Moving Message on Adoption

Introduction and Church Partnership Appeal

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Romans 8 and Galatians 4: Adoption as Sons

If you have access to God's word, I invite you to take it and turn with me to Romans chapter 8. Actually there will be two openings. Romans chapter 8 and Galatians chapter 4. Always a delight to be with you over the years.

It's been a joy to get to know so many of you and minister God's word with you and among you and see the growth of Apologia not only locally but it's outreach around the world. And really it's a joy to partner with you.

We're over on the west side. I bring you greetings from King's Church in Peoria, Arizona. Might as well be Australia. It's a long way away, west side of the valley. And really I'm so looking forward to meeting some of you and getting to know some new faces.

But looking forward to what the Lord will do amongst us as his word goes forth. We're in the book of Romans chapter 8. Genesis, Exodus, Romans.

There it is.

Praise the Lord.

Romans chapter 8. I'm going to begin reading in verse 14. Actually verse 12. Romans 8 and verse 12. And ladies and gentlemen this is the word of God. So then brethren we are under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.

For if you live according to the flesh you must die. But if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are being led by the spirit of God these are sons of God.

For you have not received the spirit of slavery leading to fear again. But you have received the spirit of adoption as sons. By which we cry out Abba Father. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.

And if children heirs also. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. And then in Galatians chapter 4. The same apostle Paul writes.

Verse 1. Now I say as long as the heir is a child he does not differ at all from a slave. Although he is owner of everything. But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. So also we.

While we were children were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the time came. God sent forth his son. Born of a woman. Born under the law. So that he might redeem those who are under the law.

That we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts. Crying Abba Father. Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son. And if a son then an heir through God.

Let's pray together. Lord we thank you for your holy inspired infallible word. And we now ask that the same Holy Spirit. Who is the author of scripture would come alongside us. And help us understand and apply it.

That you might be glorified in all things. Pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Just a few thoughts. A couple of thoughts before we begin. A word about quotes. Obviously I do not wish to quote heretics.

It's not a habit of mine. But I also want to say when someone is quoted. It's not an endorsement of all they may have said elsewhere in their lifetime. Some people have the idea that you have to agree 100 with everybody you quote.

Well there will be a very limited group of people you could quote. And sometimes people come and say well you quoted this guy. Do you know that in 1937 in a village hut in Denmark. He said this. And I say no I didn't know that.

But when I quoted the man it's not to say I endorse what he said in the hut in Denmark. It just means I like what he said when I quoted what he said. And that's all it means. Another word would be about human analogies.

We have to use them because we're human. And it helps us understand things. But although they're often times extremely useful. Often times they also are limited. They have their limitations. Especially when we come to talk about God.

There's nothing in this world quite like our God. And therefore any analogy we use is limited. And such is the case when I tell you of a story I once heard. Of two little girls. One was born into the family.

The other was adopted. In a normal relationship you understand little girls can fight with each other. Of course little boys don't.

Sure.

Well in this particular fight the one born into the family said this. Well I'm mummy and daddy's real daughter. The other girl adopted. Looked a little downcast for a moment. And then she perked up and she said.

Well mummy and daddy had to have you. But they chose me. The second story. It's actually taken from a book written by Russell Moore. Adopted for Life. Which is a super book about not only human adoption.

But divine adoption. Adopted for Life. The priority of adoption for Christian families and churches. It's had a wide readership and rightly so. On page 21. Russell Moore writes this. When Maria and I first walked into the orphanage.

Where we were led to the boys. The Russian courts had picked out for us to adopt. We almost vomited. In reaction to the stench and squalor of the place. The boys were in cribs. In the dark. Lying in their own waste.

Leaving them at the end of each day was painful. But leaving them the final day. Before going home to wait for the paperwork to go through. Was the hardest thing either of us had ever done. Walking out of the room to prepare for the plane ride home.

Maria and I could hear Maxim calling out for us. And falling down in his crib convulsing in tears. Maria shook with tears of her own. I turned around to walk back into their room. Just for a minute. And I placed my hand on both of their heads and said.

Knowing they couldn't understand a word of English. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you. I don't think I consciously intended to cite Jesus words to his disciples. In John 14 verse 18.

It just seemed like the only thing worth saying at the time. Later on. Russell Moore writes this. Page 38. When my wife Maria and I at long last received the call that the legal process was over. And we returned to Russia to pick up our new sons.

We found that their transition from orphanage to family was more difficult than we had supposed. We dressed the boys in outfits our parents had bought for them. We nodded our thanks to the orphanage personnel.

