All those that are justified, God vouchsafes, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption, by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God, have His name put upon them, receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are enabled to cry, Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as by a Father: yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption; and inherit the promises, as heirs of everlasting salvation.
Adoption of the believer by God follows (logically, not necessarily temporally) immediately upon regeneration, conversion, and justification. God adopts all those justified in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5, Galatians 4:4-5). This action is entirely centered in and predicated upon Jesus's relationship to the Father. But there is a difference--Christ is the eternally-begotten Son whereas believers are adopted children.
There is great richness in being counted children of God (1 John 3:1-10). Adopted in Christ, we enjoy tremendous privileges such as access to God. We are treated in every way as a good parent would treat a child. The relationship is permanent--no Christian need ever fear disinheritance and abandonment. We are heirs of the promises of God.
This makes for a great distinction between believers and natural men. While all humans are God's creatures, only Christians may count God as Father. This flies in the face of conventional thinking, summarized in the old saw, "the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of men." According to the Scriptures, the natural man is actually the child of the devil (John 8:31-47).
We have arrived at a good stopping point. Upon my return from a short Thanksgiving weekend trip, I will resume this blog with chapter XIII, looking at sanctification. Thank you for your attention and kind words of encouragement so far.
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