August 6, 2020 Show with Dr. Ron McKinney on “The Practical, Biblical, & Corrective Importance of the Doctrine of Adoption”

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This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Thursday on this sixth day of August, 2020.

I'm thrilled to have back as a returning guest someone who has become one of my very favorite guests,

Dr. Ron McKinney. He is pastor of Kinsey Drive Baptist Church in Dalton, Georgia, and today we are addressing the theme,

The Practical, Biblical, and Corrective Importance of the Doctrine of Adoption, and it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Dr.

Ron McKinney. Thank you, sir. I appreciate the opportunity to be with you, brother.

I've enjoyed it so much. Yes, the pleasure is all mine, brother. And tell us about Kinsey Drive Baptist Church in Dalton, Georgia.

Well, the church has been established here for about 50 years. It's a church that is established on the doctrines of grace, on Christ is what

I would say mostly. We believe in God's amazing grace, and we are a small work, but we've been able to have a great influence over the city that we're in.

We've been here, I've been here for 30 years as pastor of the church, and I have some very sweet and godly people, people that I love, and they seem to love me.

Well, you're easy to love, brother, and I'm sorry.

I appreciate that. I appreciate that. I love those that are in the Lord. You know, there's an affinity that we have,

I believe, almost immediately with those that are in Christ. That's something that the

Bible speaks of, and in fact, that's probably something I'll even mention today when we're talking about adoption, that we have this witness of one another knowing that we are in Christ, and having a relationship with the

Lord gives us a relationship with those that are in Christ. Praise God.

I notice that you are live -streaming our discussion on Facebook.

I'm assuming both sides of the conversation can be heard, am I right? They can.

They can. Yes, sir. I've made provision for us to be able to do that, so I'm hoping that everything goes well.

Great, and for those of you who want to find out more about Kinsey Drive Baptist Church of Dalton, Georgia, go to KinseyDriveBaptistChurch .com,

and Kinsey is spelled K -I -N -S -E -Y, drivebaptistchurch .com.

Well, you have selected this topic, it's a very important topic, and I have addressed the issue of adoption before on the show, but it's one of those doctrines that is so central to the

Christian faith, and I think often overlooked, that I think it bears repeating.

Yes, sir, and I always think about the Apostle John when he said,

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed, that is lavished on us, that we should be called the sons of God.

I believe that he was very much excited about the fact that he had these great privileges and blessings of adoption, and to be taken from an alien family and to be placed into the family of God is the highest privilege,

I believe, that we can enjoy in this life, is that being in the family of God.

You know, the doctrine of adoption, though it's one of the major themes in the

Scriptures, has been given a very small place in the development of the creeds and the confessions of the

Church, which is interesting. It is strange that there are very few that have written about adoption, at least prior to the 1960s and 70s.

I want to read something from J .I. Packer, which I think will illustrate this. J .I.

Packer, of course, wrote Knowing God. He just recently passed away. What a godly, gracious man he was.

I had the privilege of being with him a couple of occasions, but one of the blessings was

I got to pray with him. That doesn't make me anything special, but he just was a godly man.

He said this in his book, Knowing God. He said, apart from two last century books, now scarcely known, that's

R .S. Candish, The Fatherhood of God, and R .A. Webb, The Reformed Doctrine of Adoption, there is no evangelical writing on it, nor has there been at any time since the

Reformation, any more than there was before. Luther's grasp of adoption was as strong and clear as his grasp of justification, but his disciples held to the former and made nothing of the latter.

The Puritan teaching of the Christian life, so strong in other ways, was notably deficient here, which is one reason why legalistic misunderstandings of it so easily arise.

That's from J .I. Packer, who was a Puritan theologian, and he certainly knew what the

Son of God wrote A modern -day Puritan theologian. Yes, sir. And he had written this chapter on sons of God.

If I recommend any book, knowing God is one of them that I recommend all the time.

I spent two years going through the book with my people, just to learn more about God, his nature and his character.

But this subject of adoption, as he stated, was something that was missed.

Now Luther, as he said, may have had a grasp of adoption, but the men that followed in his footsteps, like John Calvin, practically ignored it altogether.

And others that we can know from history had also kind of overlooked it.

For instance, Charles Hodge, he overlooked adoption entirely, and he gave no paragraph heading in his systematic theology for adoption.

That is quite bizarre, because if anybody should be speaking about and declaring and articulating the doctrine of adoption, it's those who are

Reformed Christians, Calvinists. Absolutely. Now, I have a reason,

I think, some reason why that has happened. The emphasis upon New Covenant is one of the things.

But let me, first of all, I want to go back and give you something of the importance of this subject.

I think it has importance because of the fact that people who understand adoption, it gives them a sense of consolation, of comfort and joy, knowing that they have

God as their father. J .R. Packer said this, he said,

Christianity is having God as your father.

