Membership in God's Family

Romans 8:14 -17, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 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."

At the beginning of this chapter the Apostle tells us that God has done what the law could not do. He sent his own son to condemn sin in the flesh so that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. He goes on to show that we are not debtors to the flesh. Now he begins to show us where our real obligations lie. As Wayne Grudem says, "In regeneration God gives us new spiritual life within. In justification God gives us right legal standing before him. But in adoption God makes us members of his family." (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology)

This chapter's theme is the security of the believer, or as the old-time preachers would say, the perseverance of the saints. In order to give us security God had to solve our sin problem. God has worked out a wonderful process to solve our sin problem and bring us into perfect harmony with him. Part of the wonder is that he did all this before he created the universe. Before there was time, as we know it, he had his people in mind.

At first glance one might think that adoption is unnecessary if we've been born again. Obviously it is necessary simply because it's part of the process that God has worked out. It's wonderful that when we were dead in sin God made us alive. That's called regeneration. He gives us spiritual life. It's wonderful also that though we have committed many crimes against him he justifies us – giving us right legal standing before him. Now we see that he has made us a part of his family, legally. We are not merely forgiven; we are children of God; we belong to the family of God. We were not children of God by natural birth; but now we are! We should praise his Holy Name for that.

This process goes beyond the new birth.

Regeneration is a work of God. Read with me, James 1:17-18, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." The Father of lights brought us forth by his will, not ours! One of the big problems the evolutionists have to deal with is pretty simple. How does life come out of nothing? In fact, how does anything come out of nothing? Yet the Bible says that God brought forth the universe out of nothing. Everything that exists was called into being by God. The phrase, "brought us forth", could be translated (and is by the KJV) "begat he us". In other words, the same word that would be used for normal birth is used here. He brought us forth by the word of truth. We are a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Just as we have nothing to do with our being brought into the physical world through a physical birth we have nothing to do with being brought into the spiritual world. When Jesus talked to Nicodemus about being born again he was talking about a spiritual birth. Remember he said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, (our physical birth) and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." It's a mysterious process whereby God puts new life into individuals giving them the power to become children of God.

But, we can't regenerate ourselves. Turn with me to, Ephesians 2:1-5, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—"

It is impossible for a dead person to do anything! Of course we were not dead physically. But we were born spiritually dead. We were subjects of Satan. As such we had no power to do anything spiritually! "But God", what a wonderful phrase that is, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive together with Christ by grace. A person without Christ can no more bring themselves to life than a stone can come to life of itself. Or that the universe can come into being from nothing.

You see, we are born again to a living hope. Turn with me to, 1 Peter 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"

He caused us be born again! We did not choose to be born again. Yet we use terminology that seems to say that we do. We ask a person to "make a decision" for Christ. As though saying some words somehow makes us a child of God. It's true, we do have to respond, but we can only respond after God gives us life. He does the work of regeneration in our spiritually dead spirits. He proved that he could do it by raising Jesus Christ from the dead. This new life we have in Christ gives us a "living hope". We usually use "hope" for something we have a vague feeling about. We're not positive something will happen but we "hope" it will. Biblical hope does not indicate something we're not sure about. Biblical hope simply indicates something we may not have yet! The hope we have is alive and well because we've been brought into the family of God. And we were brought in that family by the process of adoption.

Adoption results from saving faith.

We are saved by grace through faith and that is the gift of God. That is regeneration or, the imparting, by God, of new spiritual life to us. It is God who makes us alive with Christ. It was Peter who told us that, "…you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;" It is God's work from beginning to the end

What happens after faith? Turn with me to, Galatians 3:23-26, "Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise." You see what Paul is saying to the Galatians? Before faith came we were under the law but now that faith has come we have become children of God in Christ Jesus. This is a wonderful work of God that brings us into his family. As a result, we cease to be Adam's offspring and become Abraham's offspring — sons and daughters of faith. No longer in bondage. We are heirs according to the promise.


Adoption frees us from slavery. Let's look at, Galatians 4:4-7, "But when the fullness of time had come, God 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. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." In our opening text Paul tells us that we have received, not a spirit of slavery, but a spirit of adoption. The spirit of adoption is none other than the Holy Spirit. Here in Galatians, Paul says that we have received the Spirit of his son into our hearts. This is the same thing because after each we're told that we can now say, "Abba, Father". W. E. Vine, in his Dictionary of New Testament Words, tells us that, "It (Abba) approximates to a personal name, in contrast to "Father," with which it is always joined in the NT.… Abba is the word framed by the lips of infants, and betokens unreasoning trust; "father" expresses an intelligent apprehension of the relationship. The two together express the love and intelligent confidence of the child." Many would say that allows us to call our Heavenly Father, "Daddy", rather than the stern distant father image that many seem to hold of God. As Vine would say, it's a word that would be used by infants. It certainly implies unreasoning trust and as such is a "love" word used within the family. We have been raised in rank from that of a slave to that of a child in the family.

