there is something called the adoption as sons.
The believer is called God’s child and God’s son or daughter, ROM 8:23.

Here in ROM 8:23 this adoption is something that we as born again believers are eagerly awaiting.

Adoption, closely related to regeneration, is nonetheless distinct from it and deserves its own separate treatment.

Biblical adoption is that grand design of God by which He confers or bestows upon us the status or the standing of adult sons and daughters.

This happens positionally at the moment of salvation when He recognizes us as an adult son or daughter permanently by His placement.

In regeneration we are born again and given the new nature.

In adoption we are declared to be God’s son or daughter, and God’s heir. We are introduced into and given the privileges that belong to members of God’s family.

What the Bible means by adoption is based on the Roman aristocratic function of adoption in the first century, and it is not the same as our twenty-first century practice.

In an aristocratic Roman family, the first born male, the natural child, did not necessarily become the heir to the family fortune.

In ancient Rome, being adopted was one of the most fortunate things that could ever happen to you. It meant more privilege, greater opportunity, and a new inheritance.

Roman parents, particularly fathers, maintained strict discipline in the home.

At age 14, if the boy was a weak individual, the father would pass by his own flesh and blood in favor of selecting another who was more qualified to be the heir of the family name and fortune.

The father had absolute power (patria potestas) over the members of his family. He could even take the life of a family member and it would not considered murder.

Step1: the son had to be released from the control of his natural father.

Step 2: since the natural father no longer had any authority over him, the adopter became the new father with absolute control over him.

The purpose of this adoption was so that the adoptee could take the position of a natural son in order to continue the family line and maintain property ownership.

Adoption meant recognition of the legitimate heir.

Adoption meant to pass on the family fortune and family opportunities down to that person who was best qualified to be the legitimate mature heir of the family inheritance.

The young man who was adopted became the heir of the family fortune, the family business, and the seat in the Senate.

The saints chosen by God are predestined as adopted sons and daughters of God.

We are also placed in permanent union with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This qualifies us to be recognized by God as His adult sons and daughters.

Biblical adoption shows up in connection with the moment of salvation, yet it also shows up in God’s thoughts in eternity past, and then again at the Rapture.

Adoption is something that God started in eternity past, EPH 1:5. He made a decision concerning believers in Christ.

This is election, God’s expression of His will for us, granting us His highest and best as members of the Body of Christ.

This is predestination, God’s provision related to His will for us.

God thought about us in eternity past, and decreed the fact that He would make us His adult sons and daughters one day.

The three English words “adoption as sons” that appear in each instance are actually translating a single Greek word.

υἱοθεσία

huiothesia
= the placing as a son, i.e. adoption

huios = “son come of age”
thesia = “a placing, or setting a person or thing in its place”.
So the root meaning is “the placing of a son”.

The Greek word huiothesia means to place a son in the home who would carry on the family business, the family estate. Therefore it meant recognition as an adult son.