Now, I take that to the length that I think of my own earthly father, what he meant to me.

I was privileged to have a godly father, a loving father who spent time with me and taught me and loved me, prayed with me, and we had a tremendous experience together.

But when we talk about a heavenly father, someone who is gracious and loving and kind and everything he's doing, he is doing for our good.

Everything. There's not anything outside of that. Even the trials, tests, hardships, difficulties are all working for our good and ultimately to his glory.

But let me tell you, I had a lady in a church where I pastored in Dallas, Texas, and she and her husband and their children, about four children

I believe, and they attended regularly. And after a few years,

I noticed that she had a rather withdrawing spirit in terms of even when she was at church and worship and she just didn't seem to be very engaging with people, and she was a loving person, but it wasn't obvious that she was experiencing what

I consider the joy of her salvation. Well, what happened was

I spent some time and I talked with her. And what had happened is that she had to get married.

She was pregnant out of wedlock when she was young. And she had this child, and she at that time was about 14 years old.

But she told me, she says, you know, she says, fast forward, she says,

I have felt like I just simply, that God, He loves me,

I know He cares for me, that I'm something special, but at the same time, when

I look at my child and I think of the sin that caused that, she says,

I just don't feel like I deserve anything. And I said,

I said to her, Wanda, you must understand that God loves you now completely and fully.

You're not a second -class Christian. You don't have to wait and feel like, you know, you're taking a backseat to anyone else.

You are fully accepted and received in the

Beloved. He loves you with an everlasting love, you know. And she, over a period of time, understanding adoption, she says, oh,

I see Him as my Father that I can go to Him with anything. And it was just amazing how it transformed her life.

Now, I think a lot of people live with doubt and have sense of, you know, of failing, and they don't understand.

God loves us. Now, this doctrine is important to us because it gives us comfort and solace to all of the saints of God.

When tragedy and with mysterious and frowning providence comes, where do you go?

To whom do you run? I go to the Father. And to be a Christian, to have God as your

Father. Another reason doctrine of adoption is important is because it's biblical.

It is important because we read in Ephesians chapter 1. It talks about the eternal purpose of God, and adoption is a part of it.

It says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ.

I always think, and I emphasize this here, something where we are to praise

God. We're to eulogize God. We're not to praise the Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ. He's given us all spiritual blessings.

I tell you what, in Christ Jesus, we have all spiritual blessings. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.

I tell you, what an amazing thing that he has predestined us to adoption, to be children by Jesus Christ himself.

He has chosen us, and he has adopted us.

Now I love the word predestination, which some people don't like, but you know one of the things about predestination, the word in the

Greek is pro horizo. It means beforehand, pro, horizo means horizon.

In other words, beforehand the boundaries are known.

Now do you see the close connection between election and adoption?

Because he foredayed us to adoption, to have this status and to even be in the family and He says, whom he foreknew, he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son.

There can be no question about it. When we trace our salvation as far back as the

Holy Spirit allows, when we talk about the eternity past, which is not something that we can even understand, but standing central in the purpose of God was the grace of adoption.

Adoption was the pinnacle, it was the apex of the blessings that were conceived in the heart of God, in the mind of God.

What we're examining and looking at today, we're going to unpack here this blessed doctrine of adoption.

And I'm glad you are, because this is one of those aspects of my

Christian life that was absolutely revolutionized after coming to embrace the doctrines of sovereign grace.

I know that, as you probably have heard, there are many in the Reformed faith who complain that far too many

Christians have made the Christian faith overly personal and individualized, where they should be thinking of the corporate body.

Well, that might be true, but at the same time, when I discovered the doctrines of grace, it became infinitely more personal to me, because I recognized that God in His Son, Jesus Christ, did not just die on the cross for a faceless, nameless sea of humanity.

He died for me, and He also, as the Father, adopted me.

And even the wording of adoption is a far more personal thing than predestination, even though I believe predestination is an individual thing.

The word itself just rings more clearly with a personal relationship with God. It is.

There's an intimacy about it that you don't have if you don't understand the doctrine.

You know, when we talk about our Heavenly Father, whereby we cry, Abba, Father, what a relationship we have with Him.

I call Him Papa. I mean, He's my God. In Him I live and move and have my very existence.

And because of that, I have a relationship with Him. I can go to Him with anything.

I can. I don't have to run from Him. In fact, when I sin, what

I do is I run to Him that I might have forgiveness and know that I am forgiven.

You know, it changed my life, too, Chris. I can tell you, when

I came to see this back in 1980, and I was speaking at a conference, and the doctrine of adoption became so real to me and so precious to me.

Because it makes everything else different. I'm not dealing with God as my judge.

I'm dealing with Him as my Father. Now, there are house rules that He has, yes.

But, oh, I tell you, it's different dealing with my Father than it is dealing with a judge. My Father is forgiving.

