Have been thinking about a post by lynn earlier. And then something also in G777's last post.
I have never liked the word "adopted" to speak of us who belong to God now.
Because an adopted child who has been in and out of different homes, who the world has pushed around and hurt, has the fearful thought that if they do something wrong or make a mistake, they will be rejected again and sent out of the family.
This seems to me like some of us, with God.
Some grace preachers call that fear an 'orphan spirit'.
Here's something I wrote several years ago, an excerpt from this article:
This is one of those times when it is so important to have a good grasp on who we are in Christ and what that actually means:
Ephesians 1:3-14
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Do Christians need to turn away from sin in their lives? Yes. Out of love for God and love for others, but not as a ‘maintenance payment’ on our salvation. And that love is a Fruit produced by the Holy Spirit living through us. Love is not a work that we perform,we bear His Fruit (His yoke is easy, His burden is light) that the Holy Spirit produces as He lives through us –
and sometimes good Fruit takes time . . .
After reading the passage above, let me put it this way:
If you adopt a child, and that child disobeys you, does that child cease to be your child until they repent of that particular transgression?
No.
While there is disciplining and shepherding going on in the life of that child, they are yours, for you have made a commitment of adoption and a promise of an inheritance to them. Your commitment and promise to them at the time of adoption is not conditional on the future behavior of the child. But neither do you go into that commitment or give that promise blindly, for you know that you will have significant influence in the steering and training and LOVING of that child!
So it is with we who are adopted into sonship by God through Jesus Christ.
While a flawed human parent can disown ANY child – natural or adopted – from their inheritance, the cool thing is that God has made a promise guaranteeing our inheritance by marking us with His seal, the promised Holy Spirit! We are a New Creation in Him! And with that seal, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, comes the work of sanctification . . . the ever changing of the believer from the inside out, making us more and more a reflection of the character of Jesus Christ.
God has not made the commitment blindly – for He knows that He will have significant influence via His Holy Spirit in the steering and the training and the LOVING of His adopted.
Just as with the adopted in the natural world, God does not reject what HE has done when WE mess up. He lovingly and firmly disciplines [and let me add here that godly discipline is training for our future, not punishment for our past] His children, faithful to complete the work He began in us.
Philippians 1:3-11
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ
Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
This is the goal of those in Christ! Without constant fear of God disowning us when we fail.
I hope that is helpful to some!
-JGIG