“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 8:16-17
The doctrine of adoption is one of the most neglected aspects of Reformed soteriology. It spells out the change in legal status before God that believers in Christ now enjoy–that by an act of grace we become God’s sons and daughters. Moreover, it addresses the benefits and blessings that we receive from our heavenly Father. In particular, how He provides for our needs and providentially watches over the details of our life protecting us from harm. Dr. R. C. Sproul makes the following insightful comment about our adoption:
Christ is God’s single heir by nature. He is the Father’s Son. We who are adopted become heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, and ours is the most valuable and rich inheritance that anybody can have. The inheritance is given by God the Father to His Son, and everything Christ possesses is given to us, as His adopted brothers and sisters, including the gift of eternal life. He is called the first fruits of those who are raised from the dead. As God the Father has raised our elder brother from the grace, so He promises to do the same for us. It is an incalculable inheritance that God has preserved for His people, and at the last day God will say to His children, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”(Matt. 25:34).
R. C. Sproul, Truths We Confess, 283
When we reflect on the doctrine of adoption, we learn how God has given believers a new legal standing. As a result of the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf we can now know that we have been justified, redeemed, reconciled, and adopted. These positional truths are absolute “game-changers” in the midst of the trials and tribulations of life. They give each believer a clear understanding of who they are in Christ and what kind of relationship they now enjoy with their heavenly Father.
Here are three additional passages from the Bible that feature the doctrine of adoption–one from the Lord Jesus Christ, one from the Apostle Paul, and a final one from the Apostle John :
“Or to which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good fits to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:9-11
“But when the fulness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does no know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:1-2
If you want to read more about the subject of adoption from the pen of Dr. R. C. Sproul, then I recommend his book: Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith, published by Reformation Trust Publishing, 2019. [See: pages 282-288]
— Dr. Marcus J. Serven