And walked out into the sunlight. To the terror of the two boys. They had never seen the sun. They had never felt the wind. They had never heard the sound of a car door slamming. Or had the sensation of being carried along at 100 miles an hour down a road.

I noticed that they were shaking. And reaching back to the orphanage in the distance. I whispered to Sir Guy. Now Timothy.

That place is a pit.

If only you knew what's waiting for you. A home with a mommy and a daddy who love you. Grandparents and great-grandparents. And cousins and playmates. And McDonald's Happy Meals. But all they knew was the orphanage.

It was squalid. But they had no other reference point. It was home. We knew the boys had acclimated to our home. That they trusted us when they stopped hiding food in their highchairs. They knew there would be another meal coming.

And they wouldn't have to fight for the scraps. This was the new normal. They are now thoroughly Americanized. Perhaps too much so. Able to recognize the sound of a microwave ding from 40 yards away. I still remember though.

Those little hands. Reaching for the orphanage. And I see myself there. It's a deeply moving story. And yet it pictures something even greater. In fact, far greater. Divine adoption. Hear these familiar words from Ephesians chapter 1.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. In the heavenly places in Christ. Just as He chose us in Him. Before the foundation of the world.

That we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons. Through Jesus Christ to Himself. According to the kind intention of His will. To the praise of the glory of His grace.

Which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of our trespasses. According to the riches of His grace. Which He lavished on us. Let's go back to the book of Romans and chapter 8.

Where the apostle is outlining. What God has done for all those who've come to faith in Jesus Christ. Along the way as the book of Romans has unfolded. And has allowed us to understand the gospel. This gospel starts not with the good news of who we are.

Because we've made it in life very well. And God's really thrilled we've turned out as well as we did. But the book of Romans reveals the deep chasm there is. Between us and God. And that all of us both Jew and Gentile are under sin.

In chapter 1 through to chapter 3. That is the message. Whether someone is Jewish and has the right background by way of the scripture. Or else they're Gentile and idolaters. All are under sin. Romans chapter 3 verse 9.

And all, that's Jew and Gentile. Come to know God through the person of Jesus Christ alone. By grace alone. Through faith in Him alone. And that's the message. And Romans 4 makes it clear that this is not a new message.

Abraham got into the kingdom the exact same way. He didn't come in by works. But he believed God. And God credited it to him as righteousness. That's exhibit A in Romans 4. Exhibit B is David. How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin.

Romans 5 .1 makes the declaration. Therefore having been justified by faith. We have peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 6 outlines the fact that because we've come to Christ. And have been justified forever by the declaration of God.

It is not an excuse now to live a life of sin. May we continue in sin that grace may abound. And the answer is God forbid. We've got a new nature now. One that wants to do the will of God. And yet Romans 7 says there's still this struggle with the flesh.

That each of us as Christians go through this side of glory. Romans 8 starts with the declaration. The banner headline.

No condemnation.

No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Plus nothing. Not looking at your works. Not looking at your performance. Because of the person and the work of Christ. We can say to anyone who believes in Christ.

You are under no condemnation. And more than that. The end of the chapter tells us there's no separation. No separation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And yet we see in verse 14. Those who are literally regularly being led. It's in the continuous tense. Those who are on the way being led by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God.

These are the sons. The mature sons.

The chios.

The sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery. Leading to fear again. But you've received a spirit of adoption as sons. By which we cry out. Abba. Father. Slavery. And adoption. Are contrasted.

Slavery is part of the old. Adoption now.

The new.

And yet there's this inward cry of Abba.

Father.

Which means in Hebrew that word Abba. Dear Father. Some people have the idea that it's simply for the babies and the toddlers to use the word Abba. But if you were to go to Israel. You could have a grown man of 60 or 70.

And if his father was still alive age 80 or 90. He might still use that word Abba. It is a word of deep personal affection. And intimacy as well as respect. I've been in some particular churches. That shall be nameless.

And it's often the case that they will pray.

Oh Daddy.

Talking to God. I think. I'm not sure I feel comfortable with that. Because although that is an element. And a young child might so well learn in Hebrew. The word Abba. Which does mean Daddy. It does mean reverend father.

It does mean a word of respect as well. And so I like to say our father. The child in heaven. Rather than our daddy.

But.

The idea is. Of a definite personal relationship. That is one of warmth. And affection. And intimacy. As well as respect. Concerning this. Doctrine of adoption. If you go to verse 23.

You'll realize.

That although we've been adopted. We have not fully realized. All that is involved in our adoption. We still await something. The redemption of our bodies. Verse 23. And not only this. But also we ourselves.

