ADOPTED OR SONS OF GOD

Galatians 4:3-7 

In Christian theology, the terms "adopted" and "sons of God" refer to the relationship believers have with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Both terms highlight the transformative nature of faith, where individuals are not just followers but are integrated into God's family. These concepts are central to understanding identity and belonging in Christian faith.

To adopt someone is to make that person a legal son or daughter. Adoption is one of the metaphors used in the Bible to explain how Christians are brought into the family of God. Jesus came “that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:5), “You received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children” (Romans 8:15).

The Bible also uses the metaphor of being “born again” into God’s family (John 3:3), which seems to be at odds with the concept of adoption because, normally, either a person is born into a family or adopted, not both. We shouldn’t make too much of the difference, however, because both of these concepts are metaphors.

BELIEVERS ARE ADOPTED SONS

Romans 8:15, 23; Galatians 4:5 and Ephesians 1:5 are the only mentions of “adoption as sons.” The Greek word that is translated “adoption as sons” is “huiothesia,” from “huios,” “a son,” and “thesis,” “a placing.” The word huiothesia literally means, "To be placed as a son."

Note that we are adopted as sons. And we need to be very careful here to say what Scripture actually says, and to understand why it says it. The wording here is clearly masculine. The word is huiothesia. It means, literally, "to be placed as a son." In Galatians 4:4 the word is translated "the adoption of sons." The word is clearly masculine. Not merely adoption as children, not as sons and daughters, but adoption as sons. Yes, God created us male and female. But as it concerns our redemption, we who are in Christ, men and women and boys and girls alike, are adopted by God as sons, in that sense, as Paul says, "there is neither male nor female."

Why is that important? We need to remember that Paul is writing to people who were under the rule of the Roman Empire. They were subject to Roman law. The picture that Paul is using here in Galatians is definitely the Roman law of adoption of sons, because that is what the people who received this letter would have understood.

Adoption as a son in Roman law was something very specific. Adoption as a son in Roman law meant that you had the right to the name and the citizenship of the person who adopted you, and the right to inherit his property. The adopted son had the same rights and privileges as a naturally born son. These were rights that were not granted to an adopted daughter. And the law also granted the one who adopted that son the full rights and responsibilities of a father, full authority over the adopted son, and full responsibility to care for him. So it worked both ways.

This adoption or son-placement is not the same as taking in or adopting an orphan. An adult person who was not a natural child would be chosen and would be treated and cared for as one’s son, to become a suitable male heir, as Genesis 15:2-3. The one adopted was eligible to receive privileges of the new family and complete rights to the inheritance.

Often birth and adoption are usually thought as something that God does simultaneously, that when a person is born again that one is adopted into God’s family. Some say they are different metaphors used for the same experience of salvation. However, the New Testament presents these two topics separately and distinctly.

Birth into God’s family is by believing on Jesus, John 3:5, 7; I peter 1:23; I John 5:1. The birth happens at the point of salvation. But adoption or son-placement is a unique concept. When mentioned in Romans 8:15, it refers to believers receiving the “the Spirit of adoption,” as opposed to the spirit of bondage. It is the promise of freedom with believers possessing new positions as sons which becomes effective in the future. Romans 8:23 adds that the adoption is “the redemption of our body,” which will be at the time of the rapture of believers. Having the Spirit of adoption means the person will receive that freedom, and the Spirit is the earnest payment or pledge that the person will obtain the inheritance, II Corinthians 1:22, 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14.

In the Roman world, adoption was a significant and common practice. Today, we can write a will and leave our wealth and property to anyone we want, male or female. In the Roman world, with few exceptions, a man had to pass his wealth on to his son(s). If a man had no sons or if he felt that his sons were incapable of managing his wealth or were unworthy of it, he would have to adopt someone who would make a worthy son. These adoptions were not infant adoptions as is common today. Older boys and adult men were normally adopted. In some cases, the adoptee might even be older than the man who was adopting him. When the adoption was legally approved, the adoptee would have all his debts cancelled and he would receive a new name. He would be the legal son of his adoptive father and entitled to all the rights and benefits of a son. A father could disown his natural-born son, but an adoption was irreversible.

Paul, writing to Roman audiences, uses the metaphor of adoption, which a Roman audience would have understood. Galatians 4:3-7 says, “So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those under the Law, that we might receive our adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God.” In this passage, Christians are born enslaved, but Jesus buys them out of slavery and they are adopted by the Father and given the Spirit, so now they are heirs.
When we come to faith in Christ, our debts are cancelled, we are given a new name, and we are given all the rights that heirs of God possess. One difference from Roman adoption is that Christians are not adopted because God thinks they will make worthy heirs. God adopts people who are completely unworthy, because He adopts on the basis of His grace.

So, Christians have been born into God’s family (using a Jewish metaphor) and adopted into God’s family (using a Roman metaphor). The end result is the same; Christians are forever part of God’s family.