| Christian Life and Doctrine | May 1966 |
Sonship
“THEN they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”—Mal. 3:16,17
“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.”—I John 3:1,2
“For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”—Gal. 3:26
“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”—Phil. 2:15
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. … 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.”—Rom. 8:14,16,17
“A wise son heareth his father’s instruction.”—Prov. 13:1
“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”—Rom. 8:19
An appreciation of our sonship should be an aid to our faithfulness. It is a privilege to be a child of God—not everyone is. According to the Word, we were all born “children of wrath,” “children of this world.” And if it were not for the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, we would still be under the condemnation of death. It is written that when the foundations of the earth were laid, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” (Job 38:7) Also, speaking of angels, it is written in Genesis 6:2: “The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair.”
Adam Lost Sonship
Adam was created a son of God—an earthly, a human son, in the image and likeness of God, although a little lower than the angels. Adam lost his sonship through disobedience. With it he lost communion with God. His children did not have the blessing of being sons of God, nor did they have the fellowship of communion with God. But the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:1-3 writes, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
The apostle tells us that we were born children of Adam’s disobedience, children of God’s wrath, of God’s condemnation in Eden, born dead in trespasses and sins, or, as the Greek translation puts it, “Dead in the trespass”—dead in Adam’s trespass. However, we find a ray of hope in John 3:36: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath [the condemnation] of God abideth on him.” Until the Son here spoken of came into the world there was no hope of sonship for us.
Abraham was a great man, a consecrated man, but he was not a son of God. The record is that he was “a friend of God.” Moses was a great man, a consecrated man, but he was not a son of God. “Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, … but Christ as a Son over his own house; whose house are we.” (Heb. 3:5,6) Thus we are introduced to the house of sons. But how do we become members of this household of sons? How do we change from being children of disobedience, under divine condemnation, to become sons (children) of God?
How We Become Sons
If we are to appreciate this relationship, we must know how it is made possible. Of course, the ransom is the basis of it all. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my Word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24) The apostle corroborates this in Romans 8:1,2: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus bath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
So that is the way we become sons of God—by coming through Christ Jesus, and by exercising our faith in consecration. It is through the imputation of Christ’s merit to those who do thus consecrate. Thus we are covered by the robe of his righteousness, and presented to the Father. Thus we are made acceptable in the Beloved, for the Father sees us as righteous. Thus and only thus are we justified and made acceptable to God. Thus we are released from adamic condemnation. He then begets us by his almighty power, and we become sons of God. No longer children of Adam’s disobedience, we are now described by Peter as “obedient children.” (I Pet. 1:14) To stop short of this is to stop short of sonship.
The Jewish followers of the Master, of course, were the first of the human race to become sons of God. This took place on the Day of Pentecost. John 1:11,12 reads, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 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.” From the days of Cornelius, the Gentile centurion, this privilege of sonship is without restriction of race or color—all peoples and nations and kindred and tongues supply those to make up this house of sons.
Father, Father
Romans 8:14,15 reads: “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 [or pray], Abba, Father.” This expression, “Abba, Father,” is well known to Bible students. It is a beautiful expression. Galatians 4:6,7 reads, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son.” Here the cry or prayer proceeds from our hearts through the vitalizing influence of the Holy Spirit.
“Abba” is the Chaldaic, Syriac (an Aramaic) word for Father, left untranslated. The Greek word is translated “Father.” Our Lord used both words. “Abba” was the word he was brought up with. His natural language as a boy was Chaldaic, Aramaic. He, doubtless, loved to utter his Heavenly Father’s name in the way he was originally taught—in his cherished mother tongue. Think of the simplicity and warmth of our Lord’s words in his prayer of Mark 14:36: “And he said, Abba, Father [Father, Father—Abba, Abba] all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.”
