Featured Adoption

There was another thread where I had fully explained this concept. I didn't realize it was now closed. Let me copy my previous post from that thread here:

A lexicon can only give you the literal meaning of a word, like a dictionary does. For example, if you look up "church" in the dictionary it may give you "denomination" as in Roman Catholic Church, a definition nowhere found in the Bible.
Meanings of words are found in the contexts in which they are used.

Go again to Romans 8:
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 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.
--Verse 14 speaks both of sonship, which begins at salvation, and relationship, which continues throughout one's spiritual journey as a child of God. We have that relationship because we are the "sons of God."

In verse 15, "the spirit of bondage" is pitted against (or contrasted to) the "Spirit of adoption." An unsaved person is a servant to the law and in bondage to the law. When he is born again he is freed from the law and of servitude to it. Out of bondage he comes, as a slave to it, and is put into the household of God.
Paul said:
Romans 1:1 Paul, bondman of Jesus Christ, [a] called apostle, separated to God's glad tidings, (Darby)
He was a bondman, a slave, to Christ, but not under the law.
Thus he is now in God's household as a slave.
As a slave the relationship is different. It is different in two ways:
One, it is in a spirit of adoption. A slave is adopted not born.
Second, it is in a spirit of love. The love is so intense that he calls his Father, "Abba," the most endearing term a child has for his parent.

There are three aspects of adoption; or three ways in which it is used:
Here in verse 15, it refers to the reality of adoption which we are very conscious of. We know that we are sons of God. We have a daily relationship with him. We have been adopted into his family. We are his servants, to do as he commands.

In verse 23 it looks forward to the time when the body will be redeemed or glorified.

In Romans 9:4
Romans 9:4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
--Here it looks back to the time when God designated Israel as his sons.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Here the word "adoption" means "son-placing," that which God did when we were born into his family--regenerated/saved. We were given all the rights and privileges of son-ship. Every person that is born into the family of God is also a "son," and has all the privileges given to such a one--special privileges.

Thus there are three aspects to adoption, only one of which is future.

 

Great misunderstanding of "son" by all parties involved, IMHO

 

Even in this summary you are confused.

There are a plethora of verses on adoption. The doctrine is not just confined to four verses in the Bible. An in-depth study would involve the dozens of Scripture which speak of adoption in the OT, and how that relates to us in the NT. You haven't even scratched the surface.

Vine is one source out of hundreds. Why do you think he is the be all and end all of this subject? There is far more to be said on this subject than the opinion Vine has to offer.

 

Hath in these last days spoken unto us by Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by( by (241x), through (88x), with (16x), for (58x), for ... sake (47x), therefore (with G5124) (44x), for this cause (with G5124) (14x), because (52x), misc (86x).) whom also he made the worlds; Hebrews 1:2

Here we have one as he called God in V1, we also have one, called Son.
The one called he appoints the one called Son as heir of everything that is.
Heir equaling to at some point in time to take possession of, inherit.

Son relative to one called God.

God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Acts 13:33 What does begotten mean there? What was Jesus before that took place? Dead for one thing. But what about before he died? What then?

What about? John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Only begotten. Different word for begotten there yet what is there is relative to Son and also relative to God. Does it bind them together in some manner.

What about? Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”
and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. fn And he called His name JESUS.

Did that in bold actually take place? Did a virgin woman actually conceive and give birth to a man child who was fathered by Spirit the God Holy? Did the ovum of this woman begin to divide and divide until this man child was formed and brought forth from her attached to her by an umbilical cord?

Was this the Son of the living God?

This man child was conceived (begotten) in this woman by the Holy Spirit, God.

Are we begotten (conceived) by the Holy Spirit, God through a woman as children of God?

Are we begotten (conceived) as children of God by the Spirit of adoption through Jesus Christ.

When Jesus was conceived in the virgin Mary and brought froth from her and named Jesus did he then inherit all things or is that when he became the heir of all things?

God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Acts 13:33 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matt 28:16-18 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

When did the heir of all things become the inheritor of all things?

Now we as children of God having been given the Spirit of adoption, begotten, conceived have become because of that Spirit of adoption, joint heirs with Jesus Christ, the declared Son of God with power.
Jesus, the beginning, first born out of the dead.

Except a man be born again he cannot inherit, enter, see.

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Heb 1:1,2

What is man? But now we see not yet all things put under him. (Man)
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, (appointed heir of all things) crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Hebrews 2:8-10
And being made perfect, he became (the heir inherited) the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Heb 5:9

Conceived through adoption, will be born as the first born was.

And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

 

You are simply playing word games; semantics.
Can you get to heaven without being born again? No.
Can you get to heaven without being justified? No.
Can you get to heaven without "calling on the name of the Lord." No.
Can you get to heaven without "faith and repentance toward God." No.

Adoption is one of the operations that God does when we become children of God. So is sanctification. Your statement becomes irrelevant in that context.
The new birth and adoption are not the same thing, and I don't know who here is saying they are except for you.

 

This statement: "Adoption refers to our bodily redemption at Christ's second coming. That is what I am saying adoption is. I am saying adoption is not being born anew. That is what I am saying."
is where you go wrong.

You confine adoption to one and only one aspect. It has more than one aspect. If God hasn't adopted you as His son, then you aren't saved.
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:

Look carefully at the above wording. Those that are saved are "those that believe on his name." The word "power" is the word for "authority" as it is translated in other translations. When one is born again he becomes a child of God. At the same time he is given the authority, that adopted right, as a mature son, that will gain the inheritance so promised in Romans 8.
As sons, we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. We became sons by adoption.
We became children by the new birth. There is a difference between a child and a (mature) son. Only when the son is mature (in our physical world) does he receive the inheritance. An infant does not receive the inheritance. If his adoptive parents die it is put in trust until he becomes of age. Only a mature son can receive it.
Rom.8:23 speaks of the resurrection, that which is still future.
But a child that has trusted Christ, a young person, will still go to heaven when he dies. Spiritually he has been adopted. Ask the testimonies of those on the board. Some here have trusted Christ as early as four and five years old, an age at which, in our earthly society one would never receive their inheritance. But all the saved receive their full inheritance in heaven no matter what their physical age was on earth because they were adopted the moment they were saved.

If you weren't adopted, then you were not saved. You were not placed as a son into the household of God.

The following is from the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia. I found it to be very helpful. It is only a part of the article: