Lesson 8 - Not a Slave, but a Son
5. What do you think Paul means by saying that they are heirs “through God”?
Generally speaking, every other world religion focuses on what you must do to be right with the god(s) of that system. Christianity alone strips away the man-centered, works-based, earned redemption, and instead teaches that mankind cannot save themselves. Instead, we have been made sons and heirs through God.
We stand as righteous before Him because of Him. It was only through the Father sending the Son that the Christian can be redeemed. This is why Paul can say in Romans, “God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (5:8).
8. As Paul was writing this, presumably he could have erased or scratched out the “mistake” he makes in v. 9 when he corrects himself. (For the sake of clarity, the authors of this book don’t believe Paul made a mistake. We believe he was drawing attention to an important point). He says, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God….” Why do you think Paul wrote it that way? What was he trying to communicate? Why is he highlighting God’s side of the “knowing” instead of theirs? What implications are there from understanding that prior to their faith in Christ, they were not “known by God,” and now that they have believed they “have come to be known by God”?
We don’t believe that this “knowing” is about God’s all-knowing, omniscient nature. Of course, God knew us (in a sense) before we came to Christ. Instead, we should see this as Paul pointing to a relational knowing that goes far beyond mere association.
Before I started dating my wife, I knew her; we’d had numerous conversations. Obviously, I knew her while we were dating but not yet married. But, after marriage (and many years of living together) I can say I know her more deeply and intimately than I could’ve possibly claimed before marriage.
Before your connection to God through Christ, the Father knew you. However, now that you are in Christ, the Father’s relational knowledge of you is more deep, profound, and impactful.
Paul’s point isn’t that God didn’t know you before Christ. Or, that your knowledge of Him wasn’t or isn’t important. Being truly known by God is a claim that can only be made by those who’ve come to believe in the Son.
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.’” (John 14:6–7)
Going Deeper
3. As you understand it, is the Israelite’s “adoption” the same “adoption” in Christ that all believer’s enjoy? If so, is this an argument for all Israelites being saved?
The authors of this book understand “adoption” to be a promised future blessing that would be synonymous with that which most people think of as “glorification.” As in, when we die and go to heaven, we will be glorified, receiving our heavenly bodies. This is not the common understanding of Adoption. For a more detailed discussion of this important doctrine, check out our article: The Doctrine of Adoption: Revisited.
That fact that the promise of adoption “belongs” to the Israelites isn’t an argument for universal salvation of every last Jewish person despite their lack of faith in Christ.
Here is a full list of those things which belong to the Israelites based on Roman 9:4–5
· The adoption as sons.
· The glory.
· The covenants.
· The giving of the Law.
· The temple service.
· The promises.
· The fathers (forefathers of the faith).
· The privilege of being genealogically related to the Christ.
So, the Lord has graciously blessed Jewish people. That doesn’t mean that every individual Jew will be saved regardless of their disposition towards Christ. Unfortunately, the New Testament contains a vast record of Israelites that refused Christ and reject those gifts that belonged to them.
“There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 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, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:9–13; bold added)
4. Is this “adoption as sons” to which believers were predestined something that has already happened, or something we are still looking forward to? How do you know? Is it possible that Paul is using this phrase in the same way he uses it in Romans 8? What difference would it make in your personal theology if he was speaking of adoption in the same way? In other words, is Paul saying that “non-believers were predestined to become children of God through faith in Christ” or is he saying that “believers are predestined to their future huiothesia” as he states in Romans 8:23?
The authors of this book understand “adoption” to be a promised future blessing that would be synonymous with that which most people think of as “glorification.” As in, when we die and go to heaven, we will be glorified, receiving our heavenly bodies.
Therefore, adoption is something we are still looking forward to. We don’t see anywhere in Scripture that argues for individuals, prior to coming to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as being predestined for this future “adoption.”