He's caring. He's loving. And He will provide what I have to do.

Now, let me mention this, Chris, if I may. It is important, the doctrine of adoption, because it corrects error.

For instance, there is what we call universalism, which has reared its ugly head in the last 50 or 75 years, teaching the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.

Now, it might seem maybe unnecessary to say this, but how could any serious student of the

Bible come up with such a teaching that everyone, somehow, in some way, will ultimately end up in heaven?

It is a lie. I just say clearly that it's a lie from the pit of hell, and it has damned some souls.

I know a man in our city that actually teaches universalism. He considers him evangelical.

And yet, I would say it's heretical, and he doesn't know the truth.

You know, Jesus said, you are of your father the devil, and his works do ye do.

And Paul said of us, even, that we were the children of disobedience.

Now, does this teach that there is one family and one father? Not at all.

We are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear son.

Now, does that say that we're all sons of God? No. By as many as received him, that is

Christ, to them gave he power, or the right, or the authority to become the sons of God.

It is said that every generation has their theological debate, and our generation certainly has our own.

One of the ones that we've dealt with, and I still deal with it, is the one on theonomy.

And I just simply bring this up, because I feel that it's important to understand about what this is.

Theonomy is a teaching. It is really, in terms of the old covenant, that all has been brought all into the new covenant.

Their contention is that unless we are bringing over the entire package of the

Mosaic legislation, particularly in its politics and economics and civil aspects, and working them out in the church and in society, we do not know or love

Christ. Now, this is made clear in Greg Monson's book on theonomy and Christian ethics.

He said, if the believer does not aim at full obedience to and promotion of the whole law of God as revealed in God's word, he means by that all of the law of the

Old Testament. We're talking about things such as if you have incorrigible children that they're put to death by stoning.

It's talking about all kinds of laws, ceremonial and so forth.

Those, too, are included. Then he is unwise and does not really know the love of Christ.

That's a direct quote. Now, this statement is nothing more or less than a

Galatian heresy as far as I'm concerned when we understand what he really means by the whole law of God.

Well, let me go on further as we... Oh, one thing I do want to say, since I have had many theonomists on my show as guests and I happen to have theonomists who are friends that I love and brothers, that perhaps one day we can have you on with a theonomist to have a friendly, brotherly discussion about the differences since you find them so important.

I am not a theonomist, but I do not feel as great a distance from them as you do.

Well, I'm going to tell you, you feel like that I'm a distance, but you know, Greg Bonson was a personal friend of mine.

I used to teach with Joe Morecraft way back in the 70s, and I taught...

Another good friend of mine. These are all friends of mine. These are friends of mine.

I put them in the same category. Now, I deal with it from a biblical standpoint.

I love brethren. I'm not trying... It's not my point. What I'm trying to do is, from what

I understand, that's why I'm dealing with it. But from a standpoint,

I believe adoption is something that has been neglected. And, you know, we're not at all trying to destroy any relationships at all.

But at the same time, you have to deal with issues from a biblical standpoint. That's what

I think is important here. Now, etymology of this term. Weophysia, which is used exclusively by the

Apostle Paul. That's a compound word having to do with weophs, which is son, and the other is thesia, which is to be placed, to be placed in a family, to be placed in something.

So, this is what we're dealing with here in this subject of adoption.

It's a word. It was a compound word, meaning, and Paul uses this, the placing of a son into the family.

In fact, I take the scriptures here. It says, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry out,

Abba, Father. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our body.

Now, there's a number of passages of scripture, one in Galatians. But when the fullness of the time was come,

God sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.

W .E. Vine believes that adoption signifies the place and condition of a son given to one to whom it does not naturally belong.

John Murray defines it this way. Adoption is an act of transfer from an alien family into the family of God himself.

Now, there are a few words that we have to be careful of. In the

Bible, there are words we have translated children, which actually means son.

There's technon, which means child. Weos means son.

So we have to be careful when we're translating that we make sure we get them in the right place.

Are we using the right words? In fact, that's where we're going to pick up where you left off about the translation of children to sons.

Or should I say, in your opinion, the most frequently made error in that text is the translation of children.

We'll pick up where you left off because we have to go to our first break. If anybody wants to join us, our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com.

chrisarnson at gmail .com. Give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence if you live outside the

USA. Only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal or private matter. We'll be right back with Ron McKinney after these messages.

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Welcome back. This is Chris Arnzen. If you just tuned us in, our guest today for the fascinating discussion of adoption, the doctrine of adoption, is my friend

Dr. Ron McKinney, pastor of the Kinsey Drive Baptist Church in Dalton, Georgia.

If you have any questions about this doctrine, you can give us an email.

