Adoption As God's Sons and Daughters - Its More Than You Think!

Today I am reflecting on verses from Paul's letter to the church in Galatia.  The church there was being influenced by those who were arguing for a full embrace of the Old Covenant Law by all Christians,both Jew and gentile alike. Paul is arguing to remain true to the Gospel of Grace.  The following verses are at the core of His thinking, for the Gospel of Grace is based on our identity given to us through God's free choice.  Here are the verses - Galatians 4:4-7 NIV:

[4] "But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. [6] Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba , Father.” [7] So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir."

My bible has a note on the word sonship saying that the Greek word used here for "adoption to sonship  is a legal term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture."  This is a significant point for us all to understand. Here is an excerpt of an article by Sarah Julien that describes exactly what this term that is used by Paul meant - found at: http://www.quodlibet.net/articles/murray-adoption.shtml.

The Process of Adoption

"As is seen in the case of the slave-made-son adoption, this process occurred in a change of social status for the person being adopted.  Obviously, for the Romans this movement of status was a serious matter.  The purpose of adoption in Roman culture was to secure the benefits of having a son in a family who has either no son or an estranged son.[19]  The primary motivation for adopting was to continue the family line and practices.  It was not necessarily for the protection or maintenance of the one being adopted; the focus was on the benefits the family as a whole gained through the process.[20]

In his Institutes, Justinian outlines this kind of adoption and calls it adrogation.  Adrogation comes from the Latin word for “ask” (rogatur) because “the adopting father was asked whether he wished that the person he was going to adopt should be his lawful son, the person to be adopted was asked whether he should suffer it to be so, and the People was asked whether it pleased to so enact.”[21]  Though adrogation confers rights to the adrogatus (one being adopted), it also comes with a list of duties.[22]  Adrogation brought the adrogatus out of his previous state and into a new father-son relationship within his adopting paterfamilias (Ferguson 46).  

According to Justinian , this process included the following legal consequences:

(i) the adrogatus and children in his power, if any, passed into the power of the adrogator [one adopting]; (ii) the property of the adrogatus of whatever kind, and debts due to him, passed to the adrogator by a kind of universal succession; and (iii) debts due by the adrogatus and the personal servitudes of ususfructus and usus were extinguished as a consequence of the extinction of his old persona resulting from the adrogation.[23]

In other words, all the debts of the adrogatus were cancelled, and in effect he started a new life.[24]  The adopted person did, though, lose all rights in his old family, but gained all the rights of a fully legitimate son in his new family.  In the most basic sense and in the most literal way, he got a new father.[25]  His new father, the adrogator, has the same control, patria potestas, over him as he would over his biological children.[26]  In adoption a person had to pass completely from one patria potestas to another.[27]  The patria potestas included owning all the adrogatus’ property and acquisitions, controlling personal relationships, and having the rights of discipline.  The father was liable for his new child’s actions and each owed “duties of support and maintenance” to the other.[28]  It is important to keep in mind that this adoption does not include a change in the nature of the adrogatus, but only a change of status.[29]   As can be seen in the process of adrogation, a father could disown his natural son; but this was not an option with his adopted son.  Once someone was adopted into a paterfamilias, the bonds could not be broken.[30]"

There is much described in these paragraphs and the language is unusual, but don't miss the significance of what is described here. To quote Sarah Julian as she describes Justinian's description, .. "as a consequence of the extinction of his old persona resulting from the adrogation (adoption)".  Literally, the person that existed before the adoption no longer existed after the adoption was completed, but rather a new person, now a son of the one who was adopting was created!  This is what Paul is speaking about in this passage.  Adoption by God means extinction of our former persona, we are now His son or daughter!

Paul writes about this new creation in 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"  We are now God's sons and daughters if we have accepted His adoption.  It is interesting that this process as described by Sarah Julien  above, required a willingness on both parts to enter into adoption, and that is the same with us!  God gives us the opportunity to welcome His adoption, to receive this new identity as His son or daughter.  When we do, our old self is destroyed, or becomes extinct.  This is really good news, for the old man, the sin, our weaknesses, our debts, our wickedness, everything of the old persona becomes extinct.

I am encouraged today to embrace this understanding, to see myself as God's son!  I am no longer who I was, I might look the same, but I am adopted son of the Father.  I am a new creation, and new person!  Even though that reality happened more than 40 years ago, I can embrace a new awareness of it today!  God is so good to us, so desirous of relationship with us that He is willing to call us His sons and daughters and make us His heirs.  My choice now needs to be to pursue what that really means!

My prayer for you is that this awareness might open your eyes to your true identity, if you have already received the Lord's salvation, and if not that you might be able to choose salvation and adoption into His family!  It is a really big family, but their is room for us all and plenty of inheritance for each of us to experience!

Amen!