Reconciliation, Justification, Adoption, Election, and Redemption
Galatians 4:4-7 (KJV)
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Paul repeats the adoption concept in the next verse as he spells out for us what a great and marvelous benefit this sonship maintains for those who are redeemed.
Galatians 4:6-7 (KJV)
6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
God has sent forth the Holy Spirit to indwell the believer. This makes the believer a son now, where before he was a slave or son to sin. The net result is that we can cry to God "Father, Father." In Romans, Paul also speaks to the idea of heirship.
Romans 8:16-17 (KJV)
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 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.
Adoption is truly understood when we consider the idea of adoption under Roman law. Adoption for the Romans was aimed, not at little children, but at grown men. The idea of adoption under Roman law was that a young man took the place of a true son, not just as a family member but for purposes of inheritance. Under the Roman law, once you were adopted into the family, you could not be disinherited. Thus, adoption was a much stronger legal concept in the Rome of Paul's time than in America of our time. So adoption is the process of entering into the rights and obligations of another family. The idea of adoption means that as children of God we cannot be disinherited. We cannot lose our salvation!
Records 6 to 6 of 7
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