Send us an email at ChrisArnzen at gmail .com. ChrisArnzen at gmail .com. Give us your first name, at least your city and state of residence, and your country of residence if you live outside the

USA. Please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter. I had to cut you off because we were going through a station break, and you were talking about how on occasion there are things that you believe

English translators have made errors on, and you were talking about one particular verse where the word for sons has been, in your opinion, incorrectly translated children.

Yes. Pick it up where you left off. Well, I'm trying to get my thoughts together because I'd like to go ahead and move a little further.

What I was talking about is that occasionally we have translated in our

Bibles children when it should be sons. And I'll bring that up a little bit later as I get to that because we need to understand that God treats us in a different way.

When we come to Christ, we have a different relationship. We're not treated as babes, though we can be babes in the

Lord, but we come in as mature sons. That's the idea.

In fact, when we go back to the history, when we understand something of the history of adoption, we don't have anything as far as the

Jews were concerned. We do have, of course, Moses was adopted. But when we talk about adoption, it's a

Roman ceremony. And among the Romans, the ceremony of adoption consisted in buying the child to be adopted from his parents.

It was for a sum of money that would be given to them. And the parties appeared before the magistrate in the presence of five

Roman citizens. And the adopting father said to the child, are you willing to become my son?

To which the child replied, I'm willing. And then the adopter, holding the money in his hand and at the same time taking hold of the child, said,

I declare this child to be my son according to the Roman law. And he bought with his money this child.

Now, the relation we see here was formed according to the law.

An adopted son entered into the family of the new father, assuming his name, being subject to his authority, and was made a legal heir to the whole of the inheritance or to a share of it if there were any other son.

Now, when we talk about sonship, we have to understand that we're talking about what

God has done for us and that we are adopted into the family of God.

We come as full sons, not as babes or as a child.

We come as a son. That's very important. Now, sonship is used in the

Bible. There are at least four uses. In the New Testament, there are four uses of the designation of sons.

First of all, there is the sonship of Christ with the Father.

And, of course, that is something that is unique and is exclusive. Blessed be

God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. John records our

Lord praying to his Father in Heaven and calling him, My Father.

You never find our Lord praying, Our Father. He never associates us with himself by speaking of Our Father.

He always distinguishes between his sonship and ourselves, as when he speaks of the

Father of me and the Father of you. And then, secondly, there is the relationship of God the

Creator to his creatures that may be designated sonship. Paul on Mars, we read in Acts chapter 17 on Mars Hill, when speaking to the pagan philosophers, says,

For in him we live and move and have our being, as certain also of your poets have said,

For we are also the offspring, or as much then as we are the offspring of God.

Now, this is not the universal fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man, but is, simply speaking, in the sense that God has created us.

If we are the product of God's creative activity, how can we create something and then call that God?

He was exposing their folly of idolatry. And so he alludes to a remote connection to the

Father. And then the third term, adoption, is not only used by Paul in reference to the

New Testament believer, but is also used in reference to Israel. Whose is adoption is the same technical term, but does not have the identical meaning.

This is not adoption into salvation, but simply God taking to himself the nation of Israel as a son.

The nation was to receive special privileges and responsibilities and the unfolding of a redemptive history.

Only in that sense has the nation of Israel been called a son.

And then the fourth usage of adoption is the new covenant blessing of sonship.

When the blessings of this covenant are conferred, it is the work of the triune

God. This adoption is dependent upon the

Father for its determination. The Father has predestinated us unto adoption.

This adoption is dependent upon the Son for its impartation.

In the future tense, God sent forth his Son. In the fullness of time, he sent forth his

Son. And then this adoption is dependent upon the Holy Spirit. Because you are sons, he has sent forth the

Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Now I'd like to speak on adoption in terms of it being eternal.

Okay, and can you, first before we do that,

I have a listener question. We have

Susan Margaret in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. And the question is, isn't the doctrine of adoption one of those even more clear doctrines, perhaps, that speaks of God adopting individuals rather than a large group, if not everyone, because it would make absolutely no sense if he were adopting everyone, and yet many, if not most, were still damned?

How could they possibly be his adopted children if, indeed, they would spend an eternity in hell?

You know, I think that answers itself. I mean, if we're talking about a universal kind of thing,

God is our Father, and we're the brotherhood of man, saying that all are

God's sons, and we're all brothers. That's contrary to all of Scripture, because we know very clearly that we've been purchased by Christ, and that we are called by the

Holy Spirit, we're called out from this world, and we've been made, you know, a new creature in Christ Jesus.

And what happens is that we're adopted into that family of God. We become a part of it.

That's the relationship that now we have with God. So, you know, to say that, you know, does everybody have that kind of privilege?

Not at all. It's only those that God has called, and those that he's chosen, and he's given grace and faith, and that they respond and believe.

So it's very much particular. It is an individual thing, because I think the realization of it is something that all of us have at some point as a child of God, is that we come to understand that now

I am a part of the family of God, and Christ being my brother and my

Lord and Master, that I have him as my Savior. I wanted to say something of clarification also.

