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(6) Adoption...Membership in God's Family...

Adoption is an act of God whereby He makes us members of His family. It is important to recognise how great are our privileges in adoption. Regeneration has to do with our spiritual life within. Justification has to do with our standing before God's law. But adoption has to do with our relationship with God as our Father, and in adoption we are given many of the greatest blessings that we will know for all eternity.

The Privileges of Adoption

  • We are able to speak to God and relate to Him as a good and loving Father
  • God gives to us many good gifts, He gives us the gift of God the Holy Spirit
  • He grants us the gift of a great inheritance in Heaven, we are joint heirs with Jesus
  • When we sin or act disobediently, He disciplines us like a good Father
  • When our relationship with Him is disrupted by sin, He grants us forgiveness
  • He gives us the privilege of being led by God the Holy Spirit - all who are led by the Spirit are sons of God (Rom. 8:14) - (Sons is a generic term =s sons & daughters)
  • We have the privilege of sharing in the sufferings and in the subsequent glory of Jesus
  • Our privileges are both vertical and horizontal to wards God and His family...
  • ...We have the privilege of a deeper and more intimate relationship with each other
  • The Church of which Jesus is the sole head, is representative of the family of God and we are granted the privilege of belonging to the church globally and locally, in doing so we are taught how to grow into maturity and how to imitate our Father: 'be imitators of God, as beloved children' (Eph. 5:1)

  1. As children of God we are to walk in the paths of righteousness, and are called to be holy and obedient children. We are to act in ways that please God, so that others 'may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven' (Matt. 5:16).
  2. We are encouraged to maintain pure conduct amongst unbelievers: 'that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.' (Phil. 2:15)