Pt. 16 LBCF Chapter 12: Of Adoption

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Pt. 17 LBCF Chapter 13 Of Sanctification

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Very simply, of adoption, and the reason that I'm going to do this one is it only has one paragraph, all right?

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And it's pretty basic, yeah, pretty basic but extremely important, and one of the biggest blessings, all right?

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It's in two parts in one paragraph, and one of the reasons it's important is, one, it refutes the liberal doctrine of the universal fatherhood of God, all right?

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Which is what a lot of liberal theologians talk about, they talk, oh no, God is the father of everybody, you know, and we're all brothers.

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The late Walter Martin used to mock them saying, he says, yeah, they believe in the universal fatherhood of God, the universal brotherhood of man in the neighborhood of Boston.

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It just, God is not everybody's father in this sense, all right?

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It explains just who is a child of God, and I know I'm not doing an apologetic but I have to put this up, just so you can see, for John 1 12, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name.

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And it lists the blessings of being adopted into the family of God, okay?

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So let's look at the outline. Part one of the paragraph is the foundation of adoption, all right?

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The recipients, all those that are justified. If you've been justified, you're a child of God. That's the good news, that's the entrance into the child of God.

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Its source, God. God assured it, God vouchsafed it, I love the old

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English, all right? And its ground, in and for the sake of his only son,

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Jesus Christ. Something that we need to keep in mind, we have to make sure that even in our evangelism that it's

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God -centered and not man -centered, all right? Why are any one of us here saved?

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Because of Jesus Christ, for his glory. Remember, God gave his elect to Jesus Christ and said, these are yours.

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You belong to Jesus Christ, he's your older brother, which means you are,

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God is your father. And as we go through, you'll see that we get to inherit everything that Jesus Christ inherits.

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In fact, let me say this now so I don't forget it later on. Think if you can, this is,

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I'm going to give you an impossible task. Think if you can, the love that God has for Jesus Christ, it's beyond us, right?

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But here's the other thing. The way he loves Christ, he loves you with that same exact love.

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No less, no more. Think about that. As much as he loves

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Christ, that's how much he loves you. When I first heard that, it blew me away, and I'll tell you unashamedly,

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I cried. I cried to think that God loved me that much, as much as he loves

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Christ. Part two of the paragraph talks about the blessings of adoption.

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We see what adoption is. What are the blessings of adoption? All right, first, incorporation into God's family, to make partakers of the grace of adoption.

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All right, I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but I know people in here have adopted children.

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You know that my wife and I have adopted children. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, without any hesitation, that each one of those children we have adopted, we love with the same love that our natural children, with that same intensity, that same love.

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No distinction, all right? And we are partakers of the grace of adoption.

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You have been chosen in him. And a reception of a filial disposition, what that means, in which they are taken into the number and enjoy the liberties and the privileges of the children of God.

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All the privileges of the kingdom of heaven are yours, if you're a child of God.

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He will withhold, Paul says, and I think it's in Ephesians 1, he will withhold no good thing from you.

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Everything that you need, you will get. Not necessarily everything you want, but everything you need, he will give to you.

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We will experience a paternal treatment by God, have his name put upon him, receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are unable to cry,

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Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by him as a father.

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In other words, just as an earthly father should be, but he does in perfection.

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And we should not be ashamed to call ourselves children of God. That should be our number one identity.

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I had a friend, he was a chaplain for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office. That's Memphis, Tennessee, the land of Elvis, and he came up to New York.

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And this guy was, he had no shame whatsoever about Christ. And we got into the elevator at the

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Empire State Building, we were showing him around. And you know those elevators, they're pretty large, and they get jammed, all right?

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We were the last two that walked in, and we walked in, and he turns around, he says, hi, everybody, my name is

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Corky Childs. He says, I'm a child of Jesus Christ, and I'd like to tell you about him. And all the way to the top, he gave the gospel.

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Yep, not ashamed, you know, unable to cry out,

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Abba, Father. And then we had the reception of the promise of inheritance.

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Yeah, never cast off, but seal to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation.

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What promise? We are heirs. Everything that was promised to Jesus Christ is ours. Isn't this an amazing doctrine?

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Unworthy sinners such as we are, and look at what's promised to us.

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And his promises are true. And that's chapter 12.

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Wait, no, you know what? I gave you, this was just a bonus. Don't, no extra charge for this. This was a definition from Sam Waldron, and I just figured

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I'd throw it up. Adoption is a change in legal status from that of a slave to that of a son of God, which takes place by faith at the moment of union with Christ, but will be publicly revealed at the resurrection.

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It is, that's supposed to be an act of God's free grace flowing from the electing love of God and Father in eternity and the regenerating power of the

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Holy Spirit in time, and immediately confers the spirit of adoption and the privilege of being one of God's heirs, as well as other privileges, obligations, and liabilities.

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Liabilities? Yeah, sometimes it costs you, doesn't it? Any questions on adoption?

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No? We good? Praise God for this, isn't it? Isn't this an amazing part?