I don't know if our listener Susan Margaret intended this in her question, so I don't want to jump to a conclusion.

But there is a misconception that we who are believers in the doctrines of sovereign grace believe that the elect are a tiny number of people.

We believe that it is an enormous number of people. I mean, more than the grains of sand and stars in the heaven.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, the number is certainly... In fact, we're taught that they're from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, and they're going to be so vast that we cannot number them.

But God choosing is not something... If God chose us, he chose us because he desired to, because he wanted to.

It was his will to do that. We have to understand that God, who is...

He's in control of everything, and he does as he wills on heaven and on earth. So when

I talk about God choosing us, I'm thinking in terms...

He didn't have to choose anybody. He didn't have to choose anybody. In fact, if God would have allowed all of mankind to go to hell, he still would have been just and holy and righteous because nobody deserves to be saved.

The basis of our salvation is not anything within us. It's all within God and his choice.

And then Jesus comes, and he purchases us. He redeems us on the cross.

When they went to the cross, he died for his people. That's what the angel said to Joseph, you know.

They shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin.

And it was something that was particular. And it's not just random. They're names.

They're names whose names were not written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world.

You see, you know, when we talk about God's salvation, it's something in the triune

God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And when we talk about the Father choosing and the

Son procuring and then the Holy Spirit drawing and bringing us to him, oh,

I tell you, it's a tremendous thing to be able to praise the thrice -holy

God. Amen. And we have to go to our midway break right now. And if anybody would like to join us, our e -mail address is chrisarnson at gmail .com,

chrisarnson at gmail .com. Please give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence if you live outside the

USA. And please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.

This is a longer than normal break because Grace Life Radio requires of us a longer break in the middle of the show so that they can obey the

FCC and localize Iron Trip and Zion Radio to Lake City, Florida, which they have to do with all their programming.

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chrisarnson at gmail .com. We'll be right back after these messages with more of Ron McKinney. I'm Dr.

Tony Costa, Professor of Apologetics and Islam at Toronto Baptist Seminary. I'm thrilled to introduce to you a church where I've been invited to speak and have grown to love,

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Welcome back. This is Chris Ornzen. And if you just tuned us in, our guest today is

Dr. Ron McKinney. And he is on our program for the full two hours today.

Before we return to our discussion, the practical, biblical, and corrective importance of the doctrine of adoption,

I have some important announcements to make. First of all, tomorrow on the program, we have returning for a

Part 2 interview, Adam B. Dooley. In fact, Adam was highly recommended by my guest today,

Dr. Ron McKinney, which is where I first heard about Adam, or should

I say the person who first told me about Adam was Dr. McKinney. And Adam's going to be discussing for Part 2,

Hope When Life Unravels, Finding God When It Hurts. It's a discussion we began just on Monday.

And we have him back to further that discussion on an important topic. Also, folks,

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The basics of biblical counseling is the theme. And the speaker is

Dale Johnson, who is the Executive Director of ACBC, the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors.

The topics include the need for biblical counseling, the definition and goal of biblical counseling, progressive sanctification, qualifications of a biblical counselor, secular and integration theories, what makes biblical counseling biblical, and a

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And as always, give us your first name, at least your city and state of residence, and your country of residence if you live outside the

USA. And Dr. McKinney, if you could pick up where you left off there. I'm going to pick up with adoption as a present realization.

There is a point in time when the Spirit applies with power the salvation that was purchased in Christ.

As the wind of the Spirit moves, so all that are called and regenerated are brought to faith.

Now the present realization of adoption is accomplished through faith.

Paul assures this of the saints at Galatians. He said, For ye are all the children.

Now, here's where we have a difference in terms of interpretation, our translation.

It should be sons. For ye are all the sons of God because the word there, we, is the

Greek word meaning sons. We are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

And when we repent and believe, adoption is what takes place, that we're placed in the family of God.

So what I want to say is that the application of salvation, the privileges and the blessings of the new covenant are immediately realized.

And we become full -grown sons of God in the family of God. Now in the old covenant, even believers were kept for a period of tutelage.

They were in a stage, I would say, of infancy. But now, when we embrace the

Savior, we come into the kingdom as full -grown, mature sons with all the privileges of adoption.

I heard someone speak on this. In fact, I think he may be listening today.

And he was bearing this out, the differences between what we're talking about, the old covenant and the new covenant, and that we come in as full, mature sons.

He brought this up. He said, when I was a young boy, my dad had me to go out and to mow the lawn.

And he went out there with me. He taught me how to put gas in the lawn mower.

He showed me how to start it, how to pull the rope, which is what you used to do.

And he would just go in there, and he made a list on a piece of paper as a young boy, so he would be able to go over that list, and he would start the lawn mower to mow the lawn.

