Ordo Salutis: Adoption
In the context of the ordo salutis, adoption follows regeneration and conversion, but only in a logical sense. As we will continue to remind you, many of these things cannot be separated in time, or chronologically, but we cannot separate them in a sort of logical order. Like other realities in the ordo salutis, adoption is entirely an act of God. It is what God does in declaring us to be his own, bestowing on us all the benefits of sonship. “Adoption as God’s act is an eternal process of His gracious love,” [1] in which he “predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Eph. 1:5).
This subject is more near and dear to me now than ever before because of how the Lord has blessed my own family. Recently we celebrated the first anniversary of adopting our youngest son. This process was quite difficult for us, and I have written about those difficulties here and here. And I am not the only one of us at The Gospel Forum who can testify to the power of this process in revealing the heart of God and displaying his sovereign grace. For myself, throughout this process, the Lord has taught me more intimately of the importance of this reality of adoption.
What does the Bible say about Adoption?
The word adoption is only specifically mentioned by Paul in the New Testament and comes from a word that quite literally means “sonship.” In Paul’s letters, he paints a beautiful picture of this reality in salvation. As we ask the broader question of what the whole Bible says about adoption, it should be noted that Paul sees this reality as being first applied to Israel (Rom 9:4).
God chose a nation for himself, as his sons and daughters. We see that idea most explicitly introduced when God commands Pharaoh to release his people from Egypt: “Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son” (Ex 4:22-23). This was God’s word to Pharoah before sending the final plague, the death of the firstborn, which Israel was to escape through sacrifice of the Passover lamb. This lamb points us to the one true Son of God, the firstborn of all creation: Jesus (Col 1:15).
Connecting the dots from Old to New, one theologian puts it beautifully: “God could not reveal Himself at all without revealing something of His Fatherhood, but the whole revelation was as yet partial and prophetic.”[2]The adoption that “belongs” to Israel in the history of salvation (Rom 9:4) is now a reality for people from every nation, tribe, and tongue as God calls people to himself through the gospel of Christ.
Paul builds on this Old Testament concept to explain the reality of sonship for believers (Rom. 8:15, 23; 9:4; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5). In each of these instances, he shows that God has “predestined us for adoption” (Eph 1:5), that he “sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4:4-5), that we have “received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15), and that we will receive “the redemption of our bodies” as a result (Rom 8:23). All of this is worked in and through Christ as a gift of God’s grace.
While Paul is the only one to use the specific language of adoption, he is not the only inspired author to refer to the reality of sonship. Referring again to the storyline of redemption in the Old Testament, we find that Israel as God’s firstborn had failed to receive their inheritance. It was through their rejection of God their Father that the way of entrance into the family of God was opened. In the New Testament, we see that Jesus has opened this way. “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13).
The reality is that, apart from Christ, we are all sons of Adam. Even worse, because of Adam’s sin, we are also called children of wrath and sons of the devil (1 John 3:10; Eph 2:3)! This language is too strong to bear and too real to ignore. But the grace of God is greater still.
Conclusion
Having experienced the power of adoption in the horizontal has deepened my adoration of our heavenly Father. Whatever the cost and the hardship of this earthly process, it was worth it all. Yet none of it compares to the price God has paid in bringing us into his family. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1a).
Whether or not you have first-hand experience in the power of this process between earthly relationships, many of you are reading this as those who have been made sons and daughters of God. In this divine act, you have been brought into a family and a heritage that will endure for all eternity.
For others, the harsh reality is that you have not experienced this adoption in either the horizontal or the vertical. Cry out to God and turn from your sin! Run to Jesus! My prayer is that you would hear this call and God would awaken your heart to faith, through the regenerating work of his Spirit, so that you would call on him as Father.
If you have experienced this reality, take heart! “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This reality calls us to greater faithfulness, for “everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:3).
[1] T. Rees, “Adoption; Sonship,” ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 55.
[2] T. Rees, “Adoption; Sonship,” ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 55.