Legal Process
But Romans 8:15 introduces another word. It is the word “adoption.” It is used several times in the New Testament. What does this word mean? In our English vocabulary “adopt” means “to take into one’s own family, by legal process and treat as though it was one’s own child.” The thought is that an adopted son is not really a true son. Is this the case with us? Are we merely being treated as sons—sons by adoption? Or are we really the children of God, begotten of God and through his Spirit? The Greek word from which “adoption” is translated, according to both Young and Strong means “to place as a son,” or “sonship,” or “to place as a son through legal process.” Some of the translations using “sonship,” not “adoption,” are Moffat, the Diaglott, Ferrar Fenton, Rotherham, Goodspeed, and others. So, based on this authority, it would seem that Paul is emphasizing the legal process through which we are made acceptable to God so that we may become sons.
Certain legalities had to be accomplished in the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ before we could become sons. No one understood this better than the Apostle Paul. Paul had recounted these things in the early chapters of Romans. Justice had to be satisfied. The legalities had to be accomplished, so that God could be just and yet the justifier of him that believes in Jesus. But now that the way was opened legally, we are “placed as sons”—we are given “sonship”—not “adoption” as we understand the word today, but sonship through Jesus Christ, by the legal means of redemption. This explanation leaves no disagreement between Paul on the one hand, and Peter, James, and John on the other. How could there be? They were all inspired.
A Different Word
The others used a different word for “sons.” That is part of the power of inspiration. The word they used includes within its meaning: “One who shares the same nature as the Father”—“One whose life is produced by the action of the Father.” It is this word that is used in I Peter 1:14: “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance.” John uses it in John 1:11,12: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 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.” And in I John 3:1,2: “Behold, what manner of love the Father bath 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.”
Paul also uses the same word in describing our sonship. In Philippians 2:15 we read, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke [blemish], in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” Thus again the apostle shows that he has not forgotten the requirements that must be satisfied in order that we should be without blemish before God. But when those legal demands have been met, as they were met in Christ Jesus, then the privilege of sonship—true sonship—is our relationship to God.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God”—Greek: “Sonship by legal action.” So then let us not be confused. It is wrong, unscriptural, to say that we are sons by adoption, even though, as Paul says, we are placed as sons by legal process. But that legal process was not adoption. What was the legal process that Paul was referring to? Man had legally lost his sonship. Christ had to die that we could legally be released from condemnation. Therefore Christ has made it possible, legally possible, for us to be sons of God, real sons, because Christ has legally opened the way.
The Mystery
With this thought established, let us continue. Hebrews 2:10 reads, “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.” The great mystery of apostolic days—the fact that many sons would be brought to glory—was unfolded under the dynamic pronouncements of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. His message is summarized so well in Ephesians 3:4-6: “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel.”
So, as children of God, whether we be Jew or Gentile, we must learn many things. For instance, we must learn to be led by his Spirit, as Romans 8:14 has already told us: “or as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” But what does it mean to be led of the Spirit? Up until the time we consecrated, through the drawings of God, the Holy Spirit was the power that led us toward the greatest decision of our lives. But now, having made that decision, and having become sons of God, the Holy Spirit is our guide, and we must follow its leadings. Our heavenly Father, through the Holy Spirit, directs our providences—we must accept them. It directs the experiences of our life—we must learn the lessons. It reveals God’s will for us—and we must do it. We must forget our own will—we must follow the leadings of divine grace. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. We must be willing to follow, and with open mind accept truth as it is revealed. Let us always remember that light is progressive; truth is progressive. He leads, and as “obedient children” we follow.
As children of God we also must learn obedience. That is a difficult lesson, especially if one is by nature self-willed and self-centered. It was not a difficult lesson for Jesus. But still he had to learn obedience, and so must we. Hebrews 5:8,9 reads: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” And again, II Corinthians 10:4,5 reads, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
The Christian’s Fight
That is quite a fight, and we fight not with carnal weapons of the fleshly mind, with its ambitions and its prejudices and personal aspirations, but with the Word of God, with his Spirit. Thus the strongholds of error, of tradition, of speculation, of self-will, go down. Thus the imaginations of human reasoning and human philosophies fall. Also, every high thing, every haughty attitude, every manifestation of pride, every exultation of self, everything that keeps one from the fullness of his blessing, must be conquered by the power of God’s truth as revealed by the Holy Spirit. Victory in war brings prisoners to the victor’s army. Our victory over tradition and pride and self also brings prisoners. Yes, it brings into captivity every thought of our hearts and minds to the obedience of Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:16,17 seems to sum up this matter of obedience. “Know ye not that … his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” by the Word of God. Yes, praying and obeying go hand in hand. Let us be obedient even unto death.
