When thinking about aren’t we all children of God, Paul also answered that question. This devotion looks at Paul’s viewpoint.
Nuggets
- Neither being a creature of God nor being made in His image is enough to make us children of God.
- Being made children of God occurs through regeneration and adoption.
- The Holy Spirit has to testify that He is working in our lives and that we are following Him.
- Our spirit also has to testify.
- We become children of God only through His grace, not our worth.
We started in the last devotion with the question, “Aren’t we all children of God?” John said no; only those who believe are called children of God. Worldview people are creations of God.
Paul addressed this topic, also. Let’s see what message God gave him.
Let's Put It into Context
Let’s recap what John said. In order to become children of God, we have to believe in Jesus. No, it isn’t enough to believe that Jesus lived or that He was a prophet.
We have to open our hearts and minds to accept Jesus as our Savior to become children of God. Then, we need to be imitators of Him. God, as Sovereign, can set expectations on our obedience to His laws and commandments.
Being in Christ
“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith” (Gal. 3: 26 NIV)
Paul talked in Ephesians about being in Christ. Everybody was in the same unredeemed boat as, in the spiritual sense, we are all uncircumcised Gentiles. Paul specifically wanted his readers to remember the time before they admitted their sins, believed on Jesus as Savior and Redeemer, and confessed God as Sovereign Lord. That allowed them to contrast “without Christ” to “in Christ.” When we are “in Christ,” sin no longer has a hold on us.
Being a creature of God isn’t enough to make us children of God. Nor is being made in His image. The Theological Sketch Book stated that being made children of God occurs through regeneration and adoption.
We’ve talked lots about regeneration. Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
We glossed over adoption when we walked through Ephesians. The Holman Bible Dictionary states adoption “symbolized for Paul God’s love and grace in accepting believers as His children, intimate members of His family. Adoption occurs through the work of God’s Spirit, giving believers power to overcome fleshly temptations and live the life in the Spirit (Romans 8: 14-15).”
Wow! And think, sonship is not just a title! Think about what we gain when we are sons and daughters of God.
- “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8: 1 ESV). Why is there no sentencing because of our sins?
- “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn. 3: 17 ESV).
- “Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? …” (I Cor. 9: 16 CSB).
- “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Gal. 5: 18 NIV).
- “[Solomon] prayed, ‘O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion’” (II Chron. 6: 14 NLT).
- “Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits — we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8: 23 CSB).
- “And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering” (Rom. 8: 17 NLT).
Wowzers!!! Who gets these privileges? Everyone? No. “But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name” (Jn. 1: 12 CSB emphasis added). Privileges have a price.
Yes, Jesus paid the price that we couldn’t pay. He did all the churchy words.
Jesus justifies us when we put our lives in His hand. Justification means the act of making something righteous before God.
Jesus substituted — became the propitiation — for us so He could do the hard stuff, the stuff we would never be able to do. Jesus knew God’s wrath had to be appeased so He shed His blood to pay the price for our sins.
Atonement is about repayment for a wrong. The repayment was the shedding of His blood.
But being children of God isn’t a freebie. We have to ABCD.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
The Spirit Testifies
“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children” (Rom. 8: 16 CSB)
Okay, let’s process this.
Testify has a couple of different variations.
- “to make a solemn declaration under oath for the purpose of establishing a fact (as in a court)
- “to make a statement based on personal knowledge or belief
- “to serve as evidence or proof
- “to express a personal conviction
- “to bear witness to” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
Me being me would say “make it known loud and clear.” So who is being loud and clear? The Holy Spirit.
We’ve talked about the Holy Spirit a lot. The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity. It is through this Trinity that God reveals Himself to us.
The Holy Spirit has an important job to perform. We listed some of the duties in How Do We Grieve the Holy Spirit?
It will probably be easier to put what else we talked about in bullet points.
- We gain access to Sovereign God by the reconciliation He devised through following the promptings of the Holy Spirit (What Are the Fruits of Righteousness?).
