By adoption, God transfers us strangers and foreigners (who were the servants or slaves of Satan) from the family of the old Adam and the power of darkness and admits us into His own family and the kingdom of light and gives us the dignity of sons. He not only bestows upon us the glorious name of dearly beloved sons with the distinctions and honors pertaining to them, but also gives us a right to all His goods of grace as well of glory. All this comes under the name of inheritance as acquired not by any merit but given by the mere grace of the Father.
Francis Turretin (1623-1687)
Francis Turretin (1623-1687)
Let it be duly noted that it is through Jesus Christ [that] we are sons and heirs of God. Christ is our pattern in election—the One to Whose image we are predestinated to be conformed. Christ is God's natural Son, and we become (by union with Christ) God's legal sons. "That he might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom 8:29) signifies that God did set up Christ as the prototype and masterpiece and made us to be so many little copies and models of Him. Every dignity we possess, every blessing we enjoy—save our election when God chose us in Him—we owe to Christ. He is the virtual cause of our adoption. Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952)
God sent His Son, and now He sends His Spirit. Because Christ has been sent, therefore the Spirit is sent; and now you shall know the Holy Ghost's indwelling because of Christ's incarnation. The Spirit of light, the Spirit of life, the Spirit of love, the Spirit of liberty—the same Spirit that was in Christ Jesus is in you. The same Spirit that descended upon Jesus in the waters of baptism also descended upon you. You, O child of God, have the Spirit of God as your present guide and comforter; and He shall be with you forever. The life of Christ is your life, and the Spirit of Christ is your Spirit.
C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)
C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)
The sons of God are all led by His Spirit... They are led away from sin, away from self-righteousness, away from the world. This is the road by which the Spirit leads God's children. Those whom God adopts, Ile teaches and trains. He shows them their own hearts. He makes them weary of their own ways. He makes them long for inward peace. They are led to Christ. They are led to the Bible. They are led to prayer. They are led to holiness. This is the beaten path along which the Spirit makes them to travel. Those whom God adopts He always sanctifies. He makes sin very bitter to them. He makes holiness very sweet. Settle this down in your heart, and do not let it go. The sons of God are a people led by the Spirit of God.
J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)
J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)
You ought to feel a sweet joy in the perpetual relationship that is now established between you and God, for Jesus is still your brother. You have been adopted, and God has never canceled adoption yet. There is such a thing as regeneration, but there is not such a thing as the life then received dying out. If you are born unto God, you are born unto God. The stars may turn to coals, and the sun and moon may become clots of blood; but he that is born of God has a life within him that can never end. He is God's child, and God's child he shall be. Therefore, let him walk at large like a child, an heir, a prince of the blood royal, who bears a relationship to the Lord that neither time nor eternity can ever destroy. This is why Jesus was made of a woman and made under the Law: that He might give us to enjoy the fullness of the privilege of adopted sons.
C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)
C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)
What are the proofs that any one of us can have that we have been adopted? Well, you can find the Scriptural proof: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:26). Also, in I Peter 1:3-6, you find it again: we have been begotten again "unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you"—for us who believe in Him. We are the inheritance, that is, the children. It is for all of us who believe in Christ.
Then the second way of assurance is that we are given "the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15); "We receive the adoption of sons" (Gal 4:5). You can be assured of the fact that you have received the adoption because you know that the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you. We saw the evidence for that earlier, so you can work it out. Especially, we have His testimony with our spirits that we
are the children of God. If we have that testimony of the Spirit with our spirit, it is an absolute proof that we have received the adoption.
And then last of all, I would put the fact that we are led by the Spirit. That is Paul's argument: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom 8:14). Paul does not say, "As many as are actively acting as peacemakers or who are loving their enemies..." No! "As many as are led by the Spirit of God"—those who subject themselves to His leading and who rejoice in being led by Him, they are the sons of God.
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)
Then the second way of assurance is that we are given "the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Rom 8:15); "We receive the adoption of sons" (Gal 4:5). You can be assured of the fact that you have received the adoption because you know that the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you. We saw the evidence for that earlier, so you can work it out. Especially, we have His testimony with our spirits that we
are the children of God. If we have that testimony of the Spirit with our spirit, it is an absolute proof that we have received the adoption.
And then last of all, I would put the fact that we are led by the Spirit. That is Paul's argument: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom 8:14). Paul does not say, "As many as are actively acting as peacemakers or who are loving their enemies..." No! "As many as are led by the Spirit of God"—those who subject themselves to His leading and who rejoice in being led by Him, they are the sons of God.
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)