Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 7092 The doctrine of adoption is one of those truths that gets quietly folded into justification and lost. Preachers mention it in passing, systematic theologies give it a short paragraph, and the believer walks away with the impression that being adopted is simply another way of saying being forgiven. It is not, and the…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 07027. Adoption as sons is, to my mind, the warmest word in the whole vocabulary of salvation, and it is the one most often skated over. Justification tells me my legal position has changed. Redemption tells me my bondage has ended. Regeneration tells me my nature has been renewed. Adoption tells me something further…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 4138. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16). This verse is one of the most personally assuring statements in all of Paul’s letters, and the Spirit bears witness in Romans 8:16 in a way that is worth examining both theologically and pastorally. It is the…
Reading Time: 6 minutesQuestion 4140. The Spirit of adoption is Paul’s name in Romans 8:15 for the Holy Spirit in His specific work of bringing us, as believers, into the felt reality of being God’s own children rather than His frightened servants. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you…