- The Holy Spirit is more than just our conscience (Characteristics of Disciples’ Lives).
- We talk to God through prayer, and He talks back through the Holy Spirit (What Is Prayer?)
- We are to be willing to be taught by the promptings of the Holy Spirit, guidance that is given as impulses (How Do We Let the Spirit Lead?; How Do Disciples Mourn?).
- Circumcision of the heart is accomplished by the Holy Spirit using the atoning blood of Jesus (The Nominal Disciple).
- God teaches us His Will and wisdom through the Holy Spirit (God Teaches Us Obedience; Goodness as a Virtue; What is the Spirit of Wisdom?).
- We have to figure out how to walk in the right way – in the Spirit (What Does It Mean to Walk in the Spirit?).
- We sin when we give in to Satan’s promptings instead of the Holy Spirit’s promptings (What Are the Works of the Flesh?)
- The only sin God won’t forgive is when we grieve the Holy Spirit — by not ABCDing (Sins Against God).
- Because we believed, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit (How Do We Let the Spirit Lead?).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Hodge explained the Spirit’s role this way. The Spirit isn’t going to make us do something totally alien to our nature. Even though He can’t be distinguished from our conscious, we still have the choice of whether we are going to follow His promptings or not.
The Holy Spirit has to testify that He is working in our lives and that we are following Him. He has to verify that, when we are being sanctified, there is evidence of the Holy Spirit working within our lives (What Is the Relationship Between Righteousness and Sanctification?).
Our spirit also has to testify. We have to “… confess with [our mouths], “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in [our hearts] that God raised him from the dead, [we] will be saved” (Rom. 10: 9 CSB).
Another thing former President Obama said was, “We’re all made in his image, all worthy of his love and dignity.”
Did you catch what Paul said? “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit …” (Rom. 8: 16 CSB). There is nothing we can do on our own to make us worthy. Only Jesus could pay the price for our sins.
No, we are not worthy of God’s love. We should think like John the Baptist: “He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (Jn. 1: 27 NIV). We become children of God only through His grace, not our worth.
Spurgeon reminded us that not even the archangels were children of God. To think we are entitled to being children of God is arrogance, not being submissive to God.
Making the Connections #1
We are made children of God because God allows it. There is only one way to access the Father and obtain His adoption. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (Jn. 14: 6 NIV).
That is it. Someone else saying we are children of God doesn’t make it true. Eastmead had a nice list of things the world doesn’t know.
- They don’t know a disciple’s life.
- They don’t know a disciple’s struggle against sin.
- They don’t see disciples struggling with doubts and fears.
- They don’t know the joy that a disciple knows — or their sorrows.
- They don’t know what the Spirit teaches disciples.
Jesus is the Truth. Only through believing in Him can we become children of God.
Making the Connections #2
So, let’s add what we learned from Paul to what we learned from John.
In order to become children of God, we have to believe in Jesus — be “in Christ.” It isn’t enough to believe that Jesus lived or to believe He was a prophet. Being a creature of God isn’t enough to make us children of God. Nor is being made in His image.
We have to open our hearts and minds to accept Jesus as our Savior to become children of God. We become children of God through His grace, regeneration and adoption.
Children of God need to be imitators of Him. The Holy Spirit has to testify that we are undergoing the process of sanctification. God, as Sovereign, can set expectations on our obedience to His laws and commandments.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
We are also considering what we would say if a non-believer asked us. Here is the worksheet again. What would you say?
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
- ABCD
- Go through the regeneration and adoption process by going through the sanctification process.
- We do that by seeking God
Why is this so important? Listen to this.
“Whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men’s earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.”
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
In other words, our status for eternity depends on us being true children of God — which depends on our submission to God.
Father. We admit our sins. We believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. We confess You as Sovereign God. We commit to listening to the Spirit’s promptings. Because of all of this — provided through Your grace — we claim to be children of God. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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