Having the first fruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves. Grown within ourselves. Waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons. The redemption of our body. In the reformation.

Rightly so.

The reformers preach. The message of justification. By faith alone. Sola Fide. In Latin. And this is the concept. Born out of scripture. Romans being one of the many passages. And books of the Bible that teach this.

That when someone comes to faith in Jesus Christ. At that moment. They are justified in God's sight. It's not a feeling. It's not an experience. It's a declaration of God. God himself declares. In his court.

The man. The woman. The boy. The girl.

That puts their faith in Jesus Christ. Justified. Not guilty. Reckon righteous. With the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is a courtroom word. It is the word of the court. So that you can look back at it.

As a Christian. And though you might not have felt it. Or experienced it. You know it. Because Romans 5 .1 says it. I've had faith in Jesus. And I'm justified forever. In your bulletin. There's a quote.

And it's this. Justification by faith alone. Gives the child of God a sure. And impenetrable legal standing. And status before God. God declares all who put their faith in Christ. Righteous in his sight.

Rightly this doctrine stands at the very heart. Of the biblical gospel. As Martin Luther stated. Justification is the article. Upon which the church. And the individual stands or falls. Yet even with.

This sure and certain knowledge. The Christian. Can often feel distant from God. Merely tolerated. Because he happens to have the right paperwork. If that in any way describes your relationship with God.

The great news is this.

God adopted you.

That might not mean. Too much to you just now. But when you see. The full ramifications. Of your adoption in Christ. I believe your heart. Will burst forth with joy. The apostle John wrote this. See what greater love the Father has bestowed on us.

That we would be called children of God. And such we are. He understood what you and I need to understand. God got all the paperwork in place. At great cost to himself. So that he could unveil and display his love for you now.

And for all eternity. Pull up a chair. Feel free to kick your shoes off. You have. All the privileges. Of sonship in his family. You're welcome in his house.

Forever.

It is the article. Upon which. We have the. Standing or falling church. According to Martin Luther justification. Calvin said justification is the main hinge on which. Salvation turns. Later Martin Luther.

Said this. This is the chief article. From which all other doctrines have floated alone. It alone begets. Nourishes.

Builds.

Preserves.

And defends the church of God. And without it the church of God. Cannot exist for one hour. Justification is the master and prince.

The Lord.

The ruler. And the judge over all kinds of doctrines. Later he said this. When the article of justification has fallen. Everything has fallen. Therefore it's necessary. Constantly. To inculcate. And impress it.

As Moses says of his law. For it cannot be inculcated. And urged enough or too much. Do you hear the implications of that? I believe in every sermon there should be the gospel. And for it to be the gospel.

There must be some recognition of how the person and work of Christ affects us. How we come into the kingdom of God. By repenting and believing. And that by grace alone. Through faith alone.

In Christ alone.

A man and a woman is justified before God. And Luther says you can't stress that. You can't inculcate that enough. Sermon number one. Justification. Luther says that's good. Sermon number two. Sermon number 52.

Sermon number 5472. Justification by faith alone. Basically Luther is saying. I'm good with that. You can't say it enough. There's other things to talk about. But everything should relate back to the message of Christ.

And him crucified. And what Christ has done for us on the cross. Thomas Cranmer said this. Justification is the strong rock and foundation of Christian religion. Whoever denies this doctrine is not to be counted for a true Christian man.

But an adversary of Christ. Strong words. I believe he's right. John Stott. Justification is not a synonym for amnesty. Which is pardon without principle. A forgiveness which overlooks, even forgets wrongdoing.

And declines to bring it to justice.

No.

Justification is an act of justice. When God justifies sinners. He's not declaring bad people to be good. Or saying that they're not sinners after all. He's pronouncing them legally righteous. Free from any liability to the broken law.

Because he himself in his son has borne the penalty of their law breaking. We're justified by his blood. Why is faith that which connects us with the righteousness of Christ? And justifies us? John Gerstner said this.

But why is faith the means of justification? Question. Simply because it is the act of union with Jesus Christ. Faith is our coming to him. Our trusting him. Our resting in him. The moment we are united to him.

We are immediately endowed with all that he has secured for us. All that he has secured for us. We're immediately justified before we've done a single good deed. Because we're his and he is God's. Just as...

Now hear this. Just as a very poor woman is a very poor woman. Until the very moment that she marries a wealthy man. But at that moment that she becomes his wife. She becomes a wealthy woman. It is by means of her acceptance that she becomes a wealthy woman.