He said, but when I got to be 15 or 16, he said, I didn't have to have that list anymore.

I didn't need to be told about it. I now knew how to do it.

Now, what he's teaching in that is that in Christ Jesus, we are led by the

Spirit of God. That He is the one that teaches us and instructs us and prompts us.

And it's in the Spirit of God that He comes and He works within us to do

His will and the good pleasure. Now, that is something that I think you don't always get in terms of what happens when we come into the family of God.

We have now a position in which now we are full sons and we're dependent, not upon a legalistic sort of way of doing it, but in terms of the

Spirit of God leading and directing us. So the importance of this doctrine,

I believe it's underscored by the Apostle John when he said, now you are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Now, there is something else I'd like to say about adoption has a future aspect.

And we read in the Scriptures, and what we read is that, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the

Spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting for the adoption to which the redemption of our body.

If we have been given the status now of sons and the

Spirit has given us understanding and we have the realization of it, surely there is nothing beyond that.

But according to Romans 8, verse 18, the best is yet to come.

In the final consummation, God calls in the adoption with a definite article, the adoption.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

I was just reading today earlier from 2 Corinthians. I'm going to grab my

Bible here and read from it. It says, And to you who trouble to rest with us, with the

Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not

God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the

Lord and from the glory of his power. When he shall come to be glorified in his faith and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day.

What I see in that, he says, to be glorified in his faith and to be admired in all them that believe.

I believe there's going to be a day when we'll see all those that we know that are in Christ Jesus.

And they will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. That there's going to be a change that will take place and we'll see that they are turned into that which is glorified.

I tell you what, I long to see that day. I see something of what

God is doing now in individuals. He's working in them and I see something of the glory of God coming, but on that day we will see and witness something that is going to be extraordinary.

Well, and finally, there are witnesses of this work of adoption.

One is the witness of the word of God. The word of God is our proof of adoption.

We believe in the faithfulness of God to fulfill what he has promised.

He has pledged in his word to be a father to all them that believe.

It would be inconceivable for God not to keep his word. If he were to lie, he could not be

God. And when he gives assurance to the believer that he has been adopted into his family, there's absolutely no room for doubt.

To question the reality of that relationship regardless of feelings would be nothing but sin.

Now, I love the fact that we have God as our father to go to in the time of need.

We are witnessing something of the spirit of God as he's working in us.

Not only do we have the spirit of God working with us, we have a spirit that we have with other believers where when we're with them, what happens is that we have, the

Bible says, the spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

I've had that happen many times with people that I've met for the first time, and immediately

I had an infinity of spirit. There was something, there was a unity that we had.

It's not something that's strange to those that are in Christ. We know that the spirit bears witness with us that we are of God.

In fact, we have a question from a listener I'd like to ask now at this point. We have from CJ in Lindenhurst, Long Island, New York.

Isn't the doctrine of adoption one of those corrective areas of falsehood where people will say that we are all children of God?

I have even heard professing evangelical Christians who are talk hosts on Fox News say things like that where they lump into the same group those of all religions we're all children of God and this could not be farther from the truth because all but those who are truly born again are children of the devil, are they not?

Oh yes. You are of your father the devil, the Bible says. That includes us before our regeneration.

That includes us before our regeneration, am I right? Absolutely. Our conversation was that of the world.

We were under the God of this world and that's the thing about it is that there's none that are outside of the realm of being.

The devil was our father and God rescued us and bought us and purchased us but what is hellish

I think today is that when we say that God is our father of everyone that's really blasphemy because you know to know

God is to worship Him. This world worships everything but God.

They will do anything and one of the things about this pandemic that has been amazing to me is that it has taken away all of the idols of this world.

I'm telling you it shut them down and I see that as God who's in control and has brought this about He's calling me to see who is really

God, who is reigning and ruling, who's in control of all of this and so to me it's a call to God to worship

Him to come to Him and give Him all the praise and the glory and the honor because man has his own

God and not everybody is going to understand.

I've been criticized because I take such a stand about what we're to do as far as you know, worshipping

God and putting Christ first seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things shall be added unto you.

This world has been sold a bill of goods especially America. We all have to have the

American dream. No! That's the worst thing in the world trying to make it and make it where you have all these things.

No. We're to worship God. We're to give Him praise and honor.

Jesus Christ is supreme. Everything centers on Christ and Him crucified.

He's what we need to come to and worship and praise. And we have another question from Bobby in Hartsdale, New York and Bobby asks isn't the doctrine of adoption also a reminder to us not to be overly harsh in our judgment and criticism of our precious brothers and sisters in Christ who disagree with us over matters.

I am not saying that we should have a modern day ecumenical mindset where we are embracing as brothers those that deny the gospel.

Please don't get me wrong. But I am talking about when we set ourselves up in judgment against brothers who truly have embraced the gospel but who obviously teach and believe things that are secondary or tertiary in their importance.

