I recently read,
Adopted into God’s Family: Exploring a Pauline Metaphor by Trevor Burke
and I thought it was a fantastic book.
Which is why over the course of several months I thought I could give you some brief summaries of what I learned from it.
Brief Summary of Chapter One
The Bible uses many different words to describe the relationship between God and His people.
One of the words that the apostle Paul uses to describe our relationship with God is adoption. He speaks of it five times in three of his letters. You will find it in Romans 8:15 and 23, Romans 9:4, Galatians 4:5, Ephesians 1:5. Paul is actually the only writer in the New Testament to use this term.
When he uses it, he uses it metaphorically.
“Adoption” Trevor Burke writes “graphically and intimately describes the family character of Pauline Christianity and is a basic description for Paul of what it means to be a Christian.”
This is an important idea to Paul.
One writer explains, “for . . . Paul . . . adoption into God’s family is a key metaphor for the new status believers have obtained.” And another adds, “Paul’s use of adoption terminology is . . . a centerpiece of his understanding of what it is to be a follower of Christ.”
Unfortunately his teaching on adoption has often been misunderstood. Apparently, theologians have sometimes thought of adoption as simply a subsection of justification. But the two terms are really distinct.
J.L. Girardeau explains, “The Scriptures make a difference between justification and adoption. They treat adoption as something over and beyond justification. . . justification . . . introduces the . . . sinner into the society of the righteous . . . adoption . . . introduces the sinner into the society of God’s family.”
Adoption is a legal term and it describes as Trevor Burke explains, “a transfer from an alien family into the family of God.” Quoting Robert Peterson, “Adoption is a legal action, taking place outside of us, whereby God the Father gives us a new status in his family.”
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