But her acceptance does not make her a wealthy woman. It is her husband's wealth that makes her so. So faith does not justify. Christ justifies. But faith is the act of union with Christ. Do you follow that?

If you do, you understand the gospel in clear terms. So important we grasp this. Because anything else is a different message and therefore a different gospel. I'd like to quote something from my second book, The Five Solas.

It's actually a lengthy quote from Michael Reeves. It's actually now a book that is available in Spanish. Las Cinco Solas. There was a gentleman at our church who bought four of them. And that was interesting.

So that's Cuatro Cinco Solas. But Michael Reeves talks about the way Martin Luther used an analogy when he was preaching justification. It's very, very good for us to hear it. So Michael Reeves in his book Why the Reformation Still Matters wrote this.

When Luther first sought to explain his Reformation discovery to the world, it was the story of a wedding that framed what he said. Drawing on the romance of the lover and his beloved in Song of Solomon, he told the gospel as the story of the rich and divide bridegroom who marries this poor wicked harlot, redeems her from all her evil and adorns her with all his goodness.

At the wedding, a wonderful exchange takes place whereby the king takes all the shame and debt of his bride and the harlot receives all the wealth and royal status of a bridegroom. For Jesus and the soul that is united to him by faith, it works like this, quoting Luther, Christ is full of grace, life and salvation.

The soul is full of sins, death and damnation. Now let faith come between them and sins, death and damnation will be Christ's, while grace, life and salvation will be the soul's. For if Christ is the bridegroom, he must take upon himself the things which are his bride's and bestow upon her the things that are his, if he gives her his body and very self.

How shall he not give her all that is his? And if he takes the body of the bride, how shall he not take all that is hers? Again, to quote Dr. Reeves, in the story, the prostitute finds that she's been made a queen.

That does not mean she always behaves as befits royalty, but however she behaves, her status is royal.

She's now the queen.

So it is with the believer. She remains a sinner and continues to stumble and wander, but she has the righteous status of a perfect and royal bridegroom. She is, and until death will remain at the same time, both utterly righteous in her status before God and sinner in her behavior.

Here we get the famous phrase that Martin Luther coined, justus et peccator, at the same time, just and sinner. In one sense, we are a sinner. We are deserving God's wrath for our sin, and yet at the same time, covered in the righteousness of Christ, we're just before a holy God.

Dr. Reeves goes on, that means that it's simply wrong-headed for the believer to look to her behavior as an accurate yardstick of a righteousness before God. Her behavior and her status are distinct.

Let me say that again. Her behavior and her status are distinct. The prostitute will grow more queenly as she lives with the king and feels the security of his love, but she will never become more the queen.

Just so, the believer will grow more Christ-like over time, but never more righteous. Thus, because of Christ and not because of her performance, the sinner can know a despair-crushing confidence. Luther again, Her sins cannot now destroy her, since they are laid upon Christ and swallowed up by Him.

And she has that righteousness in Christ her husband, of which she may boast as of her own, and which she can confidently display alongside her sins in the face of death and hell,.

And say,.

If I have sinned, yet my Christ in whom I believe has not sinned, and all His is mine, and all mine is His. Ladies and gentlemen, what an insight. Justification by faith alone is really shorthand for justification by Christ alone.

We're saved by the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is not the Savior. Jesus is the Savior. Faith is therefore not some meritorious act that we perform that gains God's favor. Christ has gained favor for sinners in His life, death, burial, and resurrection.

And God's salvation is His work from start to finish.

B .B. Warfield,.

It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. Is that your understanding? It needs to be for it to be a gospel understanding. Justification is the declaration of God that sins have been forgiven and righteousness achieved by someone other than yourself, the Lord Jesus Christ, and you stand righteous in His sight because of your faith in Christ.

It's justification, not probation. So many Christians think that, Okay, for now, God has kind of wiped the slate clean. I'm kind of out of prison now, but God's watching me. Yeah, I'm out of prison, but I'm being watched.

And one more slip-up, and I'm back behind bars. Neither is God's courtroom decision up for renegotiation. When our performance as a Christian isn't so good, oftentimes the devil hounds our minds. And we are often, because we're not grounded in justification by faith alone as the gospel, we surrender to his lies.

We're not grounded in the truth of the Bible. And therefore we say, Okay, yeah, maybe my justification is up for renegotiation. Never renegotiate. God has gone to the court for you and made His pronouncement.

Not guilty. Reckon righteous in the righteousness of His Son. Romans 8 goes on to say that God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Someone may stand outside the courtroom protesting.

Might be the devil himself. Might be your own conscience.

But it doesn't matter.

God has justified the sinner who's put faith in Jesus Christ. That's the message of justification. And it is so needed. And yet, another doctrine so, so important is a related doctrine called adoption.

It's a somewhat neglected doctrine. I mentioned one book that is of great value. I'd mention another for the theologians amongst you who want to go a little bit further than today's message. Sons in the Sun by David Garner.

Really very thick book about adoption in the New Testament. As I say, it's a neglected doctrine.

But it's essential.

And as a pastor living amongst the flock, I often come across people who kind of grasp justification, but they do doubt God's love for them in the pursuit of assurance, assurance before a holy God. The doctrine of adoption is especially needed.

In the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 in modern English, it reads in chapter 12 concerning adoption, God has granted that all those who are justified would receive the grace of adoption in and for the sake of only His Son, of His only Son, Jesus Christ.

By this they are counted among the children of God and enjoy the freedom and privileges of that relationship. They inherit His name, receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness and are enabled to cry, Abba, Father.

They're given compassion, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as a Father. Yet they are never cast off, but are sealed for the day of redemption and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation.

It's a great statement born out of many years of theologians pouring their lives into the Scriptures and understanding what it says. J. I. Packer, to quote him once again in his colossal book, Knowing God, if you have not read that book, I would really encourage you to do that.

On page 206, 207, he writes this, That justification by which we mean God's forgiveness of the past together with His acceptance for the future is the primary and fundamental blessing of the gospel is not in question.

Justification is the primary blessing because it meets our primary spiritual need. We all stand by nature under God's judgment. His law condemns us. Guilt gnaws at us, making us restless, miserable. And in our lucid moments, afraid, we have no peace in ourselves because we have no peace with our Maker.

So we need the forgiveness of our sins and assurance of a restored relationship with God. More, we need it. More than we need anything else in the world. And this the gospel offers us before it offers us anything else.

But, Packer goes on, but contrast this now with adoption. Adoption is a family idea conceived in terms of love and viewing God as Father. In adoption, God takes us into His family and fellowship. He establishes us as His children and heirs.

Closeness, affection, and generosity are at the heart of the relationship. To be right with God, the judge, is a great thing. Now hear this. To be right with God, the judge, is a great thing. But to be loved and cared for by God, the Father, is greater.

To be right with Him is great. But to be loved and cared for by Him is greater. Is that your experience? Can you say you have this close personal relationship with God? May I suggest if that's not the case, you immerse yourself in the doctrine of adoption.

Adoption, Sonship, and the Spirit of Crying Abba, Father

Let's go to Galatians chapter 4. There we read the words we've already read and they thunder out a message to us. God has adopted us as sons. We see the necessity of it in verses 1 through 3. Adoption's necessity.

I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he's owner of everything. But he's under guardians and managers until the date set by the Father. So also we, we Christians, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.

That's our former condition. It's one of condemnation. We deserve the anger of God because of our sin. In other words, sonship, to be called a child of God, is not our natural condition before God. This sonship is adoptive sonship.

Do you remember the Scripture in John chapter 1 verse 12? To as many as received Him. Talking of Christ. To them He gave the right. To them He gave the right to be called children of God, even to those who believe in His name.

We are not adopted by being born. We're adopted by being born again. Verses 1 through 3 here we have the Jews enslaved and verse 8 especially reveals that the Gentiles are also enslaved.

Verse 8,.

However, at that time when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. Thankfully, while we were in this state of condemnation and enslaved, God took the initiative. The initiative did not come from man.

There was a divine initiative and an intervention. Look at verse 4. Thankfully, whenever we see ourselves portrayed in the bleak and dark light of Scripture as to our human condition outside of Christ, you'll read Paul saying the word but oftentimes.

Ephesians chapter 2 verse 4. But God. And here we have an apostolic but that tells us the truth. But when the fullness of the time came, when God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that He might redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Notice the progression. One thing comes before the other. Redemption before adoption. We need to be set free from slavery before we can really function as sons. And as wonderful as redemption is, as great and majestic as redemption rightfully is, adoption is an even greater blessing.

Let me say this. Someone who's been in prison can have their sentence end by them fulfilling what the law has demanded and they are certainly then released from prison. But if no one's waiting for them when they come outside the prison, what happens with no money in their pocket?

Do they just roam around the countryside hoping for scraps to eat? Is that the new life of the once enslaved man behind bars? That's not the case for the child of God. God doesn't just release you from prison.