We must remember that they have been adopted as we have been. That we are all from the children of Satan.

We are all from the same lump of clay and it is only by the mercy and grace of God that we have been rescued from that and adopted by God.

And this should remind us to be more loving and caring and patient with our own brothers and sisters.

We are to speak the truth in love. There is no place for someone to be unloving when they speak the truth.

Now, the truth must not be smothered by an outward appearance of trying to be just nice and kind.

What I am saying is truth is truth. And that's what we want. And I don't try to annoy or to make anyone unhappy.

But I do want to tell them the truth because I love them enough. In fact,

I risk my relationship with some people because I love them enough to tell them the truth.

And I agree with that a hundred percent. I do. Yeah, but I don't, you know, if we're, you know,

I'm not a part of what's called a man -be -pansy type of approach to dealing with people.

You know, if I differ with them, it has to be something that's major that I will speak out.

But most of the time, I have some cooperation with men here in town that I don't share a lot of things with.

But I do believe they're in Christ Jesus and I love them. And they love me.

And even though I differ with them. But we are, you know, that's something that's done in love.

And you have to show love to your brethren. Love everything. Love one another.

That's what the Bible teaches. Yes, there is a difference between someone who has beliefs that either are in contradiction to the very gospel itself or the doctrine of the

Triune Godhead or the Deity of Christ or some of these pillars of the faith. There's a difference between that and somebody who has a different view of eschatology.

Although, I think that someone who, for instance, is a hyper -preterist is a heretic and outside the true brotherhood in Christ because they're denying,

I think, essentials. They're denying the future resurrection and the future return of Christ. But somebody who,

I know churches that disfellowship people who at one time shared in their pre -tribulational, dispensational understanding of the end times and things like that and they have been disfellowshipped.

They've been written off as heretics. And I think that that's absurd. I think that there is, as we were just saying, there is a difference between things that are pillars of the faith and essential and those things that leave room for debate amongst brothers in Christ.

I will tell you that in our congregation at one time we had people who believed in various eschatological visions.

One historical pre -millennialism and all millenialism and post -millennialism.

They're all in the same congregation and we got along. I mean, there were good discussions but we got along.

But then there are other things that I think, for instance, I'm not a

Sabbatarian and I hold to the fact that Christ is our rest which puts me in a different category.

But what happens is is that sometimes in some places that's not received.

I've actually been kind of shunned in certain situations because of my beliefs.

And I hold to it with conviction. I'm not just simply trying to be an antinomian or something of that nature.

But we must treat each other kindly and there's room for some differences.

You got another question for me? Yes, I do, actually.

We have Harrison in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

I know where that is. You know where Mechanicsburg is? Yeah, it's just one town over from me.

Yeah, I've been there. Let's see here.

Harrison in Mechanicsburg, says, What are some of the erroneous views of adoption that we should be on the lookout for in the church that might be prominent today?

Well, I think there are very few people in the congregation of evangelical churches that would even know the subject and would even think of it.

Most people relate to what we have today in adoption. The adoption of Christ, when we come to Christ, is different from what we call our adoption, though there may be similarities.

But I know a lot about, I think, about adoption because I have two adopted grandchildren and I love them dearly and they're precious to me.

But when we talk about God's adoption, one of the things that I didn't get to speak on, but one of the things that happened is that adoption as we read it from the scriptures comes from more of a

Roman background of practice that they did.

I think I read part of that to you where they come in and they would have five

Roman citizens to witness it and they would buy this child and it would become their son and they would become part of their family.

And that was the way it was done. But in terms of people in the

Church, they have very little understanding at all or even know about the fact there is adoption.

But it is the greatest, I believe it's the greatest blessing, the highest blessing that we can have in this life.

Knowing that we have God as our Father and He loves us and He cares for us.

Everything He does for us. And one of the beautiful things is when you see it in its fullness, it gives you a sense of assurance of salvation.

Not a false assurance. Not just something to have an attitude, you know, well,

I can live any way I want to. No, no, no. It's assurance that God, that I am in Him, I'm in Christ and He is caring for me and all of my needs will be met according to His riches and glory.

We have that assurance. I've been through, and I told you the story about my daughter who had leukemia and we went through that time and in fact, she's actually going through some tests right now.

She's had some problems but it's been 23 years ago but what

I'm saying is all of that time, one of the things that I had was I had God as my

Father. I could rest in Him. I could go to Him for peace and to know that He cared for me and loved me.

So, I wish more people would even think about the subject of adoption in terms of what

God says. I wish there was more preaching on it, more teaching, more books that were written on the subject of adoption because I think it is so wonderful to know and to experience it.