Chastisement Necessary
And, again, as sons of God, we must endure chastisement. Hebrews 12:5-11, Verkuyl’s rendering, reads: “And you have been forgetful of the appeal that reasons with you as with sons: My son do not think lightly of the Lord’s discipline, neither be fainthearted under his reproof; for the Lord disciplines the person he loves and punishes every son whom he acknowledges. You must endure for the sake of correction. God is treating you as a son. For what sort of son is it whom a father does not discipline? If you receive no correction such as all sons share, then you are illegitimate, and not a son. Now, if we were corrected by our human father and respected him, shall we not far rather submit to our spiritual Father and enjoy life? For while they for a few days disciplined us as they saw fit, he does it for our benefit, so that we may share in his holiness. Of course, all discipline seems at the time not enjoyable but painful; later on, however, it affords those schooled in it the peaceful fruitage of an upright life.”
Here we are taught that chastening need not mean disapproval on the part of our Father. Nor need it mean sin on the part of the son. Rather, our Father knows we need instruction, and that the experiences of life which come to us as chastisements actually show our Father’s love in providing these experiences as part of our schooling, as educational instruction for our spiritual profit. Of course, some chastisements do come as a result of our own mistakes—sometimes in our word, sometimes in our action. The natural consequences that flow from these mistakes are not joyous, but grievous. We all have these mental regrets at times. But words do not die! What is done is done! It is not easy to apologize. But sometimes we must, and sometimes we should and do not, to our own harm.
Think of the heartaches we endure (and cause) because of our own mistakes. Our Father could save us from them, but he doesn’t! These are lessons. They teach us our weaknesses, our dependence on him. They are what the Bible terms “instruction,” “corrections in righteousness.” It is the Spirit witnessing with our spirit that we are truly sons of God. May we always understand this relationship, and always be willing to accept his instructions.
Children of Light
As sons of God we must also realize that we are children of light, and this carries with it responsibility. I Thessalonians 5:5: “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” Ephesians 5:8,9: “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth).” Am I a child of the light? Am I walking in the light? Am I a light in the world? Have I the fruit of light—truth? Am I growing in understanding? Or am I satisfied with the amount of light I now possess?
The “mark” of a Christian among other things might be thought of as a question mark, for only thus will he search the Scriptures. Only thus will he quench his thirst for truth. Only thus will he obtain the fruit of light. Mutual sonship also means mutual brotherhood, and mutual brotherhood means mutual love. And love one for another is not manifested in carping criticism of brethren, neither of the united efforts of his people today to preach the glories of the coming kingdom by TV, radio, printed page, and in other ways.
But the day will soon come when all the spiritual sons of God will have finished their course and taken their place on the throne with him. Having suffered with him, they will be glorified with him as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. This is another privilege of sonship. Romans 8:18,19: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” We also reckon, after proper evaluation, that our suffering is insignificant when compared with the glory which will be ours as overcomers.
Mankind Waiting
The Apostle Paul, enthused with the thought of what that glory would entail, tells us that the whole creation—all mankind—has been groaning and travailing under divine condemnation in this vale of tears, waiting for a better day, waiting for the Golden Age; waiting, not knowing how or when it will come about. But we know that all who will be recognized by God as his sons, whether our reward be in heaven or on earth, must first be freed from the incubus of sin through the blood of Jesus Christ. We know also that ultimately the only ones who will be privileged to exist at all will be those who are sons of God, either on the human or the spiritual plane of existence. We also know what the whole creation is waiting for. They are waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God—waiting for the Lord and the spiritual sons of God to come into power and great glory—waiting for the manifestation, revealment, of the sons of God for the purpose of blessing others with the benefits of salvation.
Let us be faithful, so that we shall have a part in dispensing blessings to all the families of the earth. Let us be faithful, so that we will be there and share in the manifestation of the sons of God. “Now are we the sons of God.” The world does not know this. They did not recognize our Lord as a Son of God. “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.”—I John 3:2