Adoption: A Study in the Grace of God
By Jack Kettler
Abstract
This study examines the doctrine of adoption by analyzing key scriptural texts, classical commentaries, lexical considerations, and confessional standards. Adoption is presented as a distinct act of divine grace in which believers are constituted as sons and daughters of God and joint-heirs with Christ. The inquiry underscores that the cause of adoption resides solely in the sovereign good pleasure of God, thereby excluding all grounds for human boasting and directing attention to the magnification of divine glory.
Introduction
The present study investigates the biblical doctrine of adoption through the Scriptures, together with selected expository, commentarial, and confessional sources. Adoption is one of the principal privileges of the ordo salutis and carries significant theological implications for sonship, inheritance, and God’s fatherly care. The governing aim of the inquiry is to increase praise and magnify the glory of God.
Definition
Adoption may be defined as an act of God by which He makes believers members of His family and confers upon them all the privileges of the children of God.
Scriptural Foundations
The locus classicus is Ephesians 1:5–6:
“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
This passage establishes the framework for understanding adoption and its correlative doctrines of sonship with Christ, joint-heirship, and membership in the family of the living God.
Matthew Poole’s commentary elucidates the foundation and cause of adoption:
“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children; having appointed us unto a state of sonship and right to glory. This seems to be more than the former, a greater thing to be the sons of God, and heirs of heaven, than to be holy.
By Jesus Christ; as Mediator, and Head of the elect, and the foundation of all spiritual blessings vouchsafed them, and so of this relation into which they are brought, by being united to him. The adopted children come into that state by the intervention of the natural Son.
To himself; either:
1. In himself, i.e. looking no farther than to himself for the cause of and motive to his adopting them. Or:
2. To himself, (according to our translation), i.e. to God. Or, rather:
3. For himself (as the Syriac renders it); God would have the honour of having many adopted children that shall all call him Father.
According to the good pleasure of his will; his sovereign grace and good will, as the only spring from which predestination issued, God being moved to it by nothing out[side] of himself.” (1)
As Poole observes, the passage addresses the cause of adoption. That cause is not found in the believer. Adoption is received by grace. Were any causative element located in the human subject, there would be grounds for boasting (cf. Rom. 3:27–28). Boasting is excluded by the law of faith, and faith itself is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8).
Further scriptural testimony appears in Romans 8:14–17:
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” (Roman 8:14-17)
Romans 8:21 likewise speaks of “the glorious liberty of the children of God,” while Romans 9:26 affirms that those formerly not a people “shall be called the children of the living God.”
These texts collectively establish that believers are sons of God, recipients of the Spirit of adoption, and co-heirs with Christ.
Galatians 4:7 declares:
“Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
The designation “heir of God” underscores the filial relationship with the Father.
Alexander MacLaren’s exposition of Romans 8:17 develops the terminology of sonship and inheritance:
“SONS AND HEIRS
Romans 8:17.
God Himself is His greatest gift. The loftiest blessing which we can receive is that we should be heirs, possessors of God. There is a sublime and wonderful mutual possession of which Scripture speaks much wherein the Lord is the inheritance of Israel, and Israel is the inheritance of the Lord. ‘The Lord hath taken you to be to Him a people of inheritance,’ says Moses; ‘Ye are a people for a possession,’ says Peter. And, on the other hand, ‘The Lord is the portion of my inheritance,’ says David; ‘Ye are heirs of God,’ echoes Paul. On earth and in heaven the heritage of the children of the Lord is God Himself, inasmuch as He is with them for their delight, in them to make them ‘partakers of the divine nature,’ and for them in all His attributes and actions.
This being clearly understood at the outset, we shall be prepared to follow the Apostle’s course of thought while he points out the conditions upon which the possession of that inheritance depends. It is children of God who are heirs of God. It is by union with Christ Jesus, the Son, to whom the inheritance belongs, that they who believe on His name receive power to become the sons of God, and with that power the possession of the inheritance. Thus, then, in this condensed utterance of the text there appear a series of thoughts which may perhaps be more fully unfolded in some such manner as the following, that there is no inheritance without sonship, that there is no sonship without a spiritual birth, that there is no spiritual birth without Christ, and that there is no Christ for us without faith.” (2)
Galatians 3:26 reaffirms:
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 103:13 supplies a further dimension of paternal graciousness:
“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.”
Albert Barnes’s notes elaborate:
“Like as a father pitieth his children – Hebrew, ‘Like the compassion of a father for his children.’ See the notes at Matthew 7:7-11. God often compares himself with a father, and it is by carrying out our ideas of what enters into the parental character that we get our best conceptions of the character of God. See the notes at Matthew 6:9. That which is referred to here, is the natural affection of the parent for the child; the tender love which is borne by the parent for his offspring; the disposition to care for its needs; the readiness to forgive when an offence has been committed. Compare Luke 15:22-24. Such, in an infinitely higher degree, is the compassion – the kindness – which God has for those that love him.
So the Lord pitieth them that fear him – He has compassion on them. He exercises toward them the paternal feeling.” (3)
Additional texts include Philippians 2:15, which summons believers to live as “the sons of God, without rebuke… among whom ye shine as lights in the world,” and Titus 3:7, which states that, “being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
First John 3:1–2 furnishes a comprehensive summary:
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:1-2)
Lexical Considerations
W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words defines the relevant term:
“HUIOTHESIA, huiothesia from huios, a son, and thesis, ‘a placing,’ akin to tithemi, ‘to place,’ signifies the place and condition of a son given to one to whom it does not naturally belong. The word is used by the Apostle Paul only.
In Romans 8:15, believers are said to have received ‘the Spirit of adoption,’ that is, the Holy Spirit who, given as the Firstfruits of all that is to be theirs, produces in them the realization of sonship and the attitude belonging to sons. In Galatians 4:5 they are said to receive ‘the adoption of sons,’ i.e., sonship bestowed in distinction from a relationship consequent merely upon birth; here two contrasts are presented,
(1) between the sonship of the believer and the unoriginated sonship of Christ,
(2) between the freedom enjoyed by the believer and bondage, whether of Gentile natural condition, or of Israel under the Law. In Ephesians 1:5 they are said to have been foreordained unto ‘adoption as sons’ through Jesus Christ, RV; the AV, ‘adoption of children’ is a mistranslation and misleading. God does not ‘adopt’ believers as children; they are begotten as such by His Holy Spirit through faith. ‘Adoption’ is a term involving the dignity of the relationship of believers as sons; it is not a putting into the family by spiritual birth, but a putting into the position of sons. In Romans 8:23 the ‘adoption’ of the believer is set forth as still future, as it there includes the redemption of the body, when the living will be changed and those who have fallen asleep will be raised. In Romans 9:4 ‘adoption’ is spoken of as belonging to Israel, in accordance with the statement in Exodus 4:22, ‘Israel is My Son.’ Cp. Hosea 11:1. Israel was brought into a special relation with God, a collective relationship, not enjoyed by other nations, Deuteronomy 14:1; Jeremiah 31:9, etc.” (4)
Systematic Theological Analysis
John Murray’s treatment in “Redemption Accomplished and Applied” provides a precise systematic exposition:
“Adoption is an act of God’s grace distinct from and additional to the other acts of grace involved in the application of redemption. It might seem quite unnecessary to say this. Does not the term itself and the specific meaning which attaches to it clearly imply its distinctiveness? Yet it is not superfluous to emphasize the fact that it is a distinct act carrying with it its own peculiar privileges. It is particularly important to remember that it is not the same as justification or regeneration. Too frequently it has been regarded as simply an aspect of justification or as another way of stating the privilege conferred by regeneration. It is much more than either or both of these acts of grace….
Adoption, as the term clearly implies, is an act of transfer from an alien family into the family of God himself. This is surely the apex of grace and privilege. We would not dare to conceive of such grace far less to claim it apart from God’s own revelation and assurance. It staggers imagination because of its amazing condescension and love. The Spirit alone could be the seal of it in our hearts. ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God’ (1 Cor. 2:9, 10). It is only as there is the conjunction of the witness of revelation and the inward witness of the Spirit in our hearts that we are able to scale this pinnacle of faith and say with filial confidence and love, Abba Father.
Adoption is concerned with the fatherhood of God in relation to men. When we think of God’s fatherhood it is necessary to make certain distinctions. There is, first of all, God’s fatherhood which is exclusively trinitarian, the fatherhood of the Father, the first person of the trinity, in relation to the Son, the second person. This applies only to God the Father in his eternal and necessary relation to the Son and to the Son alone. It is unique and exclusive. No one else, not even the Holy Spirit, is the Son in this sense. It does not apply to angels or men. In modern theology it is sometimes said that men by adoption come to share in Christ’s Sonship and thus enter into the divine life of the trinity. This is grave confusion and error. The eternal Son of God is the only-begotten and no one shares in his Sonship, just as God the Father is not the Father of any other in the sense in which he is the Father of the only-begotten and eternal Son.” (5)
(Note: John Murray was a founder of Westminster Theological Seminary, where he taught for many years. His books include the four-volume “Collected Writings”, a commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, “Redemption Accomplished and Applied”, “Principles of Conduct”, “The Imputation of Adam’s Sin”, “Baptism”, and “Divorce”.)
Confessional Summary
The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XII, “Of Adoption,” states:
Section 1.) All those that are justified, God vouchsafeth, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption:(1) by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God;(2) have His name put upon them,(3) receive the Spirit of adoption;(4) have access to the throne of grace with boldness;(5) are enabled to cry, Abba, Father;(6) are pitied,(7) protected,(8) provided for,(9) and chastened by Him as by a Father;(10) yet never cast off,(11) but sealed to the day of redemption,(12) and inherit the promises,(13) as heirs of everlasting salvation.(14)
(1) Eph 1:5; Gal 4:4, 5. (2) Ro 8:17; Jn 1:12. (3) Jer 14:9; 2Co 6:18; Rev 3:12. (4) Ro 8:15. (5) Eph 3:12; Ro 5:2. (6) Gal 4:6. (7) Ps 103:13. (8) Pr 14:26. (9) Mt 6:30, 32; 1Pe 5:7. (10) Heb 12:6. (11) La 3:31. (12) Eph 4:30. (13) Heb 6:12. (14) 1 Pe 1:3, 4; Heb 1:14.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 34, answers:
Q: What is adoption?
A: Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, (1) whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God. (2)
(1) 1 John 3:1. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
(2) John 1:12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Romans 8:17. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study has been to help the reader magnify the Lord God for the marvelous grace by which believers are made children of God, through no merit of their own. It is the author’s prayer that this end has been attained.
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Notes
1. Matthew Poole, “Matthew Poole’s Commentary on the Holy Bible” (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, reprinted 1985), 663.
2. Alexander MacLaren, “MacLaren’s Expositions of the Holy Scriptures: Romans”, vol. 13 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing, reprinted 1988), 133.
3. Albert Barnes, “Barnes’ Notes on the Bible: Psalms”, The Ages Digital Library Commentary, 1614.
4. W. E. Vine, “An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words” (Iowa Falls, IA: Riverside Book and Bible House), 23–24.
5. John Murray, “Redemption Accomplished and Applied” (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1955), 132, 134.
Declaration
“For transparency, I note that I used Grok, an AI tool developed by xAI, and Grammarly AI for editorial assistance in drafting, organizing, and refining the manuscript’s clarity and grammar, as indicated in the article’s attribution. All theological arguments, exegesis, and interpretations are my own, and I take full responsibility for the content.” – Jack Kettler
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
God Bless,