Amen. And we're going to our final break right now. This is going to be briefer than the last break but if you have questions, please send them as soon as you can to chrisarnson at gmail dot com chrisarnson at gmail dot com and as always, please give us your first name at least, your city and state, and your country of residence if you live outside the

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Dr. McKinney, pick up where you left off. I'd like to finish with this thought that one of the truths that we are adopted is the chastening and the discipline of the

Father. We might say that this is the conclusive proof that we are not illegitimate sons.

Once we have been adopted by God, He will never disinherit us.

We share in the heirship with Christ, our elder brother.

Therefore, because of the love of the Father, He is constrained to discipline

His children. Hebrews chapter 12, 5 through 8 declares that the discipline of the

Father is a characteristic peculiar to the sons of God.

If you are devoid of the Father's chastisement, then you are outside of the fatherly relationship and affection.

Whom the Father loves, He disciplines. When the Father loves, it shows in the realm of adoption.

It always issues in discipline. The only way to get out of discipline is to not be an adopted son.

If you profess to be an adopted son and are never disciplined, then you are deceived and deceived as to your true spiritual state.

John Brown said this. He said, Afflictions are so far from being proofs that those who are visited with them are objects of the divine displeasure that an entire freedom from them would be a ground of doubt whether the individual was an object of the divine peculiar favor.

How interesting. Those things that come into our lives that are difficult, those things that we have to deal with that frowning providence, whatever it might be,

God has reason for it. And in that, He is molding us and making us more into the likeness of His Son.

But I heard a preacher once say, He said, I must be

God's favorite son. I never have any troubles. I never have any problems.

And I thought to myself, Man, you're talking about something that you don't know the discipline of the

Lord or you're just going around cruising around thinking that all is well.

God has His reasons when He brings trouble to us. He is doing it because He loves us.

And that's the proof that He loves us. And so, what a privilege it is to be adopted sons and daughters of God.

I tell you what, it's such a great blessing to know that He is our

Father. Amen. And we have another listener who has a question. We have, let's see here,

I was just looking at the question. Oh, it's from John in Bangor, Maine who asks, Is not the adoption that God mercilessly bestows upon those who are

His own a very vivid picture of the permanence and eternality of the fact that we become

His children? Adoption is a very powerful word, in my opinion, that would remove the idea of God giving away those whom

He has adopted or even throwing away as those outside of the sovereign grace of God believe that someone could be adopted and yet still go to hell.

Yeah. Now, there's a sense of security there. Not a false security, but one that biblically we have.

You know, one of the interesting things in our courts today, when you adopt someone, when you adopt a child, you can never disown an adopted child.

That's what I've been told in the court, that you cannot disown an adopt... Now, if you have a natural child, you know, it's born into your family, that they can disown you as parents or you can disown them.

But if they're adopted, you cannot do it because it's on a legal basis. Now, that's not what

God does, but at the same time, there's a security we have knowing that He will never, ever disown us.

He loves us, and He's gonna bring us to the very end. He that endures to the end, the same shall be saved.

Oh, my friend, we have such assurance having a Father who loves us to the point of bringing us all the way through.

And it's all His work. He's doing it. He's doing it for us. And that's such a blessing to know.

Well, I'd like you to give us at least two minutes of summary of what you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners today regarding adoption.

Okay, I'll do that. The conformity to Christlikeness that demands that we put aside every weight and sin that so easily besets us.

There's no progress in being partakers of God's holiness without understanding those things which are contrary to His holiness.

We must see our sins, the rod of correction, often on us is calculated to enable us to discover our sins in order to turn from them and repent.

One of the greatest proofs of our sonship is the Father's love.

He must learn, we must learn, rather, to express it, to understand it, and to submit to it.

Remembering that the same God who conceived our adoption in eternity is the same

God that dictates the how, the when, and the why of our lives.

Thank God for His grace and His mercy. Thank God for His grace and mercy.

Amen. Well, I want to make sure our listeners have your contact information again.

The website for Kinsey Drive Baptist Church of Dalton, Georgia is KinseyDriveBaptistChurch .com

That's K -I -N -S -E -Y DriveBaptistChurch .com

And also, folks, I don't want you to forget, if you can, please join me in Scranton, Pennsylvania on the 28th and 29th of August, Friday and Saturday, the 28th and 29th, for the

ACBC Conference. That stands for the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors.

And that is going to be on the theme, The Basics of Biblical Counseling. And it's going to be held at High Point Baptist Church in Larksville, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Scarsdale.

And I keep saying Scarsdale. A suburb of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

And if you want to register, go to BiblicalCounseling .com forward slash Scranton -PA -training

That's BiblicalCounseling .com forward slash S -C -R -A -N -T -O -N -PA -training

And you can also get more details on the venue, High Point Baptist Church of Larksville, Pennsylvania, at HighPointBaptist .Church

HighPointBaptist .Church Thank you so much, Dr. McKinney, and thank you everybody who listened today.

I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater Savior than you are a sinner.