What Does It Mean To Be Adopted By God?

November 9 is World Adoption Day. Scripture tells us that believers are adopted by God, but what exactly does that mean?

Scriptural Passages – Children of God

• But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believed in His name, who were born, nor of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God (John 1:12-13).
• See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are (1 John 3:1).
• For you are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ (Galatians 3:26).
• For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God…The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:14, 16).

Most people understand that those who come to faith in Christ are “children of God.” But how do we become children? Scripture tells us two things. The passages above relate to our status as children of God. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must be “born again,” i.e., born of the Spirit. After our spiritual birth, God adopts us into His family:

• But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters (Galatians 4:4-5).
• He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will (Ephesians 1:5).

Theological Understanding – Adopted by God

Paul’s says that God has predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters. This raises a question: what does it mean to be predestined to adoption? Different streams of Christian theology approach that question in various ways. I’m a pastor in the Church of the Nazarene, part of the Wesleyan-Holiness stream of Christian theology. Article IX of our Articles of Faith sets forth our understanding of adoption by God:

“9.           We believe that justification is the gracious and judicial act of God by which He grants full pardon of all guilt and complete release from the penalty of sins committed, and acceptance as righteous, to all who believe on Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior.

9.1.        We believe that regeneration, or the new birth, is that gracious work of God whereby the moral nature of the repentant believer is spiritually quickened and given a distinctively spiritual life, capable of faith, love, and obedience.

9.2.        We believe that adoption is that gracious act of God by which the justified and regenerated believer is constituted a child of God.

9.3.        We believe that justification, regeneration, and adoption are simultaneous in the experience of seekers after God and are received by faith, preceded by repentance; and that to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.” (Manual of the Church of the Nazarene, 2023 edition, Article IX)

What Does It Mean to Be Adopted by God?

I’m not going to get into a debate about Paul’s language  in Ephesians 1. Obviously, different branches of Christian theology do not understand predestination in the same way. Let’s focus on the effect of our adoption: “we are constituted a child of God.”

So what does that mean? To be adopted means that we are “constituted a child of God.” In other words, God declares that we are a part of his family. The imagery reflects human understanding of adoption. A person who is adopted becomes a part of the adopted family as though they were born into that family. When my wife and I adopted our daughter, she legally became our daughter. And when God adopts us into His family, we are declared to be His children. As 1 John 3:1 says, and in fact we are.

But we are NOT children of God on the same level as Jesus is. The difference is not in the effect; we are heirs of God’s kingdom. The difference is in our nature. Our adoption does not change us so that we become “of the same substance as the Father,” in the words of the Nicene Creed. Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father; we are adopted sons and daughters. Our adoption happens simultaneously with our justification and regeneration; we are forgiven, born again, and adopted into God’s family in that moment when we confess Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Heirs of God

Because we are sons and daughters, we are heirs. As adopted sons and daughters, we follow the direction of our Father. His Spirit helps us to walk in God’s way; as we do that, God is forming us in the image of His Son Jesus. As that work continues, we become more and more like Him. Clearly, that work will not be completed until we see Him face to face: “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:2-3).

God continues to shape us in the image of Jesus, in preparation for the day when Jesus returns. And as God’s adopted children, we look forward to the day when we will inherit the kingdom and live with Him forever!