Witnessed to by Holy Spirit. Our text tells us that, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" This is an amazing thing that we should be called children of God. Turn with me to, Ephesians 1:13-14, "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." This "sealing" of the spirit may not happen at the moment of salvation. Oh, I'm not saying that the Holy Spirit is not present at salvation. The work of the Spirit is essential to our conviction of sin, and our conversion to Christ. Yet, the experiences in the Book of Acts and throughout subsequent Christian history testify to subsequent experiences with the Holy Spirit. Not just a second blessing, but many, many, many blessings. Paul told the Corinthians, "For in one spirit we are all baptized into one body." But this "sealing" and bearing “witness with" our spirits Is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit giving us assurance of our salvation. I disagree with C. I. Scofield at a number of points but I agree with him when he is reported to say, "One Baptism, many fillings, constant anointing." That's the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the saint. As a result of being adopted into the family of Christ we have privileges as well as responsibilities.

Family Privileges.


First of all there is a change in relationships. Turn with me to, 2 Corinthians 6:18, "I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." Repeatedly, throughout Scripture the concept of God, the Father of his people, is used. Jesus taught us to address Our Father in heaven. Throughout the New Testament we find the disciples, the Saints, addressing one another as "brother" or "sister". Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote a song about it. It goes like this: "I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God, I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood! Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod, For I'm part of the family, The Family of God.

You will notice we say "brother" and "sister" 'round here, It's because we're a family and these are so near; When one has a heartache, we all share the tears, And rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.” We need to dedicate ourselves to doing a better job of being "family".

We are loved and cared for. I have two passages of Scripture I want to refer to: the first is found in 1 John 3:1, "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 not know us is that it did not know him." We were discussing this passage Wednesday night at prayer meeting. Think of it for a moment. The Father has given us a special kind of love, not the love of a friend or an acquaintance, but the love of a real father. And what a father! One who is willing to take rebels, who had through the years ignored his blessings and spurned his love, and put them in a position where they could be called "children of God". Not just called "children of God" but "so we are". We have been brought into the family of God and as such we can enjoy the privileges of family relationships. The psalmist understood God this way. Read with me, Psalm 103:13-14, "As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust” He has compassion for us. He knows our weaknesses, in fact, he came to Earth in human flesh because the children (that's us) live in human flesh. Because of our need he walked this earth as a man, took our sins in his own body, nailed them to the cross, took them to the grave and left them there. He did that because he had compassion on us. We are part of the family! We have the fellowship of a loving, all-knowing, all-powerful Father. We have an older brother who bought us with his own blood. We have millions of brothers and sisters as well as mothers and fathers in close spiritual relationship with us. It's a great thing to be a Christian and to enjoy the fellowship of the household of faith. As a result of this fellowship…

We receive many gifts. Turn back with me to, James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" Every good gift. Not just some good gifts but every good gift. Not only good gifts but perfect gifts come from above. Lots of things that come into our lives are not well received by us. But we need to remember that they all have come by God or his permission and only after that they come our way. They come from the Father of lights. Our loving heavenly Father.

The gifts we receive have a purpose. They're not just for our enjoyment. However, we can and should enjoy them. Peter talked about them, 1 Peter 4:10-11, "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Pay attention to what Peter had to say! Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Peter wrote that "each one" has received a gift. No one is left, out all are included. Some may think that they do not have a gift of any kind but we need to remember that this is what the Bible says and that has to be the truth from God. He has given each one a gift, or a group of gifts, that are ours for the common good. Those gifts are to be used to serve one another. They do not belong to us, they belong to God! We are only stewards of everything that we have. Writing to the Romans Paul said that we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to each one. Our gifts are complementary, that means that they complement or complete each other. If every member of the local congregation would simply accept the fact that God is gifted them in a way that will strengthen the church and carry the gospel message around the world. In order for the message to go out effectively every one of the completing gifts need to come into play. When we all function in the role that God has given us the church will be exactly what God wants it to be. We will be effective in the ministry God has given us.

We have been brought into God's family for our good. We have been brought into God's family for the good of our brothers and sisters around the world. But mostly, we have been brought into God's family for his glory. We are to take the gifts we are given and use them in such a way that in everything God may be glorified in Christ Jesus! We are each to fill the role in the family that God is given us. After all, he is the Father of the family and as such places each of us where he wants us. We have many privileges and advantages in this family. But at the same time we have many responsibilities and will only be completely happy when we are responsible members of the family.

All Scriptures come from:The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.